Bleacher Report - Articles by Dino Mori

Litsch Goes On DL, MRI To Be Done Today

Dino Mori — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:44:18 -0400

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jesse Litsch will have an MRI performed on his right arm today, after being put on the 15-day disabled list by the baseball club.

Litsch, the portly 24-year-old right-hander, strained his right forearm during the fourth inning of Monday's outing against the Minnesota Twins.

After throwing an inside pitch to Twins outfielder Delmon Young for a strike, Litsch appeared to be in a lot of comfort. He made a motion to the Jays dugout, forcing manager Cito Gaston to pull him from the game for left-handed reliever Brian Tallet.

To that point, Litsch was ineffective allowing four runs on seven hits in just three innings of work. In the second inning, he coughed up a solo homer to Jason Kubel—the fourth homer the Tampa native has given up in two starts this season.

Litsch surrendered three taters on seven hits in five innings against the Detroit Tigers last Wednesday.

A year ago, in his second full season with the Jays, Litsch compiled an impressive 13-9 record with a 3.58 ERA. Prior to the injury, he was being counted on heavily by the Jays in 2009 to put up similar numbers, after the club lost 18-game winner A.J Burnett via free-agency in the offseason to the New York Yankees.

The Jays began the year with three inexperienced starters—Ricky Romero, David Purcey and Scott Richmond—in their starting rotation behind Litsch and ace Roy Halladay. Halladay won 20 games a year ago and finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Cleveland lefty Cliff Lee.

The Blue Jays have called up Triple-A left-hander Bill Murphy from Last Vegas to fill the roster spot vacated by Litsch. Tallet will move into Litsch's starting position and pitch on Saturday against the Oakland Athletics.

Leafs Ink Tyler Bozak, Second NCAA Signing

Dino Mori — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:14:22 -0400

He may not be the son of a famous movie star, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are just as thrilled to welcome their newest addition to the team.

Tyler Bozak, a highly touted center from the University of Denver, has agreed to sign an entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs, according to sources with Sportsnet TV.

Bozak, a Regina native, was being sought by a number of NHL teams, including Ottawa, Colorado, and Anaheim.

The Bozak signing comes a few days after the Maple Leafs inked fellow NCAA prospect Christian Hanson from Notre Dame University. Hanson, 23, is the son of Dave Hanson, who starred in the 1970's movie "Slapshot" with Paul Newman.

Bozak, 23, recorded eight goals and 15 assists in only 19 games a year ago, missing a large portion of the year due to a knee injury. He was overlooked in his draft year by the NHL. He stands 6 feet tall, shoots right, and is listed as 165 pounds.

Leafs Slip Past Listless Flyers

Dino Mori — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:04:16 -0400

One day after being eliminated from Stanley Cup contention, the Toronto Maple Leafs threw a wrench into the Philadelphia Flyers home-ice playoff aspirations.

The Leafs held off a late Flyers rally, edging the one-time Broad Street Bullies, 3-2, at the Air Canada Center on Wednesday.

Toronto goalie Curtis Joesph stopped Jeff Carter, the NHL's fourth leading scorer with 41 goals, in the final minute of play to preserve the Maple Leafs win. This came after Flyers forward Claude Giroux cut the deficit to one at 17:09 of the third on a Philadelphia power play.

The loss proved costly to the playoff-bound Flyers, who dropped into a fourth place tie with division rivals Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference race—both have 92 points.

The top four teams in the conference earn home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Jamal Mayers, Lee Stempniak, and Ian White scored for Toronto, who climbed back to the .500 mark improving to 32-32-13 on the season for 77 points.

Aaron Asham had the other Philadelphia goal, his eighth on the campaign.

Prior to the game, Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke expressed his disappointment about his team's failure to make it to the post-season, for a franchise record fourth consecutive year.

"Any time that you have to stand in front of the media and talk about not qualifying for the playoffs should be a kick right in the groin to every member of the Leafs organization, " he said. "I take it personally and professionally."

Before taking over as GM in Toronto, Burke enjoyed seven straight playoff seasons in both Anaheim and Vancouver.

The Maple Leafs were officially eliminated from the playoffs on Tuesday, after Montreal beat Chicago 4-1, leaving Toronto 13 points behind the Habs with six games to go.

Toronto heads to the City of Brotherly Love for a return engagement with the Flyers on Friday.

It is expected newly-signed Notre Dame forward, Christian Hanson, will make his NHL debut. Hanson, 23, is the son of former NHL and WHA player Dave Hanson, better known to many as a member of the Hanson brothers in the movie Slapshot.

Can Justin Pogge Make It in the Pros?

Dino Mori — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:14:08 -0400

Can we conclude, after half a dozen NHL starts, that Maple Leafs rookie net-minder Justin Pogge just isn't ready for the likes of Tomas Vanek, Mark Recchi, and the umpteen other NHL players who have beaten him between the pipes?

On the surface it seems so.

After five separate call-ups by Toronto, Pogge sports an ugly 1-4-1 record, a ghastly goals against average of 4.35, as well as a feeble save percentage of .832.

Not quality numbers to say the least.

If former Senators net-minder Martin Gerber, who the Leafs picked up at the deadline, had not received a three-game suspension for bumping referee Mike Leggo, then rifling a puck in the direction of the aforementioned zebra—then it would be fair to say that Pogge would still be languishing in the AHL.

Pogge gave up six goals on just 20 shots against the Bruins on Saturday before mercifully being pulled by coach Ron Wilson. He was called upon by Wilson the previous night when an equally inept Curtis Joseph couldn't stop a beach ball and was yanked after surrendering four goals on just nine shots.

Pogge allowed just the one goal on 15 shots, but he failed to cover a seemingly harmless wrist shot off the stick of Buffalo's Jochen Hecht, which allowed the Sabres' Paul Gaustad to score the insurance marker in a 5-3 Buffalo victory.

The goal snuffed out a furious comeback by the Maple Leafs, which at one point trailed 4-0, and had cut the deficit to 4-3 midway through the third period.

Last night, any attempts by the Maple Leafs to gain momentum against a rusty Bruins team were thwarted by Pogge's inability to come up with a timely save.

Not since his NHL debut against a porous Atlanta Thrashers team has Pogge tasted victory. His 19-save performance in Dixie was followed up by road losses in Minnesota and in Buffalo, as well as home defeats to the Sabres and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Now, in Pogge's defence, the soon-to-be 23-year-old and former World Canadian Junior Gold Medal goalie is trying to establish himself in arguably one of the toughest markets in the NHL.

It's not like Steve Mason, another WJC star and starting net-minder of the playoff bound Columbus Blue Jackets, who plays in relative obscurity.

Mason doesn't have to contend with as many microphones after a game as Pogge does.

That being said, you only get so many opportunities to prove you belong in the pros, and so far Pogge isn't making the most of them.

Several months back, the Leafs' braintrust felt it was important to bring Pogge along slowly. They handpicked several games during the course of the season in which to bring him up from the farm and start him.

However, a so-so performance in Minnesota—six goals on 21 shots, followed by a shaky first period at home against Buffalo—three goals on eight shots—left GM Brian Burke and coach Wilson wondering whether they were making the right decision.

Maybe the best thing for Pogge right now is to hope that the Marlies qualify for the postseason in the AHL, to get to play him in some meaningful games, and most importantly, to restore some confidence in what is currently one fragile goalie.

Wilson Pulls the Plug on Pogge, Leafs Lose 7-5 to Bruins

Dino Mori — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:38:51 -0400

Coach Ron Wilson must be getting tired of playing musical chairs as far as his goaltending situation is concerned.

For the second straight game, Wilson was forced to substitute his ineffective starting netminder as the Maple Leafs dropped a 7-5 decision to the visiting Boston Bruins at the Air Canada Center on Saturday.

Wilson pulled the plug on starter Justin Pogge after the rookie netminder allowed six goals on just 20 shots. Back-up Curtis Joesph was called upon after Pogge was beaten on a breakaway by Bruins forward David Krecji at 12:44 in the second period.

