Toronto Maple Leafs News

The playoff picture in the National Hockey League became clear Sunday and it did not include the Toronto Maple Leafs. A day after they sent the Montreal Canadiens home for the summer, the Maple Leafs watched their season come to an end by virtue of the New York Islanders' 3-2 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils. That gave the Islanders the final post-season spot in the Eastern Conference with ...

It is a nervy week for two Canadian NHL clubs still battling for playoff spots _ the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. And both have key tests on Tuesday night. The Leafs, who are 11th in the Eastern Conference but only two points behind Carolina, the New York Islanders and Montreal, play host to the Hurricanes. The Canadiens are at home against the sixth-place New York Rangers. The ...

Darcy Tucker slammed Carlo Colaiacovo into the boards, yelled some four-letter words at nobody in particular on his way back to his practice drill position, and slashed at a water bottle when he got there. The Toronto Maple Leafs' leading scorer was testy during practice Wednesday, and might as well have been wearing a ``Beware Of Dog'' sign on his chest as he stripped off his pads afterwards. A team ...

The Toronto Maple Leafs solved their logjam in goal by sending Mikael Tellqvist to the Phoenix Coyotes for forward Tyson Nash and a fourth-round 2007 draft pick Tuesday. Tellqvist had been a third-stringer this season and appeared in only one game, a 2-1 loss to New Jersey on Nov. 16. J.S. Aubin, who has been dressing as the backup to Andrew Raycroft for most games, moved ahead of Tellqvist in ...

Mats Sundin returned to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup Saturday night for a game against the Boston Bruins after missing nearly three weeks with an elbow injury. To make room for the captain on their 23-man roster, the Maple Leafs plan to place defenceman Jay Harrison on waivers on Sunday. Sundin was cheered loudly at Air Canada Centre when his name was announced as a starter before Saturday's game. He played alongside wingers Chad Kilger and John ...

Alexei Ponikarovsky sat in his stall at HSBC Arena in Buffalo on Wednesday night and quietly removed his equipment. A few of his Toronto Maple Leaf teammates could be heard letting out there frustrations nearby after a 7-4 loss to the Sabres, but Pony was preaching patience. Heading into games Friday in Washington and back at home Saturday against Boston, the Leafs winger feels the team is on the right ...

John Ferguson didn't get the multi-year extension that he would have preferred but he'll take what he got Wednesday with the confidence that a playoff run will earn him greater job security. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment picked up the 2007-2008 option on the contract of the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. ``I plan to be here a long time,'' Ferguson said as he spoke with reporters in ...

At first glance, it's a somewhat startling revelation. The much-improved Toronto Maple Leafs, with 26 points in 20 games thanks to an impressive 11-5-4 record, are only two points ahead of last year's pace at the quarter pole. ``Really?'' defenceman Tomas Kaberle said when told of the numbers Friday. Indeed, Pat Quinn's Leafs last season got off to a similarly strong start at 11-7-2 through 20 games. It's what happens ...

The Mimico Marvel scored one of his most memorable goals Saturday night, and it's not even going to count. Brendan Shanahan, the leading goal scorer among all active NHL players, scored his eighth of the season and the 606th of his spectacular career, but it was his shootout gem that won't count in the points race that gave the New York Rangers a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Five players missed before ...

After getting booed off their home ice 48 hours earlier, the Toronto Maple Leafs found a safe haven on the road. Kyle Wellwood and Michael Peca, playing in his 700th career game, scored 34 seconds apart to lead the Maple Leafs to a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. ``When you get on the road after a loss, you really want to have a good game,'' said Wellwood, who added an assist. The fans ...

Defenceman John-Michael Liles scored his first two goals of the season Wednesday night and the Colorado Avalanche began a three-game Canadian road trip with a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brett McLean and Milan Hejduk also scored while Tyler Arnason and Ian Laperriere had two assists apiece for the Avalanche (2-2-2), who have stops in Ottawa on Thursday and Montreal on Saturday, Jose Theodore's first game at the Bell Centre back since being dealt by the ...

Mats Sundin's 500th career goal, and third of the game, came 50 seconds into overtime to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a thrilling 5-4 win over the Calgary Flames Saturday night. Sundin blasted a slap shot from just inside the blue-line that rocketed past Vezina Trophy winner Miikka Kiprusoff, a short-handed goal by the Leafs captain that had 19,338 fans jumping out of their seats at the Air Canada Centre. The fans stood on their feet ...

Darcy Tucker is on pace to score 65 goals this season. With a team-best four goals in Toronto's first five games, Tucker would score 65 if he kept this up and got into all 82 Maple Leafs games. There's scant chance of it happening, of course. Tucker potted a career-best 28 last season so doesn't often grab headlines with his scoring. He's no Wayne Gretzky, and he knows it. ``Not ...

