Posts tagged habs
Leafs 2010-2011 Schedule Breakdown
Jun 22nd
Lost in the news of pretty much anything else imaginable today (Nathan Horton to the Bruins, Scott Niedermayer’s retirement, an increase in the salary cap, Pat Quinn’s lack of a head coaching job and an awful Hall of Fame class) was the announcement of the entire 2010-2011 NHL schedule for all 30 franchises.
The Toronto Maple Leafs kick off the season in a style similar to last season, hosting the Habs on October the 7th. It’s definitely a schedule different than last season’s as the Leafs don’t make anything that remotely resembles a home-stand until they host the Canucks, Predators and Devils from Saturday November the 13th until Thursday November 18th. And again, that’s barely a home-stand considering that’s only three games.
As for a road trip, there isn’t one that lasts more than two games until a Western-Canadian road-swing that sees the Leafs play the Oilers, Flames and Canucks from December 14th-December 18th.
The Leafs make a bit of a longer road-trip in mid-January when they play the Thrashers, Sharks, Kings and Coyotes over the course of six days.
The Buds next so-called “home-stand” takes place all the way in March, when from the 10th to the 14th the Leafs will host the Lightning, the Sabres and defending Eastern Conference Champs, the Philadelphia Flyers.
The blue and white will close out the regular season against their most hated of rivals, facing off against all other four teams in their division once apiece in their last six games of the season.
The longest break from action will be five full days without hockey as the Leafs play the Atlanta Thrashers at the ACC on December the 20th and don’t pick up again until boxing day in New Jersey.
Defending Burke and the Kessel Trade! Part 1 of 3
Jun 22nd
Ever since Montreal GAVE AWAY Jaroslav Halak, living in Montreal as a Leafs fan has been pretty fun. And yes I said gave away, not traded. (Don’t get me wrong Eller could be a good player, but definitely not enough value to trade away the guy who single-handedly won them 2 playoff series, but that’s a whole other article). The point is that the first 24 hours after this move were incredibly enjoyable for me, because being a Leafs fan was a good thing here in Montreal, however that tide has turned quickly. All that I hear about now the last few days is 2 numbers. The first is “67”, which obviously represents the last time Toronto has won the cup, which doesn’t effect me at all because I am only 24 years old, and I wasn’t even old enough to truly appreciate hockey in 1993 (the last time the Habs won). So that argument has lost it’s effect on me, however the other number being thrown around to attack the leafs is the dreaded number 2. Which is obviously to rub in the fact that Brian Burke, in their opinion, has ruined the future of this franchise by dealing away the number 2 pick in this years draft. I have noticed in fact, that this view is not only popular in Montreal, but that a few Leafs fans have also began to get onto this bandwagon, and have started bashing Burke for this move. Some even saying that Brian Burke’s ego, and his desire for attention has ruined Toronto’s future, and that the Phil Kessel trade was one of the worst trades in recent history. I will defend the move made by Burke, and even go onto explain how Toronto is better off in the long run, because of Burke. As stated above I will write 3 article’s on this subject before the draft on Friday.
Who Cares
Jun 10th
With Patrick Kane scoring the goal that nobody saw without the aid of video replay, 93.34% of the NHL media wrote their reports celebrating the victory of the Chicago Blackhawks as the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions. As for the other 6.66%, half of it were the Flyers media, obviously mopey over their cinderella team’s loss in one of the most confusing plays in hockey history. The other half? Yep, none other than Toronto. The article that most of our writers have been waiting years to write has finally arrived, that being that the Toronto Maple Leafs now have the longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history.
Personally, I’ve never cared much for championship droughts, period, in any league. It’s a stretch grasp to pick on teams and their fanbases, to me. But considering we won’t hear the end of this until the Leafs win a cup (2246 is the latest projection), it might as well be addressed now. So here’s what I’m going to go through with this article.
I’m going to go through who exactly are the people doing the mocking. I’m going to go through how this drought looks in comparison to other teams. I’m going to go through a theory that states we might not actually be the team with the longest drought in the NHL, why people should embrace it rather than counter argue it, and more importantly, why we typically shouldn’t care. Lets get started.
The Toronto Maple Leafs: Future Cinderellas?
May 16th
By now it’s no secret that the rival Montreal Canadiens have gone on a Cinderella run defeating the Presidents Trophy winners and the defending Stanley Cup Champions in seven games each to clinch a berth in the final four of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It’s also no secret how they got there. Hitting at open ice. Shot-blocking. Outstanding goaltending. Despite a lack of skilled offense, this total blue collar effort has brought the Habs past arguably the two best teams in the league like many Cinderella’s before them.
Which has me wondering: if the Leafs do sneak into the playoffs by breaking in on the last couple available seeds in the Eastern Conference next year like everybody expects, could they do the same?
Looking back on earlier years, I found a few things out about how the Leafs of today, who weren’t Leafs yesterday, compare to the Habs of…today. More >
The Curious Case of John Mitchell
May 3rd
WOW! This is the first one of these blogs I’ve done in almost a month, other than exceptions for Scrivens and Rynnas. No matter, I’m gonna try to get back into the swing of posting them, so keep watching for more of them.
The 5 W’s
Who is he?
John Mitchell is a 25 year old Centre from Oakville, Ontario. He’s 6’1 and weighs in at 195lbs. A left handed shot, Mitchell has completed his second season up with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and his 6th (5th full) year, of professional hockey with the Organization.
Mitchell is currently rotated along the lineup, pretty much playing every single forward position in the top 12 at some point this year. Most frequently though, he’s a 3rd line centre. His peak this year was a short stint at first line centre with Jason Blake and Phil Kessel.
