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Posts Tagged ‘maple leafs’

HNIC - Order Is Restored

Oct 12, 2008 NHL

Now, THAT was the Leafs team we expected to see this year, am I right? Does this mean our PK is otherworldly (to keep Montreal off the board) or just that Toronto is so bad that they can’t stop anybody’s power play? We’ll find out.

Don Cherry was in mid-season form last night. He called out Ron Wilson for having his young defensemen keep two hands on the stick at all times, and showed a couple of times where skilled players in front of the net could spin off of that and get a point-blank shot. He also mentioned that Steve Bernier got 2, 5 and 10 for trying to protect one of the Sedin twins…what the fuck? I watched part of that game but missed all the extra penalties. Skilled players are getting slew-footed, punched and speared and the league is doing the discipline in the wrong direction. Think about everything the NFL does to try and protect QBs, and compare that with the beatdown Sid the Kid gets every game.

He finished up railing against John Tavares dropping out of the 1 spot for prospects, believing that he is being watched too critically after he got put in that spot. It went off in a tangent about the Leafs ignoring Ontario prospects. I love that Ron MacLean used the point against him, as the last all-North American team won the Cup, against his Bruins.

Tags: calgary, Canadiens, canucks, don cherry, flames, Hockey, maple leafs, Montreal, NFL, NHL, no the other sedin, sedin, Steve Bernier, toronto, vancouver, wilson

It’s Finally Here!

Oct 9, 2008 NHL

The ‘North American portion’ of the NHL schedule gets underway tonight, with four games. Your only 7pm option is the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Detroit Red Wings, a game which will be seen on Versus or CBC depending on where you are. The Wings are raising their Stanley Cup banner, but I doubt Versus viewers will see it, as there is a special 3 hour Sidney Crosby interview they need to get through (I kid, I kid!). The schedule is rounded out with three late games: Boston at Colorado (VS), Calgary at Vancouver (CBC) and Anaheim at San Jose (local coverage as far as I can tell). I wish all teams a good season, and may no superstars get Tom Brady’d on the opening weekend, unless it’s Sean Avery.

Tags: anaheim, avalanche, boston, bruins, calgary, canucks, colorado, crosby, detroit, ducks, flames, Hockey, maple leafs, NHL, red wings, san jose, sharks, stanley cup, toronto, vancouver

Sabres Win In OOOOOOOVERTIME

Sep 28, 2008 NHL

Thanks to the AP.

Ales Kotalik scored a minute into the overtime period to complete the rally, as the Sabres beat the Leafs. Toronto scored 2 power-play goals in the third period, but Buffalo responded with two of their own to tie it with 5 seconds to go (Gaustad!). I missed all of that, or course, after Thomas got tired an wanted to leave after the second period. :) Kids! Oh, and of course, we forgot the camera.

I thought Ryan Miller had a great game. Both he and Pogge (the Leafs rookie) were standing tall, Pogge in particular in the first as Buffalo came out firing. Speaking of firing, Craig Rivet will very quickly become a fan favorite if he continues to fire punches the way he did last night in his scrap with Ryan Hollweg. The RAV line had a good night, Max had assists on all 3 goals, Roy scored the Sabres first goal, in part due to he and Vanek working in tight to the net.

You could tell that Lindy was trying to get a feel for some of the youngsters, especially the ones the team will be relying on this year. It seemed like Sekera was on the ice all night, one second short of 30 minutes of ice time. Part of that might’ve been Mike Weber getting a game misconduct for a cross-check to the back of the head on a Leafs player. Gogulla and and Zagrapan also had a good number of shifts. Tyler Myers played well, he had maybe one play that was bad, and was very solid the rest of the time. Seeing him work up close, he skates VERY well for a guy his size. I like his game.

The Sabres play at home again tonight, against the Minnesota Wild. I’ll probably have the radio on as I watch football tonight.

edit: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention The Kaleta! and one monster shift in particular, he nailed 3 Leafs players and drew a penalty when someone came over to him and retaliated.