Martin Brodeur atoned for the worst 20 minutes of his home career with the Devils by stopping three shots in a shootout and New Jersey rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-6 on Thursday night. Brian Gionta led the Devils' comeback by scoring three times in the third period to tie the game 6-6, the game-tying goal coming with 37 seconds ...

Cliff Fletcher remembers feeling a little wobbly-kneed as he put the finishing touches on one of the most significant trades in Toronto Maple Leaf history. ``Oh my God yes,'' Fletcher recalled this week. The then-Leafs GM was sending fan favourite Wendel Clark, along with Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson and a first-round pick to the Quebec Nordiques for Mats Sundin, Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner and a first-round pick. It was June ...

Pavel Kubina is disappointed that he's been sidelined with a knee injury but he also knows it could have been worse. ``The good news is there is no surgery,'' the Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman said Wednesday, a day after getting the diagnosis. ``I'll work hard to come back as soon as possible.'' He'll be out at least four weeks, but it really depends on how the 29-year-old Czech native responds ...

It wasn't immediately clear Tuesday just how long defenceman Pavel Kubina of the Toronto Maple Leafs would be out after injuring his left knee in Monday night's game against Florida. The Leafs said he was scheduled for more tests Tuesday night. One report Tuesday said Kubina had a sprained MCL. A Leafs source said it was at least a sprain, if not worse, and that more tests were needed to ...

Florida goalie Alex Auld turned aside a torrent of Maple Leafs shots in a tremendous individual showing at Air Canada Centre. But it wasn't quite enough to give his Panthers the win, as Toronto eked out a 2-1 shootout victory. ``Alex played an outstanding game,'' Panthers coach Jacques Martin said of Auld, who made 47 saves in regulation and overtime. ``He made a lot of big saves. (Toronto) had some ...

Mats Sundin and Darcy Tucker rescued the Maple Leafs with shootout goals as Toronto came from behind to beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 Monday night despite a 47-save effort from Alex Auld. Kyle Wellwood scored the lone goal in regulation for the Leafs (2-1-1), who lost top-four defenceman Pavel Kubina to a knee injury with 2:48 left in the third period. He didn't return to the game and had great ...

Paul Maurice believes success can be built on subtlety, so the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs is constantly looking for small ways to reward his players. Take, for example, a defensive zone faceoff late in a tie game on Saturday night. Maurice had young centre Matt Stajan handle the draw against Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu and watched as his team survived the final 23 seconds of regulation to get to overtime. ``I know you've got to ...

Michael Ryder beat Andrew Raycroft top corner on the glove side on Montreal's fourth shootout attempt Saturday night to lift the Canadiens to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. Ryder's shootout goal capped an enthralling affair between the two Original Six rivals, the first of eight head-to-head matchups on tap again this season. Sheldon Souray and former Leaf Mike Johnson scored in regulation for the Canadiens, who opened the season the previous night in ...

They call him ``Sugar'' inside the Maple Leafs dressing room because the things Alexander Suglobov can do on the ice are pretty sweet. He's got more flair with the puck than any bartender with a bottle and the 24-year-old has finally been given a chance to show it on the game's biggest stage. Suglobov has earned a spot on an NHL roster for the first time out of training camp ...

The Ottawa Senators feasted on the Toronto Maple Leafs last season in winning seven of eight games and they haven't had their fill yet. Martin Gerber's outstanding goaltending and goals from Patrick Eaves, Chris Neil, Christoph Schubert, and Daniel Alfredsson earned Ottawa a 4-1 victory on the opening night of the NHL season Wednesday. All Gerber would allow was a goal by Mats Sundin on a penalty shot after the ...

Pavel Kubina will sit out Toronto's season-opener against Ottawa on Wednesday after the NHL suspended the Maple Leafs defenceman one game for his cross-check on Detroit Red Wings forward Juri Hudler. Kubina was assessed a major penalty for cross-checking and a game misconduct at 18:03 of the first period in Sunday's pre-season finale at the Air Canada Centre.

Matt Sundin centred Alexei Ponikarovsky and Kyle Wellwood. Mike Peca was between Chad Kilger and Alex Steen. Matt Stajan had Alexander Suglobov and Wade Belak on his wings. John Pohl centred Darcy Tucker and Nik Antropov. That's what head coach Paul Maurice went with up front in the Toronto Maple Leafs' pre-season finale, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night. There might be adjustments by ...

Johan Franzen and Krys Kolanos scored third-period goals and Dominik Hasek made 22 saves in the Detroit Red Wings' 4-2 exhibition victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Dan Cleary had a goal and an assist, and Niklas Kronwall also scored for Detroit (5-1-2). John Pohl and Bryan McCabe scored for Toronto (3-4) Franzen took a pass from Cleary in the right circle, made a move and beat ...