After a rough December which saw the Toronto Maple Leafs lose nine games, the Blue and White are turning things around to start 2012. With a 2-0 victory over the hated Buffalos Sabres on Tuesday night, the Maple Leafs have now registered four wins in a row and are 6-2-2 in their past ten games. So, what is the key to Toronto’s sudden surge? A better effort on the penalty kill, more disciplined play and, of course, the superb play of goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. Gustavsson has earned the starting role between the pipes largely due to his spectactular play over his past 12 games where he has posted a 9-3-0 record and registered a save percentage over .930 over that period. Last night’s shutout was the second in three games for Gustavsson. With four wins in a row and an

With 41 games in the books for the 2011-12 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have officially met the halfway point of the season. After a fast start, the Maple Leafs stumbled a bit in November before bottoming out with just four wins in December. Still, having earned 47 points in their first 41 games the Buds are on pace to earn 94 points on the season, which would put them nine points ahead of last years pace of 85 points and right on the cusp of a playoff spot. With the Buds still in a playoff position at the halfway point (seventh overall in the Eastern Conference) most Maple Leaf fans will take it, for better, or for worse. On special teams, the Maple Leafs made huge strides on the power play, going from 16th overall with a 16 percent

After posting career highs in goals, assists and points last season, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski has followed up his awesome 2010-11 performance with a good season, but hardly a dominant season—at least to date. Through 35 games Grabovski has registered 12 goals and 23 points, which should put him just short of last seasons totals—say around 50 points when everything is said and done. Known as a risk-taking, defensively irresponsible player in his early years, Grabovski has evolved into a hard working, reliable forward who possesses top-end speed, great creativity and very good hockey sense. With 173 points through 280 career NHL games, nobody ever expects to see Grabovski amongst the NHL’s scoring leaders. That said, what we do expect is a player that can give you upwards of 16 minutes per game, while chipping in with 20

After missing 23 games with a broken arm, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Mike Komisarek was thrust into action Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings. Given the type of injury he suffered and the fact that he had not laced up the skates since November 17th, one would think that Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson would have opted to bring Komisarek along slowly. A quick look at last night’s boxscore reveals quite the opposite, as Komisarek had a total of 21:53 of time on the ice, the third most amongst all Maple Leaf players. We all know Wilson tends to give premium minutes to those players that are playing well on any given night rather than through ones reputation, but with Komisarek looking slow, making more than one bad pass and emerging with a team-worst minus-2 rating one wonders—is

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke sent pugilist Colton down to the AHL to play with the Toronto Marlies on Thursday, and with him, a message that all is not well in the NHL, at least not according to Burke. Burke spoke to the media Thursday, airing out what he feels is a total lack of accountability by the “rats” in the league. “If you want a game where guys can cheap shot people and not face retribution, I’m not sure that’s a healthy evolution,” Burke said Thursday. “The speed of the game, I love how the game’s evolved in terms of how it’s played. But you’re seeing where there is no accountability, this is the byproduct… is people running around that won’t back it up.” Burke’s comments come at a time when the NHL is making a huge transition

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke has pulled the trigger on another deal with the Anaheim Ducks. This time Burke has sent Luca Caputi to Anaheim for former second round (35th overall) pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Nicolas Deschamps. Injuries and a lack of fit with the Maple Leafs organization have conspired to deflate whatever opportunities Caputi might have had with the Maple Leafs of late. Known as a gritty player with some marginal scoring punch, Caputi has been a victim of the Maple Leafs strong depth at the AHL level, forcing him to watch countless players get their shot with the big club while he continued to tough it out with the Marlies. Truth be told, Caputi has been out of the loop for quite some time, having last played for the big club for a