Mitchell has completed his final year of his most recent contract and will be a Restricted Free Agent on July 1st. He made approximately $500,000 last year.
Calgary Flames New Jerseys, Offseason Plans Leaked
Apr 11th
An inside source to LeafsHQ has confirmed to us that the above jerseys will be the Jersey the Calgary Flames wear full time this upcoming year. You may have already seen them wear the home and 3rd once each this year (photos at the bottom if you haven’t), but they like them so much that they’re going through with the total change. The word is that they feel that they more accurately represent the direction that the team is going, with the 3rd being a throwback to the old “C” logo while still showing signs of the direction.
The same inside source has also confirmed to us that after Jarome Iginla is traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 1st and Mikael Backlund for Jeff Finger, Mikhail Grabovski, Mike Komisarek, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Flames will name first line centre Matt Stajan as the next Captain of the team, with Ian White and Niklas Hagman getting the A’s.
They well then continue on to attempt to ignore the salary cap by signing Alexei Ponikarovsky, Lee Stempniak, Rickard Wallin, Jamie Lundmark, Wayne Primeau, Garnet Exelby, Mike Van Ryn, and the blue chip of the former Leafs batch of 2010, Martin Skoula.
The source identified himself as Dwayne Keith Klessel of a city in Pennsylvania, said he had a hockey site where he makes up absolutely absurd rumors for profit, but alas, this is the first time someone’s actually sent him a legit piece of insider information, and he felt it should be given to a more legitimate site, like a brand new Leaf blog that not many know about.
He then proceeded to tell us that Vincent Lecavalier will be traded to the Habs 3 times. All at the same time. When we told him to get out out, he screamed LETS DO THIS, LEEROYYYYYY JENKINSSSSSS, grabbed his push scooter, and failed miserably at jumping a flight of stairs. 3 days later, nobody’s called an ambulance for him, and this joke is at dead status, resulting in this being the last sentence in the article.
Grabovski On The Home Stretch of Leafs Career?
Apr 8th
Keep checking LeafsHQ over the next few days! I’ll be posting very similar articles for every player, several prospects, and several staff.
The 5 W’s
Who is he?
Mikhail Grabovski is a 26 year old centre from Potsdam, Germany (raised in Belarus). He’s 5’11 and weighs in at 182lbs. A left handed shot, this is Grabovski’s technical sophomore season in the NHL, though he’s had two call up stints previous to this with the Montreal Canadiens.
Grabovski is currently the second line centre for the Toronto Maple Leafs, with rotating wingers depending on what Wilson tries on a given night. Grabovski, or ‘Grabo’, has flirted with the 1st line this year a few times. He shows chemistry with Nikolai Kulemin, and did with Niklas Hagman and Alexei Ponikarovsky before they were traded.
What do his stats look like this year?
Grabovski is having an underwhelming sophomore year, with 34 points (10 goals 24 assists) in 58 games, which paces to 45 points in 78 games, 3 less than he had in the same amount of time last season. He’s become much more disciplined, with 10 PIM instead of the 92 last year, but has lost a goal scoring edge, no doubt.
When did they acquire him?
Grabovski was acquired from the Montreal Canadiens in the summer of 2008 for a 2nd round pick and 2008 5th round pick Greg Pateryn.
Where has he played?
Grabovski started out his pro career in Russia, playing with Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik for 03/04 and 04/05. He would play for the much better known Moscow Dynamo in 05/06, before crossing the ocean and starting to play in North America. He started out with the Hamilton Bulldogs, playing a full year. The Habs would give him 24 games in 07/08, before beginning to have him come with them without play (healthy scratch). This infuriated Grabovski, who bolted from the team after this continued for a lengthy period of time. Eventually they sent him back down to the AHL, where he would get 20 points in 12 games. He was traded to Toronto the next offseason.
Why was he originally acquired?
Grabovski was acquired to be a potential solution to the centre crisis. The Leafs believed themselves to have absolutely nobody down the middle, and needed people to fill in holes, particularly if they weren’t terribly aging, and with Grabo a more than fine 24 years old at the time, he seemed a good fit.
Role Changes
What was his role to be at the start of the year?
Grabovski was expected to be the second line centre behind Matt Stajan to start the year, and the 1st line centre if Stajan were to not be available (like, if he were to be traded to the Calgary Flames with others for Dion Phaneuf).
What is his current role with the team?
Grabovski is currently the second line centre behind Tyler Bozak. He also gets powerplay minutes.
Has he exceeded or failed to reach expectations of him to date?
Definitely failed. Not only will he not meet his pace for points that he was on last season, he also had his spot in the depth chart handed to him at the start of the year, and failed.
Will he continue to improve in the future with the Leafs?
Questionable. He’s at the beginning of prime-age, and he’s still only a 45 point scorer. Its possible, but I can’t see him becoming anything incredibly good.
Is He Worth Keeping?
Who knows. It depends on the moves that the Leafs make this offseason. He’ll probably be 3rd on the Leafs depth chart behind Bozak and Kadri, and he doesn’t suit a bottom 6 role. Really, unless he wants to play Left Wing, I don’t see him lasting long.
Anything Else?
If there’s one thing the team can take from the man Burke described as ‘Stupid but Healthy’ after a bar fight during the Olympics, its his work ethic in practice. According to Ron Wilson last year, he’s by a considerable margin the hardest working player when it comes to them. If only that could translate into something more.
Play of the Year
His tip in overtime winner from a few weeks ago. Definitely hasn’t been the highlight reel year it was last year.
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