The Leafs' host the Penguins tonight. I went to the open practice and if that was any indication of how they practice it's no wonder the defence can become so shambolic at the drop of a hat. It was interesting to see about 8,000 people at a practice. It's a new revenue stream that MLSE could tap in to and that money could be used for an expanded scouting network. Seriously, one practice a week for $5 a head would cover the most extensive scouting network in the league.

There were no Peddie or JFJ sightings but we did get to see Herpes in aciton. I guess what fools Maurice is that since everyone else is dogging it his full effort looks like he is doing really well. Unfortunately, his only setting is 'awful'. Tucker bailed into the boards just as we got into the practice but apparently he will be playing. Kubina and Tlusty were being put through some rehabbing work as well. All in all it was a neat little excursion.

The Thursday night harangue inspired the troops so much that another one is in order. For inspiration, here is an ode to Rick Pitino's classic rant on patience and positivity:

Wendel Clark is not walking through that door, fans. Doug Gilmour is not walking through that door, and Curtis Joseph is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they're going to be gray and old. What we are is kind of young, sometimes exciting, occassionally hard-working, and we're going to improve. People don't realize that, and as soon as they realize those three guys are not coming through that door, the better this town will be for all of us because there are young guys in that locker room playing their asses off when they feel like it. I wish we had a $90 million payroll like we used to before the lockout. I wish we could buy the world. We can't; the only thing we can do is work hard, and all the negativity that's in this town sucks. I've been around when Wayne Gretzky was booed. I've been around when (Eddie) Belfour was booed. And it stinks. It makes the greatest town, greatest city in the world, lousy. The only thing that will turn this around is being upbeat and positive like we are in that locker room... and if you think I'm going to succumb to negativity, you're wrong. You've got the wrong guy leading this team.

Nik Antropov answered Mats' latest POG nod with two assists and the majority of the votes for Thursday's Player of the Game. Remember to put your guesses for who will score take the first shot, get the first penalty, and score the first goal in the comments. I'll keep a running tally of the results in the right sidebar. We've doubled the number of participants but no one has been able to rack up many points so join in now before everyone's guessing abilities improve. Join now to get in some practice because I'm thinking of having a competition for a prize after the all-star break with wonderful prizes. No idea what they will be but they'll be awesome.

As always, the comment section is a wonderful place to vent and rage between periods or make hopeful predictions that you can tout in the future if they happen to come to pass. Each period and overtime/shootout gets their own section so just reply to the relevant section's main post and as much as it hurts try to refrain from swearing despite Herpes' best efforts to make you turn the air blue. All you need to get started is to set up an account to comment so register and share your thoughts.