There’s so much hockey to watch if you’re interested, you can do nothing else.
Growlers
Tonight marks the beginning of the Kelly Cup Final in the ECHL. The Newfoundland Growlers will host the Toledo Walleye (Detroit Red Wings), as the Growlers try to perfect that expansion team makes the final trick Vegas didn’t quite pull off last year.
Tonight’s game is at 5:30 p.m. Toronto time, and you can watch it on ECHL.tv (subscription) or listen to the radio feed on Mixlr. You should be able to watch on the St. John’s Rogers TV website.
Game 2 is on Sunday at 5:30.
World Championships
There’s no William Nylander anymore at Worlds, but there are four more games to be played.
Russia (Nikita Zaitsev) face Finland (who you should watch one time to see Kaapo Kakko) at 9:15 a.m. Team Canada, who squeaked into the semis on a goal that went in with less than a half a second left, face Czechia at 1:15 p.m.
The medal games are on Sunday at 9:45 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.
All games are on TSN.
Memorial Cup
The hosts, Halifax Mooseheads take on the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who won the semifinal last night over Guelph. The final tonight is at 7:00 p.m. and that game is on Sportsnet.
With Fedor Gordeev now done for the season, the Leafs have until June 1 to decide on him.
NHL
Still no NHL games on because no one wants to watch Boston. They start back up on Monday, because everyone wants Monday night hockey.
Marlies
The Marlies return to Charlotte for Game 6 of their Conference final on Sunday at 7 p.m. They lost a tough one last night on two shorthanded goals that were both extremely painful to watch.
The game is on AHL.tv (subscription), and the Leafs are streaming all the games on their app. Marlies need to win to tie the series up at three games all.
Links
Jets should target Kadri: Talented, feisty centre could fill prominent role | Winnipeg Sun
Imagine a scenario where the Winnipeg Jets could add a second-line centre and get tougher to play against at the same time.You can be sure Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff would love to kill two birds with one proverbial stone in either a trade or free agency this summer.
Leafs’ Newfoundland farm team playing for ECHL championship | The Star
The Growlers have made the Leafs’ return to St. John’s a big success in first season.
Sean Durzi excelling with Storm after 'wild' trade from Maple Leafs - Sportsnet.ca
Just a few weeks after being traded in the OHL, Sean Durzi got another call. He had been traded again. The return? Jake Muzzin.
Maple Leafs prospect Fedor Gordeev hoping good Memorial Cup leads to deal - Sportsnet.ca
Guelph Storm defenceman Fedor Gordeev has a lot riding on a good Memorial Cup having not yet signed a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Reda: This current Maple Leafs team is closest to cup run in last 40 years - Video - TSN
Gino Reda makes the argument on Leafs Lunch that this current Maple Leafs team is the closest to a realistic cup run that he has seen and discusses what makes this team a contender for the next five years.
Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Report w/ Justin Bourne - YouTube
Video of radio show with Justin Bourne as guest.
Former Acadia winger named Maple Leafs assistant coach | Hockey | Sports | The Chronicle Herald
Former Acadia Axemen winger Paul McFarland has joined Mike Babcock’s coaching staff with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
McFarland had been an assistant coach for two seasons with the Florida Panthers. He replaces D.J. Smith, who was named head [love the ultra-local angle]
Do The Toronto Maple Leafs Need More Forward Depth? · Puck77
In Ryan Ghizzoni's new post, he talks about whether or not the Toronto Maple Leafs need more forward depth. Babcock had asked for this after the playoffs. [short, but cool visualization of the depth in the division]
Atkinson comes up big in Baycats win over Leafs - BarrieToday.com
Barrie hosts the Brantford Red Sox on Saturday afternoon at Coates Stadium [it’s Maple Leafs news, it counts]
That’s it for this weekend, but I’ve got a post coming up on Saturday looking askance at this idea that the Leafs are using the ECHL for development.