One night earlier, Pogge came in from an equally inept Joesph, who gave up four goals on only nine shots in a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

It wasn't a walk in the park for back-up Bruins goalie Manny Fernandez as well.

Fernandez, who was making his first start since March 8, was beaten four times before the seven minute mark of the second period. He settled down after that allowing just one more goal by Niklas Hagman at 14:39 of the third period.

Hagman, who notched his 20th goal of the season, was making his first start since Feb. 26 due to a concussion. He suffered the injury after taking an elbow to the head from New York Islander defenceman Brendan Witt.

Alexei Ponikarovsky with two, Nikolai Kulemin and John Mitchell had the other Maple Leaf goals.

Ponikarovsky has been terrific since the Maple Leafs traded his long-time line-mate Nik Antropov to the Rangers. Pony has 19 points in 12 games since the NHL's trade deadline day back on Mar. 4.

He now has 23 goals and 58 points on the season, second only to Jason Blake (25-35-60), in both offensive categories.

Mark Recchi tallied twice for the Bruins, both on the powerplay. Chuck Kobasew, Scott Thornton, David Krecji, Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler also scored for Boston.

Defencemen Dennis Wideman and Matt Hunwick each contributed three assists for the Bruins, who won for the fourth time in six games.

Toronto has now dropped two straight, after beating Washington in a shootout and Montreal on the road last Saturday.

They'll next see action this Wednesday when they host the opener of a home-and-home series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Martin Gerber, suspended three games by the NHL for bumping referee Mike Leggo versus Washington, will be eligible to return next Friday when the Leafs head to the City of Brotherly Love for their return engagement with the Broad Street Bullies.

Former Leaf Walt Poddubny Dead at Age 49

Dino Mori — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:04:11 -0400

Former Toronto Maple Leaf winger Walt Poddubny died yesterday after collapsing at his sister's home in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was 49.

Cause of his death has yet to be determined.

Poddubny played 11 seasons in the NHL, including six years with the Maple Leafs organization in Toronto and St. Catharines, the club's American Hockey League affiliate.

Poddubny was acquired by the Maple Leafs back in 1982 from the Edmonton Oilers farm team in Wichita for center Laurie Boschman. The Oilers picked Poddubny 90th overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft.

He played 231 games for both the Leafs and the AHL Saints, registering 92 goals and adding 120 assists.

Many Leaf fans will fondly remember Poddubny playing alongside the Czechoslovakian duo of Peter Ihnacak and Miroslav Frycer back in the early 1980s.

In his first full season with Toronto, Poddubny had 59 points in 72 games. Knee problems forced him to miss most of the next two seasons.

In 1985, when management requested he return for a second conditioning stint with St. Catharines Saints, Poddubny resisted the demotion and was sent packing to the New York Rangers for winger Mike Allison.

That year, the Thunder Bay native responded with his best season in the NHL, scoring 40 goals and adding 47 assists in 75 games. Overall, Walter recorded three 30+ goal seasons in the NHL.

Poddubny also played for the Quebec Nordiques and New Jersey Devils.

He spent three years in the German Elite League before ending his playing career with the Worchester Ice Cats of the AHL back in 1994-95 after a two-year hiatus.

Following his retirement, Poddubny coached in Daytona Beach of the ECHL and Anchorage, Alaska of the WCHL.

In 2003, he came home to Thunder Bay to be with his children, and was involved in minor-league coaching and celebrity appearances.

Kostitsyns Being Investigated; Leaf Could Care Less

Dino Mori — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:54:42 -0500

Amidst his own on-ice struggles, Mikhail Gravboski likely could care less about the scrutiny his fellow Belarussians are under these days.

La Presse, a french-language newspaper in Montreal, is reporting Canadien brothers Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn are being questioned by local police about ties they may have with Pasquale Mangione, who is facing drug and weapon charges.

The three have been seen frequenting bars and restaurants in Montreal. Fellow Hab Roman Hamrlik is also being linked to Mangione, who is purported to be involved in criminal gangs in that city.

Gravboski, in his first season with the Maple Leafs, has had a long-standing feud with the Kostitsyns.

The 25-year-old diminutive forward was tossed out a game back on Jan. 8 for pushing an official trying to get at the younger Sergei Kostitsyn during an altercation. He gave the Bell Center crowd the royal salute before leaving the ice

A still steaming Gravboski said after the game, "If he (Sergei) wants to fight we'll go into the street and every minute of every day I'll wait for him and we'll fight."

Gravboski was suspended three games for an abuse of an official.

The Kostitsyns dislike Gravboski because they say he talks too much about them with the Russian newspapers.

Grabovski didn't endear himself to the rest of the Canadiens back on Nov. 8, when he butt-ended Hab goalie Carey Price while trying to get position in front of the Montreal net.

All three Belarussians were teammates with the Canadiens last season.

Gravboski was shipped to Toronto last July for the rights to Greg Pateryn and a 2010 second round draft pick.

The pint-size forward fell out of favour with Habs coach Guy Carbonneau last March, when he purposefully missed a team flight to Los Angeles after being sat as a healthy scratch in a game against Phoenix.

This season, Gravboski has 13 goals and 28 points in 54 games. But, has just scored three times and assisted on six others in his past 28 games.

After such a promising start with the Maple Leafs, Gravboski has reverted to his inconsistent Montreal days, so much so that Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson was forced to bench the speedy, sophomore winger on Feb. 4 in Buffalo.

Hopefully, for Gravboski sake he can return to the form he showed in the team's first quarter of the season.

Suffice to say, the drama unfolding in Montreal is the least of his worries.

Sabres-Leafs: Justin Pogge Booed in Home Debut

Dino Mori — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:10:17 -0500

It was déjà vu for the visiting Buffalo Sabres at the Air Canada Center Tuesday.

For the second time in as many trips to Toronto, the Sabres shot out to an early lead en route to a 4-1 victory over the Maple Leafs.

Back on New Year's Day, Buffalo tallied three times during a 4:31 span in the second period to break open a scoreless draw and went on to beat Toronto by the identical 4-1 score.

It wasn't the home debut rookie Maple Leafs netminder Justin Pogge had in mind. The 22-year-old was making his first start in front of the home crowd, and things turned ugly after he allowed three goals on just eight first period shots.

The unforgiving ACC crowd gave Pogge a derisive cheer late in the period after he turned aside a 70-foot shot from outside the blue line. To his credit, Pogge regained his composure during the intermission and had a solid second period, stopping all 13 shots.

Toronto scored the lone goal in the middle stanza, as Pavel Kubina converted a goal-mouth pass from Jason Blake on a Leafs power play to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Unfortunately for Leafs fans, that was as close as they would get, as Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller shut the door the rest of the way.

Miller made 27 saves to earn his 28th win of the season. Pogge, meanwhile, turned aside 26 Sabres shots, losing his third consecutive outing.

Before the game, Leafs GM Brian Burke had some less than glowing things to say about his rookie goaltender. He told a Toronto radio station that Pogge hasn't really earned the call-up to the Maple Leafs, but that the organization is "force feeding this kid to the NHL."

Pogge agreed with this assessment, stating that if the Leafs were in a playoff race, a young goalie wouldn't be getting this kind of opportunity. He added that he is fortunate to be given this shot.

This win marks the Sabres' fifth consecutive road victory in Toronto. It also was the second straight time they beat Pogge. Back on Feb. 4, Buffalo beat the Maple Leafs at home, 5-0, in Pogge's third NHL outing.

Drew Stafford had a pair of goals for Buffalo, while Daniel Paille and Matt Ellis contributed single tallies.

Toronto hosts Rick Nash and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

Maple Leafs-Sabres: Justin Pogge May Get Home Debut for Toronto

Dino Mori — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:05:19 -0500

The fourth installment in the Justin Pogge experiment is expected to take place at the Air Canada Center in Toronto on Tuesday.

