Leaf of the Day

This is the last of the players from this postcard set, though there are still the two coaches left to do.  Shows a bit how times have changed that 33 was the highest number on the team that season. 1984 was the first year I really remember paying any kind

Last week, I had no time for anything and this meant that the karma of Dan Daoust had to carry the Leafs through an entire week of games.  Dan, unexpectedly to me, at least, inspired the Leafs to a perfect 3-0 record.  While I toyed with the idea of leaving

To me, Dan Daoust was sort of a proto-Grabovski, minus any strange pinapple association.  He was a smallish, quick-skating playmaking centre with a bit of a nose for trouble and a willingness to stir things up. As it was with Grabovski, Montreal had a more rookies than spots available in

(Note - sorry for the delay, folks.  Who schedules a full day of meetings on a Friday?) The definitive image of Luke Richardson's time in Toronto isn't actually an image of Luke himself. Instead it's Tony Granato of the Rangers - more specifically his

Given that some of the topics of note here of late have included defensemen for whom we have paid too high a price, the absence of first-round picks (and seconds for that matter) and the prospect of having our traded first-rounder become someone really good, Michel Petit kind of fits.

On June 23, 1988, the Jays beat the Orioles 5-2 at home, bringing themselves to just a game under .500 in what had not been a very good season.  Diamond Jim Clancy (4-9) went six for the win and a somewhat portly reliever named David Wells picked up his fourth

The win against Ottawa on Saturday gave the Leafs 20 on the season, matching the entire output of the 1984-85 team.  There were no shootouts in 1984-85, though, nor were there overtime points.  If we were to score this team the way it used to be done, this year'

Time will tell whether the fans at the ACC will start calling "LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-CA" or not (my guess is that they will - these things don't take a lot of prompting), but today's LotD got a lot of that.  His time here was pretty short,

Bob Rouse was one of the inbound players in the great roster turnover of 1990-91.  He came to the Leafs in January in the trade that also saw Peter Zezel arrive and saw Al Iafrate depart.  While this trade was among the best the Leafs made that season, it still

The Carolina Hurricanes have three officially-retired numbers - #10 (Francis), #2 (Wesley) and #9 (Gordie Howe). #99 is unavailable due to a (mistaken, IMO) league decision and #3 is unassigned ever since the loss of Steve Chaisson. It's number 2 that is of interest today, though, since it&

Ever since I started to think what I would say about Rick Vaive, this has been stuck in my head.  Now, thanks to the power of the internets, it can be stuck in yours, too: The month of January, 1982 was a pretty eventful one in Toronto.  Darryl Sittler'

I was actually going to do a book review today, not having anyone in mind for the LotD. Having seen Skinnyfish's FTB post, though, there's really only one thing I can do here. Paul Henderson played the series of his life in 1972. As the left

This post was originally published in 2010. On the anniversary of Salming’s signing with the Leafs, we’re reposting it as part of our Retro May look back at our work over the years. He's the answer to a rather odd trivia question:  What Leaf, after reaching

I've been struggling with the Jim Korn LotD for a while. For most players I've seen, I've got a mental image stored somewhere of a particular thing they did, something that helps me give a sense of what they meant to me as a

The deal that brought Kelly to Toronto was more of a shocker than it should have been.   The backstory on it was that Red had had an ankle injury early in the season that was affecting his play.  By the new year, his numbers weren't where Jack Adams

I don't know how many people will take note of the anniversary today, but it's actually a pretty significant date in Leaf history.  I've had this one circled on the calendar for some time. Fifty years ago today, the Leafs traded Marc Reaume. Marc

A couple of thoughts before we get going here: First, I want to offer my sincerest condolences to the Burke family. To a parent, there is no greater loss than that of a child. I lost a cousin at 18 under similar circumstances and even though that was over 20

A year or so ago, I put together a post (that needs an update an re-release) called "Leafs by the Numbers" - the objective of which was to pick the best Leaf to have worn any given sweater number. Number 3 was one that gave me a little

The things you think you know.... Much like Bill Stewart, Peter Ihnacak was a name I was looking forward to.  You see, way back in 1983-84, I took a creepy little instamatic camera to the Gardens and took a bunch of pictures of my first-ever game.  In it, there'

Somewhat flu-ridden today, so I apologize in advance for any lack of coherence. I wanted to start out with a little anecdote from last week.   I was watching the LA game with my five-year-old son.  It was the last minute of the game.  Hagman had scored a moment or so

Leaf Shill! (HA! I kill me.) So many times we're told (clearly by fans who have never read anything they've written) that the entire MSM is composed of Leaf shills.  Thought it might serve a purpose to actually see what one looked like.  Ba-dum-pish. Today has

With the emergence of Kopitar and Doughty and their newfound rise to the ranks of the playoff-bound, the LA Kings are quite the happening team these days. Hard to imagine that there was a time when a player would not want to go there so badly that he would actually

(Normally, when I write these things, I do recognize that there is an actual audience out there.  Today I don't care.  This one is for me....) When I picked 1984-85 as the tribute team for this year, there was one name in particular I was looking forward to

Well, it has finally happened.  The point has been reached in the hockey season when I start to check just how long it is until pitchers and catchers report.  This didn't use to happen, but it's becoming something of an annual ritual these days.  (For the

There are a million different "what-ifs" in Leaf history.  So much of 1993, for example, is placed on the high stick that wasn't called that another significant "what if" gets overlooked. What if John Cullen had been healthy? As 1992-93 was getting underway, it