Leafs Beat Calgary, lose in OT to Avs

The Leafs continued their hot start, as they defeated the Calgary Flames at home Saturday night. The game definitely did not start off on a good note, as the Leafs found themselves down 2-0 five minutes into the first period after goals from Calgary's Curtis Glencross and Scott Hannan. The Buds battled back in the second on goals from line-mates Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel. Kessel's goal was highlight reel material as he used his speed and overpowered Calgary's defenceman and put it over Kipursoff's shoulder. Phil did it once again in the third as he netted the game winner. His torrid pace has him on top of the leagues scoring race, with 8 goals and 6 assists.

The Leafs next test was a visit from the youthful Colorado Avalanche. This game marked the return of Jean-Sebastian Gigure who departed the from the Leafs organization after two years of service. And he looked to be triumphant in his return, standing on his head for the majority of the game. The teams traded goals in the second period, Kessel scoring for the Buds. The Avs took the lead on a late second period goal from Hejduk. Nik Kulemin nothced his first of the year in the third to tie the game up, eventually sending it to overtime. In OT it didn't take long for Avs forward David Jones to slip one past Reimer and hand the Leads their first lost of the year.

The Leafs welcome the Winnipeg Jets back to the NHL when they meet Wednesday night in Toronto. With a game the following night in Boston, look for Leafs back-up netminder Jones Gustavsson to get his first start in one of those two games.

2011-2012 Battle of Ontario pt. 1

It was a nervous third period, but the Leafs were able to win their second straight game, defeating divisional rivals Ottawa Senators at home Saturday night. The Leafs sprung ahead early after first period goals from Phil Kessel and Mikhail Grabovski. The lead doubled after the Leafs netted two more in the second frame, as Kessel added his second of the night and Joffrey Lupul scored his first of the season. The Leafs seemed in control of the game as the second period came to a close, and James Reimer continued his strong play furthering his shutout streak to 5 periods. The third period was a different story, as the wheels fell off. Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson got things going for Ottawa as he scored early in the third. Ottawa went on to score four more goals in the final period, and would have prevailed if not for a goal from unlikely sniper Colton Orr, and a hat-trick goal from Phil Kessel. Toronto edged Ottawa 5-4, narrowly escaping a monumental third period collapse. The top line of Lupul-Kessel-Bozak finished with a combined eight points, led by Phil Kessel's first hat-trick as a Toronto Maple Leaf. Dion Phaneuf also continued his strong early season play, levelling the Sen's DaCosta with a huge (clean) open ice hit and receiving second star honours. 

Leafs take a week long break, before hosting the Calgary Flames next Saturday night. 

Leafs Get Win in Opener

The Toronto Maple Leafs have started off the 2011-2012 NHL season on the right foot. The Leafs defeated rivals Montreal Canadiens 2-0 in front of a sold out crowd at the Air Canada Centre. Newcomer Matthew Lombardi scored the first goal, shorthanded early in the second period. This was nice to see, as Lombardi was playing in his first game in almost a year after sitting out most of last season with a concussion. The Leafs' second tally came off a blast from captain Dion Phaneuf, something everyone would like to see more of from the one time 20 goal scorer. Phaneuf drew an assist on Lombardi's goal and Phil Kessel picked up the assist on Dion's goal. Goaltender James Reimer made 32 saves en route to the shutout and looked much better than he did during the preseason campaign. David Steckel, another new face showed well in his Maple Leaf debut, winning 18 of 25 face-offs, and picking up third star honours. Reimer and Phaneuf were first and second stars respectively.

Next up for the blue and white is a early season edition of the battle of Ontario, as the Senators are in town Saturday night.

Leafs Acquire Steckel

The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they have acquired David Steckel from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Toronto's 4th round draft pick in the 2012 entry draft. Steckel was the league leader in face-off percentage last season, toping all players with a 62.3% winning percentage adding 6 goals and 6 assists during time with Washington and New Jersey. Steckel is a strong physical player, standing 6'6" weighing 215 lbs, he knows how to use his size and will be an asset on the third or fourth line. Yet, it is his face-off prowess that will be most beneficial for the Buds. The Leafs has a dismal penalty kill last year, and their inability to win face-offs in their own end was a huge contributor to that. Having a solid centre, who can win big face-offs will surly improve the penalty kill. All in all, a good pick up for Brian Burke and the Leafs.

Preseason Review

The Leafs preseason has concluded, it has been a hectic two weeks with the team having played eight games in 13 nights. The team finished .500 with a 4-4 record, in what seemed like a very uneventful exhibition campaign. The Leafs played will for the most part, yet it is hard to gauge how well they will be because the team never used a complete roster of every day players. The team used these games to let young players experience NHL hockey and to see if any deserved a closer look. One surprise was the demotion of Keith Aullie, the young defenceman showed great promise last year playing with Dion Phaneuf and looked to be a sure shot to make the squad this year. Yet, his lacklustre performance this preseason and the solid play of youngster Jake Gardiner, left the Leafs no choice but to assign Aulie to the Marlies for the time being. Goaltending was shaky during pretty much every exhibition games, but hopefully it was just a case of knocking the rust off, which is what the preseason is for...

The season kicks off October 6, at home against the Canadiens. I will be providing an opening day roster as soon as it is released, so look for that shortly.