From The Branches

After dropping both games of a back-to-back this past weekend, I got to thinking; why the hell did the Leafs play the Buffalo Sabres on Friday? Both teams last played on Tuesday, against each other. First Niagara Center had no event scheduled for Thursday, January 12th, and having

News that Jake Gardiner had been recalled from the Toronto Marlies yesterday had a few people scratching their heads, but Brian Burke had this all worked out. Since the Marlies don't play until Saturday, Burke decided that the kid may as well skate with the big team until

As I sit on the couch watching the Packers - Giants game on Sunday afternoon it's 0-0 between Washington and Carolina. A Capitals win knocks Toronto down to 9th place and since I've been a Leafs fan for a long time I'm pretty sure

The game last night was ugly. The Rangers come out with the intent to punish the Leafs physically, which they did, and the Leafs had no response. I would guess that Brian Burke did not have a great night's sleep. In other news, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa

[Corsi & Fenwick] - [Shift Chart] - [Faceoffs] - [Head to Head] Tonight's match-up in Buffalo was a bit of a trap game and most of you know it. The Leafs had beaten the Sabres 2-0 in Toronto on Tuesday night; a game where the Sabres struggled to create

On the night that the impending Maple Leafs-Red Wings Winter Classic was basically confirmed by Bob McKenzie Pierre Gauthier made sure that he would steal the limelight. Here is the trade made by the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames: To Montreal Rene Bourque, prospect Patrick Holland, and a

Today, I've got a humongous big pile of links for your perusal, and they took me forever to gather. Now, you're going to sit at the table and read them until you're finished, or you're not getting any dessert. Also, it'

Was that a Mirage, or Did We Just See a Kulemin Breakthrough? - Mike at Vintage Leaf Memories Going into Tuesday night’s encounter against the struggling Sabres, Kulemin had found the back of the net a grand total of 4 times through the first half of the NHL schedule. Kulemin—

Recently, there is plenty of talk in support of our dear friend Jonas Gustavsson. Although I am among the greatest skeptics of The Monster's ability to remain a decent option for the Leafs in goal, numbers don't lie: Even in the organization, few saw this coming,

Asked and Answered: Brian Burke Edition - PPP at Leafs Nation Brian Burke took to Twitter for a Q&A session a few days ago and PPP has collected them all for you because he's a nice guy like that. Some highlights: Which trade do you consider the

The Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings last night. Enjoy today's links. Resurgent Leafs edge Wings Wasn't perfect, but we'll take it Game 41: Game in 10 Quick hits from MLHS Shutouta Ya Mouth Is JP backtracking on Gustavsson? How the Maple Leafs can

News broke last night that the NHLPA has rejected the NHL's new realignment plan for the 2012-2013 season. Afterwards, the NHL announced that they will be keeping the current conference and divisional alignment for at least one more season due to the NHLPA's decision. This

Burke Decries End of the NHL Fighter On Day He Demotes Colton Orr - James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail "I do wonder where our game is going," Burke said. "I know the Greenpeace folks will be happy with this, but I wonder where we're

Look around you. Look around you. Just look around you. Have you worked out what we're looking for? Correct. The answer is 'Competent Goaltending'. Competent Goaltending can be found in Chapter 10 of the textbook that accompanies this series. Be sure to have your copy books

Here's Hoping the Trading Chips Isn't......Gunnarsson - Mike Langlois at Vintage Leaf Memories It’s entirely possible the Leafs will decide that they can be good enough with their present roster as it is to not only make the playoffs but do some damage once there.

Depending on what you decide to call it, there was a heated "debate" or "discussion" yesterday about just where defenders should be standing while killing a penalty. It's good that the Leafs are spending some time sorting out their problems on the PK, but

Reminded of Kadri... - Michael Langlois at Vintage Leaf Memories The elder Wilson was quoted as saying, "I was a left winger. I don’t know how I’d react to all this coaching today. (In my day, as a player) I’d go out there and react to the

So the Leafs lost again last night in classic Leafs style, giving Winnipeg 6 chances against the NHL's worst penalty killing unit. They scored twice with the man advantage and once more just as another powerplay had ended. December has not been a pretty month for Toronto. They&

The Leafs are off to the snowy capital of Manitoba to take on the surging Jets in what should be an exciting game. It should certainly be more exciting than Canada's impending dismantling of USA Hockey's hopes and dreams. Anyways, if you get the chance be

It doesn't take too critical of an eye to figure out any number of problems with the way that the Under-20 World Junior Championships are run. You can probably even come up with a bunch that don't even focus on Canada: federations more interested in

The Toronto Maple Leafs might have played a tighter game in Florida, but It's a game against the Carolina Hurricanes that they have to look forward to tonight, and they need to pick up points in these games against bottom-rung teams. Currently, the Leafs sit in 7th

Things have been a bit lax around here at PPP as we're all on holidays and spending time with family and friends. I just noticed that there wasn't any FTB put up until just now, so I've piled together a few links. It'

But I'm always on time. OK, so by now, it's definitely old news that our dear friend, Ron Wilson, the head coach of our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs, has had his contract extended by another year. Most of you, even though you've been busy

I'm not sure which one of us was slated to do today's FTB, but Chemmy's motto here is usually "blame PPP!" Honestly though, we're only one day away from Christmas, and who could stay mad at this face? In any

The Leafs won 3-2 against the Sabres last night, as both teams leaned hard on their goaltenders. Reimer turned away 40 of 42 shots on the night. Tonight, the blue and white will head to Long Island to play the New York Islanders. Toss any interesting links you find