Of Course Nylander Will Be Dealt

TORONTO (Nov. 12) — How many times can we put a different spin on the same likelihood? Let us count. Toronto’s three–player nucleus beyond the coming season will be Tavares, Matthews and Marner. The Nylander contract stalemate… is… Read More

Leafs Will Be Fine, Unless…

A much–more interesting study will, of course, abound if the Maple Leafs do not match or exceed their lofty expectations. Can you envision the national outcry when the Leafs unavoidably lapse into a four or five–game skid, as will every Read More

Can Dubas Make a Trade?

TORONTO (Oct. 29) — So, it’s official… and not at all surprising: Auston Matthews, according to the Maple Leafs, will be sidelined “a minimum four weeks” with the left–shoulder injury he sustained when side–checked, on Saturday night, by Jacob Trouba… Read More

Kadri In A Tough Spot

TORONTO (Oct. 20) — Nazem Kadri is not only a reliable goal–scorer and one of the National Hockey League’s most–personable young men, but he ranks among the truly important figures in Toronto Maple Leafs history. Given the multicultural city in… Read More

Nylander to Nashville Makes Sense

TORONTO (Oct. 16) — Whether it happens this season or next summer, I maintain the Leafs will have to trade one of their Big 3 draft gems of 2014–16. And, it ain’t gonna be Mitch Marner or Auston Matthews. By… Read More

Presumably, the Leafs Have A Plan

TORONTO (Oct. 6) — Hey, no one said this was gonna be easy. For the better part of two years, my little corner, here, has been addressing the environment in which the Toronto Maple Leafs currently reside — needing to… Read More

Enjoy These Leafs (While You Can)

“We’re here for a good time, not a long time… So have a good time, the sun can’t shine every day.” — Trooper, 1977 TORONTO (Sep. 30) — Note to fans of the Maple Leafs: As the song goes, be… Read More

Is There an Indispensable Leaf?

TORONTO (Sep. 22) — In the current National Hockey League — with a condensed schedule of six months spanning three time zones of travel in Canada and the United States; with players skating on the same ice dimensions as their… Read More

Leafs Following or Bucking Trend?

TORONTO (Sep. 19) — So, the Leafs have made it clear that they can win the Stanley Cup by loading up on forwards while comparably ignoring their blue line. Good luck to them. And, to those that concur. Neither am… Read More

Leafs Still Living Dangerously

TORONTO (Sep. 15) — And, so, the wait(s) continue. Plural. Fifty–one years and counting for a Stanley Cup. Forty years and counting for a Norris Trophy–caliber defenseman. Any person that believes the two aren’t related with respect to the championship… Read More

No Surprise: Leafs Rated Highly

TORONTO (Sep. 2) — For as long as I can remember, dating to my grade–school years, there have been magazines that preview the National Hockey League. In the mid–to–late 1960’s, my dad brought home these items — whereupon I would… Read More

Leafs/Habs in New Territory

TORONTO (Aug. 11) — For so many years in the post–1967 (or expansion) era of the National Hockey League, it was unthinkable that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be acres ahead of the Montreal Canadiens. Fans of both clubs are… Read More

Leafs Could Still Pounce

TORONTO (Aug. 6) — William Nylander emphasized last week he is out for a “long–term” deal coming off entry–level salary restriction, rather than a shorter “bridge” contract. If I were Kyle Dubas, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, I… Read More

Are Leafs, Blues Talking?

TORONTO (July 29) — It is merely a whisper at this point and has a number of moving parts. But, a source tells me the Toronto Maple Leafs, interminably looking for a big–time defenseman, and the St. Louis Blues, in… Read More

The Erik Karlsson Dilemma

TORONTO (July 9) — This is a purely hypothetical exercise, for it appears — and to their detriment — that the Toronto Maple Leafs are not involved in trade talks with the Ottawa Senators for Erik Karlsson. Nowhere else on… Read More

How Delusion Festers

TORONTO (July 6) — For as long as anyone can remember; but, specifically, in the age of Internet and social media, the Toronto Maple Leafs have possessed as rabid and unconditionally–loyal a fan–base as any in professional sport. How do… Read More

Crazy 8’s Again For The Leafs

TORONTO (July 1) — You really cannot ask more from a team in the National Hockey League during the off–season than signing the best unrestricted free agent on the market. Which is exactly what the Toronto Maple Leafs did Sunday… Read More

The Leafs Would Have to Trade

TORONTO (June 29) — Isn’t it deliciously coincidental that the home of the Maple Leafs, on the very day that John Tavares could choose to ply his trade on Bay St., changes title from an airline to a bank? Yes… Read More
This site is protected by Comment SPAM Wiper.