The recent signing of Ales Hemsky by the Edmonton Oilers brings to mind a quote from Forest Gump. “Stupid is as stupid does”, and the Edmonton Oilers look to have made a stupid move by signing Hemsky to a 2-year, $10 million deal. Hall of Fame forward Mike Modano let his feelings be known via twitter last night when he tweeted “2 yrs/10 million for Hemsky. Scored over 20 goals twice in 9yrs.. WTF..!!?”. Mr. Modano, I think you said it best and I must concur with your sentiments…”WTF..!!?” With Monday’s trade deadline fast approaching, there has been a lot of talk about Mikhail Grabovski’s future with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Initial reports indicated that Grabovski was looking for a long term deal that would see him make upwards of $5 million per season, which seemed out of line at

James Reimer and the Toronto Maple Leafs will hit the ice tonight to face Sam Gagner and the Edmonton Oilers. Reimer and Gagner represent the NHL’s third and first stars of the week, respectively, as both players had huge performances with Reimer (who is expected to get the nod between the pipes for the Maple Leafs tonight) earning back-to-back shutouts against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators, while Gagner pulled off an incredible eight-point game against the Chicago Blackhawks, followed by a three-point effort against the Detroit Red Wings. The Oilers enter tonight’s contest with a 4-0-1 record in their past five games, while the Maple Leafs have also gone 4-0-1 in that same five game stretch. With the Maple Leafs recent success the Blue and White have managed to put themselves into a playoff spot, occupying eighth in the

Several members of the Toronto Maple Leafs were in attendance when the Dallas Cowboys gutted out a 20-19 win over the Miami Dolphins in Dallas yesterday. Watching the game, it appeared as if a few of the players were caught taking pictures of the legendary Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and who could blame them, right? The Maple Leafs were in town awaiting Friday nights match with the Dallas Stars, who, not unlike the Leafs, have gotten off to a surprisingly great start to the 2011-12 season. Toronto enters tonight’s tilt with a record of 12-8-2 while the Stars have been equally good at 13-8-0. That said, both teams have struggled of late, with Toronto going 4-5-1 in their past ten, while Dallas owns a 5-5-0 record in their past ten games. These two teams last met November 22nd of 2010, with

Prior to the start of the 2011-12 season many “experts” had the Vancouver Canucks as Stanley Cup favorites with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators being hard-pressed to make the playoffs. While it is still very early in the season, Canada’s teams look to be holding their own in the NHL standings with Toronto currently sitting in second spot in the Eastern Conference, while the Edmonton Oilers currently occupy third spot in the Western Conference. Both Toronto and Edmonton can be referred to as early season surprises, but the bigger surprise may be the absence of the Canucks from a playoff spot as they currently sit 10th in the Western Conference. Toronto is getting it done with their potent offense which is currently ranked third overall at 3.14 goals per game, while Edmonton

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

With the pre-season officially in the books, the regular season is just hours away from commencing, giving Canada back it’s favorite drug- Hockey! For some NHL teams the playoffs looks to be all but a sure thing, including the likes of the Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference, followed by the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference. For others, a playoff birth will be hard fought, if not impossible, which will likely cause many Canadians to hit the pharmacy or the local liquor store on more than a few occasions! For Canadian hockey fans there is plenty to be excited about. The Winnipeg Jets are officially back, while the Toronto Maple Leafs looked poised to make the jump to the playoffs…or not!