Brad Marchand

Decoding Connor McDavid’s Retort

TORONTO (June 20) — Something tells me the world’s most–gifted hockey player was not impressed when his team flipped between goaltenders late in the Stanley Cup final. Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard; the latter having played one game for the… Read More

For Leafs, It Can Only Be Marchand

TORONTO (June 11) — For the moment, the target remains clear. If it is still within sight on July 1 — just 20 days from now — the Maple Leafs can adopt only one strategy: Get Brad Marchand into the… Read More

Pelley Should Run The Leafs

TORONTO (May 22) — There’s no need to search for a hockey executive to replace Brendan Shanahan as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The club’s parent company, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, has the perfect candidate under its roof.… Read More

Imagine the MLSE Revenge Tour

TORONTO (May 16) — Only once in my years around the Maple Leafs do I recall the club being so universally written off toward the end of a playoff series — prior to Game 7 of the 1993 opening–round clash… Read More

Only Three More Years, Folks

TORONTO (May 15) — Here’s what we know, for certain, about the Toronto Maple Leafs: Unless they triumph at Florida on Friday night, Brendan Shanahan and Mitch Marner will have enjoyed their final hours in blue and white. Auston Matthews?… Read More

Car 34, Where Are You?

TORONTO (May 10) — So long as the Toronto Maple Leafs were winning, there was no concern over Auston Matthews being the highest–paid “defensive center” in the Stanley Cup playoffs. As noted, Friday, on the always friendly Hockey Night In … Read More

The Panthers Aren’t Likely Scared

TORONTO (May 6) — And, precisely who should the Florida Panthers be concerned about, as it relates to vengeance, on the Maple Leafs? You could search the DNA database of the entire Toronto club without detecting a single portent of… Read More

Stolarz Will Keep Leafs Competitive

TORONTO (May 3) — It was 32 years ago, at Maple Leaf Gardens, that Doug Gilmour scored his legendary overtime goal against St. Louis. May 3, 1993. You’ve probably seen it a hundred times — the diminutive Gilmour with the… Read More

Brad Treliving Made His Moves, But…

TORONTO (Mar. 7) — If Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo are the final marble slabs of the Maple Leafs, Michaelangelo could have stopped at David’s waist. The part everyone stares at in Florence would be missing. Not that Brad Treliving’s… Read More

Seven Games To Go?

“He’s got 20 games,” said a well–known figure in the National Hockey League. “If the Leafs aren’t playing up to par by mid–November, Babcock’s gone. Count on it. There is lots of appetite for change in Toronto.” — BETWEEN THE… Read More

Leafs Have Long Had Their Captain

TORONTO (Sep. 25) — The alleged incident involving Auston Matthews last May in Scottsdale shouldn’t be about the captaincy of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Given that it frightened a woman in the middle of the night, it cuts much deeper.… Read More

Kadri Trade Good… and Bad

[Kyle] Dubas — according to whispers — has inquired with Colorado about veteran Tyson Barrie. At least one established, formidable defenseman must be added to the roster before any person can reasonably expect the Leafs to improve on their playoff … Read More

The Sound of Silence

“… and the sign said the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls… and tenement halls… and whispered through the sound… of silence.” — Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, 1965 TORONTO (May 22) — If not for… Read More

Was It The Leafs’ Biggest Gaffe?

TORONTO (May 15) — We take you, regrettably, back to June 24, 2006. At then–called General Motors Place in Vancouver. Today, Rogers Arena. Home of the Canucks. With the 13th pick in the National Hockey League draft, the Maple Leafs… Read More

Bruins Had Net Advantage

TORONTO (Apr. 23) — It may be a somewhat harsh assessment, but the better goalie prevailed in Game 7 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. Again. Though he didn’t come apart like last year, Frederik Andersen was unable… Read More

If Freddy Is Ready, Leafs Can Win

TORONTO (Apr. 22) — Yes, an opportunity was missed. No, it isn’t game over. Not in this series of zero momentum; not in this playoff year of road dominance. I know it’s difficult for fans of the Leafs to envision… Read More

Sorry, But This One’s On Freddy

TORONTO (Apr. 18) — During Coach’s Corner in the first intermission of Wednesday night’s game, Don Cherry called Frederik Andersen “the best goalie in the world right now.” To support his opinion, Cherry showed the highlight of a difficult save… Read More

Write it Down: The Leafs in 6

TORONTO (Apr. 8) — It’s alright. Call me crazy. Measure me for a straight–jacket. Order blood and urinalysis. Administer a warm, soapy enema if you think I’m full of sh**. But, in the end, be sure to remember where you… Read More