Andrey Osadchenko is the Nations' roving Russian reporter and he's dug up a few gems. Yesterday he had a longer interview with Nikolai Kulemin. His latest post is a bit of a heartbreaker:
Igor Korolev played 4 seasons for the Maple Leafs before he was traded to the Blackhawks. He scored 60 goals and 161 points in 297 regular season games as a Leaf. Last season was last in his professional career. After retirement he became an assistant coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl - a team that sadly died in terrible aircraft crash early in September.
This is his last interview. In December of 2009 Korolev told Alexei Shevchenko and Alexander Lyutikov what motivated him to keep playing hockey when he was almost 40, why his family stayed for good in Toronto and what defines a real hockey player.
Yesterday was Thanskgiving in the United States (I know because the Lions lost an afternoon game) which is comically late but every day is a good day to reflect on some of the themes that Korolev touched on in his interview.
Some more lighthearted Leafs and NHL fare after the jump
LEAFS LINKS
Danny Gray cannot believe how the Leafs have changed
A Maple Leaf blueline with sandpaper—and skill: yes, it feels like 1971 again
The current mix on the Leafs' blueline has been rare over the past four decades but it might finally be rounding into shape
Things are looking up on the farm as Alec provides an update of the past seven days
Jeffler went to a Marlies' season ticket holder event with Dave Poulin. Some good thoughts here on the marketing of the team
Leafs’ Lupul one of NHL’s early success stories
Joffrey Lupul's been a great story for the Leafs. Hope he keeps it up. Hell of a salary dump,
The Stars should be afraid. Also, Reimer is at least 10 days out and Grabovski practiced. Look out NHL.
Jake Gardiner is showing some flashes of Bryan Berard.
MUSICAL INTERLUDE
NHL LINKS
Robert Cleave shares his thoughts on the seven Canadian NHL teams and the league at large
A Look At The NHL Awards Races Through The First Quarter
Scott Cullen has Phil Kessel as the Hart Trophy winner but he should have Ron Wilson as the Jack Adams winner. I mean, the Leafs are the worst team ever right?
Meet The Province's new hockey bloggers
Friend of the Blog Cam Charron made the cut! He'll be insufferable for other Friend of the Blog Thom Drance. I bet Friend of the Blog Jason Chimera tells him to shut his fucking mouth.
So you agree…You think he’s really creepy
Inspired by Wyshynski's collection of icky McGuire quotes, Blogged Shots is going to run a season-long project to track the worst.
Sidney Crosby's Return Draws Awful TV Rating; Was Jeremy Roenick Right?
The ratings in the US were not that great for Sidney's return.
Tracking Zone Entries and Zone Exits
Derek Zona is going to try to push the Oilogosphere to the leading edge of advanced stats
A couple of pretty productive players top the list
The Leafs' ranking is worth it just for the emoticon
If you get HBO then you're in for a treat as this year's incarnation tracks the Flyers and Rangers. Lots of big personalities there.
Closer look at statistics reveals reason teams are successful
The Montreal Gazette has a good interview with one of the contributors to Habs Eyes On The Prize
