Shawn Thornton's suspension is expected to come down today. You can expect to see a lot of Boston writers faint, as the guy who slew footed someone and punched him - while he was on the ice - into a concussion gets referred to as "a great guy." Should be good for a laugh.

Speaking of laughter, Clarkson will have a suspension hearing today for this headshot to Sobotka. If you missed the hit, it's understandable, as it happened well after the Leafs were out of the game. The 5.25 million dollar winger continues to demonstrate his only skillset is getting suspended in meaningless situations. What a great buy. Some people have been ballparked at 2 games, but I'm not sure whether or not his off-the-bench suspension will count as prior disciplinary action that increases the time missed.

The Leafs will play the Blackhawks tonight - not sure who will start, considering that both goalies played against the Blues. But when that's over, 24/7 kicks off in the US! Those of you in Canada will need to wait until Rogers airs it Sunday night, censored and with commercials. When you're done laughing at the prospect of waiting, please remember not to post streams on this site. If you do intend to wait until it's aired tomorrow, it'd be wise to avoid this site and twitter - we'll have a discussion thread go up shortly before the episode starts.

To hold you over until then, have some links:

Why the Leafs' struggles should not be a surprise - The Globe and Mail
Seems like the only ones surprised are the ones making the moves.

Tired Teams and Corsi% | mc79hockey.com
Maybe the Leafs' performance in the Kings and Blues games shouldn't have been unexpected.

Flyers help soldier present family with surprise homecoming gift
Nice move by the Flyers.

Sharks Gameday: Turn-Based Hockey - Battle of California
Megalodon puts together some rules for a turn-based hockey card game.

Zack Kassian mocks Sam Gagner’s face shield, protecting jaw Kassian broke
The word "classless" is getting thrown around - because it doesn't mean anything - but I think this is pretty hilarious.

Post the rest in the comments.

From The Branches