Happy Thursday, everyone. The Leafs play tonight at the usual 7 pm time, and the Florida teams start at 6:30, if you want an appetizer first.

Today is also Game 1 of the Marlies first round of the playoffs. They play Cleveland at 7 pm in the start of their best-of-three play-in round.

The PWHL expansion is official in Vancouver:

Vancouver announced as 1st PWHL expansion team, will play at Pacific Coliseum | Globalnews.ca
The PWHL has not unveiled a name for the new club yet, but we know when they hit the ice at the Pacific Coliseum next season they will dress in Pacific blue and cream.
Global NewsSimon Little

We've been pining for each other all this time:

Maple Leafs’ Stolarz comes out swinging: ‘This is what you live for’
The Maple Leafs have waited a long time for a goaltender like Stolarz, just as Stolarz has waited forever for a shot like the one he’s getting in Toronto.
Sportsnet.caLuke Fox

It's trivia, but fun trivia:

EDGE stats leaders in 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs | NHL.com
Kuzmenko has best offensive zone time percentage, Guentzel excels in high-danger shots
NHL logoFantasy Hockey Staff

Guess who the Leafs player is before you read:

10 players who went straight from college hockey to the NHL playoffs
Each year, the NCAA DI men’s ice hockey tournament continues almost right up to when the NHL playoffs begin. This fun scheduling situation means that some of the nation’s top NCAA DI players from Frozen Four teams can go straight from college hockey to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
NCAA.comTorin Smith | NCAA.com

https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/ice-hockey-equipment-market-to-reach-us-1-84-billion-by-2032-driven-by-growing-popularity-government-support

The men's U-18 tournament is underway:

IIHF - Swedes off to impressive start
Ekberg, power play pace attack
IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation

Last night Montréal lost to Washington who now lead 2-0 in that series. Gabriel Landeskog did play this time for Colorado who started late-ish, and Vegas and Minnesota were the 10 pm game.

Over 1,000 days since Landeskog last played. Has anyone ever done this before (discounting WWII, of course)?

That's all until the preview later today.

From The Branches