There has been a lot of talk lately about the future of both of the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltenders. Jonas Gustavsson is an unrestricted free agent this summer which brings into question whether or not Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke will attempt to re-sign the Swedish goaltender, while James Reimer’s future with the Toronto Maple Leafs has been slightly compromised due to injuries and some sub-par numbers this season. Brought over from Sweden via free agency, Gustavsson has amassed a record of 38-40-12 through 97 career starts, including a 16-12-1 record this season. Gustavsson’s rookie season saw his post a 16-15-9 record, but he struggled in his second season, amassing a paltry 6-13-2 record. A heart ailment and the death of both of his parents were key factors in Gustavsson’s struggles. That and a change in goaltending style that

The New York Rangers put a beating on the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night, outhitting the Blue and White by a final tally of 48-39, shutting down the Maple Leafs first line of Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and Tim Connolly, en route to a convincing 3-0 win over the Buds in Toronto. The Maple Leafs put together a lousy 20 shots against the Rangers. To say the Blue and White were not dialed-in on this night would be an understatement as the Rangers made the Maple Leafs look like a very average team—this on a night where the Rangers dressed backup goaltender Martin Biron between the pipes. While a better physical effort would not have guaranteed a win against the Rangers, there is every indication that until the Blue and White step up their game in the physical department that

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

Moments after Canada’s 6-5 loss to the Russian’s at the World Junior Championships message boards around the world lit up like a Christmas tree suggesting that Russia and not Canada was the most powerful hockey nation on the planet. Russia’s celebration turned out to be a tad premature as Russia fell to Sweden in the final giving Sweden the gold medal, while Russia settled for a silver medal. Little was written about Canada’s bronze medal. Truth be told, only a gold medal will satisfy the masses in Canada, which is very unfair for our boys. When Canada lost the gold medal last year in heart wrenching fashion to the Russian’s it was a wake up call that, after competing for the gold medal ten times in a row and winning the gold five times straight from 2005 through 2009, the

With millions of fans watching in anticipation, the NHL launched it’s first ever NHL All-Star draft in Carolina last night. For many NHL fans, there were really three or four story lines. Which player would be selected first? Would the Sedin twins be forced to play against each other? Where would their favorite player land? And, of course, which player would be selected last. With Sidney Crosby out of the All-Star festivities many expected Alex Ovechkin to be selected first—which didn’t happen (congrats Steven Stamkos!). To the surprise of many, Carolina Hurricane captain Eric Staal (who would captain one of the All-Star teams) showed a ton of loyalty when he selected Hurricane teammate Cam Ward as the first overall selection. The Sedin twins would end up on separate teams, which sets up what may very well be the first time

They say winning is a process, a process that has no time limit and rarely comes easy—such is the case for our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. Thursday night the Maple Leafs took on the rebuilding Edmonton Oilers in a game that was supposed to see the Buds emerge victorious, sadly, it didn’t turn out that way as the Maple Leafs took it on the chin by a final score of 5-0—on home ice no less! The Oilers, who entered the game tied with the Maple Leafs with 20 points on the season, overtook the Leafs with tonight’s win and now sit two points ahead of the Blue and White—a feat thought all but impossible at the beginning of the season. Remember all the high-praise for Brian Burke over the summer? Remember all the excitement surrounding the new acquisitions? Man, how