Leafs Fall to the Panthers, Again

The Leafs brutal stretch was extended following a 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers Tuesday night. The Leafs are 0-4 against the Panthers this season, allowing five goals in each contest, being outscored 20-9. James Reimer got the nod between the pipes for the Leafs for the first time since February 28th. Unfortunately for Reimer, Sean Bergenheim buried a a rebound from a shot by Keaton Ellerby that was tipped by Mikael Samuelsson in front only 59 seconds into the contest. The Panthers second goal was scored by defenseman Jason Garrison, his 15th of the season, off a pass by Marcel Goc with 5:17 left in the second period. Finally, the Leafs got on the board with 58 seconds left in the second with a goal by centreman, Tyler Bozak, to make it 2-1. Bozak's goal ended the Leafs goal drought that lasted a span of 196 minutes, 26 seconds. Florida restored the two goal advantage in the third when Tomas Kopecky scored on the powerplay, 6:07 into the period. Marcel Goc added another with the man advantage to extend the lead to 4-1 for the home squad. The Leafs answered roughly three minutes after by a goal from Mikhail Grabovski to cut the lead to two. This is as close as the Leafs would get as Bergenheim added an empty netter, his second of the game, to put it away. This loss continued the unbelievable collapse of the Leafs season as their record is 2-13-2 in their last 17 games.

Highlights from the game:

Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle's comments following the game:

The Leafs next game is Thursday, March 15 in Tampa against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Leafs Lose a Big One to the Caps

Leaf fans are beginning to realize that the dream of playoff hockey should be shut down. Following their latest 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals, a team they're chasing in the standings, the playoffs seem way out of the question. After being shutout in their last two games, the Maple Leafs are now sitting in 12th in the Eastern Conference, a whopping 8 points out of the playoffs and only 3 points ahead of the last place Montreal Canadiens. The Leafs have seen their record fall below the .500 mark for the first time this season, as they currently sit with a record of 30-31-8.

The Leafs gave up a short handed goal roughly 10 minutes into the game off a brutal giveaway by rookie Jake Gardiner. The young defenseman attempted to drop the puck back in the neutral zone and Capitals hard nosed forward, Brooks Laich, picked off the pass, went in on Leafs goaltender Jonas Gustvasson and beat him glove side. The game remained 1-0 until Mathieu Perreault buried a loose puck at the side of the Leafs goal 42 seconds into the third period to extend the Capitals lead to 2-0. The Leafs failed to muster up any offense to break the shutout, barely looking threatening all night. The Leafs only registered 23 shots on Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth, with only a few of them being solid scoring opportunities. Jonas Gustvasson, who started his sixth straight game, made several big saves throughout the game to keep his team in it, finishing with a total of 21 saves.

Three Stars: 

Michal Neuvirth (WSH): SV%: 1.00 GAA: 0

Brooks Laich (WSH): 1 G, +1, 3 SOG 

Mathieu Perreault (WSH): 1 G, +1, 1 SOG

Highlights of Sundays game: 

Leaf head coach Randy Carlyle following the loss:

The Leafs next game is Tuesday, March 13th in Sunrise, Florida against the Florida Panthers

Coach Ron Wilson Showed the Door; Carlyle Hired

Late Friday night, the Leafs announced that they have fired head coach Ron Wilson and are replacing him with former Anaheim Duck coach, Randy Carlyle. Ron Wilson, a man who has coached in over 1,400 career games in the NHL, never was able to find success with the Buds. In close to four seasons behind the bench with the Leafs, he posted a record of 130-135-45, with no playoff appearances. Wilson was unable to stop the bleeding in the past month or so which saw the Leafs go 1-9-1 in their last 11 games. This brutal string of games plummeted the Leafs out of the playoff picture as they currently sit 12th in the Eastern Conference, 6 points out of 8th place. Burke knew he had to shuffle the deck.

