Good morning Toronto Maple Leafs fans!

What we all knew was coming finally happened. Yesterday the Ottawa Senators fired head coach, and former Maple Leafs assistant coach, DJ Smith.

DJ Smith Out in Ottawa
The Ottawa Senators have relieved Head Coach DJ Smith of his duties.
Silver SevenSpencer Blake

The Senators had telegraphed this move a week or so ago when they hired Jaques Martin as "Special Advisor".

Senators appoint Jacques Martin as Senior Advisor to Coaching Staff | Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators president of hockey operations and interim general manager Steve Staios announced today the appointment of former Senators head coach Jacques Martin as Senior Advisor to the Coaching Staff. A native of Saint-Pascal, Ont., and the longest tenured head coach in Senators’ history, Martin will serve as
Ottawa Senators logo

Hiring the most popular and successful* coach in team history as an advisor and his biggest piece of advice was to fire the coach and have him step behind the bench. Woah. What a curve ball.

*Never won a Stanley Cup, lost to the Leafs in the playoffs multiple times.

So, now that the worst kept secret is over, what will happen to the Senators now?

They're currently fighting with Chicago and the Sharks for last place; Ottawa has 22 points, one above San Jose (21) and three over Chicago (19). They are 16 points back of the final Atlantic playoff spot and 12 back of the final Wild Card spot.

A miracle is needed to make the playoffs, and the best they can do is improve too much, and play well enough to go from lottery pick to 17th overall.

I like that plan. They should do that.

Good luck Ottawa!

Now, some other news.

Canadian hockey legend and Sportsnet analyst Cassie Campbell-Pascall has announced she is leaving her on-air position and joining the PWHL as a senior advisor.

Toronto Marlies player Dylan Gambrell has been named the AHL's player of the week.

Marlies’ Gambrell named AHL Player of the Week
The American Hockey League>> Patrick Williams archive

In two games Gambrell had two goals and three assists as the Marlies won both road games.

A stomach bug rampaged through the Leafs dressing room, hopefully it's over for tonight's game against the New York Rangers.

I want another 7 goal game against New York like we had last Tuesday.

The defence is working better than it has been, but what else can be done?

As the Maple Leafs blue line gets healthy and its depth options impress, where do the needs lie on defense?
The Maple Leafs’ defense has been a major talking point throughout the 2023-24 season in part because General Manager Brad Treliving has been fairly direct in acknowledging that he would like to improve it. While the Leafs have gotten off to a strong start in the standings (16-6-6), it would be fair to attribute some […]
Maple Leafs HotstoveAnthony Petrielli

Huge news for Canada's World Juniors hopes as the Boston Bruins have sent Matt Poitras to go play for his country.

Bruins assign Matt Poitras to Team Canada for world juniors
The Boston Bruins are assigning forward Matt Poitras to Team Canada for the world junior hockey championship, the NHL team announced Monday.
Sportsnet| December 18, 2023, 12:05 PM

Finally, a love story for the game we all love. How someone came to Canada and embraced this silly obsession we have.

FIRST PERSON | It’s a game to some, a religion to others. To me, hockey is part of my love story with Canada | CBC News
Erlinda Tan had just moved to Canada from the Philippines when Sidney Crosby scored his golden goal at the 2010 Olympics. Since then, the joy of hockey has helped her feel like she belongs.
CBCErlinda Tan

Enjoy your day everyone!

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