The big news to emerge yesterday was all about injuries: both Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur will miss a significant number of games. Grabovski is out at least two weeks, though MacArthur hasn't had a timetable set yet. Matt Frattin and Colton Orr both also missed practice, but are both expected to be available tonight. Oh, and our new man of glass Tim Connolly is ready to go.
But there's an interesting twist, you see. James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail had this quote from Ron Wilson:
"You have to manage the roster limit right now," Wilson said of a call-up putting the Leafs over the 23-man limit. "We don't have any room."
Since MacArthur's return date hasn't been determined (or at least, predicted), he can't yet be added to the IR list, and therefore still counts against the 23-man limit. The result? The Leafs could well wind up dressing seven defencemen, and one of them might wind up playing forward.
Mirtle's guess? Gardiner gets to try his hand at being a forward. I'd have to say I agree, since Gardiner played much of his early career as a forward. As per the UWB site (love his photo there, by the way), he made the switch with only one year left in high school. High school might sound like a long time ago to you and I, but to a kid of only 21, it's not such a distant memory.
Much more, after the jump.
Leafs Links:
Maple Leafs vs Predators Preview: Meet the Bizarro Preds
Dirk Hoag has a great preview up at On The Forecheck.
Caught Stealin'- The Leafs and Yotes Shift by Shift
Danny Gray's most recent installment at The Leafs Nation. Always a few good points and notes to be found in the TOI Charts.
Cap Hit Of Injured Players: Leafs Not So Lucky This Year
This is my article at The Leafs Nation. Three points to this one: 1) We have quite a number of important players currently injured; 2) Last year, we were much luckier in this regard, but that doesn't mean fate is evening out the score; and 3) CHIP is an interesting way of looking at man games lost to injury.
Leafs lose Grabovski, MacArthur to the proverbial shelf
The Leafs' possession numbers probably won't look quite as good over the coming two weeks. From Cam Charron at The Leafs Nation.
Nazem Kadri: The Time Is Now
Curt S points out that Nazem Kadri has faced some unrealistic expectations. This reminds me a fair bit of Danny Gray's piece on the cognitive bias that is anchoring.
Jonas Gustavsson's Roller Coaster Career
Dirty Dangle wonders whether it's over for Jonas. (Allow me to spoil this for you: it is.)
Entering year four of the Burke regime- Are the Maple Leafs "team tough"?
Mike at VLM wonders if this Leafs team has any of those qualities that Burke talked about when he took over. Myself, I'd say not particularly so.
Pizzo’s Points: Could Alexander Ovechkin be the reason for Kessel’s hot start?
ALL YOUR TALENT NOW BELONGS TO PHIL. From Rob Pizzo at Backhand Shelf.
Other Hockey Links:
Super Shot Search
Fun stuff: theninjagreg has updated his information with 2011-12 stats!
The Quiet Room: Visors. Yes, Visors.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: cages. From Jo Innes at Backhand Shelf.
A letter from Ryan Miller
The latest post from loser domi at Barry Melrose Rocks.
Is there a Truly Great General Manager in the NHL?
No, not really. From Hawerchuk at Arctic Ice Hockey.
The NHL doesn’t need to further coddle, overprotect its goalies
I'll say this: proposed rule changes on this aspect of the game seem unnecessary to me, but the NHL, its GMs, and its referees need to have the courage to call things more strictly by the existing rules if they want to crack down. No need for new rules.
NHLNumbers Podcast Episode 2
This one features Kent Wilson, Jon Willis, Justin Azevedo as well as Gabriel Desjardins. Definitely worth checking out.
Statistics Are Dumb
It's true that most of them require only very basic arithmetic to calculate. From Jonathan Willis at The Leafs Nation.
