From The Branches

Breaking Boxcars: Toronto Marlies Edition Gus breaks down scoring. Lunchpail Canadian Team Reduced to Celebrity RT Begging Shameful. Utterly shameful. Don't Buy the Hockey Fan in Your Life this for Christmas Why is he carrying a football and posing the Heisman? Why the NHL Owners Hate Capitalism Because

I don't know how the rest of you have been dealing with the absence of NHL hockey, but I'm not doing well with it. I'm beginning to get pretty restless, and I'm going to need a few new hobbies soon. NHL v.

US WJC Watch: Stats and Notes on Each Player Biggs and Sparks coverage. Today in Leafs History Newspaper Clippings from Dec 16, 2008. After All These Years... Mike at VLM is still trying to understand Brian Burke. Freakazoid Jersey? Freakazoid jersey. Hockey Words: A Unique Culture An article by someone

Has the NHL lockout reached its eventual endgame or will a deal be salvaged?

WJC Primer: Team USA Best team. US World Junior Watch Candidates on TV tonight. Significance of Morgan Rielly Making Team Canada Pretty big feat for an 18 year old defenseman. And Interview with the Voice of the Leafs Joe Bowen No word if this was the 10 cent interview, or

I mean, really, how sweet would an English-language KHL feed be? Make it like Gamecenter, and just let us watch tonnes of Russian hockey. How cool would it be to cheer for a Malkin-Kulemin combo? Or a Datsyuk-Grabovski duo? Plus, it's hockey. You'd

Don't care. Links Will World Junior Team Roster Select be Different with a Possible End to the Lockout Looming? Regardless of the NHL, Burke says Rielly is staying. Leafs Prospect Point Tracking Keeping up with the kids. Draft Schmaft - Leafs Part VII Looking at the 1984 draft. What

If there is one party that hasn't been heard from much so far in this lockout it's the NHL's sponsors. Somehow, I imagine that the league will listen far more carefully to them than the fans when they call to end the lockout. At

Yup. Short Seasons and Playoff Chances BCP talks about how small sample size could help the inconsistent Leafs. Abbotsford Heat Burn Marlies with Late Goal Marlies fall 3-2 ending a 4-game win streak. 15 Leafs Questions Heading into Camp 16. When will camp even be? 23 AHL Theme

Honestly, I have idea what to write about anymore. The Marlies play tonight at 7, so that's pretty cool. And...uh...it's December 8th and I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. Is that bad? Anyways, here be your links: How Zach Parise Signing

Were these negotiations days of the year, we'd have gone through about a half dozen sunsets and sunrises by now. Too many for me to care anymore. Links Freaky Frattin Gus breaks down Matt Frattin's game. Forget the Lockout Let's remember Errol Thompson So

Yes, it's wonderful they're still talking. My read on the situation is that the "removal" of Gary Bettman and Don Fehr from negotiations isn't really what is driving the optimism (and, let's be honest, they're still very much

Lots of talk late last night were that the owners/players only meeting was a rousing success and that the negotiations may have taken a big step towards ending this current lockout. Today should bring with it many stories about what transpired in that meeting and what the logical next

I can't see how this negotiation meeting between a bunch of relatively uneducated players and a group of experienced businessmen could work in the players' favour, but I don't really care. In other news, the Human Torch was denied a bank loan. A special Leaf

Here be your links. Marlies beat Monsters for Third Straight Win Good to see there's one good hockey team in Toronto. Projecting the US WJC Preliminary Roster Biggs is in, and the injury to Gibson could mean Sparks goes as well. Matt Frattin: Could He be More than

Last night on Twitter, Maclean's writer Colby Cosh said this regarding the Oilers' ongoing arena woes: My stance has always been that it would be goofy for the Oilers to abandon the most important heritage building in hockey. He caught some flak for it, and even some

Ghostbusters

Many of today's links focus on the recent Forbes team valuations. These financial assessments are considered by almost everyone to be authoritative, but if you read Tyler Dellow's most recent article, you'll have reason to wonder about how thorough they really are. NHL and

On Twitter last night, @1967ers thought it'd be keen to post some lockout centric haikus. Here are my favorites. Got any to add? Losing a season was so much fun the last time that we'll try again? Lockout imminent? Sure, buyout Colby Armstrong. Sounds like a

This Arrested Development clip seems relevant, here. Of course, Arrested Development is always somehow relevant, so there's no surprise, there. Here's the TSN article on the situation, if you're just looking for the straight facts. The mediation will be non-binding, so it'

Thanksgiving is over and now it's officially the Christmas season. Will Santa bring you NHL hockey for Christmas this year? No, probably not.

Did we all make it thru Black Friday alive? Good. Here are some links to entertain you while you recover. IIHF Hall of Fame Class of 2013 Yup. Sundin's in that one too. Expectation: Nazem Kadri Part 1 Really just a history lesson, but ok. Gerry James: Two-

Gary Bettman chats with Flyers fan Jaymes Hall, 41, of Lancaster, Pa. Wonder if he'd chat with one of us. Article at The Blueshirts Blog by Pat Leonard. NHL rejects union's offer, Bettman rips Fehr Article from Josh Yohe at TribLive. The NHLPA proposal by the

CBA stuff blah blah blah. Talking about HRR blah blah blah. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Here there be links. A Closer Look at the NHL Proposal Mirtle examines that and what may be next. MacKinnon, Jones Top Preliminary Rankings for 2013 Watch the Leafs get screwed by a no-season lottery. Backhand Shelf

OK, so the league and the players met last night for a couple hours to start talking again, but there doesn't seem to have been any real movement, and any article written on the subject is basically another non-news item, but at least we know they'