Tags: buffalo, gaustad, gogulla, Hockey, hollweg, kaleta, kotalik, maple leafs, myers, NHL, pogge, rivet, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, sekera, the kaleta, Thomas Vanek, toronto, weber, zagrapan

Pre-season Gameday - Leafs at Sabres

Sep 26, 2008 NHL

I can NOT wait to attend the game tomorrow night, pre-season though it may be. Hockey is back, and it’s happy time! Thomas and I will be there, whether we go to the ‘red carpet’ shindig remains to be seen. I’ll try and remember the camera (and extra batteries this time) and will see you there!

edit: Sabres Edge at the Buffalo News (thanks to John Vogl) has the lineup for the Sabres tomorrow night, and it’s a good one:

Forwards

Thomas Vanek-Derek Roy-Maxim Afinogenov

Philip Gogulla-Marek Zagrapan-Drew Stafford

Clarke MacArthur-Paul Gaustad-Ales Kotalik

Andrew Peters-Felix Schutz-Patrick Kaleta

Defense

Toni Lydman-Craig Rivet

Mike Weber-Teppo Numminen

Andrej Sekera-Tyler Myers

Goaltenders

Ryan Miller

Jhonas Enroth

You get to see the RAV line back together for a night, Miller and Enroth, Peters and Kaleta (hopefully some real fisticuffs), and some of the youngsters I haven’t seen much of (Schutz, Myers, Gogulla). Sweet!

Tags: buffalo, Hockey, maple leafs, NHL, sabres, toronto

Sabres Play In Hockeyville Tonight

Sep 23, 2008 NHL

Buffalo had their first pre-season game last night, a 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs (the game where all the fans got in ‘free’). The next game is tonight, in little Roberval, Quebec. It’s the Kraft ‘Hockeyville’ game against the Canadiens. Should be watchable on the NHL Network here in the US, CBC otherwise.

By the way, I will have photos from our trip to Puck Drop, just haven’t had much uninterrupted time lately.

Tags: buffalo, Canadiens, hockeville, Hockey, maple leafs, Montreal, NHL, puck drop 2008, roberval, sabres, toronto

A Preseason That’s Actually Fun

Sep 3, 2008 NHL

My son and I will be attending the September 27th Sabres preseason game against the Leafs. Section 109, Row 9 aisle seats if anyone in the blogosphere is there and wants to meet. I have tickets in my hand, and it feels great. :D

Tags: buffalo, Hockey, maple leafs, NHL, preseason, sabres, toronto

That was Dancing with the Stars right there!

Aug 6, 2008 NHL

If you dislike Darcy Tucker as much as I do, then watch the following video:

I particularly enjoy the punch count at the end. Couldn’t've happened to a nicer guy. And by guy, I mean asshole. H/T to the Pensblog.

Tags: fight, maple leafs, penguins, pittsburgh, ruutu, toronto, tucker

Sabres Ticket Prices Rise

Jul 28, 2008 NHL

Sabres.com has the pricing up for this season’s tickets, and it’s gonna cost you a bit more. They’ve added a ‘Platinum’ tier to the variable pricing for the games against the Leafs (and one Friday night match-up with the Canadiens). I guess they really want to stick it to the border crossing crowd. There are 3 Value, 9 Bronze, 15 Silver and 10 Gold games. Hit that link to get the exact prices, but in general, Gold pricing is down 15%, the rest are up about 12%. It was bound to happen, I just hope it doesn’t bite ‘em, what with the increased price of gas and other things eating even more of our money up nowadays.

Tags: buffalo, Canadiens, Hockey, maple leafs, Montreal, NHL, sabres, schedule, toronto

Sabres Preseason Schedule

Jul 23, 2008 NHL

Sabres.com has the preseason schedule up, including a game against the Canadiens in the city that won CBC’s Hockeyville contest (Roberval, Quebec). Annoyed here as usual that the Sabres seem to play every game away, only 2 of the 7 games are at home (not calling a Habs game in Quebec neutral site). Two preseason games versus the Leafs, maybe making up for two less during the season? I’d rather be rid of them, as their toolbag fans might ruin the normally kid-friendly preseason games.

Tags: buffalo, Canadiens, Hockey, maple leafs, Montreal, NHL, quebec, roberval, sabres, schedule, toronto