Michael Forbes

Last week, Rogers got their first look at TV ratings for their 12 year, $5 billion NHL rights and it wasn't pretty. Viewership is down across the board. Michael Forbes takes a look at what might be causing such dismal ratings...

Pension Plan Puppets recently chatted with Chid Finds the little-known assistant to Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach, videographer and statistical analyst Chris Dennis. Here’s a transcript of the interview. We’d like to thank the Leafs for making him available...

Boy, wouldn't It be nice if being a fan was just a little bit easier?

In terms of Lenten sacrifices, turns out that giving up non-Leafs hockey was not nearly as hard as giving up coffee or peanut M&Ms.

Old Man Forbes took his young son to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Buffalo Sabres. Did he have a great time? Did he fall in love with our blue and white heroes? Kiiiiind of...

When the NHL and NHLPA sign a new CBA there will be plenty of discussion as to the winners and losers, of rights lost, monies transferred, of reputations sullied, and reputations burnished. No matter the outcome of the next CBA -- when it’s signed or what it contains -- the single biggest winner won

For a short time in 2009, Kim Jorn, Godd Till and I ran a blog called Zambonic Youth (don't look for it, it's not there any more). It was a blog that redefined the word "sporadic". I remember people being knocked out by our exuberance, bad Glenn Healy jokes and our punctuality.With

One fan explains why the ongoing CBA battle between the NHL and NHLPA is not on his mind.

[iTunes] [Direct Link] [Podcast RSS Feed] It's PPPPodcast 18 where Chemmy, PPP, and I discuss: 1. Trashing the Leafs playoff hopes 2. Burke, goalies and the future 3. Flux Capacitors* 4. Luke Schenn's contract Music: * Everyday People, Sly and the Family Stone * Life is a Lemon

A few weeks ago, Chemmy sent around an email with the subject line Narratives. Before I opened it, I presumed it would be a funny story about one more sports writer filing platitudes about heart, grit and other various intangibles. I was wrong. Chemmy's email was a request

So you’ve come looking for hockey stories? I’ve got a few. On Tuesday nights, I play in a community-run men’s league for guys 35+. It’s a six team league and each season they scramble the teams so you’re always playing with new guys. Keeps the

It's been nearly four months since the site overlords and I sat down to do a podcast and discuss all things Leafs. Over those 120 days some incredible things have happened - Kaberle won a Cup, Vancouver lost the Cup, Brett Lebda was traded, and PPP was (temporarily?

Yes, it's PPP Podcast 13, our first episode since October, 2010. This was actually recorded on Thursday January 6th so we're offering it to you at a deep discount in case some of the contents might have gone a bit stale. Be sure to vote for

For those of you who have had enough of the blogs v. mainstream media discussions, I apologize in advance for yet another 500 words on a topic that's worn more than a little thin. For those of you interested in media relations and the inner-workings of media access

Fresh ice to discuss the latest UFA day happenings...

For better or for worse, these are now Brian Burke's Toronto Maple Leafs. Well, to be fair and a bit more accurate, perhaps it should be said that these are Brian Burke's transitional Toronto Maple Leafs. After shipping out six players in the Phaneuf andGiguere trades,

An anonymous comment over at my blog Bitter Leaf Fan raised the question of how exactly the Leafs arrived in their current mess. There’s not a single cause or easy explantion. This franchise has gone through three, maybe even four, different phases since 2000, however; with the exception of

Is this the low point for Leaf fans or does that come with a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday? I'm just kidding, everyone knows the low point comes when the Leafs win the draft lottery in June and hockey fans around the world hear the story

As I type this, Elton John’s "Sad Songs" is trapped in my head like a fruit fly slowly drowning in a glass of wine. Earlier today, one of my kids somehow managed to lodge "I Believe I Can Fly" in my brain pan. That dirge

The secret transcript has become a staple of the blogosphere. There are a few men out there who have no secrets, one visit to a chatty cathy bloodbath knows Chemmy is one of these men. Late yesterday afternoon, a twitter feed from AM640's Greg Brady touched off a

These are indeed the dog days of summer for hockey fans. The big UFAs have been signed, execs have been fired and their replacements hired, the pre-season schedule has been announced but it seems further away than Dany Heatley doing the right thing. Four weeks until Tomas Kaberle's

Ah, the first day of UFA season. If the NHL trade deadline is the equivalent of Christmas and the draft is a significant birthday, then July 1 is like finding a long forgotten wad of $20 bills in an old pair of jeans just as you're heading out

The NHL draft is so close I'm sure those of you heading to Montreal are already counting it in "sleeps." Here's a little known fact: since the lockout, the entry draft has generated as many, if not more, deals as trade deadline day. In

Tonight is game seven for the Stanley Cup. A one-game winner take all match for the cup that many of us have imagined countless times in street hockey games, backyard rinks, table hockey and, for all I know, maybe even some ultra competitive games of air hockey. Editor's

The draft is less than three weeks away. In the last 10 days, three new General Managers were hired, two coaches fired, and Jacques Martin left the executive suites of Florida to stand behind the bench in Montreal. A Stanley Cup champion will be crowned no later than next Tuesday.