I make no illusion this is any more than small comfort for the continued failings of the Maple Leafs, but there is still a team wearing the Maple Leaf you can cheer for.

Team Canada defeated the Olympic Russian team (or whatever they are called, as they still are banned from playing as “Russia” because of the doping scandal from a few years back) with an overtime goal put in the net by the Flames’ Andrew Mangiapane.

The 2-1 win was enough to move Canada into the semi-finals, which is quite something after their embarrassing start which included a loss to Latvia for the first time in the history of the tournament.

Canada will play the USA in the semi-final game tomorrow morning, which, starts very early at 7:15 a.m. ET, and it’s broadcast on TSN.

The other half of the semi-finals is Finland vs. Germany (Korbinian Holzer!) who play a few hours later at 11:15 a.m.

Mikhail Abramov

Leafs forward prospect Mikhail Abramov has been a big help to the Victoriaville Tigres as they moved up last night to a 3-2 game lead in their series against the Val d’Or Foreurs who were reportedly the favourites to win. Having another junior champion in the ranks of the team would be a great. Game #6 of their series is Saturday afternoon.

Abramov is also a reminder of how Google will often mangle the biographical information of other people with the same or a similar name. You can go to Google and type in “Mikhail Abramov” and see for yourself, unless of course the Leafs actually did draft an octogenarian philosopher.

Maybe he will develop a whole new power play philosophy? [In a thick Russian accent] “Instead of never shooting puck, why not try shooting puck in net” [gasps of amazement from the Leafs coaching staff in the room.]

In reality, he’s now 20 years old meaning after this QMJHL championship run is over, he will graduate from junior hockey up to one of the Leafs or Marlies next season.

Other News

The Stanley Cup Playoffs continue with The Bruins taking a 2-1 series lead last night over the Islanders, and the Hurricanes with a nice overtime win on the Lightning to get their first win in the series.

Mark Scheifele was given a four game suspension for charging in the lead up to his on Jake Evans on Wednesday. That will have some repercussions on the Jets as they try to defeat the Canadiens with their next game played tonight.

Seth Jones defends the blueline like Andrew MacDonald - Broad Street Hockey
Soon to be on his way out of Columbus, the highly valued defender does a lot of things well, but also does a lot poorly.

Prepare for a rebuild in Columbus - The Cannon
After sweeping the Lightning in the 2019 NHL Playoffs, there was only one way Blue Jackets could go—down. They lost Artemi Panerin and gained nothing in return. They lost a Vezina winning goaltender, intentionally or not. They traded prospects and draft picks for rentals. They had fun, and saw some success, but it’s time to admit what’s glaringly obvious: there’s no Cup contender coming out of a roster sans Seth Jones and (possibly) Zach Werenski.

Chef Louis? - Matchsticks and Gasoline
Flames goalie Louis Domingue wants to cook with you! You can now sign up for a service where he will text you his recipes as he makes them. Seriously!

From The Branches