Randy Carlyle, the man brought in to turn this ship around, has coached for Brian Burke before. While Burke was the general manager of the Ducks, Carlyle was his coach and they were able to hoist a Stanley Cup together in Anaheim. Burke said it was tough to fire Wilson, as they have been friends since their college hockey years together, but knew something had to change. Burke knew it was time after the Leafs fell 5-3 to the Florida Panthers on home ice Tuesday night. The players on the Leafs bench didn't appear to be responding to Wilson's efforts. Also, during that game the fans began to chant "Fire Wilson" as the Leafs fell down 2-0 early in the first period in a pivotal match against a team they're trying to leapfrog in the standings. Burke didn't think it would be right to have Wilson return to the Air Canada Centre to coach a game with the potential of him hearing that again.

Carlyle will be thrown right behind the bench as the Leafs are playing at the Bell Centre tonight against the Montreal Canadiens at 7PM. You can catch the action on Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. 

Here is 40 minutes of coverage on the Leafs coaching change, including Hockeycentral discussion as well as the press conference introducing the 28th head coach in Leaf history, Randy Carlyle. Don't expect you guys to watch every minute of it, but if you choose to, enjoy it!

The Quiz - Blue N White Edition

What's going on Leafs Nation? Below is a video of me sitting down with captain of the Tropics, Eric Bauer, and captain of WWGRD?, Marc Berthiaume, to talk all things Leafs. Check it out! 

Leafs Trade Deadline

With the NHL's trade deadline vastly approaching on Monday, February 27th, I will review the Leafs needs and potential players they may bring in.

The Leafs are currently out of the playoff picture, sitting in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. They have a record of 29-25-7, which is good for 65 points. Although only one point out of the highly prestigious 8th playoff spot, a position Florida is currently holding, the Leafs have an abysmal record of 3-6-1 in their last 10 contests. This recent poor play has raised speculation that General Manager, Brian Burke, may be busy come Monday's deadline in a final effort to improve his club.

Needs:

- More fire power up front to take some pressure off the Leafs top line of Lupul-Bozak-Kessel
- More grit up front to make the Leafs a tougher team to play
- Although it may be tough to solve, the Leafs goaltending is definitely an area that needs to be improved

Potential Targets:

Dustin Brown: Brown is a 27 year old right winger who is currently playing for the Los Angeles Kings. Brown is exactly what the Leafs are looking for. He has the size and physicality, as well as the offensive ability needed to help this team score more goals. His contract is also very reasonable, $3.175 million, running to the 2013-2014 season. With the addition of Jeff Carter and the loss of top defenseman, Jack Johnson, it would seem as if the Kings would be willing to move Brown for a solid defenseman. Look for Brown to attract a great deal of attention come deadline day.

Steve Ott: Ott is a 29 year old centreman who is currently playing for the Dallas Stars. Although not as offensively gifted as Brown, Ott is that agitator that every player hates playing against. Ott has the ability to get the opposition off their game and win some fights here and there.

Jonathan Bernier: Bernier is a 23 year old goaltender who is currently playing for the LA Kings. Although it seems very unlikely that Burke would be able to upgrade his goaltending by Monday, Bernier is definitely a goalie who seems available. Although Bernier is a solid goaltender, he is a backup for the Kings and, in my mind, would not provide a big enough of an upgrade to the Leafs goaltending situation to make a deal for him worthwhile.

Leaf Talk Podcast

Below is the link to the chats I had with Leaf head coach Ron Wilson following the Buds 2-1 lost to the Winnipeg Jets on February 7th as well as the talk I had with Mats Sundin following his honoring on Saturday night, a game the Leafs lost 5-0.

http://www.box.com/s/uliy0h4lax3kj16ai0p1

Mats Sundin Top 10

Here is a Mats Sundin Top 10!

Leafs Land Winter Classic

 Rink at Michigan Stadium

Hello readers, I'm going to drop in here for a quick little update on the great news that was brought to Leafs Nations attention Thursday morning. After weeks of speculation, the rumors have finally been confirmed, the Leafs will be squaring off against one of their Original Six rivals, the Detroit Red Wings for the 2013 Bridgestone Winter Classic. The game is set to be played on New Years Day and at Michigan Stadium, or as some refer to it as, "The Big House." Michigan Stadium is home to the University of Michigan Wolverine's football team and is the largest stadium in North America, with a capacity of around 115,000. This Winter Classic has potential to break the record for attendance at a hockey game. 

"Even with 115,000 or more tickets available, we still won't have enough to satisfy the demand," said commissioner Gary Bettman.

