Chris K

Total 180 Posts

Barry Melrose

I had a feeling that yesterday's game was not going to go well and that I'd probably be pretty ticked about it, so I let my mind wander towards who I'd choose for the LotD if I were in a bad mood.  I hit

Ric Nattress

I don't think I've ever seen a team makeover as sudden and dramatic as the one Cliff Fletcher pulled off on Jan. 2, 1992.  I heard the news while driving in the car with a bunch of friends and we all started laughing so hard we

Joe Klukay

Not really feeling the love for this game tonight. Justin Pogge might have been an interesting one for the WJC tie-in, but alas, he's not in the scan pile. When in doubt, go for the nickname - and Joe Klukay had a dandy. For reasons that have never

1984-85 Team - Mirko Frycer

You'd think I'd have learned by now. Every year, I pick some big name heading into the holidays, hoping his mere presence would inspire the Leafs to some great run of hockey.  Five years running now, they stumble around through the entire break and are middling

History #22 - Some last thoughts on karma and other random things

"History is written by the victors." - Winston Churchill (Not everything I write will come from Holzman and Nieforth's Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey - actually, quite a bit doesn't - but it's a good bet that this book

Bill Barilko

If that shot had gone wide, Bill Barilko would have been in a lot of trouble. Here it was, overtime in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, and Bill had abandoned his position at the left point to gamble on a loose puck near the faceoff circle.  Worse, he&

Aaron Broten

About a month ago, when Tom Kurvers was the LotD, the Leafs were still just 3-11-5 and the talk about the Leafs having traded away Taylor Hall was still in full swing.  In comparing this season to 1990-91, I said this: By this time, Doug Carpenter had been fired, John

1984-85 Team - Jeff Jackson

When the Jeff Jackson/Mark Osborne trade went down, I missed the news.  I had the game on the radio that night from about the second period onwards and couldn't for the life of me believe how this Osborne guy was always in position to intercept passes from

Dmitri Mironov

It was a strange new world in the early 1990s as the Russians began to arrive.  What began as a trickle with Sergei Priakin in Calgary turned into a torrent of names we'd only ever seen in Canada Cups, Olympics and world championships. Toronto dipped a toe in

Larry Jeffrey

Heading back into Boston tonight, a little attention to defensive detail amongst the forwards might be a useful thing. Larry Jeffrey was pretty good at that.  It's how he carved out his niche in the NHL.  Killing penalties and playing solid defense was also a good way to

Brian Curran

John Brophy always liked to have a bunch of tough guys in his lineup, so it really wasn't a surprise that the Leafs picked up Brian Curran near the 1988 deadline.  Curran had put up 350+ minutes with the Islanders a season earlier but hadn't played

Jiri (NSFW) Tlusty

You know Stumpy and Rusty and Grabbo and Killer, Tiger and Teeder and Frodo and Giller. But do you recall The most famous nickname of all? Jiri the NSFW had a very famous pose and if you ever saw it, well, it was you and about 10 million other people.

1984-85 Team - John Anderson

By pure happenstance, today's '84-85 Leaf is John Anderson, coach of tonight's opposition.  Sometimes it just works out. John (and draft-mate Trevor Johansen) is often cited as Exhibit A in the "look who the Leafs took instead of (insert superstar name here" department.

Tim Horton

With his 28th point in 1980-81, Borje Salming became the Leafs' all-time scoring leader amongst defensemen, passing the legendary Tim Horton. It took almost 30 years more to move Horton to third. Tomas Kaberle pulled that off in setting up Colton Orr for his first of the season on

Billy Harris (the Younger)

Imagine you're the first-ever draft pick of a new expansion team. You stick with them through all the bad seasons, are with them as they start to assemble an awesome collection of talent, have some early playoff success, and just as they're about to go all

Billy Harris (the Elder)

One of the early quotes from Brian Burke about building teams was that he liked to add depth at the top of the lineup rather than at the bottom.  This would shove all the talent down one rung and make you stronger throughout the team. This is more or less

1984-85 Team - Stewie Gavin

(Yes, there actually was a time when the name "Stewie" evoked something other than an evil-minded baby with a football-shaped head, at least for Leaf fans.) Back when Wendesday Leaf games were on CHCH in Hamilton, a young Jim Hughson was doing the call.  For whatever reason, one

Mike Foligno

One of the things I like to do with a game-night LotD, if there's no pressing news story or historical tie-in I can make, is find someone who played for both the Leafs and the opponent.  For the most part, I want someone whose Leaf time was better

History #21 - Endgame

"History is written by the victors." - Winston Churchill (Not everything I write will come from Holzman and Nieforth's Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey  - actually, quite a bit doesn't (save for these last couple installments) - but it's

Anton Stralman

Yesterday, the conversation in the Ian Turnbull thread devolved into a discussion on the merits of keeping Anton Stralman around. Stralman, in case people haven't noticed, has been putting some points on the board for Columbus, playing 20 minutes per night and seeing some real PP time, something

Ian Turnbull

With a single point, Tomas Kaberle will tie Tim Horton as the second-highest point getter amongst Leaf defensemen. I'm going to save Horton until Tomas actually passes him, so today we'll look at the player in fourth, the one Tomas passed last year - Ian Turnbull.

1984-85 Team - Walt Poddubny

When people reminisced about Walt Poddubny after his death in March, the feeling that was expressed again and again was simply how much everyone seemed to like him.  He was a good guy, a person it was fun to hang with, to have a beer with, someone whose company was

Bill Berg

Before there was Aki, there was Bill. I spent way, way too much time this morning (and even into yesterday night) debating just who should be the LotD for tonight's momentous game against the Islanders.  Friend of the site (meaning the restraining order has lapsed) Alyn McCauley was

Bobby Baun

In honour of Ian White's Gordie Howe hat trick last night, and particularly in honour of that fantastic hip check on Eric Cole, I give you Bobby Baun. It was really a choice between Baun and Marcel Pronovost, who could also really throw the hip, but Boomer was

Wendel Clark

Some days the LotD is topical.  Some days it's a history lesson.  Some days it's an opportunity to admire some significantly bad hair.  Some days it's comfort food. Normally, I don't go in for all the "it's always darkest
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