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Category: Toronto Maple Leafs

  • Leafs trade defenceman to Stars

    Leafs trade defenceman to Stars

    Early this afternoon the Maple Leafs faced a waivers crunch, deciding to keep goaltender Garret Sparks, Defencemen Justin Holl, and Igor Ozhiganov. While placing goaltenders Calvin Pickard, Curtis McElhinney and Defenceman Connor Carrick on waivers.

    But in a move that has been rumored since Friday, the Leafs just after placing Carrick on waivers, dealt the 24 year-old Carrick to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a 2019 seventh round draft pick that could become a sixth-rounder If Carrick plays in 50 games for the Stars this season.

    The 24 year old right handed defenceman from Orland Park, IL has played in a 167 games, scoring 9 goals and 21 assists. While racking up 116 penalty minutes.

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  • NHL and NWHL News and Notes: September 29th, 2018

     

    These are your news and notes covering the NHL and the NWHL for Saturday, September 29th, 2018…

     

    In NHL preseason action last night there were seven contests that took place. Here are brief recaps on select games:

    • The Columbus Blue Jackets took on the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena and would win this contest 7-6. Blue Jackets Artemi Panarin (two goals and two assists), Cam Atkinson (one goal and three assists), and Zach Werenski (four assists) were the noteworthy players with points in the contest. Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky recorded 23 saves.
    • The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury recorded 26 saves in the contest. Ryan Reaves and Brayden McNabb registered the two goals for the Golden Knights. The Kings were 0-for-5 on the power-play and the Golden Knights were 0-for-2
    • The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings with a 6-2 win at Scotiabank Arena. Toronto’s Jake Gardiner would score the first of three straight power-play goals for the Maple Leafs to give Toronto a 2-1 lead at 12:47 of the second period. John Tavares would score his fifth goal of the pre-season with a PPG at 14:58 and Patrick Marleau would score the third straight power-play goal at 15:25. Frederik Anderson would register 23 saves for Toronto.
    • The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals in a 5-4 overtime at Capital One Arena. Carolina’s Sebastian AHo would score the game winner 19 seconds into the overtime frame with his second goal of the contest. Hurricanes LW Teuvo Teravainen registered four points (one goal and three assists), which is 5-0-0 during the preseason thus far. Alex Ovechkin (two goals), Evgeny Kuznetsov (two assists), John Carlson (one assist), Aaron Ness (one assist), Tom Wilson (one assist), Lars Eller (one assist), Andre Burakovsky (one goal), and Jayson Megna (one goal) all registered points for the Capitals in the contest.
    • Rasmus Dahlin scored his first goal of the preseason to lift the Buffalo Sabres over the New York Islanders, 5-4, in a contest at General Motors Place in a contest that took place Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Dahlin, the first overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, gave the the Sabres the 3-1 with that goal at 3:42 in the second period.
    • The St. Louis Blues defeated the Dallas Stars with a 3-1 win at Enterprise Center. Blues Jaden Schwartz registered one goal and two assists in the contest. Ryan O’Reilly would score 31 seconds into the second period and Schwartz scored 1:30 into the third period. Blues Vladimir Tarasenko would score the third goal, an empty-netter, at 19:53 in the third period. St. Louis was 0-for-5 on power-plays and Dallas was 0-for-3.
    • The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild with a 4-3 overtime victory at Pepsi Center. Avalanche Mikko Rantanen scored a PPG 1:29 into the extra frame, which was upheld after a video review.

     

    In preseason action tonight:

    • Columbus at Chicago
    • Anaheim at Los Angeles
    • Calgary at Edmonton
    • Philadelphia at Boston
    • Toronto at Detroit
    • Tampa Bay at Florida
    • Montreal at Ottawa
    • Arizona at Vancouver

     

    In NHL news…

    The Montreal Canadiens confirmed that 18-year-old Jesperi Kotkaniemi will begin the season with the team.

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    In NWHL news, there was a contest for the Champions Cup earlier today. This contest pitted the NWHL’s Isobel Cup champion, Metropolitan Riveters and the SDHL’s Luleå Hockey. The Champions Cup weighs 25 pounds and is gold and silver to represent the founding leagues of the NWHL and SDHL. The cup is engraved with “Champions Cup” in eight different languages.

    In this contest, Luleå Hockey defeated the Metropolitan Riveters at Hobey Baker Rink by the score of 4-2. Noora Tulus scored late which ended up being the difference maker in the game.

    Luleå’s Michelle Karvinen scored the first goal of the contest just 27 seconds into what was a penalty-filled second period. This lead for Luleå would be erased at the 14:16 mark of the second period with a goal by Riveters forward Kelly Nash, who is also the assistant coach at Princeton. This goal was the product of a deflected shot off of Alexa Gruschow.

    There were eight penalties that occurred during the second period but the penalty issues would continue for Luleå going into the third. With two players in the penalty box, Karvinen finished on a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush by putting the puck behind the 2018 Isobel Cup MVP Katie Fitzgerald to regain a one-goal lead. 51 seconds later, the Riveters would tie the game again at 2 with a goal from Riveters newcomer Kristin Lewicki.

    Noora Tulus would score at 12:05 in the second to give Luleå the lead for good at 3-2. Emma Nordin would score an empty-net goal with seconds left in the game to seal the 4-2 win for Luleå.

    Michelle Karvinen was later named the MVP of the Champions Cup. For the Riveters, this marked Shelley Picard’s first as the captain. Kristin Lewicki, Alexa Aramburu, Lexi Slattery, Audra Richards, Chelsea Ziadie, and Fiona McKenna also all donned the Riveters red for the first time.

