From The Branches

There was no FTB this morning because of an administrative error that resulted in the painful death of most of our employees. PPP Distributed Computing and Less Toxic Chemicals GMBH regrets the oversight and hopes you continue to visit the site and support our generous sponsors. Have you considered new

Is It Time to Blame the Fans? - Danny Gray over at Leafs Nation Late last night my esteemed colleague in blogging Steve Dangle asked a question that’s been on the mind of Leafs’ fans all summer, and for most of the past eight years: What is going on?

It's a good day if your name is Don Cherry, because "faceoff specialist" Mike Zigomanis has been re-signed to return to play with the Toronto Marlies. Also signing on is Will Acton, and some other guy who played for the Oklahoma City Barons last season. Kyle

The Olympics are like meth. I'm so addicted. But seriously, why no backhand? Leafs Links What's the Point of this CBA Exactly? BCP wonders what's the point of the current negotiations. Teams Still Have Work to Do Kevin Allen at USA Hockey things Burke

We're just days away from the most boring hockey month of the year! So close! That said, Vintage Leaf Memories is musing about some less common discussions. Today's post covers individual awards. When was the last time a Leaf won one? Is any current Leaf capable

Bull Durham is one of the greatest sports films ever made and this is the first line uttered by Crash Davis in that movie. In seven words, the audience gets almost all they need to know about the character's background: Davis is an afterthought in the realm of

Courtesy of the Score. Good stuff. More links after the jump. Leafs Links Quinn and Bowman to Coach WC Alumni Game All offense versus all defense. Gonna be a dozy, I mean a snoozy. Leafs 2012-12 Player Predictions MLHS pulls out the crystal ball. The Best Late Round Gems of

There isn't a whole lot of specific info about what Steve Staios will do for the Leafs on a daily basis, but the best summary of things actually comes from the Leafs' official site: Staios, 39, will advise the Leafs management team on the prospects and players

No witty start, just the links. Luke Schenn and JVR in Their New Uniforms As was mentioned yesterday, not only does Schenn play like a pylon, he now looks like one too. TML Offseason Expectations From Blue Chip Prospects. Dion Phaneuf and Jake Gardiner, Comparing Matchups Cam compares the Captain

Rick Nash finally got traded and it wasn't to Toronto. He was traded to the New York Rangers along with a minor leaguer and a conditional 3rd round pick (if the Rangers make the finals) for Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon, and a 1st round pick. It&

Kadri in the Middle - I Used to Assume That Would Be the Case ...funny thing is, I always thought Kadri playing in the middle was the plan when the Leafs drafted him. Set aside for the moment the up and down yo-yo string they’ve had him on the

Twitter can be great sometimes. I had a pretty good laugh when I came up with this one last night for "#RemoveOneLetterFilms". It seemed exceptionally accurate for some of the daily discussions that happen on that platform (and here as well). If you're not a stat

That's right kids. The Muscle from Magnitogorsk has re-signed with the Leafs on a two year deal. Ryan Fancey of the Leafs Nation had this to say about Kulemin's new deal: The Cliff's Notes is that Kulemin is a positive play driver on the

It's FRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY! and here are some links for you to read while you get through the last day before the weekend. Please toss any other good links in the comments. TJ Oshie Signs With St. Louis The Blues avoid arbitration with their young stud Dr. Recchi Talks CBA

So as some of you sleepyheads will have noticed by now, at approximately 1:30 a.m. this morning, Darren Dreger revealed that Shea Weber has signed an offer sheet from Paul "Mad Man" Holmgren for over $100M and 14 years. Should the David Poile and the Nashville

Elliotte Friedman's fantastic segment, 30 Thoughts closes out its season with this week's installment, and it's got a lot of good talking points. 30 44 Thoughts. Of note, the following on the Leafs' brass hunting for goaltending: 27. Have to believe that, yes,

I'm still not sure I buy the rumour that the Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs have made a serious offer for Jonathan Bernier, but the outcry from us around here at PPP makes it clear that most of us have our eyes set on a larger

No, I don't mean people in general. I mean the Toronto Maple Leafs. Who are they? What's their identity. Are we hard nosed? Fast checking young guns? Quick skating old farts? Really I have no idea and that's why Mike Langlois asked the question

We've achieved full summer lull mode. The only Leaf news of the past few days have been the 3,000 articles on James van Reimsdyk playing center, which will probably last about a period. But I guess sportswriters have to eat, ya know? Anywhoo, the only real news

JVR at Center is Going to Happen, Isn't It? - Cam Charron at The Leafs Nation If you look at most of JvR's goals, you don't see that play-controlling ability. Rather, much of his goals are a big guy using his size and strength

Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings released the names of some of the players who would participate in the Alumni Game leading up to the Winter Classic. That is, they released the names of players that would play in one of the Alumni Games. That's

And by something I mean more than swapping a 4th liner for some mid-round picks. Leafs Links Leafs Nation Podcast The boys talk free agency and a possible dispersal draft. Top 10 American-Born Players in the NHL Today Phil Kessel comes in at #5. Tim Connolly, A Look at His

As Cam Charron points out, Nikolai Kulemin is scheduled to have an arbitration hearing on August 4th. Naturally, we all hope that it doesn't come down to that, but there are definitely a lot of wingers in the depth chart, and a trade could yet be looming for

The Cup has been handed out. The Draft is over with. Free Agency has ground down to a slow, tiresome crawl. Yes my friends, it's mid-July; the worst time of the year for a hockey fan. This is all of diddly poo to talk about, save for epic

I like to imagine Rick Nash and Roberto Luongo are getting awfully close to a Denis Lemieux impression. While those two names could wind up being the biggest trades of the summer, the Leafs are going to need to scour the market for help as well. Where do they need