It is presumed that Pogge will be between the pipes when the Maple Leafs plays host the Buffalo Sabres, after he was called up from the AHL, Marlies, on Monday.

If Pogge does get the call, it'll mark the first time in four NHL starts that he'll play in front of the home folks at the ACC.

Thus far, Pogge is a mediocre 1-2 with a 4.33 goals-against average and .824 save percentage.

Whether or not the former World Junior goalie for Canada in 2006 has what it takes to be successful at the NHL level, remains to be seen.

Suffice to say, Pogge is getting his baptism by fire playing in front of a porous Maple Leafs defense corps.

Ironically, the 22-year-old net minder could be facing the same Sabres team as he did back on February 4. In that one, Pogge stopped 27 of 32 shots in a 5-0-shutout loss, a game where his Leaf teammates left him out to dry.

Pogge made several terrific saves against Buffalo, to offset the poor performance he gave in his second NHL start against Minnesota.

Pogge surrendered six goals on just 21 shots versus the Wild, including four in the second period on only 11 shots.

In his NHL debut, a 6-2 victory over Atlanta on Dec. 22, Pogge turned aside 19 shots against the Thrashers.

Toronto is coming off an impressive 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins last Saturday.

The game turned out to be Michel Therrien's final one behind the Penguins bench.

Therrien was fired by the team a day later and replaced with minor league coach, Dan Bylsma.

Jason Blake continued his torrid scoring pace, notching two goals against Sidney Crosby and his mates.

Blake raised his season goal total to 21, and has collected 20 points in his past 13 games. That ranks him second only to Washington's Mike Green for most points over that span.

Buffalo, meanwhile, were shutout 3-0 by the Carolina Hurricanes in their last outing on Sunday.

The Sabres offense is reeling a bit since top sniper Tomas Vanek broke his jaw three games ago against the Ottawa Senators. Vanek led Buffalo with 32 goals, including 15 with the man-advantage, prior to his injury.

Buffalo forward Jason Pominville is in a major scoring drought, with one goal in his past 19 games.

The Sabres have won the past four meetings with the Maple Leafs in Toronto by the combined score of 18-7.

Dan Bylsma Takes Over after Penguins Fire Michel Therrien

Dino Mori — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:48:26 -0500

The slumping Pittsburgh Penguins have fired head coach Michel Therrien and replaced him on an interim basis with minor league coach Dan Bylsma.

Therrien was told of his fate by GM Ray Shero on Sunday night, a day after the Penguins lost 6-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It appears the Penguins players, runners-up in last year's Stanley Cup Finals under Therrien, grew tired of his disciplinarian coaching tactics.

Therrien, known for his lengthy, grueling practices, leaves after guiding the Penguins to a disappointing 27-25-5 record, five points out a conference playoff spot.

It's hard to fathom that the Penguins, with highly-skilled players such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Petr Sykora, are in this predicament. But, injuries to their top two defensemen, Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney, and subpar goaltending by Marc-Andre Fleury have put the Penguins in a precarious hole.

Therrien still has more than two years left on this $1-million-a-year contract, signed after he led them to a 47-win season and a berth in the Finals against Detroit.

He took over behind the Penguins bench back in December of 2005, when the club got rid of former NHL player Ed Olczyk.

The 38-year-old Bylsma, a one-time NHL winger with the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, was coaching the Penguins affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton prior to his promotion. He served as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders in 2005-06.

It seems a little strange that the ownership in Pittsburgh, namely Mario Lemieux, would entrust a primarily green coach like Bylsma with the task of lighting a fire under his underachieving Penguins. Especially when there are proven NHL coaches out there, such as Pat Quinn, John Tortarella, and Peter Laviolette.

It could be that the Penguins are taking a wait-and-see attitude with Bylsma before committing huge dollars to another more experienced coach, not forgetting that they still owe Therrien $2 million-plus on the remainder of his contract.

Bylsma will be put to the test right away as Pittsburgh visits Long Island this afternoon.

Ruutu Wreaks Havoc in Buffalo Crease, Ottawa Senators Beat Buffalo Sabres

Dino Mori — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:31:53 -0500

Solid penalty killing and a propensity to crash the net were two key factors in Ottawa's 3-1 road victory against Buffalo on Wednesday.

The Senators killed off 11 of 12 powerplay tries by the Sabres, allowing just a single goal by Ales Kotalik during a 5-on-3 disadvantage early in the third period.

Besides that, it was yeoman's work put forth by the Ottawa PK, frustrating the Sabres to record its seventh win away from home on the season.

Jason Spezza, Shean Donovan, and captain Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa, who made life miserable for Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller.

It was clearly evident on this night that crashing the net at every opportunity was part of the game plan of rookie NHL coach Cory Clouston, who is now 2-1-1 since taking over from the fired Craig Hartsburg.

Clouston's main agitator, forward Jarko Ruutu was a thorn in Miller's side throughout the game. The 200-lb, Finnish forward crashed, crowded and fell on Miller numerous times, and was given a two-minute minor for goaltender interference penalty six minutes into the second period nullifying a wraparound goal by teammate Chris Kelly.

Senator wingers Nick Foligno and Alfredsson were also assessed interference minors for bumping Miller.

The Sabres were missing leading scorer Tomas Vanek, who will out the Buffalo starting lineup for about a month recovering from a broken jaw suffered against the Senators last Saturday in Ottawa. Prior to his injury, Vanek had registered 32 goals on the year, including 15 on the powerplay.

His absence was greatly missed especially with the inordinate amount of man-advantage time awarded to the Sabres. Add to the fact that some of the team's other snipers have been firing blanks of late. Like forward Jason Pominville, goalless in his past 17 games, as well as, Derek Roy no markers in seven.

Brian Elliot made 31 saves in the victory for Ottawa, while Miller stopped 20 in a losing effort.

Ottawa heads to Philadelphia for a Thursday meeting with the Flyers. Buffalo, meanwhile, welcomes the Western Conference leading San Jose Sharks to the HSBC Arena on Friday.

Injured Tomas Kaberle Could Return to Maple Leafs, Trade Rumors Still Swirl

Dino Mori — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:06:36 -0500

Toronto's Tomas Kaberle is expected to have the permanent cast on his broken right hand removed on Friday.

The injured Maple Leafs defenseman will be fitted with a portable cast, which will allow him to grip his hockey stick and participate in practice with the team.

If there are no setbacks, Kaberle could be back in Toronto's lineup by late next week, a full seven days ahead of his recovery schedule.

Kaberle suffered the break in a Jan. 29 game against Colorado. At that time, he was leading the Leafs in defensive scoring, with four goals and 26 assists for 30 points.

Two games prior to the injury, the 30-year-old participated in the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, registering two assists.

The Czech rear guard has been rumored in recent weeks to be on the NHL trading block, after informing GM Brian Burke he would waive the no-trade clause in his contract. It is likely that some teams are cautious about dealing for Kaberle, though, unsure whether he will be 100 percent for the playoffs.

Toronto may be forced to instead peddle players like Jason Blake, Nik Antropov, or Alexei Ponikarovsky prior to the March 4 trade deadline.

Toronto-Buffalo: Listless Leafs Lose In Buffalo, Vanek Nets Three

Dino Mori — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:20:28 -0500

A tired, disinterested Toronto team were no match for a rested, highly-skilled Buffalo squad at the HSBC Arena on Wednesday

Justin Pogge, making his third NHL start in goal for the Leafs, was bombarded by Buffalo shooters for most of the night, as the Sabres shutout the Leafs, 5-0.

His counterpart in the Sabres net, Ryan Miller, enjoyed an easy night between the pipes. He faced only 16 shots to record his fifth shutout of the season. Pogge faced 32 Sabre shots, most of the difficult variety.

Tomas Vanek tallied the natural hat-trick to spearhead the Sabres attack. Tim Connolly and Drew Stafford also scored for Buffalo.

Connolly put the Sabres up 1-0, tipping a Craig Rivet shot into a gaping net after Justin Pogge came out to cut down the angle on the point shot.