Not only will the infamous Winter Classic be held in the Detroit area, there will also be a slue of other events that will be sure to catch the eyes of hockey fans galore. The NHL is calling these other events the Hockeytown Winter Festival at Comerica. Comerica Park is the field that the Detroit Tigers call home. The ballpark rink will be hosting an American Hockey League game between the Toronto Marlies and the Grand Rapids Griffins, the two AHL affiliate organizations of the Leafs and Wings. Also, the Ontario Hockey League's Winter Spitfires, Saginaw Spirit, Plymouth Whalers and London Knights will also be taking part in games at that same rink. College, high school and sledge hockey games will be played as well. Public skating will too be available at the Comerica rink.

Needless to say this event will be a crazy one that you will not want to miss. I think general manager Brian Burke sums it up nicely:

"It's Hockeytown versus the centre of the hockey universe"

Leafs Reaction:

Brian Burke:

Dion Phaneuf:

Optimus Reim Shines Again

  Battle of Ontario   

Pre-Game Facts:

- This is the fifth of six meetings between these provincial rivals
- The Leafs won the first installment of the Battle of Ontario but the Sens have taken the last three
- Ottawa is looking to end a five game losing skid while the Leafs are looking to improve their record to 4-0-1 in their last five games.
- Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski has three goals and five assists in his last four games
- Injuries: Toronto forward Daryl Boyce (back spasms) and Ottawa forwards Peter Regin (shoulder) and Jesse Winchester (concussion)
- Starting Goalies: James Reimer (TOR) and Craig Anderson (OTT)
Leafs goaltender James Reimer was all smiles after his team trumped the Ottawa Senators in their own building on Saturday night, 5-0. The sophomore netminder stopped 49 Senator shots to record his third shutout of the season and his second in as many games. The Leafs opened the scoring at 13:47 of the first period when Phil Kessel buried his 27th goal of the 2011-2012 campaign. Kessel followed up his own shot, that was originally blocked by defenseman Matt Carkner, to beat Anderson high glove. Shortly after, at 17:02 of the first, captain, Dion Phaneuf scored his eighth of the year on the powerplay off a beautiful feed by Kessel. The Leafs fired 16 shots on Anderson after the first while Ottawa mustered 12 on James Reimer. The first period ended 2-0 Leafs.

The second period seen the Senators register way more shots than the Maple Leafs but Reimer stood his ground, not letting any get behind him. Optimus Reim made 21 saves in the frame. Although out shot in the period, the Leafs were the only team that got one behind the opposition. At 8:25, centreman, Tyler Bozak scored his ninth of the season off another great dish by Phil Kessel. The period ended 3-0 Leafs.

The Leafs were looking to just hold onto this lead in the third and gain a much needed two points on a team within reach in the Eastern Conference standings. Toronto got an insurance marker 5:39 into the period from an unlikely source. Defensive defenseman, Luke Schenn, got his second goal of the season on a great wrist shot that alluded Craig Anderson. Another defenseman got into the fun as Cody Franson added another tally for the Leafs on the powerplay at the 12:17 mark. That was the final goal of the game as it ended 5-0 Leafs. Toronto finished with 15 shots in the period for a grand total of 40 for the game. Ottawa finished with 16 shots in the period for a grand total of 49 for the game. The Leafs now hold down 8th spot in the Eastern Conference, only one point back of the Senators with three games in hand. 

Leafs goaltender James Reimer celebrates a 5-0 shutout win in Ottawa on Saturday night

James Reimer after the W:

"I really wanted to step it up a bit and the only way I know how is to work hard and do what I think is right and so I went home and got in a little better shape (during the all-star break). I never could have guessed that it would come with back-to-back shutouts; that's a lot of fun to experience.''

Phaneuf commented on the fans in Ottawa after the game:

"Any time we come here the fans are great supporting us. The fans are so loud and it's a great atmosphere to be a part of. It had a playoff type atmosphere."

Three Stars:

James Reimer (TOR): SV%: 1.00 GA: 0
Phil Kessel (TOR): 1 G, 2 A, +3, 6 SOG
Tyler Bozak (TOR): 1 G, 2 A, +3, 1 SOG

Highlights of Saturdays game: