Somewhere around hour two of googling “how to tell if your hockey team is cursed” and “how to break a curse” in a haze yesterday after reading this tweet –

– I decided that I was maybe overreacting. Maybe. I’m still not ruling out putting up a Craigslist ad for a cursebreaker in the GTA.

To help convince myself, I had a look at how other teams are fairing at this point in the year and the great news is that many other teams are much more beat up than we are! (“Great” being a subjectively used adjective, very sorry to everyone currently in pain and/or throwing up, etc.)

The Blue Jackets for example have nine players out of their lineup right now, with eight of those on the IR list. The Buffalo Sabres have seven players missing games, with five on IR, which may at least partially (but not entirely) explain this:

Yikes!

Anyways, while the Leafs list of injured players might look terrifying at first (shout-out to TSN and CBC for listing Horton and Clarkson on the Leafs injuries list, I know you’re technically not wrong but I did not appreciate the moment of confusion and added stress), it’s much less grim than it first appears. Of the eight players out of the Leafs lineup, only four are actually on IR, with the flu taking care of most of the rest of them. And of those four, it does sound like Andersen should be back within the next couple of games. So really, it’s not that bad! Or at the very least, it could be worse!

As for the fact that the Leafs have yet to play a single game this season with their full roster well... let’s just not linger on that.

And if anyone does know a good cursebreaker that they’d recommend, I’m not ruling that out either.

ICYMI

The plague continues to sweep through the Leafs:

Toronto Maple Leafs: The sick, the injured and Pontus Aberg

Over on the Marlies, Mason Marchment is streaking...

Mason Marchment continues his dominance in the AHL

...and so are the Marlies.

Don’t look now, but the Toronto Marlies are on a winning streak!

Elsewhere

Maple Leafs Hot Stove looks at what might be Kyle Dubas’ next move:

Toronto Maple Leafs Notebook: What's next for Kyle Dubas? | Maple Leafs Hotstove

The Athletic asks every Leaf what their favourite movie is, revealing a surprising (?) amount of love for Leonardo DiCaprio:

Ask every Maple Leaf: In time for the Oscars, what's your...

Mitch Marner and John Tavares play Jenga together on the newest episode of Leaf to Leaf:

And all the rest

The Oilers signed an extension with Darnell Nurse:

Oilers sign defenseman Darnell Nurse to two-year contract

And this happened:

Happy Tuesday!

From The Branches