From The Branches

Just in case you were locked inside some sort of sensory deprivation tank, last night saw the first hockey of the season as Toronto's all-rookie team defeated the Chicago Blackhawks' squad 6-3. Some of the kids looked good, while others struggled to make an impression.

The weather is cooling. The sun is setting earlier. Even a few leaves are starting to turn. That can only mean one thing: hockey is close. After a somewhat turbulent offseason, filled with several departures and arrivals, countless (and repetitive) interviews, and plenty of over-analysis, the pre-pre-season

That's alliteration homes. In my last PPPPP update post, I asked you all to post your unique team names so that I could include the best in this FTB for the masses to vote on. So, masses, which of the following fantasy team names do you like best?

So Chemmy and PPP are pretty cool, right? They wield their Barilkosphere power in clever, responsible and entertaining ways. PPP gets his nose broken trying to defend women from soccer hooligans and Chemmy starts amazing campaigns like #ThrowTheSnake. But what happens when our Overlords combine their power to roast an

This week, the Leafs are holding their rookie camp. It's the closest thing to tryouts there is in the NHL. Kids show up from far and wide hoping to dazzle for the coaches and show they deserve a spot on the team. Unfortunately for them, the sad reality

So my night last night was relatively pleasant.  Around 4:30 pm I started getting hungry, as we'd done our traditional Stat Holiday sleep in and have brunch at 10:30 am thing, so it was time for me to eat.  It rained the entire day (actually rare

Ah, Labour Day.  The last day of freedom before school starts for any of you youngsters out there (and masters students).  Once you enter the workforce, Labour Day is just another stat holiday, making it awesome.  For me, I go to the Fair on Labour Day.  The last day of

Nothing happened. Deceptions disagrees: How about 1963 when two Swedes arrived for training camp. Carl Oeberg and goalie Kjell Svensson travelled to attend the camp in Peterborough and then continued with the club as they played exhibition games out west. They returned to Sweden after figuring it wasn’t worthwhile

Not a whole lot to talk about right now.  The ACC staff laid down the base layers of the ice surface yesterday.  Kovalchuk's contract was approved by the NHL after the league and PA negotiated new conditions on long-term contracts.  College football kicks into high gear today.

No, I'm not talking about Hurricane Earl and the fact that it should hit my area of the Eastern seaboard this evening, I'm talking about Twitter. If there are three things I love; it's hockey, old school hip hop, and internet memes. Therefore, yesterday&

Thank goodness it's September with training camp and the pre-season right around the corner. I can't take any more cap, SPC, or roster speculation. I am going so insane with the lack of any hockey to watch (although thank you TSN for re-playing so

It's freaking September! That's what month it is. September holds more than just the end of summer and the beginning of fall; it marks the beginning of the return of hockey!  In September we get rookie tournaments, training camp, roster finalization, and lastly the start of

I was inspired by the NHL11 post yesterday and the punishment for the four disappointing tournament players, so I thought I'd write my own PPP limerick for today's FTB: After the lockout I moved to the west Where people think the Canucks are the best. Despite

I'm guessing today was Dr. SkinnyFish M.D.'s day to FTB. Unfortunately for all of you we were stuck in traffic for ever last night and dragged ass into our apartment around 2a.m. before passing out. I don't have many Leafs blogs in

The discussion concerning the acquisition of defender Matt Lashoff on Friday got me thinking. We, as a community, tend to throw around the word "prospect" quite often. But should we? How exactly should we define the term? I've heard players such as Lashoff, Hanson, Mueller, and

Brian Burke basically wrote today's FTB for me. The Maple Leafs acquired Matt Lashoff, the #22 overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft, from the Tamp Bay Lightning for Alex Berry and Stefano Giliati. Obviously, this is a minor deal. Lashoff has spent the majority of his four-

Every time I look at the masthead on this site, I realize I'm one of the few Canadians listed on it, which is an interesting statement about Leaf fans in itself.  I like to think I can bring some needed Canadian Content to the site.  And what'

I'm a big fan of Behind the Net (despite my complaints about stats) and this week he's had a couple of interesting Leaf posts.  First there was this post about how Beauchemin thinking the Leafs had one of the best records to finish the season last

Damien Cox is an outmoded, sour dinosaur of a columnist who can't stand the heat, yet won't get out of the kitchen. Yesterday he had a Jose Cancesoesque mini-meltdown on Twitter as he got into it with Jays fans over his column about how Jose

Dobrý den, Zaprvé, dovolte mi, abych se představil ještě jednou, já jsem obhájce Dave Fuller. Jsem ženatý a otcem čtyř dětí. Jsem senior advokát tady v Malajsii. My jurisdikce je občanské právo a nemovitosti Consultant. I když můj návrh byl spíše samo-vysvětlující, ale pro účely jasnosti, dovolte mi použít

This weekend I was away so I was mostly unable to stay up with the events on PPP, but I sure tried my hardest.  In between visiting family, wherever I could grab 5, 10 minutes to come on and get caught up on our own interesting ethical dilemma, I did.

There are 47 days until the Leafs open the season with a trouncing of the Canadiens. It can't come soon enough. Still, there's plenty of Leaf related stuff to write about (unless you work for the Toronto Sun). Who'll win the second-line left

What can I say that hasn't already been said?  Dave Fuller, known Habs fan, is a jerk.  Whatever.  It should come as no surprise that the guy lacks journalistic values considering his bio page on the Toronto Sun's website includes this gem: Less than a month

Last night I went to an Independent League baseball game in Bridgeport, CT.  For those of you who don't know what that is, the independent league baseball is a grouping of various professional baseball teams and leagues through the US that do not have direct affiliation with MLB.

I'm not feeling so hot tonight so this will be short and sweet: why do you think Brian Burke has never fired a coach?  Frankly, I find this baffling - to have been working as a GM for so long in the NHL, yet never having fired a coach?