With the trade deadline now in it’s final hours it appears as if Toronto Maple Leafs general manager would like to make a couple of moves, but given the lack of movement thus far, Burke may not be able to make anything of significance happen. A top-six forward (Rick Nash) and a goaltender (Evgeni Nabokov), look to be Burke’s biggest needs, but neither one of those players will be easy to pry away from their current teams. The names of Mikhail Grabovski (who is a UFA this summer), Clarke MacArthur (who has some value on the trade market) Nikolai Kulemin (who has struggled this season) and defenseman Luke Schenn look to be the three most likely candidates to be traded from the Maple Leafs, but don’t expect any of them to be had unless Burke’s asking price, which is likely

The recent signing of Ales Hemsky by the Edmonton Oilers brings to mind a quote from Forest Gump. “Stupid is as stupid does”, and the Edmonton Oilers look to have made a stupid move by signing Hemsky to a 2-year, $10 million deal. Hall of Fame forward Mike Modano let his feelings be known via twitter last night when he tweeted “2 yrs/10 million for Hemsky. Scored over 20 goals twice in 9yrs.. WTF..!!?”. Mr. Modano, I think you said it best and I must concur with your sentiments…”WTF..!!?” With Monday’s trade deadline fast approaching, there has been a lot of talk about Mikhail Grabovski’s future with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Initial reports indicated that Grabovski was looking for a long term deal that would see him make upwards of $5 million per season, which seemed out of line at

TSN’s Bob McKenzie is reporting that at least two sources, (TSN’s French language sister station) reporter Renaud Lavoie and Columbus Dispatch reporter Aaron Portzline have reported that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Rick Nash is on the trade market. In order for any of these claims to be true, Nash, who owns a No Movement Clause, would have to give the Blue Jackets a list of teams he would like to join, which means, despite the trade rumors, Nash is very much in control of his future. Of course, just because Nash has presumably given the Blue Jackets permission to listen to trade offers, there is no guarantee that he gets moved. Clearly, a player with Nash’s impressive resume would command a large return, a return which few NHL teams are willing or able to offer the Blue Jackets. Let’s face

The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a couple of familiar faces in the lineup tonight when they face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Air Canada Center. Both Colby Armstrong and John-Michael Liles are expected to be in the lineup Wednesday night, which should give the Buds an element of grit in the form of Armstrong and a shot in the arm offensively in Liles. Armstrong has suffered through a number of injuries this season, limiting him to just nine games. Meanwhile, Liles will be coming back from a concussion that saw him miss five weeks of game action. To the Leafs’ credit, they have found a way to keep their offense and power play hot in the absence of Liles, but the team has sorely missed the physical game that Armstrong plays for most of the season. With

With the NHL trade deadline just four weeks away, plenty of rumors have surfaced, including the likes of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Jeff Carter joining the Toronto Maple Leafs. While no Maple Leaf players have been mentioned as possible candidates to join the Blue Jackets, the names of Clarke MacArthur, Luke Schenn and Mikhail Grabovski have been front in centre in just about every rumor involving the Maple Leafs. So, will Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke attempt to land Carter? At first glance, Carter, who stands 6’3” and weighs in at just under 200 pounds, has the size that Burke so desperately needs down the middle. That said, Carter is hardly known as a physical player, which is what Burke needs most. A former first round draft choice of the Philadelphia Flyers (11th overall) in the 2003 NHL

Sunday Afternoon team Chara took on Team Alfredsson in what was supposed to be a fun-spirited All-Star event. For the most part, the players had fun, enjoyed themselves and put on a good show for the fans, but one incident will leave a bad taste in the mouths of many NHL fans and the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. With many players wearing microphones for the duration of the game the odd bout of questionable language was bound to be heard. That said, nobody was prepared for what Hartnell said after Maple Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf gave away the puck in his own zone, which led to a team Alfredsson goal when Henrik Sedin tipped one past goaltender Jimmy Howard at the 12:51 mark of the first period. Hartnell, who was added to the All-Star roster when several NHL