William Nylander

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

It’s Win — or Choke — For the Leafs

TORONTO (May 8) — What an exhilarating moment to be a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Especially a fan less than 30 years of age, with perhaps hazy recollection of his or her favorite team posing a Stanley Cup… 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

“We Have All Been Here Before…”

Should the Senators rout the Leafs on Tuesday (say, 5–1, which has happened repeatedly to good teams early in the playoffs), all hell will break loose. — my blog after Game 4 TORONTO (Apr. 30) — I had the precise… Read More

24 Hours to Relax For Leafs Nation

TORONTO (Apr. 28) — At no point, and deservedly so, in the Core–4 era have the Maple Leafs been granted a full playoff mulligan. Until Saturday night, that is, when a defeat in overtime at the Canadian Tire Centre in… Read More

Truly, What’s At Stake For The Leafs?

TORONTO (Apr. 19) — It’s a question that no person in the Leafs-owned media will ask aloud (or in print). What happens amid the Doomsday scenario: another first–round playoff defeat in the Core–4 era? This time against an opponent that… Read More

Sorry… I’m Still Not Buying It

TORONTO (Apr. 5) — In the “credit where credit is due” category, the Maple Leafs are rather fortunate they outlasted the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena. While there was joyous media celebration over the narrow and equivocal… Read More

Is Matthews “C”–ing The Light?

TORONTO (Mar. 15) — As much as I contend that he’ll never be a consistently big–game performer for the Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews is clearly hampered by… something. No one anticipated another 69–goal season. In the 109–year history of the… Read More

Really, This Is Shanahan’s Mess

TORONTO (Mar. 10) — There are a number of seminal dates in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Apr. 11, 2014 is fast–rising in prominence. It was the day Brendan Shanahan became president of the hockey club. The… Read More

Why It’s Over For Mitch and the Leafs

TORONTO (Mar. 8) — Yes, the salary cap is about to rise exponentially in the National Hockey League. But, no, the Maple Leafs did not offer the Carolina Hurricanes their immediate prospect and draft pool to obtain forward Mikko Rantanen… Read More

It’s Getting Closer… Every Day

TORONTO (Feb. 8) — Darryl Sittler. Doug Gilmour. Auston Matthews. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been around since 1926; the franchise, previously known as the Arenas and St. Patricks, since 1917. Only three players in 108 years have struck for… Read More

Chalk Up No. 52 and Move On

TORONTO (Feb. 19) — There is only one strategy that Kyle Dubas can deploy in order to salvage the 2019–20 schedule for the Toronto Maple Leafs: start looking toward 2020–21. And, do it without heed to Monday’s National Hockey League… Read More

Would He? Could He?

TORONTO (Feb. 16) — Chuckle, if you wish. Belly–laugh, even. But, understand that this scenario comes from a person with more than three decades of hockey media experience in Los Angeles. Everyone in the sports–writing (broadcasting?) business knows him (her?).… Read More

Leafs Always Looking Long–Term

TORONTO (Jan. 28) — In 1972, the Houghton–Mifflin publishing company in Boston released an autobiography of George Allen, veteran coach of the Washington Redskins, entitled THE FUTURE IS NOW. Today, any author could write a book about the Toronto Maple… Read More

Should Leafs Nation Be Satisfied?

TORONTO (Jan. 24) — Though it may seem unlikely, let’s assume the Maple Leafs accrue enough points in their final 33 games to finish third in the Atlantic Division, thereby securing one of the three allocated playoff berths. It would… Read More

Will It Ever Be The Leafs’ Year?

TORONTO (Jan. 14) — For a brief moment last Wednesday, and despite all of the challenges encountered so far this season, I felt that maybe karma was on the side of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Trailing the Winnipeg Jets, 3–2,… Read More