The Maple Leafs play the Utah Mammoth tonight for their once a season trip to Toronto. The Mammoth are the segababa after playing the Sabres last night and winning in OT. They now sit tied for second in the Western Conference with the Winnipeg Jets, both with 9 wins and 18 points, trailing only the Colorado Avalanche who have 21 points on only 8 wins, that's because of the extra points picked up from their 5 OT losses.

We'll have our preview of the game out later this morning. Here's the media availability from practice yesterday.

The Marlies crushed the Wolves in Chicago on Sunday, breaking a four game losing streak. Here's a recap.

Alex Nylander scores twice as Toronto Marlies snap losing skid with gritty performance in Chicago
Losing becomes a bad habit at any time of the season. The Toronto Marlies were delighted to snap out of a four-game losing skid, of which at least half were self-inflicted defeats. A fast start was critical, as was Artur Akhtyamov’s performance in net and the Marlies’ willingness to grind and go toe-to-toe with a […]
Maple Leafs HotstoveMark Rackham

LOLHABS

They lost in a shootout to the Flyers last night and I want to pull out two goals from that. Zegras still got it.

And then our beloved GREB! got his first NHL goal.

We miss you Greb. Come home and say more funny things.

Other News

Stamkos' still got it. Though the Predators wound up losing again, now at only 5 wins in their first 15 games of the season. For the record, the worst team for wins right now are the Flames with only three so far this season.

And look who wants to still got it. I'm 99% sure I saw him walking on King Street at Bay late last week. Could have been a look a like, though that hair is pretty distinctive. I'm guessing he wasn't reapplying for the Leafs though and probably in town for NHL meetings or something like he had Blue Jays season tickets.

Real Kyper’s NHL Buzz: Shanahan wants back in with a team
Nick Kypreos shares what he’s hearing around the league, from a potential Brendan Shanahan return, to Montreal and Vancouver’s search for a centre, Macklin Celebrini’s charge to an Olympic spot, and more.
Sportsnet.caNick Kypreos

Finally, we're coming up to Hall of Fame Induction weekend and there's lots of profiles coming out.

Thornton kept looking forward, all the way to Hall of Fame, Marleau says | NHL.com
Top 2 picks from 1997 NHL Draft teamed for 13 seasons with Sharks, won Olympic gold together in 2010
NHL logoPatrick Marleau / Special to NHL.com
Hall of Famer Jennifer Botterill’s rise from Team Canada legend to Sportsnet star
The three-time Canadian national women’s team gold medal winner brings a new audience to hockey as broadcasting analyst.
Montreal GazetteLance Hornby

Enjoy your Wednesday. If you want to feel old, tonight is Nazem Kadri's 1,000th NHL game.

From The Branches