The full NHL schedule is due out after the players ratify the CBA memorandum of understanding on Saturday but as we near the start of the season details continue to leak. We know that the Leafs will start the season on Saturday January 19 at the Bell Centre against the Habs. Now, we know when the Leafs will open the home portion of their season:
Leafs home opener Jan. 21st against BUFF.
— Damien Cox (@DamoSpin) January 11, 2013
For all of the Leafs' troubles with the rest of the NHL, the Leafs actually haven't done as bad as we'd assume against the Sabres at home (HSBC is another story...) where their record is 10-10-4 (0-1-2 on Monday nights). But that's not to say that the Leafs have not had a few good memories recently. I asked on Twitter for some good memories of games between these two teams and ended up receiving a lot of responses that were actually for games in Buffalo but DGB explained why that happened so often:
@mlse Sorry, gets confusing with 95% of the building cheering for the Leafs every game.
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) January 11, 2013
Nikolai Kulemin Trucks Patrick Kaleta
Everyone loves seeing the second most hated player in the NHL (saved only by the presence of Matt Cooke) get rocked by Kulemin. Incidentally, Kulemin has been playing extremely well in the KHL. If he can hit the ground running and rebound from last season (part of that will just be his shooting percentage variance rebounding) then he'll be one of Nonis' favourite Russians.
Nazem Kadri Snipes
This is a nice highlight from one of the first times that Kadri was allowed to play in the NHL. The clip shows the offensive awareness that Kadri brings to the table and the nice shot that he has. Hopefully this can become a more regular sight this season.
March 29, 2011 - A Playoff Atmosphere
On March 29, 2011 the Leafs sat in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and were running out of time to catch up on the 8th placed Buffalo Sabres who were seven points ahead of them. Now, I don't want to alarm everyone but that is indeed a game in the Air Canada Centre. You might be confused by the din of the crowd and the fact that the lower bowl was standing but it's true. Turns out that the library-like ACC actually can make some noise. They just need to be inspired to do so like you would expect from a discerning crowd.