Steve filler

That's it! We've made it! The Summer of our casual fandom is over.

One week until NHL pre-season opens. The baby Leafs will play the baby Pens tonight at 7PM EST, presumably again on limited, Ontario-only outlets. It's getting closer. Links: Is success partly to blame for Dion Phaneuf's and Mikhail Grabovski's poor corsi last year? -

August dies, and like clockwork there's stuff to talk about. Canada's new jersey, Calgary's new President, and - because the classics never die - the 2013 performance of Grabovski and Phaneuf when on ice together.

2013-14 Toronto Maple Leaf hockey starts tonight. The 5pm game against the Blackhawks' rookies will be aired in Ontario at 7 PM.

We've done it, everyone. August, the slowest of hockey months, has passed us by. Some important numbers for surviving the last September Stretch: 5 days until Leafs rookie camp. 14 days until the first pre-season game. 14 days until the first regular season game. 15 days until the

The Reim Minister of Defense. The Sultan of Saves. The Backup to Bernier. Whoops. I was actually going to link to HockeyBuzz - which is a sentence I never thought I'd write - because Travis Yost has been doing some phenomenal work with the Senators' finances. It&

Every now and then, when it's been a while since I've seen a hockey game, and longer since I hit the ice, I end up seeing something that makes me feel like I've gotta drop everything and get back out there right now. It&

Take your morning from "drab" to "jacked up" by checking out this Phil Kessel video, care of @PhillyCheese81 (and/or @HadenFranke): And then follow it up with this Grabbo video (but stop at the 3:40 mark to maintain happy feelings.): Oh man I miss that

Cam Charon wrote an article about anchoring bias, and did some analysis on Benoit Pouliot. Joe Haggerty dismissed, and may have been influenced by anchoring bias when he did so. It's a little funny.

Ah, August. The slowest period of the offseason - teams are starting to line up, players and executives are taking their vacation, and prospect camps haven't opened yet. Here are a few links to get you through the day: Vintage Leaf Memories - Carl Brewer: the Jake Gardiner-like

In the - uh, rush - of last week, we never really took a second to talk about the Leafs' schedule this year. As always, Dirk Hoag's Super Schedule is helpful - the Leafs tie for the 11th most back-to-backs (at 16) and travel the 8th fewest

Not much to say - maybe something will happen?

While trying to figure out what the Leafs' roster looks like right now, I thought I'd ask the tough question: Did Dave Nonis out-GM a potato?

Lay down some draft chat right here.

Weekend links and notes - drop any confirmed trades in the comments, and get ready for a whole slew of twitter rumors, fake and otherwise.

Alex Tanguay and Cory Sarich were traded from the Calgary Flames to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for David Jones and Shane O'Brian. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=675507&navid=nhl:topheads Toss your links in the comments.

Matt Frattin, Ben Scrivens and a 2nd round pick in either 2014 or 2015 (Leafs choice).

Why shouldn't PHWA writers be required to defend their hockey opinion? It's what they're supposedly paid to do on a daily basis.

The Bruins punched their ticket to the finals last night, and tonight Chicago will have the chance to do the same.

Four teams have been granted permission to speak with Dallas Eakins. Why aren't the Leafs doing it?

Normally there's a slew of injuries announced after a club is eliminated, but all we heard about was Bozak. Were the Leafs really healthy?

The Toronto Maple Leafs gave up a 4-1 lead to lose in overtime against the Bruins.

James Reimer and Dion Phaneuf have taken a beating in the press as the Leafs' have come close to elimination.

James Reimer and the Toronto Maple Leafs fended off 44 shots and an early summer with their second win of the series.

The Toronto Maple Leafs played another strong game against the Boston Bruins, but couldn't get the overtime winner. they fall behind in the series, 3-1, and will need a win on Friday to stay alive.