The Clarkson Cup is today! Neither of the Furies or Thunder made it all the way to the Final, but Toronto is still hosting the event at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Don’t worry if you can’t make it there in person, the game will be broadcast live on both Sportsnet and the NHL Network starting at noon EST.

I was at the Coliseum yesterday, and Sportsnet already had quite an elaborate set built out. There should also be ample time for the ceremonial aspects of the game this year as I see they have booked a full three hours for the game on their schedule.

The Maple Leafs continued their slow march to the playoffs with another loss last night. The Rangers summoned goalie Alexandar Georgiev whose gear must have a 90% resistance bonus to Maple Leafs attacks or something. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about his 0.909 SV% this season, but the man has the Leafs numbers.

This is now an Alexandar Georgiev Blog (Rangers 2 - Leafs 1)

The Marlies lost yesterday to the Amerks, who are a potential first-round playoff opponent based on current standings. They get a rematch today starting at 5:00pm. Kevin has kept his eye trained on Rasmus Sandin in as many games as possible and kindly clipped lots of GIFs for us to see what this kid is up to, and he looks good.

Kevin has also been trolling the Jets about Patrik Laine, which is always fun.

Other News

There’s only two weeks left in the regular season now! There’s been a slew of clinchings and eliminations this weekend with more possible today for a few teams still holding on to the faint hope of winning out all their games and making the playoffs. The Sabres are not one of those teams anymore; they were finally eliminated yesterday.

The big battles are for the last Wild Card spots, with the Canadiens and Blue Jackets fighting it out in the east, and about ten teams fighting it out in the west. It is becoming more likely the Wild Card spots in the Western Conference won’t be decided until the very last day of games. It’s always fun—when it’s not the Leafs—to see fans of teams coming up with those wild scenarios that require other teams to win or lose their final game of the season, possibly in OT, or absolutely not in OT, to squeeze in to the playoffs on a tie breaker.

It’s not everyday you see a goalie get bodycheked. Naturally, the Flames were not impressed by Alex Edler bringing a hard end to Mike Smith’s adventure behind the net.

Andrew Shaw had another Andrew Shaw temper tantrum last night, and this time it ended up with him trying to fight sweet lil’ Jeff Skinner!

Have a nice end to the weekend, everyone.

From The Branches