J.P. Nikota

Puck Drops: 9 p.m. EST TV: Sportsnet, PRIME Some good news for the Leafs just emerged, if you haven't already seen it: Losing Steckel is definitely unfortunate, but I'd definitely rather have Mikhail Grabovski in the lineup. That Carl Gunnarsson's presence was even

GOOD MORNING PATHETIC HUMANS. JP NIKOTA IS PLEASED WITH YOUR DECISION TO READ THESE LINKS. YOU SHALL BE SPARED DEATH BY EATING FOR ONE MORE DAY. AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! REALLY THOUGH, I'LL DEVOUR YOU ALL ONE BY ONE UNLESS YOU KEEP READING AND LEARNING ABOUT THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS. Links

Instead, let's focus on how the Leafs have been doing over the first quarter of the season. Yes, they're in a playoff spot, and while that's fantastic news for Ron Wilson's job prospects, if all the teams beneath the Leafs were given

Puck Drop: 5 p.m. TV: LeafsTV It's rumored Paul Maurice is on the hot seat these days, with his team in the basement of the Southeast Division, and only two points ahead of the New York Islanders for last place in the Eastern Conference. Oh, and the

The big news to emerge yesterday was all about injuries: both Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur will miss a significant number of games. Grabovski is out at least two weeks, though MacArthur hasn't had a timetable set yet. Matt Frattin and Colton Orr both also missed practice, but

As James Mirtle points out in his own game preview, the Yotes are 6-1-2 in their last nine, and although the Leafs are 3-3-0 in their last six, they are decidedly the colder team going into tonight's match-up. Here's hoping that we can turn this slump

In addition to supplying you with a steady supply of links, game previews, recaps, and other amazing analysis, I have been busting my hump for you nerds to track scoring chances for and against the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. I had a late start on this, so it'

Jonas Gustavsson has got to go. Waive him, trade him, sit him on the bench if you think Scrivens is the answer (though I doubt it) - whatever. It's not working out for the Monster. Two years ago, Brian Burke left Vesa Toskala for far too long in

Puck Drops: 7:00 EST TV: Rogers Sportsnet Radio: AM640 OK, so it's not the first time that Kris Versteeg comes back to play the Leafs - he picked up two goals in his return while playing for Philly, as the Leafs won 3-2 - but last season

"It's just a flesh wound", they say. Just another one of those "upper body injuries". Tim Connolly is going to miss between 10 days and two weeks with an undisclosed injury. Of course, the way the Leafs' front office has been diagnosing injuries

As I collected the links for this FTB, I came across two sites that weren't in my Google Reader. The first, Puck Drunk Love is brand new, but already has a team of writers contributing to it, and I expect to link more stories from them in the

Puck Drop: 7:30 p.m. EST TSN, RIS (HD), MSG Plus, AM980 (Radio) I just don't know what to expect. Martin Brodeur is back in action tonight for the first time in six games (he had a bum shoulder), but it's hard to know what

Well, let's get one thing clear: they are not. There are, of course, elements of their play so far that are encouraging, and James Mirtle looks at both sides of the coin in his latest article. Key numbers: Why they're winning 2010-11 2011-12 Difference Goals per

I think it would be safe to say that most Toronto Maple Leafs fans were expecting that, if the Leafs were going to win this one, it would be despite a serious imbalance in goaltending. They wouldn't be wrong, but they'd probably be surprised that Henrik

The Leafs have beaten (or at least garnered a point) from each of the (expected) playoff bubble teams they've played so far. That's great news, and it definitely takes the sting off losing to both the Bruins and Flyers, who they'll never remain ahead

Welp. If we had to lose to someone, I feel alright about losing to the Flyers. The Leafs put in a decent effort, and were right in the game until Jaromir Jagr sealed the deal with a breakaway goal late in the third. As James Mirtle points out, special teams

@ TD Garden Puck Drop: 7:00 EST TV: TSN, NESN (HD) It's true that James Reimer has been playing well, and there are a handful of Leafs, such as Dion Phaneuf, Joffrey Lupul, or perhaps John-Michael Liles, that have also been contributing at a great pace. The good

Of course, the way the rest of the team is playing, we'll need him to be Mr. Novemeber, December, January, February... well, you get the idea. Now, you don’t have to be a huge baseball fan to understand the initial meaning of that phrase. It related of

It's not unfair to say that the Leafs have been lucky to come away with seven points in their first four games. By most accounts, the Leafs were atrocious in the first period of last night's game, and were pretty sleepy in the first half of

The latest story out of the Leafs' team-building/promotional/big-military-expenditure trip to Trenton focuses on the close bond between Leafs' defender John-Michael Liles and his brother, who is currently fighting overseas in Iraq with the U.S. Military. From the ritzy Trenton Holiday Inn, James Mirtle brings us

In case you haven't heard, the Leafs are off to spend some time with the good folks at the Canadian Military base in Trenton, Ontario for some good ol' fashioned team-building. Dave Shoalts has the story: The plan was for the Leafs to take Sunday off and

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The big news yesterday was, without a doubt, the final trimming of the Leafs' lineup to bring the Buds down to the maximum of 23 skaters. Although much of this was already well-documented and debated in yesterday's FTB, I would feel neglectful if I didn't

As first tweeted by Garrett Bauman last night: welcome to the NHL, Matt Frattin. Bob MacKenzie confirmed this information at around 11:30 last night via Twitter, and explained that official confirmation from the Leafs was likely to come this morning. The Leafs have been hit with a rash of

Man, oh man, I have a veritable buffet of links in store for you this morning. This FTB took double the amount of time it normally takes to complete, but I promise you that it won't disappoint. Every kind of drama you can imagine can be found here: