The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking to finish off their three game Western road trip with a win as they take on the red-hot Vancouver Canucks, who have gone 8-0-2 in their past ten games. Toronto had lost four in a row before beating the Edmonton Oilers in overtime on Wednesday night. The Maple Leafs paltry 5-4-1 record in their past ten games has them precariously close to falling out of a playoff spot, as Toronto currently sits eighth overall in the Eastern Conference, a mere one point up on the Washington Capitals who sit in ninth. The Maple Leafs and Canucks last met back on December 17th, with the Canucks beating the Blue and White by a final score of 5-3. Tyler Bozak had a goal and two assists that night, while Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows and Chris

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

When Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke brought Swedish goaltending sensation Jonas Gustavsson to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ organization there was great hope from Burke that “the Monster”—as Gustavsson was so aptly nicknamed—would solidify the Blue and White’s goaltending for years to come. Fast forward three seasons later and the Maple Leafs goaltending situation is still a question mark in many ways. While both Gustavsson and on again/off again number one starter James Reimer have evolved into a decent duo, neither one has emerged as a dominant figure between the pipes, which has to concern Burke on some level. Quietly, and without much fanfare, Gustavsson has put together his best season as a Maple Leaf, posting a 16-11-1 record to go along with a 2.75 goals against average and a .909 save percentage and three shutouts—all career bests for Gus. Within the

Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Hartnell picked up a Gordie Howe hatrick, while the rest of the Flyers squad dominated the Maple Leafs in the physical department, as the Toronto Maple Leafs lost a hard fought contest to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night. Hartnell opened the scoring at the 14:38 mark of the first period giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead. seconds earlier Hartnell was taken down at the back of the net by Maple Leafs defenseman, but Hartnell fought his way to the front of the net where he potted his 26th goal of the season. Rewind to last weeks All-Star Game where Hartnell and Phaneuf had an interesting exchange. With many players wearing microphones for the duration of the All-Star Game the odd bout of questionable language was bound to be heard. That said, nobody was prepared for

There are a handful of teams that the opposition measures it’s success against, without question the Philadelphia Flyers are one of those teams. As good as the Toronto Maple Leafs have been over their past ten games (6-3-1), Thursday night’s tilt against the Flyers will be used as a measuring stick for the Buds. Should the Maple Leafs lose, it will reinforce what many pundits are thinking—that the Maple Leafs are a good team, but not capable of beating the elite teams, at least not consistently. The Maple Leafs currently sit seventh overall in the Eastern Conference standings. With the Boston Bruins occupying the second seed in the East that means the Buds would play the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs should the season end today. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the Blue

For those of you familiar with the Toronto Blue Jays organization you’ll remember a time when Blue Jays general manager Pat Gillick was referred to as “stand pat” for his long standing refusal to make a move at the deadline, or at least refusing to make a deal of any consequence. To all the haters, Gillick always contested that he would make a splash on the trade market when the right opportunity came around and not before, which is exactly what Gillick did when he shipped Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff to the San Diego Padres in return for future Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar and home run hitting World Series Hero Joe Carter. The New York Times called the deal “one of the most stunning trades in years”, and deservedly so. Of course McGriff and Fernandez failed to live