The animals are coming to take over Toronto. No, I’m not talking about the ones coming in town to play the Maple Leafs tomorrow, I mean the animals at The Royal Winter Fair.

The Royal starts up one week from today at Exhibition place, and it will encompass the whole of Ricoh Coliseum, the Horse Palace, and much more. This means the Marlies need to pack up and get out for three weeks.

They will make their first trip in many years to play in Cleveland, and then head back home to prepare to schlep over to Belleville next weekend (don’t get stuck in the back of that parking lot) to play the Senators, followed after that by a trip to Laval to see the Rocket.

It’s not a bad travel schedule, but they won’t play here again until November 17. Tonight is your last chance to see them at the Coliseum before then. They are playing against the evil Syracuse Crunch. If you go tonight, you might even get a chance to see Rasmus Sandin, but whether or not he plays is not yet confirmed.

Meanwhile, we still await William Nylander to sign. Will Kyle Dubas troll the professional hockey writers and do it tonight at 9:00 p.m.? Possibly!

ICYMI
Here’s what we wrote about yesterday.

The Five Game Process for the Maple Leafs: Episode Two - Katya
What is the points pace and is it sustainable?

Markham Thunder lose 3-2 to Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays - mediajunkie
A 28 save performance by Liz Knox was not enough to get the win.

Other News

Cholowski Standing Out Among NHL’s Rookie Defensemen - Winging It In Motown
Dennis Cholowski is shining not only in Hockeytown, but in the entire league as well.

DeBrincat was the cutest Scrappy-Doo for Halloween - Second City Hockey
The original #DeBrindog was Alex DeBrincat.

Kulemin wins court battle in quest for Canadian citizenship - Ottawa Citizen
"Russia has given me a lot but I now consider Canada home and my children deserve the opportunity to live in a free and democratic country." - Nikolay Kulemin

Phil Kessel did a Phil Kessel thing last night as part of the Penguins hilarious 9-1 obliteration of the Flames.

The Growlers are coming! They play two games in Brampton this weekend.

Newfoundland Growlers need to keep beefing up their defence | Hockey | Sports | The Telegram
Injuries, suspension to Melindy, mean Newfoundland is looking to add yet another rearguard

They’ll have a hard time getting help on defence from a Marlies team about to hit the road. I’m not sure if the Telegram knows yet that ECHL teams running low on players isn’t exactly unusual. Unlike a US team there is no quick fix from the SPHL either.

From The Branches