Maple Leafs fall to Philadelphia Flyers 6-2

This is going to be one of those magical FTB Recaps! Click on the pictures for a full gallery from last night's game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were overrun in every aspect of the game by the Philadelphia Flyers. Jonas Gustavsson did yeoman's work in net and, frankly, I cannot even begin to fathmo what the score would have been if Vesa Toskala had been in net. Honestly, triple digits could have been in the cards. What's that? Philadelphia didn't get over 100 shots? Vesa would find a way to allow 100 goals.

One night after a pretty strong game the pairing of Luke Schenn and Tomas Kaberle were atrocious. Particularly, the goal scored by that perv-stached Danny "waste of space" Carcillo was embarrassing. My dad goes ballistic when defencemen hit the deck because unless timed perfectly, which it wasn't even close to being, the player is completely out of position. Once Schenn slid into the corner Tomas Kaberle highlighted why he is such a defensive liability with a limp attempt at a stick check.

The fights weren't even enough to make up for the loss as most were terrible or raised my blood pressure with no payback. Specifically, how Scott Hartnell got away with his tackle of Jeff Finger was mind-boggling until I remembered that he already ran away from Colton Orr already this year. I understand it's tough to know that the girl that is way out of your league that agreed to eventually take half of your career earning is getting the goods from a teammate that believes in popped collars but that judo flip could have injured Finger. And it goes without saying (but I will because Flyers fans can't read let alone pick up on what's written between the lines) but Finger should not have tried to take down Hartnell. That's how players can get injured badly.

Nikolai Kulemin's goal was the lone bright spot as it was both a nice little sequence and his first goal in 12 games which is a good reward for his efforts over the last month.

Head over the jump for your morning links!

Vintage Leafs: The Hockey News: 1964
Sigh. Someday...

Canada Kills Pepsi Cheer - We Win! | Toronto Mike's Blog
VICTORY! The (insert obscenely disgusting reference) that was the Corporate Canada Cheer is dead. Now, to get the creator's head on a pike.

The Wonderful World of Loser Domi: Rickard Wallin, Bizzarro Supermodel
The many faces of the one man that everyone in Leafs RAUP can agree is neither good enough to be on the team nor the cause of the team's problems.

Will Arnett Is Great - Fallen Leafs
First, Arrested Development and then this: the fountain of hope that never runs dry.

mc79hockey.com " Don’t trust anyone under 20
This is a precursor to a larger post I want to do but basically, let teenagers play elsewhere while teenagers. Sigh. Wish Cliff and I believed that last year.

The Battle of Alberta: Line of the Day
This sums up the farcical baseball hall of fame voting.

Massive audience for junior showdown | Truth & Rumours | William Houston | On Sports And The Media
How big is the world junior hockey championship? A very large number that represents viewers (?) saw at least part of the game. Seriously, it's mind-boggling how many people saw a game that didn't happen.

Kovalchuk: An Atlanta keeper or trade deadline prize?
Craig Custance looks at just how Don Waddell is going to screw this up. Actually, he examines the situation but if you read between the lines you'll see what he's getting at.

Mike Milbury - Is Kovalchuk worth the money?
There are some other thoughts but Mad Mike just wants a member fo the GM fraternity to get free help. Here's an idea: How about Don Waddell mans up and trades Kovalchuk?

Abel To Yzerman - Fanhouse Moves Base of Operations To The Vatican
The Chief is not impressed with the Passion of Chelios.

50 Mission Cap | Impact Players
The Leafs simply do not have enough of them.