Pension Plan Puppets, a Toronto Maple Leafs community

He didn’t mind at all when a group of players caught planning a helicopter ride to Manhattan for an evening of partying the night before a game in New Jersey ended up receiving exit visas.

He didn’t mind waving farewell to a player he liked to call the "NBC Page" (30 Rock reference) for his propensity to have constant groups of friends and family touring the Leaf dressing room.

IMHO, Twitter NOT just avenue for the gutless (PPP and girlfriends) to take more anonymous shots from their basements. Blocked every time.

Laich, a native of tiny Wawota, Sask., pop. 591, grew up a Maple Leaf fan with a Doug Gilmour No. 93 jersey, and even religiously used Gilmour’s stick pattern growing up. His grandfather once ventured east with buddy Bert Olmstead to try and make the Leafs, so there’s an emotional connection to the Toronto franchise and all the Canadian teams.

I laugh when I read there's a consensus out there that the Leafs did poorly in the Kessel deal. We don't even know where that draft pick will be yet! In Boston, where the Bruins can't score, there's heat on the organization for letting a 36-goal scorer walk for draft picks. I think Boston wanted to find a way to keep Kessel or get something viable now for him. But they got boxed in.