    The Riveters have only one week to begin the defense of their Isobel Cup championship following this contest. The Riveters open the season with games against the NWHL’s newest franchise, the Minnesota Whitecaps, October 6 and 7 at TRIA Rink.

     

    In other news, CSA Shows made an announcement yesterday about the Washington Capitals with one of their upcoming events.

     

     

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  • 2018-2019 Toronto Maple Leafs Season Preview

    TOR

     

    2017/2018 Record: 49-26-7 105 pts (3rd in Atlantic Division)
    2017/2018 Playoffs: 3-4 (Lost in the Eastern Conference 1st Round)

     

    Key Additions: John Tavares, Adam Cracknell, Josh Jooris, Tyler Ennis, Jordan Subban, Igor Ozhiganiov, & Kyle Dubas

     

    Key Subtractions: Roman Polak, Matt Martin, Tyler Bozak, James Van Reimdyk, Leo Komarov, Tomas Plekanec, Mark Hunter and Lou Lamoriello.

     

    Top 3 Questions facing the Maple Leafs this upcoming season:

    William Nylander, What’s the deal?
    Last Season William Nylander and Auston Matthews put together one of the most dynamic duos in the league. Nylander put up 62 points in 82 games and showed he has the vision to be one of the leagues premier play-makers. But now Nylander and the Leafs seemed to have come to a impasse concerning a contract for the youngster. There has been 3 trains of thought concerning this negotiation. First Nylander signs a long term contract in the vicinity of 6-7.5 mill a season for about 7 or 8 years. The second option is a bridge contract 3 years at approximately 4 million a season. But the third option is one that is being really thrown around a lot lately. The thought is that Babcock really likes Tyler Ennis (He plays in the tough corners, is small but isn’t afraid and has had some really good chemistry with Matthews) and isn’t afraid to say goodbye if Nylander wants to play hardball with his contract. I expect Nylander to be in uniform by the seasons beginning, but it still begs the question will he be ready?

     

    The Leafs Defence (Or lack thereof), Can it be better?
    Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly, Ron Hainsey, Nikita Zaitsev and Travis Dermott. They Just weren’t good enough last year. From Gardiner’s lackadaisical turnovers to Zaitsev’s atrocious season, the big question on everyone’s mind is Can the Leafs win with this Defence? I’m gonna say yes, and there’s 2 reasons to see hope in the this defence core. One look at Pittsburgh’s defence during their cup runs. Letang (injured), Dumoulin, Maata, Hainsey, Oleksiuk and Schultz just to name a few. It’s not a defence that was to die for but the team made it work with strong positioning, strong puck possession numbers, good goal-tending and good coaching. Second reason is 3rd pairing plays a big part in the top 4 defencemen getting a rest. This season there will be no Polak and in my opinion no Carrick or atleast he’ll be in a very tough spot, I think you’ll see Dermott, Ozhiganiov and Rosen fighting for those positions and I think any combo of those 3 will allow Babcock to feel safe in resting his top 4 every once and a while. So I think you’ll see a definite improvement in the defence this season.

     

    The John Tavares Factor: What does this mean?
    Everyone keeps asking John Tavares does this mean we have the cup gift wrapped. Actually no it doesn’t and I think Tavares solidifies the Leafs scoring and center position but I also think he leaves a lot of questions open. I think this season is more about can the Leafs youth be effective in limited minutes. For example the 4th line Kapanen – Lindholm – Johnsson can they all be effective with 9 minutes in a games.  all possess blistering speed and ability to be game changers but can they bring it in a 4th line role? Because if the Leafs plan to load up the powerplay with Matthews, Kadri, Marner, Rielly and JT. That takes away all 3 centers from their top 3 lines. Which means they will have to go with the 4th line after a powerplay just to get some rest. It’s safe to assume that Matthews, Tavares and Marner will score they’ve always done their jobs. But the big question will heavily fall on those 3rd and 4th lines. If they bring it this team instantly becomes 100 times more dangerous they were last season.

     

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  • 2018-19 Toronto Maple Leafs Preview

    TOR

     

    Last Season: 49-26-7 105 pts (3rd in Atlantic Division; Lost in Eastern Conference 1st Round)

     

    Key Additions: F John Tavares, F Tyler Ennis, F Adam Cracknell, and Gm Kyle Dubas

     

    Key Departures: D Roman Polak, F Matt Martin, F Tyler Bozak, F James van Riemsdyk, F Leo Komarov, F Tomas Plekanec, and GM Lou Lamoriello

     

    Top Questions Facing the Maple Leafs:

    1. Can the Toronto Maple Leafs shore up their defensive woes?

    Last season Toronto allowed the fourth most shots on goal per game, however, the goaltending of Frederik Andersen and Curtis McElhinney kept the Leafs in games. The Leafs have some solid defensemen in Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, and Ron Hainsey, plus Travia Dermott and Nikita Zaitsev are developing very well. If the Leafs can shore up their left side and pick up a top four defenseman, then they can become Stanley Cup contenders.

     

    2. What impact will Johm Tavares bring to the Leafs?

    Possibly one of the more shocking moves to happen over the offseason was the signing of John Tavares by the Maple Leafs. With the signing brings a top line center and veteran leadership. One has to wonder if this move will be good overall in the long term and in the short term. Everyone knows that Auston Matthews is the face of this franchise, and the incumbent future captain, but what happens if Tavares gets named captain instead? It’ll be interesting to see how things shake out early into this season.