Good morning Toronto Maple Leafs fans!

Kraft Hockeyville has been a long running contest encouraging community work and togetherness in minor hockey for a long time. Minor hockey associations work to earn the prize of $250,000 for arena upgrades and a pre-season NHL game in your community.

This is a great chance for some fans to see what could be their only NHL game in person, and to see it on the same ice you play on? Amazing.

This year Elliot Lake, Ontario won. The small town is located north of Lake Superior, just east of Sault Ste. Marie.

They are thrilled to have the money to upgrade their arena but are unable to host the game, because of the badly needed arena upgrades, and insufficient hospital facilities.

The CBC has the story here.

With the chance to see Sidney Crosby in person on the line, the game was moved 90 minutes east to Sudbury where adequate on and off ice facilities can be found.

The question is, who gets the tickets? Residents put in a lot of hard work to earn this prize, and while a three hour round trip to get to the game has been added to the itinerary, no one has said how tickets will be sold, and whether or not Elliot Lake residents will be guaranteed access, and not locals from Sudbury.

Hopefully Kraft and the NHL have plans for the tickets and transportation. It's an expensive prize when you add on gas, hotels, food, and tickets. But for a lot of the kids who earned this game, it may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Make it right, NHL.

And in other news...

William Nylander is training on Stockholm, and here's the biggest Leaf highlight right now.

MSN

For Leafs fans out west, Miorslav Holinka is coming to the WHL this season with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Maple Leafs Prospect Miroslav Holinka Signs WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with Edmonton Oil Kings
The Oil Kings selected Holinka with the 14th overall pick in the 2024 CHL Import Draft.
Yahoo SportsEvan Doerfler

But of course, Jonathan Toews was there.

Sedins and Luongo snubbed in ESPN’s “Top 25 NHL players of the 21st century” list
Coming up with a list of the best NHL players for any era is tough. Th…
CanucksArmyMichael Liu

Coaches were named for Canadas team in the NHL's stupid whatever this is tournament.

Four assistants named to Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off coaching staff
Four assistant coaches have been named to Team Canada’s staff for the 4 Nations Face-Off, Hockey Canada announced Wednesday.
Sportsnet| July 31, 2024, 3:48 PM

Some bigger names may end up being forced to retire...or wait for a mid season deal.

NHL’s Top 10 UFAs still available: Latest buzz
Here’s a quick rundown of the most intriguing UFAs still hanging around the open market, with the latest on their situations.
Sportsnet| July 31, 2024, 10:38 AM

The players on Parrot Island, just outside Montréal, have much higher hockey fees than their neighbours. Why?

Île-Perrot’s young hockey players penalized?
Vaudreuil-SoulangesiClic (www.iclic.com)

Who knew owning game-used gear from an 80s NHL team could get you in trouble?

Man jailed after police found 137.5 grams of cocaine in a hockey skate - BC News
A Grand Forks man was handed a 22-month jail sentence last month after police found a significant amount of cocaine hidden in a hockey skate during a traffic stop back in 2020.
Castanet.netNicholas Johansen

Finally, the hockey world is mourning the loss of one of the people who fought to get women's hockey into the Olympics. Former NHLer and Team Canada player Murray Costello passed at age 90 in Ottawa.

Costello dies at 90, longtime executive inducted into Hall of Fame as Builder | NHL.com
Hockey Canada president helped establish IIHF Worlds, addition of sport to Olympics
NHL logoNHLdotcom

He also worked to merge amateur leagues into Hockey Canada, helped make the World Juniors what they are today, and was a strong advocate of youth sports.

Thank you Murray.

From The Branches