There hasn't been much in the way of Leafs news over the past couple days. Yesterday, James van Riemsdyk took a maintenance day, but is expected to be back in the lineup tonight as the Leafs come home to host the Wild. We also established in yesterday's LL that Randy Carlyle does, in fact, use a goalie's record against a given team to decide whether or not he should start, which brings us back to the goalie conversation.

On one hand, Bernier has faced the Wild far more often and has only lost once in regulation, but really, he didn't look great against the Oilers, and I'd still expect Reimer to play. I rather hope he gets a shot.

At the other end of the rink, Josh Harding may or may not start for Minnesota. He played last night, and you might think, given that he has MS, that the team would give him the second day off and start their goalie prospect Darcy Kuemper. On the other hand, Harding played very well last night, stopping 22 of 23 shots, and probably gives this Minnesota team, which is desperate to make the playoffs a better shot at two points, barring some sudden flare-up of his condition. Moreover, Niklas Backstrom is only expected to be out for a week, so wearing out Harding seems unlikely. On top of all that, starting Kuemper on Toronto's big stage is probably not the easiest way to break in a new goalie, especially when the Leafs have been on a scoring tear.

I guess we'll see.

Some of the links are pretty fun today.

For a work in progress, Leafs are riding high

Dave Shoalts points out the obvious

Lupul getting better with age

Well, we can't complain about his production. Some guys peak late.

Pominville scores winner in his return to Buffalo

He got traded to Minnesota, but I had completely forgotten. Anyway, I link this mostly because we play the Wild tonight. The recap is from Hockey Wilderness.

Mike Green flips into the bench

Pretty funny.

Canadian women beat the States 3-2 in Exhibition; line brawl ensues

Awesome. See, when fights erupt like this, it's exciting. It's also a little funny, since they all have full shields on.

From The Branches