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Good morning Toronto Maple Leafs fans!
It's the morning after beating the Oilers and there are fewer things that I could wake up happier about.
Species
UPDATE: Maybe he's fine?
Sheldon Keefe says it looks like Ilya Samsonov is fine.
— David Alter (@dalter) March 24, 2024
Didn’t provide much more. @BodogCA
I couldn't think of any big story to focus on today, so let's take a peak back into 1998. The Leafs were ramping up for their great playoff runs in 1999 and the early 2000s but this time they were selling small more than buying big.
So, on March 24th, 1998, the Leafs made three deals:
Trade one:
Dallas Stars receive: Mike Kennedy
Toronto Maple Leafs receive: 1998 8th round pick
Mike Kennedy was a 1991 5th round pick of the Minnesota North Stars. He joined the Leafs in 1997 but mostly played in St. John's. He went back to Dallas at the deadline, but only played two games.
His north american career would last one more season in the Islanders minor league organization before he left for Germany.
He was last working for the Japanese team Yokohama Grits as an advisor last season.
The Maple Leafs spent that 8th round pick on Michal Trávníček who would play in St. John's for two seasons, but spent almost his entire career with Litvinov HC in the Czech league. He retired after last season, playing for HC Děčín in the 3rd tier Czech league.
Trade two:
Detroit Red Wings receive: Jamie Macoun
Toronto Maple Leafs receive: 1998 4th round pick
Before coming to Toronto Macoun won the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames in 1989 and joined the Leafs in the Doug Gilmour trade. Macoun was wearing an A for Toronto when this trade went down, and he would only play one more season after this for Detroit before retiring after a second cup win with Detroit in '98. He now sells houses in Calgary and Fords in Ontario.
That 4th round pick the Leafs received became Alexei Ponikarovsky, who would play parts of nine seasons with the Leafs, of course never winning a thing, before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2009 trade deadline. Three more seasons scattered around the NHL he went to play in the NHL and he retired in 2018 as captain of Kunlun Red Star.
Trade three:
Washington Capitals receive: Jeff Brown
Toronto Maple Leafs receive: Sylvain Cote
Jeff Brown joined the Leafs in January 1998, coming from Carolina, but was deemed expendable after 19 games when the Washington Capitals were offering Sylvain Cote. So off Brown went, playing his final nine career games with the Washington Capitals. He played only two playoff games for them as they went on to be swept by the Red Wings in the finals.
He is now the head coach of the AAA U18 St. Louis Blues.
Sylvain Cote would be a Leaf through this season, all of 98/99, and three games into the 99/00 when he would be traded to Chicago for a 2nd round pick. That pick would become Karel Pilar.
So, am uneventful deadline for an uneventful season. The Leafs finished 12th in their final season in the Western Conference, but would rebound big time the next, by making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Buffalo Sabres.
Now, some news.
Keefe says Samsonov is fine. Don't panic.
I'm panicking.
Are the Leafs better or worse?
Arun Srinivasan
It was a long trip, but worth it.
The streak couldn't last forever, and it ended at 11.
Lisa Wallace
Where do you go when you had a perfect season? Anywhere you want.
Nancy Russell
Finally, a reminder if you're heading to the Marlies game today.
Reminder for those coming to our home games this weekend at @CocaColaClsm
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) March 23, 2024
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