Can you feel the excitement in the air? The Leafs have a perfect pre-season record! Maybe they will somehow make the playoffs, and then win the cup! It could happen! Is Nathan Phillips Square a good end point for the parade or will they have to use Downsview Park to accommodate everyone?

Back in reality, our B squad beat other teams' B squads in meaningless match-ups. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. But it is fun to dream, isn't it?

Recap: Pre-Leafs 2, Pre-Habs 1 (OT) - Pension Plan Puppets
It always feels good to beat the Habs, even if it is the preseason.

Bernier, Reimer will have to compete for Leafs’ starting job - The Globe and Mail
But they don't have to compete for each other's hearts.

17 Days 'Til Boston College Hockey: Get To Know #17, Jeremy Bracco - BC Interruption
Getting to know the dynamic freshman forward.

Wisdom of Crowds: PPP Edition - Pension Plan Puppets
Have you made your predicition yet?

2015-16 Team Changes Preview: Atlantic Division - Pension Plan Puppets
Metropolitan Division will be up tomorrow.

Other news

You know who played his first pre-season game last night? Phil the Thrill. In his typical Philthy style, he scored two goals.

Phil Kessel's first goal as a Pittsburgh Penguin - PensBurgh
It's Philthy.

Team USA press conference with John Tortorella taken over by pranksters - Broad Street Hockey
I'm mostly disappointed by the quality of the prank call jokes. Someone should have asked if he thought Bob Hartley would make a good Team Canada coach.

Canada still mulling World Cup of Hockey coach choices - The Globe and Mail
While Mike Babcock would seem to be the front-runner, Hockey Canada has a number of potential options to choose from, from Alain Vigneault to Darryl Sutter.

How to say Pastrnak, with Goucher and Beers - Stanley Cup of Chowder
The game tonight was not broadcast on TV, so the Bruins paired the radio audio with the jumbotron video. This worked pretty well, but someone left the radio broadcasters on the air during the commercial break. Oops.

We Need to Stop the Idea of the National Honor League - Winging It In Motown
The idea that the NHL somehow has moral superiority over other major sports leagues is unhealthy.

Patrick Kane

There is a press conference today at 1pm. We do not know what will be said, it could just be the lawyers repeating known information, but in case there is major news we want to avoid the FTB getting flooded with identical or similar embedded tweets and quotes. Please check before posting, and try to reply to existing sub-threads.

From The Branches