Playoffs! The Maple Leafs are in!

We already new that was inevitable, but the complete stomping of the Canadiens last night made it official in the funnest of ways. Here’s our recap of the game.

Recap: Maple Leafs clinch a playoff spot in the Canadiens’ rink

Let’s take a look at that Matthews goal again.

And now comes the worst part of the season: another two weeks of games before the playoffs even begin. This is gonna be a slog. Wins still matter, of course. Staying in first place keeps the Leafs facing the fourth-place division opponent, probably the Habs, instead of the scarier Jets (though they’ve lost five in a row now), but we’ll all be snoozing through many of these games. The next two are against the Canucks on Thursday and Saturday, which does at least offer the Leafs the opportunity to redeem themselves from when they lost two in a row to the Canucks right after they returned from their COVID break.

Speaking of COVID breaks, The Marlies have returned from theirs and had their first full practice yesterday in preparation for this weekend’s games. The players were back to excited, to say the least.

They also had a little boost courtesy of the Maple Leafs, and Jason Spezza in particular.

Other News

How about more Logan Stankoven highlights from the World Championship? This time he’s on the Team Canada PK unit, playing against Latvia.

Oh, this one is a classic. Not recommended for viewing by anyone who is allergic to goalies going way out of the net to play the puck.

Linesman Jonny Murray Injured by Hit - Scouting the Refs
Jake Gardiner accidentally slammed into Linesman Jonny Murray who left the game. [SPECIES: Insert Jake face here.]

Returning to “Normal” - Japers' Rink
Recounting a night out at a hockey game, over a year in the making.

Gerard Gallant named Canada's head coach for upcoming hockey worlds - CBC Sports
In addition to the hiring of Gerard Gallant as head coach for the upcoming world championship in Latvia, Hockey Canada said in a release Wednesday that Mike Kelly and Andre Tourigny will join Gallant behind Canada's bench as assistant coaches.

From The Branches