Pre-Game: 4:30 PM, Leafs TV
Broadcast: 5:00 PM, Leafs TV,
AM640, Leafs TV Interactive, Availalbe Streams
Post-Game: 7:30 PM, Leafs TV
Post Video: mapleleafs.com 

I wonder what the playoff picture would have looked like if the Leafs had been able to play the Blue Jackets more often in the past three seasons... 

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Well, I ended up  missing this game in favour of watching Toronto FC continue to give me a ray of hope of seeing a team in the playoffs this year. A huge 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls keeps them in the hunt although it will require running the table, getting help, and some human sacrifices. Sound familiar?

So this is an open thread for recaps. Toss out your best performers, your worst performers, and any other impressions of the game. From the game thread it sounds like Poni might need to find a pair of hands before the pitchfork wielding mob catches up to him, CuJo is starting to worry some of us, and Jason Blake is confusing us by looking like the player that we hated when he was an Islander as opposed to the player we hated last night.

So have at it.

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Pre-Game: 7:00 PM, Leafs TV
Broadcast: 7:30 PM, Leafs TV,
AM640, Leafs TV Interactive, JTV Sports
Post-Game: 10 PM, Leafs TV
Post Video: mapleleafs.com 

He must have done something? The only thing Probert needed to get out of control was a sniff of the good stuff or news that he wasn't going to get any.

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Tonight's game will be the last one before the Leafs try to work their way down to a 23 man roster. Here's a look at who's left with the Leafs:

Forwards: Nik Antropov, Mark Bell, Jason Blake, Boyd Devereaux, Robbie Earl, Mikhail Grabovski, Nik Hagman, Ryan Hollweg, Nik Kulemin, Jamal Mayers, John Mitchell, Dominic Moore, Alex Ponikarovsky, Kyle Rogers, Matt Stajan, Alex Steen, Jiri Tlusty, Jeremy Williams. (18)

Defence: Carlo Colaiacovo, Jeff Finger, Jonas Frogren, Tomas Kaberle, Staffan Kronwall, Pavel Kubina, Richard Petiot, Luke Schenn, Jaime Sifers, Anton Stralman, Mike Van Ryn, Ian White. (12)

Goalies: Vesa Toskala, Curtis Joseph, Justin Pogge. (3)

The Leafs have to be at 23 players by Wednesday and will likely be set by Monday for their last preseason tune-up. So who goes? Goalie is simple because Pogge gets sent to the Marlies. That leaves 21 spots open. Who fills those 21 spots?

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The Leafs continue their hectic end to the exhibition schedule with a rematch against the Red Wings tonight at the ACC. The NHL season actually starts at noon today in Prague and Stockholm but the rest of the league has exhibition games. Weird. Anyway, while you wait for tonight's game and another chance to see the Leafs play 56 pretty good minutes of hockey here are some links:

• White's getting some good reviews on forward. This of course eases the clogging on the back-end only for it to increase among the forwards.
• Did you know that the Leafs played their best lineup last night? Steve Buffery seems to think so.
• If Kronwall doesn't make the Leafs then it's unlikely that he'll stay with the club since he has to clear waivers. Hopefully that isn't the case.
• A Torontonian is in the running to win the HNiC anthem contest. Oh and he's 13 years old.
• Raycroft made his home debut and Eyebeleaf is happy. That can only mean one thing: he sucked.
• LD snuck into the Leafs dressing room and things don't look good.

Ron Wilson has his troops ready to execute the Leafs' Tank for Tavares game plan. They've seemingly already mastered the ability to play very well for 56 minutes helping themselves to develop all aspects of their game and their decision making process while still throwing away points in an attempt to get the top draft pick next summer. It's really brilliant.

Take tonight for example. The Leafs looked shell-shocked in the first period. They took some bad penalties due to their torpid movement, allowed 14 shots, took only 5 (?!) and  fell behind 2-0. Looks like the team that all of the analysts have competing for 30th in the league right?

Then, Wilson worked his coaching magic and the team came out flying in the second, pressured the Red Wings into turnovers, and tied the game up. It kind of looked like there might have been a trade of teams, or at the very least roles, at the intermission. They held the Red Wings to four shots. Four! That's something Detroit does to other teams.

The third saw the Leafs fall behind again but they rallied on a nice goal by Grabovski who is looking determined to make the Habs regret tradng him. Unfortunately for us (or fortunately in a week?) the deer in the headlights Leafs returned and Antropov made one of the all-time worst plays that led to a goal. It didn't help that Toskala gave up a brutal rebound or that Ponikarovsky watch Johan Franzen (who has a debt to pay for that dirty hit on Blake) pot the winner. Of course, if Antro doesn't play hot potato with the puck things don't get that far.

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The game is of course on the official station of Leafs Nation so most of you are SOL. The free online preview of LeafsTV Interactive is, predictably, swamped and useless but this post comes to the rescue. Plus, there are some very cool pictures of 1967ers old radio.

Holmstrom and Chelios are out with injuries which means that the ugly quotient on the game has been reduced by about 78% and that's 98% due to the absence of the NHL's ugliest player since Mike Ricci. For Detroit reaction check out SBN's Winging It In Motown and see how the model franchise is run.

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