Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings released the names of some of the players who would participate in the Alumni Game leading up to the Winter Classic. That is, they released the names of players that would play in one of the Alumni Games. That's right, there are going to be two Alumni games.

The names listed on the Leafs side sound like they'd be a lot of fun to watch, and Danny Gray has a few thoughts on them over at The Leafs Nation.

Conspicuous absence? Mats Sundin. Let's hope he gets roped into this before January.

Leafs Links:

Partial rosters for this year’s Winter Classic Alumni Game(s) have been revealed
Justin Bourne's take on the lineup(s).

Heck, forget the Alumni game in January—let's ask Johnny Bower if he’ll be a part-time back-up this coming season…
Michael Langlois says what many of us were thinking.

Patrick Burke on You Can Play's Progress, Pride Toronto, and Criticism of his Dad
A good piece from Steve Dangle at The Leafs Nation.

Nikolai Kulemin, and an introduction to "shooter regression"
Cam Charron attempts to wipe the egg from both his face and mine. We boobed.

Leafs Video
I'm just going to link the Leafs video player as a whole because there are a few things you might want to check out today. First, James van Riemsdyk had his first press conference wearing Leafs gear, but there is also some footage from the prospects' camp.

If Roberto Luongo Isn't The Answer For The Leafs, Who Is?
Tony Notarianni bounces around a few names at Maple Leafs Central.

Other Hockey Links:

Quality of Competition in 5v5 Close Situations
"This means that good teams have on average tougher 5v5 close opponents than straight 5v5 opponents and weak teams have tougher 5v5 opponents than 5v5 close opponents," says David Johnson.

AHL To Implement Video Review
A little to late to save the Marlies. From Marcy Di Michele at Maple Leafs Central.

Sharks sign defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic to 5-year extension
Article from the AP at the Globe. As per CapGeek, it's worth $4.2M per season. As a side note, WOW the Sharks total payroll is a lot higher than I expected.

Bruins sign D Garnet Exelby, F Lane MacDermid to one-year deals
Both players have signed two-way deals, but I hope the Leafs get to play against Garnet Exelby this season. Please let us play against Garnet Exelby.

AHL To Implement Video Review
A little to late to save the Marlies. From Marcy Di Michele at Maple Leafs Central.

The Quiet Room: McIlrath Dislocates Kneecap, Grosses Everyone Out.
Really, if you are easily grossed out, don't click on this link. From Jo Innes.

The Kitchener Rangers are suing a student-newspaper for libel
From Justin Bourne. (Insert joke about $10,000 bond here.)

Spitballing: The Jonathan Toews car accident was the weirdest incident of the 2011-12 season
Justin Bourne isn't saying that there was something fishy about this situation, but he is.

From The Branches