Good morning! TGIF

It is the middle of winter in Toronto, and we are expected to have rain for the entire weekend leading up to the Maple Leafs’ next game, Sunday against the Florida Panthers on the road. Hopefully it doesn’t put stink in the Leafs outdoor practices at Nathan Phillips Square.

On Thursday, we got the privilege of watching the Leafs take part in a intra-team 3v3 tournament through social media. The teams were split into three groups. West, Ontario, and East based on hometown. Team East ended up basically being the Marlies (shoutout to European development) and they won the darn thing!

Auston Matthews had a couple great highlights during the games. I really love how much he likes putting on a show.

Smile!

I’ll just share one more tweet that I loved. These shots are gorgeous. The second one is the new home screen for my phone.

Branches

  • Andreas Johnsson has been skating with the team and is officially listed as day-to-day. I assume he will join the team on a road trip and perhaps play as early as Sunday, though if he needs more time, the Leafs play three games at home next week so he can just hang out at home until he’s ready.
  • Nick Robertson scored his first goal back from the World Juniors at home against the Owen Sound Attack! Expect Canadian Hero Akil Thomas to join him this weekend as he’s being traded to Peterborough from Niagara. Sorry, Seldo. /
  • Alan (@LoserPoints) at our sister site, Raw Charge, wrote brilliantly about goaltending. I hope this year is one where we can “put numbers” to what goalies do. Because right now, it’s all voodoo. [Raw Charge]
  • Black History Month is coming up in February and the NHL is rolling out their NHL Black Hockey History Tour again for another year. The exhibit will be in various locations in Toronto and Ottawa in the early parts of February. I encourage everyone to go check it out! [NHL dot com]
  • Last night, we got a goalie goal! Congrats, Pekka Rinne, on joining Leo Komarov and plenty of other players in the one-goal club! /

Happy Friday, hope your day goes a little something like this :)

From The Branches