The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins by a final score of 4-3 Saturday night, solidifying their place atop the Northeast Division. The Maple Leafs 7-2-1 record through ten games gives them 15 points, good enough for third overall in the standings. While it is only ten games into the 2011-12 season, Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke has a lot to brag about, much of which can be attributed to the many moves he has made over his tenure with the Blue and White. Burke’s rebuild started with the much maligned acquisition of Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins which saw two first round draft choices (2010, 2011) and a second rounder (2011) exchanged for the sniper. While it is still early to award either franchise a winner in the trade it appears as if both clubs are

The Edmonton Oilers have announced that defenseman Ryan Whitney will be out of the lineup with a sprained knee. The injury is expected to keep Whitney out for three weeks. Whitney had already been out of the Edmonton lineup for four games this season with a ankle injury. A pillar on the Edmonton power play and their best puck-moving defenseman, the loss of Whitney will hit the Oilers hard, which may all but erase their impressive 5-2-2 start to the season. With the Oilers off to a great start there is every reason to believe that Edmonton may look to acquire a defenseman to fill the void of losing Whitney. According to capgeek.com, the Oilers currently have a payroll of $60,442,838, which leaves them with $3,857,162 in cap room. While Edmonton is not known for spending right up to the

In what is quickly becoming an issue of concern for the Toronto Maple Leafs, starting goaltender James Reimer will be out of the lineup Thursday night against the New York Rangers and possibly longer as he was placed on the Injured Reserved list today. Reimer suffered an apparent whiplash-like injury earlier in the week when one of the Montreal Canadiens forwards collided with Reimer’s head. Always looking to be quiet on these subjects, the Maple Leafs have not called Reimer’s symptoms a concussion, but there is the suspicion that Reimer may very well be suffering from just that—a concussion. Reimer practiced Wednesday and by all accounts looked ready to go for Thursday nights action, but is said to have felt poorly after practice, which caused Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson to err on the side of caution, keeping Reimer

A few weeks ago we speculated that Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke was seeking a trading partner. At the time, the Leafs were undefeated, but the feeling was that with so much depth at the centre and defense positions that Burke would attempt to address his need for a shutdown forward and/or another top-six forward. Mike Komisarek, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak, Cody Franson and even Carl Gunnarsson have all been the subject of a number of early season trade rumors, but up to now nothing has emerged as more than fodder. While there is no more concrete evidence that Burke is seeking a trading partner today than there was ten days ago, the recent play of the Maple Leafs (two bad loses in their past three games) and the news that off-season signing Tim Connolly is close to

After a quick start to his NHL career which saw him come runner up for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year (2005-06), being selected as a Norris Trophy finalist as the NHL’s top defenseman (2006-07) two All-Star selections (2007 and 2008) and a slew of International accomplishments, Dion Phaneuf slowly fell out of favor with the Calgary Flames, ultimately leading to him being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. At the time of the trade Phaneuf was involved in a number of controversies surrounding both his on and off ice life. On the ice, Phaneuf had to endure a number of criticisms including accusations of laziness, rumors of turmoil in the dressing room and even allegations of drug use off the ice. With so much scandal surrounding Phaneuf a trade out of Calgary looked to

Fresh off the heals of an embarrassing  6-2 loss to the Boston Bruins, it’s easy to throw mud at the entire Toronto Maple Leafs lineup. As much as “the players play and the coaches coach”, there can be a tendency to blame the Coach for a loss from time-to-time which, in this case, may be the appropriate response for Thursday nights debacle. Sure, the players are responsible for their fare share of the carnage, but when you look at the lineup decisions Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson made, he prepared the Maple Leafs for a gunfight by bringing a knife, and we all know how that usually goes! Let’s examine the facts, shall we? Wilson had to deal with two of his forwards (Colby Armstrong and Clarke MacArthur) having to sit out of the lineup due to injury