Good Morning Toronto Maple Leafs fans!

We're coming off All-Star Weekend, and the news is still light so let's talk books.

I used to commute a long way between cities on the bus and train, before unlimited phone data existed so I would grab books at the store to read when I needed something new (forgot my book on the AM train).

Hockey books were easy reads, and good to pick up. These are some I've enjoyed, and no, I'm not getting paid for this.

Between the Lines: Not-So-Tall Tales From Ray "Scampy" Scapinello's Four Decades in the NHL

Ray "Scampy" Scampiello was a linesman in the NHL for decades, and wrote about getting to the NHL, working there forever, and his dad using his game uses stick collection for tomatoes to grow on.

Hockey 365 series

Always good for a trip to the water closet, Hockey 365 is a daily read. One story per day. There are two general hockey books and one all about the Leafs. Also one about the Canadians coming for Christmas. We spoke Mike Commito about the Leafs book last year.

PPP Book Club: Leafs 365: Daily Stories From The Ice, by Mike Commito
Leafs 365: Daily Stories From The Ice is a new book for Leafs fans available this month.
PPP LeafsSpecies

Fabric of the Game

Chris Creamer has been running the ultimate repository of sports logos, uniforms, and fonts since for what feels like the dawn of the internet. An amazing collection of history on one place from the majors to practically peewee. You can check it out at SportsLogos.net

Fabric of the game goes through NHL team logo, uniforms, colour schemes for current and defunct teams with a keen eye to history.

On fun fact I learned from this book, is that someone submitted that the Buffalo Sabres be named the "Mugwumps", which I grew up knowing as the sound a water cooler makes when a air bubble travels up as you pour. My grampa would always declare "You got a Mugwump!" and I'm very glad after googling, it doesn't also have a terrible old tyme meaning.

Dictionary.com says "a person who is independent (as in politics) or who remains undecided or neutral"

Either way, a weird name for a team.

Walking With Legends

Ralph Mellanby was the producer of Hockey Night in Canada for 19 years and in his book he shares his stories from working in broadcasting, hockey, and everything else.

I picked this up because it was my goal to work for Hockey Night while I was in college for TV Production, but I blew my internship test at the CBC when I knocked over a spotlight onto the mannequin that was standing in for the guest were setting up the interview set for.

My bad.

Those some of the hockey books I have and share yours in the comments.

Outside of the library, we have our roaming correspondent Species out on the west coast taking in the AHL All-Star Game.

Check in for his report from the bay later on.

This Easton Cowan kid of ours is pretty darn good.

PWHL Ottawa blew a 3-0 lead to lose to New York. Good to know they can keep expectations the same with the Senators.

Carpenter scores twice, including OT winner, to lead New York past Ottawa 4-3
Ottawa’s Professional Women’s Hockey League team was better than New York for 54 minutes and 54 seconds but that wasn’t enough.
Ottawa

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Jesse Puljujarvi off his PTO to a two year contract.

Pens sign Jesse Puljujarvi to two-year deal
Puljujarvi had signed a PTO with the team in December.
PensBurghMike Darnay

The Hockey Diversity Alliance held their festivities through All-Star Weekend.

Inside the Hockey Diversity Alliance’s Winterfest and what it means to Toronto
There are dozens of children running around inside the commu…
TheLeafsNationArun Srinivasan

The Maple Leafs are back in action tonight as they host the New York Islanders at 7PM.

See you in the game chat!

From The Branches