Happy, Thursday, everyone, today is game 82 of one of the most interesting seasons the Maple Leafs have ever played.

This was the roster matchup for the opening game:

Notice that the Leafs had no scratches as they were right at the cap. Tonight's roster is anyone's guess at this point, but they will be right against the cap. We'll have more on that later on today.

In other news:

We posted yesterday that Roni Hirvonen will be heading to the Marlies. The Liiga is unique(?) in that they make the semifinal losers play for third and fourth place, so his team has one more game on April 20.

The various playoff matchups for teams not named Toronto and Tampa are still to be determined.

Women's Worlds gets underway again today, and I stole the schedule out of this great post:

Brampton 2023: IIHF Women’s Worlds round robin wrap-up
From the relegated teams in ninth and tenth place down to Canada in first, here’s the road so far at the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championships.
PPP LeafsNafio

As much as I love Czechia, I believe in Finland more than Nafio does. I think they will retake their spot in Group A. That Switzerland - Japan game is too close to call for me.

The schedule for the medal games for Women's Worlds:

GAME DATE TIME TEAMS TV
QF 1 Thursday, April 13 10:00 am EDT CZE vs FIN TSN 1
QF 2 Thursday, April 13 1:30pm EDT USA vs GER TSN 1, RDS 2, NHLN
QF 3 Thursday, April 13 5:00 pm EDT CAN vs SWE TSN 1, RDS 2
QF 4 Thursday, April 13 8:30 pm EDT SUI vs JPN TSN 1
Placement Friday, April 14 3:00 pm EDT TSN 5
Placement Friday, April 14 7:00 pm EDT TSN 5
SF 1 Saturday, April 15 12:00 pm EDT TSN 4, RDS, NHLN
SF 2 Saturday, April 15 4:00 pm EDT TSN 4, RDS, NHLN
5th Place Sunday, April 16 9:00 am EDT TSN 4
Bronze Sunday, April 16 3:00 pm EDT TSN 4, RDS 2, NHLN
Gold Sunday, April 16 7:00 pm EDT TSN 1/3/4, RDS, NHLN

That's it for now, see you later today for the last game of the year.

From The Branches