From The Branches

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.

Dave Nonis went on TSN Radio last nightand as always when a member of the Leafs management speaks in public, there were quite a few money quotes to be had: We feel strongly that there is enough money to get both guys (Franson and Kadri) signed. Leafs only have $4.

Stay here and talk about the latest comments from Darren Dreger re: Kadri and Franson: (glovetap to @Hope_Smoke for tweeting these out from the radio) Dreger on TSN Radio "right now the numbers don't work for the Leafs in bringing back Kadri and Franson" Dreger

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

A few cool links to check out, today.

Links Canada Overflowing with Olympic Talent at Center Yes, that's the position the best players tend to play. The Top Secret Agenda for Team Canada's Orientation Camp Step yelling "Iggy". Growing Up a Gay Sports Fanatic This is a great read. Why Hits and

Lots of Olympic debate and a couple contracts to ponder.

Links for you. Grabbo Lands While Kadri Stews Oh yeah, and Franson waits. Phaneuf Wants to Stay and Win in Toronto Well that's nice. Team Canada Sochi 2014 Roster Projection Dirty Dangle take a shot.

Not much in the way of Leafs news, but there's always something to discuss.

Leafs were yesterday's 30 in 30 team on NHL.com and got four articles posted about them: Gardiner's Role X-Factor for the Leafs Goalies Among Maple Leafs Questions Clarkson Gives Maple Leafs New Look(As Steve Burtch showed yesterday, I'm not sure how that&

Linkage Five Maple Leafs Expected to Perform Another 30pt season from Gardiner wouldn't be good enough? TLN's Top Prospects - Andrew MacWilliam They're a little high on this one. Jaromir Jagr is the Coolest Motherf'er on the Planet Seriously, look at him.

Please hockey, come back.

Links on a Monday Phaneuf or Kessel: If You Can Only Sign One Kessel 10 times out of 10. TLN's Top 20 Leafs Prospects - Honourable Mentions What that says. The Departed: How Losing Grabovski and MacArthur Will Force the Leafs to Think Differently Ayup.

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&

Links Interview with Leafs Scout Garth Malarchuk Relatively speaking, this one is pretty tame. Landeskog Signs Sever Year Extension With Avs Me thinks this means ROR is as good as gone come March. That's pretty much it. Ah summer.

From Kadri to Phaneuf to Luongo, I've got a bit of everything for you.

Bring your runners.

Here be your links: Jake Gardiner: A Breakout Season Around the Corner? You mean like his 30 point campaign in 2011-12? Steve Dangle Podcast - August 11th David Alter is apparently badass. Who Should Play with Bozak and Kessel? Can we get Bozak to go play in the street? Seven

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&

That's it, wave.

So what are you doing to keep yourself sane during August? Winning a Fight Has Impact on Future Outcomes They are bad outcomes. Machine Learning for the NHL Part 1 Machine Learning for the NHL Part 2 This is some pretty wild stuff. Eastern Conference Pairing/Tier vs Team Production

The Phoenix Coyotes staying in Glendale is the most exciting thing to report on, right now.

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