"I always saw myself winning the Stanley Cup in Toronto – I wanted to do that," Sundin said Friday. "And also realizing it would never feel the same doing it somewhere else."

It is that loyalty plus Sundin’s unassuming, down-to-earth personality and inclusive nature that made him one of the Leafs captains most loved by his teammates. A lot of them will be seen Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre when the team honours Sundin by raising a banner with his No. 13 to the rafters to join those of other Leaf greats.

Thank you Mats. It wouldn't have been the same seeing you lift the cup with another team either.

Links after the jump..

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Leafs Still Want Reimer to Be the Guy - Mike Langlois from Vintage Leaf Memories

In any event, here we are now. Reimer is the number-one goalie. (Funny, eh? A couple of weeks ago so many people were talking as though Reimer had lost the net, and Monster had won the job. It was like, "gee, let Reims play one once in a while, or he’ll get really rusty". Just shows how quickly things change—and could change again—also based on necessity.) But what I am really saying today is simply this: Reimer is the guy, still, that the honchos want to to see take the ball and run with it. Not just that he’s younger than Gus, or under contract for an extra couple of seasons (that’s true, right?). But Reimer was the fellow that saved their bacon a year ago and gave Leaf fans a much-needed summer of hope.

Not long ago I posted here that the Leaf goaltending situation was in good hands, just not at that precise moment. And I said that because that’s what I was observing and what I believed. Both of these guys can play. Both are still finding their ceiling, whatever it may be. But both, at that particular time, were not quite setting the league on fire.

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Today's the day. It's been a poorly kept secret, but it's going to be good to hear it come from an NHL official that the Toronto Maple Leafs will play the Detroit Red Wings at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbour, Michigan next season for the Winter Classic. I'm gonna spend a lot of money, I think.

Here's a story about how it finally came to be from Jeff Arnold at Puck Daddy:

Andrea Miller, the public information officer for the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, said non-profit organizations have 12 one-day licenses per year to use. But in order to receive them, organizations must complete a lengthy application, outlining the requirements for alcohol to be sold at events.

Well. I'm sure that's an important point for hockey fans, and definitely to organizers.

More, after the jump.

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What is Mikhail Grabovski Worth? - James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail

After a slow start this year, the 28-year-old Belarussian has again been the best Leaf on the ice over the last 15 games, with 12 points in his last six and 20 during Toronto’s 10-4-1 run since the start of 2012.

His scoring pace is now better than it was a year ago – 31 goals, 68 points over 82 games – despite the fact he’s spent most of the season with a bit of an anchor on his line in Nikolai Kulemin.

While Grabovski doesn’t play with Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, there’s not really any argument that he isn’t Toronto’s best centre right now – and that’s a position where this team needs to add rather than subtract.

And he’s definitely not underappreciated by his teammates, who look at him as one of the team’s on-ice leaders.

Mirtle speculates it'll cost between $4.5 and $5.5M to re-sign Grabbo. But where does the money come from you say? If I'm Burke I'm looking to move Connolly for whatever I can get at the deadline; same goes for Komisarek and Armstrong. None of those three have had any meaningful impact on the Leafs good turn of fortunes in 2012, and all are grossly overpaid. No way should this team lose a player like Grabovski in order retain a player like Komisarek or Armstrong.

Links after the jump.

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Last night, we were once again afforded the opportunity to watch two rebuilding teams in The Toronto Maple Leafs and The Edmonton Oilers. It was a fun, wide-open game, that saw that Leafs cash in on going up against some pond-hockey defense, and walk away with two points. Jolly good show.

It wasn't that long ago that we were hearing about how much better positioned the Oilers were to succeed than the Leafs, because, hey, they were building their team via the only possibly route for success - the draft.

Fast forward a couple years, and things don't look quite so rosy in Edmonton. James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail with his take:

The problem in Edmonton, however, may come in the fact that they're not ready to take enough steps forward while those four youngsters are still underpaid. Gagner needs a new contact this summer, Eberle and Hall will come due in 2013, and Nugent-Hopkins is the year after that.

Oh yeah, and the Leafs? Well, they may not be a lock to make the playoffs this year, but Sports Club Stats has 'em sitting at a 90% chance of making the post-season. Awww yeah.

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Now that the Superbowl is past us, we can all stop pretending to like the 4 hour light beer commercial called football and focus 100% on hockey. Speaking of which, there's a game tonight. Cool beans. Here are some links to tide you over until then.

Leafs Links

The Return of James Reimer

BCP likes the Reimdog.

Do the Maple Leafs Have Another Goaltending Controversy?

If by controversy you mean 1 good goalie playing better than another so-so goalie.

The Leaf Legacy in My Lifetime

Mike at VLM brings us Part II, the 1960s.

Today marks the two year anniversary of Brendan Burke's sudden and tragic death in an automobile accident. Brendan was one of the first individuals in the hockey world to come out as a homosexual. Brendan Burke started something significant that has undoubtedly touched many lives. Brendan Burke made a difference. Today, Maple Leafs Hot Stove (please visit their site today to see their amazing piece on Brendan. I cannot do it justice) and Pension Plan Puppets ask that you try to make a difference as well.

MLHS has set up a paypal account where you can donate to the Miami University Brendan Burke Memorial Scholarship. You can also donate to the USA Hockey Brendan Burke Internship if you so choose.

James Mirtle of the Globe & Mail writes that the Leafs need their "big guns blazing" tonight when they take on the Sens in Ottawa:

Even so, it is notable that Kessel and Lupul’s drought hit the 10-game mark in the Leafs 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. Since both had two-point nights against the Detroit Red Wings in early January, Kessel has only two goals and an assist and Lupul has a goal and four assists. Toronto is 5-4-1 over that stretch mainly due to the fact they’ve gotten 20 goals from their secondary scorers and played sound defensively.

For the Leafs to be a playoff team, they need scoring to come from both of their top lines. That hasn't really happened this season. Kessel and Lupul ran the show through December, and now the Grabovski line has taken over as the first line slides a bit. Hopefully the first line can get things back on track tonight.

Links after the jump...

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