Since joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in November of 2008, Brian Burke has raised more than a few eyebrows with his aggressive moves. Of course, the most talked about move, and perhaps Burke’s biggest to date, would be the acquisition of sniper Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins for two first round draft choices (2010, 2011) and a second rounder in 2010. While it will be years before we can truly evaluate the trade, Burke has always maintained that he is happy with the deal and if presented with the same circumstances, would do the deal again. The Bruins selected Tyler Seguin with Toronto’s first round draft choice in 2010, followed by the selection of Jared Knight in the second round. Seguin had an inconsistent rookie season which saw him light the lamp a total of 11 times through 74

Heading into Thursday nights action the Toronto Maple Leafs sit in eleventh place in the Eastern Conference, a mere six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot. With a record of 25-27-6 the Maple Leafs don’t really look like a playoff team, but as the rise of the New Jersey Devils (8-1-1 in their past ten) and close to unbeatable for the better part of a month now, anything can happen. The question is, with three teams to pass, can the Maple Leafs get hot enough to capture the final playoff spot in the East? The obvious answer is, probably not, but as the saying goes, “stranger things have happened.” Last season the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference earned a total of 88 points (both the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens hit the 88 point mark), the

Prior to the Toronto Maple Leafs tilt against the Atlanta Thrashers Friday night I was a guest of Louis Pisano on “Get The Puck Out” which airs on MorencySports.com, where, amongst other things, Lou and I debated the validity of Toronto’s second line of Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin being the NHL’s best second unit. Low and behold, Grabovski, Kulemin and MacArthur went out and scored a combined six goals and ten points against the Thrashers, helping the Maple Leafs pound a very good Atlanta squad by a final score of 9-3. MacArthur and Grabovski are first and second in scoring for the Maple Leafs this season, with 33 and 32 points, respectively. Kulemin is close behind with 29 points, which gives the Maple Leafs second unit a combined 94 points on the season. There may very well

Three weeks and one calender month into the 2010-2011 NHL season, we’ve already begun to be able to pick out the surprises and disappointments of the year. Teams like Buffalo and New Jersey, two top-ranked teams from the Eastern Conference last season, have both struggled to get going and posted a combined 0-8-2 home record, while franchises such as Montreal, Boston, and Tampa Bay have burst onto the stage with a combined 20-7-2 record. Meanwhile, in the West, Nashville, Edmonton, and Dallas started out strongly but have faltered lately, while, on the other hand, youthful squads such as St. Louis, Colorado, and Los Angeles have already begun to prove their legitimacy. But how does the NHL look from a divisional standpoint? Which five-team groups have been the toughest to play in so far, while which divisions have struggled despite their

With the NHL pre-season behind us it’s almost time to start the regular season where all 30 NHL teams will drop the puck in anger for the first time. There was plenty of movement this summer, which should help change the landscape of the NHL standings in a big way from where the teams finished in 2009-10. Sure, the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils are bound to be amongst the NHL’s elite teams, it’s in the bottom ranks that we will see the most change. Off-season improvements from teams such as the Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlanta Thrashers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins should equate to big changes in the Eastern Conference, while Western Conference teams such as the Los Angeles Kings, Calgary Flames and Phoenix Coyotes should help determine the playoff

With the regular season just a few days away from commencing there are still a lot of roster decisions to be made. That said, for the most part, the top three lines on most NHL rosters are all but set, which makes it all the easier to make some solid predictions for the upcoming 2010-11 season. The following is a look at the Eastern Conference teams and where I see these teams finishing. Washington Capitals: Prediction- 1st In the Eastern Conference. After an excellent regular season which saw the Capitals earn the Presidents Trophy and set all kinds of franchise records along the way, the Caps fell victim to Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s superb goaltending in the first round of the playoffs. Consdering just how poorly the Capitals season ended,  you just got to believe that the Capitals will come back with a