From The Branches

Look out for him in section 317, row 19. He'll be the one screeching as Daniel Alfredsson putters around the ice with his walker. Anyways, the Senators come to Toronto after suffering a beat down at the hands of Detroit last night. Not only is this the first

It's Usually Best Not to Make too Much of One Game, Even a Solid Season Opener - Mike Langlois at Vintage Leaf Memories Think back to last season. Montreal beat Montreal in the opener, and went on to win three more. Things looked good, eh? But we all know

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Closed Door Policy - Justin Bourne at The Score Today I read the James Mirtle blog on Cody Franson, and how he felt about being named the Maple Leafs 7th defenseman heading into the regular season. The recently-acquired defenseman will watch opening night from the press box, where he can

The big news yesterday was, without a doubt, the final trimming of the Leafs' lineup to bring the Buds down to the maximum of 23 skaters. Although much of this was already well-documented and debated in yesterday's FTB, I would feel neglectful if I didn'

Leafs Final Cuts Loom - James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail Toronto's already down to 29 bodies after they sent third-string goaltender Ben Scrivens to the Marlies, but they need to get to the 23-man roster limit by Wednesday. Complicating matters is a suspension to Clarke

The Leafs turned in a somewhat lackluster performance last night against the Grand Rapids Griffins (presented by Amway) and I'm not sure there was any definitive solution to the logjam on defense. I still expect Jake Gardiner to wind up on the Marlies, but we should find out

Two of the unlikeliest players came up with a few big goals tonight to help the Leafs win their last road game of the preseason. Mike Brown potted two in regulation before Mike Komisarek won the game in overtime. Don't think we'll ever see anything quite

Grabovski Line Will Again be Pivotal for the Leafs - James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail Ron Wilson even remarked the other day how the team's new assistant coaches were pretty impressed with the three – and their centre, in particular. "I've gotten kind of used

As first tweeted by Garrett Bauman last night: welcome to the NHL, Matt Frattin. Bob MacKenzie confirmed this information at around 11:30 last night via Twitter, and explained that official confirmation from the Leafs was likely to come this morning. The Leafs have been hit with a rash of

Burke's Crew Still a Long Way's Off from Having to Make the Tough Decisions - Mike Langlois at Vintage Leaf Memories The Leafs are young, and that’s great. They have some skill, but the talent level is hardly over-whelming. We are now talking about a

Man, oh man, I have a veritable buffet of links in store for you this morning. This FTB took double the amount of time it normally takes to complete, but I promise you that it won't disappoint. Every kind of drama you can imagine can be found here:

Jake Gardiner Creates Nice Problem for Leafs - David Shoalts at the Globe and Mail Jake Gardiner is making like an unwanted guest, and the Toronto Maple Leafs could not be happier. The Leafs’ defence is supposed to be a closed shop heading into the NHL season, with the seven roster

Ron Wilson and staff will make the most significant cuts of training camp today, splitting the current 46-man roster into two teams. One group will stay while the other reports to Dallas Eakins and his group as Marlies camp opens tomorrow. With the news breaking last night that Matthew

It's been a long time coming, but the Moneypuck revolution is here. NHL teams are finally cottoning on to what is becoming a very useful set of tools for evaluating player performances. As James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail explains: Desjardins's work at behindthenet.ca

No big lead in story for today, just some good old fashion linkage. Leafs Links Ottawa Senators: Low Hanging Fruit It's too easy to laugh at the Senators this summer Cup Odds via Bodog.com Leafs at 50/1.......so you're saying there's a

Leafs double up on Flyers Recap from the Globe & Mail Joffrey Lupul wouldn't dare rest on his laurels Bit of a human interest piece from Mirtle on #19's journey back to hockey OK: Who would un-do the Kessel trade? Not me.  I think. NHL

For All the Positive Burke Moves, Is There One Recent Leafs You'd Like to Have Back - Mike Langlois at Vintage Leaf Memories It’s hard to argue that Brian Burke has done anything but improve the Leafs, in terms of the current roster (younger, faster, tougher), cap issues

Hey gang, sorry for the tardiness - my bad. Anyway, Here are your links, starting with a recap of last night's efforts, and a focus on Bozak's strong game from James Mirtle: "We kind of figured that it could potentially be a line combination," Kadri

Maple Leafs Look For More Scoring Punch - James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail It always appeared to be one of Brian Burke’s core tenets, right up there with his love of fights, obscure words and American-born players. The Toronto Maple Leafs general manager, almost from Day 1,

The first on-ice day of Leafs camp is over, and the Buds will back again for more action today in preparation for their first preseason game.  Sounds like Ron Wilson will be making sweeping cuts to the training camp roster soon, with the goal of being down to 26

The Toronto Maple Leafs hit the ice today for the first official practice of the season. With the first preseason game only two nights away, expect the competition to be fierce. Two spots on offense and maybe one on defense are up for grabs. Whoever has designs on winning one

How Much Time Does Ron Wilson Get? - Mike Langlois at Vintage Leaf Memories We’ve discussed Wilson’s strengths and his lesser capabilities in this space over the past couple of years. He has a long track record as a successful NHL coach, blemished only, really, by his last three

We've heard everything from Mark Staal money ($3.9M/season) to Chemmy's estimate, based on comparable (though perhaps underpaid) players of $2.26M. This feels like a reasonable comparison except for the fact that the cap has gone up. In 2008-2009 the salary cap was

Leafs Prospect Pipeline Appears Headed in Right Direction - James Mirtle at the Globe and Mail Toronto hasn't made the playoffs since 2004, but in recent years, you wouldn't know it looking at their minor league club. The Marlies team that had 109 points in the standings