The Sabres speed in transition was evident in the opening twenty minutes.

Rivet took a Dominic Moore shot off his ankle and limped to the Buffalo bench. Several minutes later, the former Montreal Canadien defenseman returned after getting repairs in the Sabres dressing room.

Stafford made it 2-0 for the Sabres when he undressed Leafs defenseman Mike Van Ryn before lifting the puck over Pogge during a four-on-four situation. It was a highlight-reel goal, to say the least, for the stick-wielding Sabre.

The Leafs were listless in the first period, likely feeling the effects of playing on back-to-back nights. On Tuesday, the Leafs blew a 3-1 third period lead against the Florida Panthers and lost, 4-3, in overtime on a goal by Bryan McCabe.

The Sabres out-shot the Leafs in the first period, 12-5, and fully deserved their two-goal advantage.

The Leafs continued their parade to the penalty box in the second period, and it finally cost them.

With Niklas Kulemin off for hooking, Tomas Vanek reached the thirty goal mark to put the Sabres ahead 3-0. On the night, he raised his season total to 32, moving him into a second place tie in the NHL, trailing only Washington's Alexander Ovechkin, who leads with 36.

Toronto coach Ron Wilson was seething on the Leafs bench at the mid-point of the hockey game, slamming his first against the visitors glass. He was not a happy camper watching his team gave up consecutive odd-man rushes.

Pogge made a terrific save on Ales Kotalik on a Sabres 3-on-1, as the Sabres had seven odd-man rushes compared to just one by the Leafs through two periods. He was the best Leaf by a mile last night, erasing the so-so effort he had eight days ago in Minnesota. On that evening, Pogge gave up six goals to the Wild.

Through two periods, the Leafs had taken eight minor penalties and were being out-shot by a wide margin, 24-9.

Sabres forward Jason Pominville was foiled on a breakaway by Pogge in the opening minutes of the third to keep the Leafs deficit at three. Pominville is mired these days in a long scoring drought, goalless in his past 12 outings.

Vanek scored his second of the night, converting a breakaway pass from Stafford less than six minutes into the third. He completed his natural hat-trick on the power play at 9:13. Buffalo had two power play goals on the night.

The Sabres line of Paul Gaustad-Patrick Kaleta-Clark MacArthur drew five minor penalties against the Leafs, a stat not lost on Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff, who sent out the trio each time to begin the period.

The Leafs travel to Montreal to play the Canadiens on Saturday. Should the Leafs put forth the same effort they did here in Buffalo tonight, there may be some players watching from the press box in the foreseeable future.

McCabe Has Last Laugh Against Former Leafs, Wins It in OT

Dino Mori — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:27:20 -0500

Bryan McCabe didn't pass up the opportunity to stick it to his former team, the Maple Leafs.

The ex-Leafs defense-man, using teammate Nathan Horton as a decoy, blasted a shot through Toronto net-minder Vesa Toskala in overtime to give the Florida Panthers a come-from-behind 4-3 win on Tuesday.

McCabe's 10th goal of the season was made probable by the third period heroics of Cory Stillman, who scored after Leafs forward Alexei Ponikarovsky took an ill-timed boarding penalty in the game's final two minutes.

Until then, the Maple Leafs appeared to be headed to their third straight victory, a feat accomplished only once this season.

Throughout the night, McCabe endured the chorus of boos from Leaf fans who never forgot his own goal back against Buffalo last October nor his $5-million price tag.

The St. Catharines born blue-liner spent seven seasons with the Maple Leafs before being dealt to the Panthers for Mike Van Ryn last September.

This was McCabe's second visit to the Air Canada Center in less than a month. In his first return to the ACC, he recorded an assist in Florida's 4-2 victory.

Ponikarovsky, along with Nik Antropov and Niklas Hagman scored for Toronto. Gregory Campbell and Stephen Weiss had the other Florida goals.

In the first period, Hagman scored the opening goal of the game with a terrific individual effort, after getting his bell rung by the referee behind the Florida net.

Hagman skated into the zebra-clad official, but eventually got to the front of the net and his wraparound beat Panthers net-minder Craig Anderson at 10:52.

The Panthers tied the game just over a minute left in the first period on a pretty give-and-go between Ville Peltonen and Gregory Campbell. Campbell re-directed Peltonen's centering pass past a startled Toskala.

Before the intermission, Toronto took the lead back at 19:40 as Alexei Ponikarovsky notched his 16th of the season, with Jason Blake and Dominic Moore receiving helpers.

This trio, put together a few games ago by coach Ron Wilson, seems to have developed a chemistry with one another. The threesome have combined for 19 points in the past four games.

Early in the middle period, Antropov put the Leafs ahead 3-1 going to the net to deposit home a rebound. This marked the third consecutive game that Antropov registered a goal, following a 16-game goalless drought.

One of the loudest cheers of the night came with nine minutes to play in the second, when Leafs defense-man Luke Schenn stapled Panthers forward Radek Dvorak against the Florida bench.

It is becoming a nightly feature for Leafs fans to see the rookie Schenn make a devastating bodycheck on an opponent. Last Saturday, he nailed Pittsburgh star Evgeni Malkin with an open-ice hit, which set off a skirmish between the two clubs.

Schenn was challenged by Penguins forward Tyler Kennedy to a fight as a result of the hit. Kennedy got a game suspension from the NHL for illegally stepping onto the ice to engage in a fight.

Toskala made a huge save late in the second period on Richard Zednik, who was thwarted on a two-on-one attempt to keep the Leafs ahead 3-1 after two periods.

In the third period, Stillman made a major league pass to Weiss to cut the Florida deficit to 3-2. Weiss slipped past Antropov, the Leafs trailing foward, to beat Toskala on the back door play.

Late in the game, Toronto had an insurance goal disallowed when video replay determined that the puck did not entirely cross the Florida goal-line.

Toronto is in Buffalo on Wednesday. Justin Pogge will be called up for the third time this season to get the call in net. He is 1-1 in his first two NHL starts.

Craig Hartsburg Fired in Ottawa: Cory Coulson Named Interim Coach

Dino Mori — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:30:55 -0500

Cory Clouston was named interim head coach of the Ottawa Senators this morning, following the firing of head coach Craig Hartsburg.

Hartsburg leaves after just 48 games behind the Senators bench.

Clouston was coaching Ottawa's American Hockey League affiliate in Binghamton prior to his promotion. He was named the Western Hockey League's coach of the year in 2007.

The news of Hartsburg's dismissal doesn't come as much of a surprise.

The club has been mired in a season-long slump with a record of 17-24-7 and are currently in 13th place in the Eastern Conference, better only than the woeful Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islanders.

Hartsburg took over a seemingly talented group of Senators, who only two seasons ago under Bryan Murray went to the Stanley Cup finals against Anaheim.

Hartsburg had previous NHL coaching experience in Chicago and Anaheim. He spent four years with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League before being hired in Ottawa.

Unbalanced scoring from the team's forwards, lack of depth on defense, and a carousel of goaltenders are several factors that led to Hartsburg's firing.

Toronto Maple Leafs Honour Gilmour, Beat Pittsburgh Penguins

Dino Mori — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:48:28 -0500

Toronto forward Jason Blake scored with less than ten minutes left in the third period to break a 4-4 tie to propel the Maple Leafs to an exciting 5-4 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Maple Leafs began the game without defenseman Tomas Kaberle, who broke his right hand in Denver on Thursday. The injury is expected to keep the nine-year veteran blue-liner out of the lineup for about a month.

Ian White opened the scoring at 5.23 of the first period, backhanding a shot from the slot past Penguins net-minder Mathieu Garon, who was making his first start wth Pittsburgh since being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers.

Garon was traded to the Oilers for Penguins goalkeeper Dany Sabourin in a swap of back-ups.

Miroslav Satan, who rang a shot off the goal-post prior to the White goal, blasted one home on a two-on-one to tie the game at 9.03. It appeared the shot deflected off the blade of White, before beating Leafs net-minder Vesa Toskala above the blocker.

The Penguins had the territorial edge in the opening twenty minutes and it was reflective in the shots on goal. Pittsburgh directed 11 on Toskala, while the Maple Leafs could only muster four on Garon.

Toronto had the chance to take the lead early in the second period, after killing a too-many men penalty. Mikhail Grabovski and Lee Stempniak raced in on a two-on-one, but the play bogged down in front of a sprawling Garon. Pens defense-man Ryan Whitney was assessed a hooking penalty on the same play, and the Leafs scored on ensuing power-play when Nik Antropov was johnny-on-the-stop to stuff home a rebound at 7.53.

After going goalless in 16 straight games, Antropov has now lit the lamp in two consecutive contests to raise his season total to 15.

The Maple Leafs rode the momentum of another power-play to take a 3-1 lead at 13:39. Alexei Ponikarovsky slipped a rebound under Garon, with assistance from line-mates Jason Blake and Dominic Moore following a three-on-two rush into the Penguins end.

Toronto turned the tables on Pittsburgh in the second period, out-shooting the Penguins 11-5 and over two periods by a 16-15 count.

Sidney Crosby, the NHL's second leading scorer, cut the Penguins deficit to 3-2 early in the third period scoring on a goal-mouth scramble at :55. The Penguins appeared to get a favorable call on the goal, when replays clearly showed forward Matt Cooke bumping into Toskala prior to the puck entering the net.

The Maple Leafs responded less than two minutes later to restore their two-goal lead. Matt Stajan beat Garon for his 12th of the year with help from Luke Schenn and Stempniak.

The Penguins to their credit refused to quit and in a flash scored twice in 1:14 to draw even at 4-4. Evgeni Malkin and Tyler Kennedy scored to turn on a once low scoring, tight-checking game into a high-flying, free-wheeling affair.

The scoring continued when at 10:05, Blake snapped a shot under the arm of Garon to put the Leafs ahead 5-4. It was Blake's 17th goal of the season, a team high for the Leafs second year forward.

Both teams ended the game with 26 shots on net, but the Leafs won where it counted on the scoreboard.

The Maple Leafs honoured former captain Doug Gilmour as part of the pre-game festivities. "Killer," as he was known to many during his days in Toronto drew a standing ovation from the capacity crowd gathered at the Air Canada Center.

A banner of Gilmour's number 93 was raised to the rafters between two other legendary Leafs, Johnny Bower (1) and Bill Barilko (5).

During a pause in the second period, CBC personality Don Cherry gave Gilmour a big kiss on the cheek in an interview for the ACC audience and viewers on Hockey Night in Canada.

Cherry called Gilmour the greatest player from Kingston, Ontario.

Gilmour spent seven glorious years in Toronto, enjoying both personal and team successes. His best season as a Leaf came back in 1992-93 when he scored 32 goals and added 95 assists for 127 points.

Maple Leafs Suffers Bad Break with Tomas Kaberle's Injury

Dino Mori — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:43:29 -0500

Maple Leafs defense-man Tomas Kaberle will be sidelined for the next four to six weeks with a broken right hand.

He suffered the injury during Toronto's 7-4 victory in Denver on Thursday.

The injury to the 30 year-old blue-liner is damaging to the Maple Leafs in many ways.

Not only does the club lose a player with terrific puck sense, passing and skating ability, but also one of its top trading commodity.

Rumor has it that Brian Burke has been shopping Kaberle to various NHL clubs in recent weeks, after the Czech-born defense-man told his general manager he would waive his no-trade clause.

With the NHL trade deadline on March 4, Kaberle may not be available until after this date. That may make Burke's job to move him a difficult one.

It is being suggested that the price tag for Kaberle would likely be a high draft pick.

In 49 games this season, Kaberle has four goals and 26 assists for 30 points, and is a minus 12.

Anton Stralman has been summoned from the minors to take the place of Kaberle.

Avalanche-Maple Leafs: Andrew Raycroft Gets Roughed Up by Toronto

Dino Mori — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:13:17 -0500

There's something about the Toronto Maple Leafs that brings out the worst in Andrew Raycroft.

The Colorado Avalanche net minder was roughed up by his former team on Thursday as the Maple Leafs won for only the fourth time in 16 games with a 7-4 victory on Raycroft's new team in Denver.

Raycroft was facing the Maple Leafs for the first time since his contract was bought out by the club in the offseason. He gave up all seven goals on just 30 shots.

Two seasons ago, Raycroft tied a Toronto franchise record for most wins by a goaltender during the regular season with 37—a record previously held by Ed Belfour.

But the following year he became a backup to Vesa Toskala, who was acquired from the San Jose Sharks. Raycroft was then seen as the scapegoat for many Leaf fans that year, appearing in only 19 games and posting an ugly 2-9 record.

Heading into last night's contest, Raycroft was enjoying a productive season, despite the platoon situation with Peter Budaj—the other Avalanche goaltender. He was 9-5 with a goals against average of 2.71 and a save percentage of .905.

Not only was Raycroft taking a trip down memory lane against his ex-mates, so too was Raycroft's new teammate, Darcy Tucker.

Tucker, who spent eight seasons in the city he still calls home, was his usual agitating self. He jawed with the Maple Leafs' Jamal Mayers from his own bench during a first period verbal sparring match. The 33-year-old winger, who failed to register a point against the Maple Leafs, has just five goals and 11 points in 38 games this year.

Dominic Moore scored twice and added one assist to lead the Maple Leafs' onslaught, while Jeff Finger, Mikhail Grabovski, Jason Blake, Matt Stajan, and Nik Antropov each contributed single tallies.

The opening goal of the game by Antropov—his first in 17 games—ended a woeful scoring drought for the lanky Kazakhstani forward.

Milan Hejduk finished with two goals, while Chris Stewart and John-Michael Liles each scored for Colorado.

Shortly after Blake put the Leafs ahead 5-4 at 4:56 left in the third period, Hejduk appeared to have tied the game to complete his hat-trick. However, teammate Ryan Smyth was called for goaltender interference and the goal was nullified.

Smyth argued he was pushed into Maple Leafs net minder Vesa Toskala by blue liner Luke Schenn and replays confirmed it. But the call stood, much to the dismay of the Avalanche faithful.

With the victory, Toronto improved to 18-23-8 on the season. They moved into an 11th place tie in the Eastern Conference with the Tampa Bay Lightning with 44 points.

Colorado meanwhile fell to 23-25-1 and into a 12-place tie in the West, with the Los Angeles Kings at 47 points.

The Maple Leafs will play host to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday in the Leafs' 50th game this season.

Avalanche-Maple Leafs: Andrew Raycroft, Darcy Tucker To Meet Old Team

Dino Mori — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:19:35 -0500

There will be some bottled-up emotion when Colorado plays host to Toronto at the Pepsi Center on Thursday.

Two former Maple Leafs, goalie Andrew Raycroft and winger Darcy Tucker, will be meeting their former team for the first time since being bought out by the club last summer.

Raycroft, who is enjoying a bit of a resurrection in the Mile High City, is expected to get the call in net for Colorado. The former fifth-round pick of the Boston Bruins in the 1998 Entry Draft has appeared in 15 games thus far this season, posting a respectable 9-5 record to go along with a 2.71 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.

Tucker, meanwhile, is struggling through an injury-plagued year. He has managed just five goals and six assists in 37 games, and is forced to wear a brace on a gimpy knee suffered during a game against Anaheim.

Raycroft was with the Maple Leafs for two years, both non-playoff seasons. Despite the club's lack of success, the 28-year-old netminder did set a franchise record for wins with 37 wins in 2006-07.

He became a backup in Toronto the following year, after the Maple Leafs acquired Vesa Toskala from the San Jose Sharks.

Raycroft, who only appeared in 19 games in 2007-08, didn't endear himself to many Leaf fans with his nonchalant attitude and penchant for allowing weak goals.

Tucker was the polar opposite to Raycroft, wearing his heart on his blue and white sleeve most nights. He spent eight feisty years in Toronto, amassing 148 goals and 171 assists. His best season with Toronto came back in 2005-2006 when he scored 28 goals and had 61 points, which included a team leading 18 power-play markers.

Both men are trying to keep an even keel about the game Thursday, that despite the opponent, many of the faces whom they played against have changed.

Having said that, there's no doubt the juices should be flowing when the puck drops in Denver for both former Maple Leafs.

Pogge Flops in His Second Start With Leafs, Fall 6-1 to Wild

Dino Mori — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:16:31 -0500

Not the standup effort Toronto coach Ron Wilson was looking for from Justin Pogge.

Pogge, making his second NHL start, was guilty of going down too early and often, as Toronto fell 6-1 to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

It was a far cry from the 23 year-old rookie netminder's debut back on Dec. 22 in Atlanta, when he stopped 19 shots in a 6-2 Leafs victory over the Thrashers.

In fairness to Pogge, the Maple Leafs were woeful in front of him, giving up six even- strength goals—this to a Wild team that is ranked last in that category in the NHL (62).

Minnesota scored four times in the second period on just 11 shots en route to the win.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard had a goal and two assists to pace the Wild attack. Marc-Andre Bergeron, Cal Clutterbuck, Andrew Brunette, and former Leaf Owen Nolan also scored for Minnesota.

The lone Toronto marker came from Jason Blake, who notched his team-leading 15th of the season.

If there was a knock on Pogge's performance versus the Wild, then it would have to be his inclination to want to stop pucks from down on his knees.

Should NHL shooters get wind of his Pogge's penchant to want to drop to make a save, they're likely want to go high rather than low on most shots.

No more was this evident than on the opening goal of the game, when Clutterbuck's seemingly harmless wrist shot from the right wing floated past a prone Pogge, who was already down on his pads before the shot was fired.

A goalie of Pogge's stature—he stands at 6'3"—could cover so much more of the net if he just stood up.

Pogge is expected to be sent back to the American Hockey League team, the Marlies, today. It is not known at this time when he'll return to the Leafs for his third big league shot between the pipes.

Toronto is in Colorado on Thursday.

Ryder Hits The Target Against Toskala, Bruins Beat Leafs, 4-3, In Shootout

Dino Mori — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:39:32 -0500

A nine percent accuracy in shootouts didn't deter coach Claude Julien from using sniper Michael Ryder against the Maple Leafs.

Ryder, the former Montreal Canadien now with Boston, was called upon by Julien during the fourth round of Wednesday's 4-3 shootout victory over the Maple Leafs.

Despite going just one-for-11 in his career in shootouts, Ryder calmly rocketed a wrist shot over the shoulder of Toronto netminder Vesa Toskala to send the Maple Leafs to their seventh loss in nine games since Jan. 1

Two costly third period penalties to Toronto enabled the Bruins to erase a 3-1 deficit and allowed Julien's squad to end a mini-two game slide.

For the second consecutive game, the B's went to a shootout to decide the outcome. On Monday, they fell 5-4 at home to the St. Louis Blues after blowing a two-goal lead in final minutes of the hockey game. Blues' forward David Backes bunted a mid-air puck into the Bruins net with less than a second to go to tie the game at 4-4 and send the game into the extra session.

Defensemen Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara each scored in the third period on the powerplay to tie the game at 3-3, after Toronto built a two-goal advantage after 40 minutes.

Following the loss, Leafs coach Ron Wilson lamented it was penalties to Russian Leaf forwards Mikhail Grabovski and Alexei Ponikarovsky in the third period that led to his team demise.

He said the Grabovski's hooking minor was a result of the winger being out of position, while Ponikarovsky's delay of game penalty was due to him making a bad decision with the puck when harassed by the Bruins player.

Much to the delight of the Maple Leafs fans gathered at the Air Canada Center, Toronto took a 1-0 lead in the first period, as Jason Blake scored on a wraparound past Bruins unorthodox goalkeeper Tim Thomas at 13:58.

The marker by Blake ended a goalless drought by the Maple Leafs of 141 minutes and 49 seconds. It was the former Islanders forward's 14th goal of the season, just one short of his entire total from last season.

Blake has been easily Toronto's best offensive player over the past 30 days.

Lee Stempniak and Brad May, his first of the year and initial tally with the Maple Leafs, scored for Toronto.

The other Bruin goal came off the stick of rookie forward Blake Wheeler, who probably looks forward to playing the Maple Leafs. In five games this season versus Toronto, Wheeler has five goals and one assist, including a hat-trick back on Nov. 6 in Boston.

The victory by Boston marked the first time this year the team was able to come from behind in a game when trailing after 40 minutes.

Toronto had an opportunity to win the game in overtime, after Bruins' Martin St. Pierre was assessed a tripping minor on Blake at 3:20.

During the 4-on-3 powerplay, Thomas faced a shooting gallery primarily from Maple Leafs blueliner Pavel Kubina, who fired no less than five shots towards the Bruins keeper. The action had fans gathered at the ACC on the edge of their seats.

Both Thomas and Toskala were solid between the pipes, each bailing out their hockey club with timely saves.

One particular glaring puck stop came late in the second period, when Toskala robbed Wheeler on the doorstep, stacking both pads to turn aside the chance on net with Toronto ahead 3-1.

Toronto, along with the rest of the 29 NHL teams, will break for a few days as the league prepares for the annual All-Star Game, to be held this year in Montreal.

Toronto next sees action is on Jan. 27 when they travel to Minnesota to play the Wild. Two night later, the Maple Leafs will be in Denver, to compete against the Colorado Avalanche

The Puck Stops Here for the Western All-Stars

Dino Mori — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:38:01 -0500

In the second of a two-part series involving my selections for next weekend's NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, we head to the league's Western Conference where there is no shortage of talent.

In goal, it's pretty difficult not to overlook the outstanding performance put forth by Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Steve Mason. He's been lights out on most nights this season, tops in the NHL with a minuscule 1.91 goals against average and six shutouts. Mikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames receives an All-Star berth from me, though I'm sure his coach, Mike Keenan, would prefer he use the time to rest.

"Kipper" has played in 42 of the Flames first 45 games. He's a horse. Thirdly, let's invite Evgeni Nabakov of the San Jose Sharks, who is enjoying a Cy Young season in Silicone Valley, posting a 24-4-5 record to date.

On defence, Nabakov's teammate Dan Boyle is my unanimous choice to be leading the Western group of rearguards. He should be joined by Detroit's duo, Niklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski, Nashville's Shea Weber, Edmonton's Sheldon Souray, and Chicago's Brian Campbell.

The Campbell selection was a tough one over Calgary's Dion Phaneuf, who as everyone knows is a pleasure to watch and hits everything in sight. But, again it's the All-Star Game and the affair is usually a no-hitter. So I chose Campbell for his ability to skate, handle the puck, and make plays.

Weber's 14 goals, one ahead of Boyle and two in front of Souray, was definitely eye-catching as far as D-men were concerned.

While the West does not have near the speed of some of the East All-Stars, ie. Crosby, Ovechkin, or Kovalchuk, it does bode players who rank right up there in the skills department.

I'm a huge fan of players who can stick-handle out of a phone-booth. And, my first Western forward representative is Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk. He's made many the highlight reels with his deft play making skills that sometimes defies logic. Datsyuk, along with Marian Hossa and Henrik Zetterberg, would be my choice for an all Red Wing line at this year's All-Star Game.

Others to include: San Jose's Patrick Marleau, who is enjoying a resurrection this season with the Sharks, after a sub-par performance a year ago. He, as well as, fellow Sharks Joe Thornton and Devon Setoguchi give the West an above average second unit.

They could be followed by the Canadian trio comprised of Calgary's Jarome Iginla, Phoenix's Shane Doan, and Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf. There's an imposing threesome.

The fourth line should consist of Chicago's Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, as well as, Vancouver's Daniel Sedin.

Columbus' Derrick Brassard would have certainly garnered some All-Star consideration, if a shoulder injury in December had not sidelined him. Also, Anaheim's Bobby Ryan has collected 28 in only 29 games since recalled from the minors. He's maybe someone to watch for at up and coming NHL All-Star events.

Most of my All-Star picks were made with offense in mind, whether it be from a forward or a defenceman. Heck, why not includes the goalies too. Seriously, no one wants to see a 1-0 All-Star Game, do they?

It Should Be One Ko-Valev of an NHL All-Star Game for Eastern Conference

Dino Mori — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:13:34 -0500

I know that the players for next week's NHL All-Star Game held at the Bell Center in Montreal have been selected by the fans and coaches. But, I thought it would be fun to choose my own team(s) if given the opportunity.

Today, in the first of two-part series, we'll look at my Eastern Conference selections.

Please forgive me if some of my choices are at times, as clear as, the nose on your face.

Between the pipes, the Boston goaltending tandem of Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez should get the bulk of the ice time. Both Bruins have been stellar in goal so far, ranking second and third in the NHL in goals against average.

For the third period, I think Scott Clemmensen of the New Jersey Devils should get the call. He has been glue for the team ever since star netminder Martin Brodeur injured his elbow back in November. Clemmensen has 17 wins in 28 starts for the Devils.

On the East blue line, the six deserving players are as follows: Mike Green (Washington Capitals), Zdeno Chara (Boston), Jay Bouwmeester (Florida), Mark Streit (N.Y Islanders), and Andrei Markov (Montreal).

These players were selected for what they bring to the table offensively, because it is after all, an All-Star game.

All six are in the top 20 in defenseman scoring. My apologies to Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman, who is currently tied for 10th in backline scoring with 29 points. He is having a tremendous season in Beantown, often overshadowed by the behemoth he shares power play time with (Chara).

The East forwards blessed with both speed and skill were given top billing on my All-Star list. In no particular order, here are my top Eastern representatives up front.

Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin (Washington Captals), Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins), Jeff Carter (Phildelphia Flyers), Alexei Kovalev (Montreal), Mark Savard and David Krejci (Boston Bruins), and Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers).

I'm sure my selections of the Special K's, Kovalev and Krejci, probably caused you to raise an eyebrow. But, as far as pure puck skill goes, these two are worth the astronomical All-Star ticket price.

Also, everybody should have a favorite All-Star and for me it's Alexei Kovalev. He's awesome. He should get the loudest ovation from the Hab faithful next weekend during the Skills Competition and All-Star Game.

If I chose a fourth line, it would be the pint-size trio of Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning), Zach Parise (New Jersey), as well as, Bryan Little (Atlanta Thrashers)

Tomorrow, we'll go and choose the All-Stars from the Western Conference.

Zaun Finds New Nest; Signs With Orioles

Dino Mori — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:26:04 -0500

A member of the Blue Jays catching fraternity flew the coop today.

Gregg Zaun has reached agreement on a one-year contract, pending a physical, with the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.

Zaun spent five years with the Blue Jays, following stints in Colorado, Houston, Kansas City, Texas and Florida. He began his major league career with the Orioles back in 1995 after being drafted by them in the 17th round of the 1989 amateur draft.

Zaun will take over the catching duties left vacated by Ramon Hernandez, who was traded along with some cash to the Cincinnati Reds for utility infielder Ryan Freel and a couple of prospects.

Last season, Zaun batted .237 with six homers and 30 runs batted in for Toronto. The 37-year old enjoyed his most productive season in the big leagues with the Blue Jays back in 1995, when he batted .251, hit 11 HR's to go along with 61 RBI's in 434 at-bats.

With Zaun gone, the Blue Jays are expected to platoon Rod Barajas and Curtis Thigpen behind the plate. Barajas hit 11 homers and drove in 49 in 349 plate appearances last season, while Thigpen played in only 10 games for Toronto spending the majority of 2008 in AAA Syracuse. Thigpen had a homer and one RBI in 17 at-bats with the Blue Jays.

Jason Blake Enjoys Career Night against 'Canes and Ex-Coach

Dino Mori — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:49:41 -0500

It wasn't the revenge Paul Maurice envisioned against his former team. Jason Blake, however, reveled in the reunion.

Blake recorded a career high five-point night as the Toronto Maple Leafs held off the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-4, in Raleigh Thursday. Blake had a hat trick to go along with two helpers as the Leafs ended a four-game losing streak.

Maurice was meeting Toronto for the first time since being given the boot a year ago by interim GM Cliff Fletcher.

Blake, meanwhile, was facing his bygone coach after spending the majority of last season in Paul's proverbial doghouse.

The two clearly did not see eye to eye a year ago.

Before the game, Maurice told reporters he hoped the Leafs never won another game for 10 years, still a little bitter for being let go.

Toronto blue liner Tomas Kaberle scored the decisive goal on a four-on-three power play with 5:25 remaining in the third period. He took a cross-ice feed from defensive partner Pavel Kubina and blasted a riser through the glove of Carolina goalie Cam Ward, who had a shaky night inside the 'Canes cage.

The Kaberle goal ended a furious comeback by Carolina, who roared back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game in the third.

Hurricane forward Scott Walker evened the match at 4-4, when he backhanded a rebound underneath Leafs net minder Vesa Toskala at 8:40.

Matt Cullen, Tuomo Ruutu, and Eric Staal also scored for Carolina, who dropped their fourth game in row. Besides the efforts of Blake and Kaberle, Toronto got goal contributions from Ian White and Niklas Hagman.

Toronto is in Atlanta today to play the Thrashers, before going home for a return engagement against Maurice and the Hurricanes on Monday.

No doubt there will be a mixed reaction from Leafs fans when Maurice is re-introduced as coach of the visiting team.

Panthers-Leafs: Bryan McCabe Showered with Boos as Toronto Doused 4-2

Dino Mori — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:10:52 -0500

The boo birds weren't solely for returning blueliner Bryan McCabe.

Maple Leafs fans had plenty of other reasons to voice their displeasure, as Toronto looked listless in a 4-2 loss to the visiting Florida Panthers

McCabe made his first appearance back at the Air Canada Center since being dealt last September for Mike Van Ryn and a fourth round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

To no one's surprise, Bryan was showered with boos each time he touched the puck. The former partner to Tomas Kaberle for seven seasons became the favourite whipping boy for many disgruntled Leafs last season.

The St. Catharines native was traded for Van Ryn after his offensive numbers fell dramatically in 2007-08. McCabe scored only five goals in 54 games last year, after registering 34 markers in 155 games during the previous two campaigns.

And who can remember McCabe's catastrophic blunder in Buffalo last October, when he scored in his own net with 3.7 seconds to go in overtime to hand the Sabres a 5-4 win?

From that point on and given Bryan's $5-million price tag, it became easy for Leaf fans to loathe him.

After Toronto-born Stephen Weiss put the Panthers ahead 1-0 on a Florida power play, Toronto responded on its next shift to register their first shot against Tomas Vokoun. Dominic Moore made a pretty spin move past a Florida defenseman, but his backhand was turned aside by Vokoun.

To that point, the Leafs were out-shot by an 11-0 margin.

The Panthers continued to apply pressure in the Leafs end and went up by two at 17:38. Ville Peltonen wristed home a Gregory Campbell feed past fellow Finnish native, Toskala.

The Panthers were clearly the better team in the first period, ahead in shots, 16-8, and on the score sheet, 2-0.

Florida nearly made it 3-0 halfway through the second period, but Anthony Stewart was stopped on a partial breakaway by Toskala. On the rush, Leafs diminutive forward, Mikhail Grabovski, was draped all over Stewart, trying to atone from a glaring giveaway at the Florida end.

Michael Frolik did make it 3-0 for Florida, converting a pass from Weiss at 14:18. The Leafs defense, especially Kaberle, was particularly soft on the play, allowing the Panthers winger to gain the zone with relative ease. Frolik's shot appeared to handcuff a prone Toskala.

Toronto was again out-shot in the second period by a count of 8-7, and 26-15 after 40 minutes.

Toronto finally dented the armor of Vokoun and cut the deficit to 3-1 early in the third period. Alexei Ponikarovsky scored his 13th goal of the year on the power play at 4:43, with Nik Antropov and John Mitchell earning assists.

The Leaf euphoria was short-lived however, as Campbell tipped home a Jay Bouwmeester point shot to make it 4-1 for Florida. Campbell was screening Toskala on the play, as yet again another Florida forward was allowed free access around the Leafs net.

With Moore in the penalty box for tripping, teammate Jason Blake roared to the net and scored shorthanded as Toronto closed to within 4-2. It was Blake's 10th goal on the season and fourth in the past seven games. He had 15 goals all of last year.

On the night, McCabe earned one assist in just under 24 minutes of action, as well as registering three shots on net. In the game, Florida out-shot Toronto, 34-26.

Toronto now heads out on a two-game road trip with stops in Montreal and Philadelphia on Thursday and Saturday. They'll return to the ACC next Tuesday to host the Nashville Predators.

Pat Quinn Coming to the NHL's Ottawa Senators?

Dino Mori — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:54:06 -0500

Could the man who guided Team Canada Juniors to a gold medal remain in the nation's capital?

It may be a stretch, but don't be surprised if the venerable Pat Quinn returns to the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, after leading Team Canada to the IIHF Under 20 World Championships last night with a 5-1 gold-clinching victory over Team Sweden.

Team Canada went a perfect 6-0 in the tournament under Quinn to capture its fifth straight gold medal. The event took place primarily at ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa, home of the NHL Senators.

On hand for all of Team Canada's games was Eugene Melnyk, the Senators' owner.

It's no secret that Melnyk has been frustrated by his club's underachieving ways.

His present coach, Craig Hartsburg, appears to be on thin ice. Ottawa is mired in 12th place in the Eastern Conference standings, six points behind their rivals Toronto, and 11 points behind the eighth and final playoff spot.

Why not bring in a guy like Quinn to inject some life into a sad sack of Senators?

The 65-year-old Hamilton native has a professional hockey resume a mile long, including 19 years as an NHL head coach as well as nine seasons as a player.

Quinn has twice been awarded the Jack Adams' Trophy for coach of the year, back in 1980 and 1992.

In 1980, he led his Philadelphia Flyers to an amazing 35-game undefeated streak, before losing in the Stanley Cup finals to the New York Islanders that year.

In 1992, Quinn guided the Vancouver Canucks to a division title to capture his second coach of the year honor.

With Quinn still at the helm two years later, the Canucks lost a dramatic seven-game final series to the New York Rangers back in 1994. You may remember—it was the Rangers' first title in 54 years.

Maple Leaf fans had the pleasure of Quinn behind the bench from 1998-2006.

Even an irregular heartbeat during the 2002 playoffs against Carolina didn't deter the sometimes crusty "Big Irishman." He was instrumental in bringing this team back to respectability, each time qualifying them for the postseason during his tenure here.

Not only has Quinn been successful coaching in the NHL but internationally as well.

In 2002, Quinn coached Team Canada to a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Not since 1952 has a Canadian team been able to capture Olympic gold.

In 2004, he was behind the bench as Canada won the World Cup of Hockey, beating Finland 3-2 in the finals.

And, prior to last night's victory in Ottawa, Quinn was the winning coach at the IIHF World Under-18 Championships, defeating Russia, 8-0, in finals last April.

To say Quinn has been successful as a coach, where ever he has gone, would be an understatement. He is a winner, and someone Mr. Melnyk should think long and hard about bringing in either in a coaching or front office capacity.

Leafs-Thrashers: Toronto Edges Atlanta in OT, 4-3; Cujo Gets Win No. 450

Dino Mori — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:50:15 -0500

It's been nearly nine months since 41-year-old, netminder Curits Joseph enjoyed the sweet taste of victory between NHL pipes.

The win finally came as his Toronto Maple Leafs closed out the 2008 portion of their schedule with a come-from-behind victory over the visiting Atlanta Thrashers at the Air Canada Center Tuesday, 4-3.

Joseph also reached a milestone in the victory, collecting his 450th NHL career win. That ranks him fourth all-time behind former Leaf Ed Belfour (484), Martin Brodeur (538) and Patrick Roy (551). Joseph passed the legendary Terry Sawchuk last season after signing a one-year deal with the Calgary Flames. Sawchuk ended his career with 447 wins.

It was April 5th of this year as a member of the Flames that Joseph last won a regular season game, beating the Vancouver Canucks.

Cujo, as he is known to many in the NHL, won for only the first time this season, after going 0-4 and a lofty goals against average of 4.12 in seven starts.

Following yesterday's practice, Leafs coach Ron Wilson told the assembled media that Joseph would start the next two games in an effort to get him into a rhythm. The back-up to starter Vesa Toskala will again see action tomorrow night at home against the Buffalo Sabres.

If he beat the Sabres, it seems likely that Wilson will stay with Cujo with a division clash upcoming on Saturday against provincial rivals, the Ottawa Senators.

But, lets not get ahead of ourselves.

After letting in two goals on his first four shots, Joseph held the fort for most of the game as he finished the night making 29 saves. His counterpart, Thrashers' keeper Johan Hedberg was the busier of the goalies, stopping 44 of 47 shots.

Blueliner Pavel Kubina won the game for the Leafs, scoring 33 seconds into overtime as Toronto took advantage of a late third period penalty to Atlanta defenseman Tobias Enstrom.

Mikhail Grabovsky, Jason Blake and Lee Stempniak also scored for Toronto. Bryan Little with his 19th goal of the season and Jim Slater replied for Atlanta.

The chants of Cujo, Cujo rang from the rafters at the ACC, after Joseph robbed Slater on a breakaway midway through the second with the score knotted at two.

The save clearly provided momentum for the home side as a few minutes later Blake put away a deflected point shot to give the Leafs a 3-2 lead.

NHL Christmas Report, Part One: Eastern Conference

Dino Mori — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 04:37:52 -0500

As 30 NHL teams enjoy a much needed two-day Christmas break, let's take a look at some of those individuals and teams which have surprised and disappointed us thus far in a two-day, two-part series.

Today, we'll begin with the NHL's Eastern Conference, where the biggest surprise has to be the Boston Bruins, who sit atop the standings with a jaw-dropping 25-5-4 record after 34 games.

I don't think anyone could have anticipated this Bruins team to be ahead of such favorites as Montreal, Pittsburgh, or Philadelphia. Not me, that's for sure.

But when you mix solid goaltending with a balanced scoring attack, then you have the recipe for success.

Tim Thomas has played phenomenally between the pipes in Beantown. He is second in the NHL in goals against average (2.04), trailing only Columbus' Steve Mason (1.98), as well as in save percentage (.935), behind Florida's Craig Anderson (.940).

Manny Fernandez has too been stellar in the Boston net, ranking third in GAA just behind Thomas (2.09) and sixth in save percentage with a lofty .926.

The Bruins offense is getting it done as a whole, despite the recent setback of Patrice Bergeron, who is out again with a concussion.

The 23-year-old forward was forced to sit almost the entire year last season after he was hit from behind by Philadelphia's Randy Jones, causing his head to slam into the end boards. Bergeron suffered a Grade III concussion, along with a broken nose, and lay motionless on the ice before being carted off on a stretcher.

David Krejci, a second-year center with the B's, is blossoming into a point-producing machine. He is currently tied with four others for 14th in scoring with 37 points. Rookie Blake Wheeler, along with the emergence of sophomores Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic, are providing ample support for veteran pivot Marc Savard. Savard is tied with six others for fourth in scoring with 40 points, while Kessel ranks fourth in goals with 21.

Philadelphia's Jeff Carter deserves a fair amount of praise for the first half he's had. The third-year London, Ontario native is leading the NHL in goals with 26, including eight in his past 10 games. Carter is getting timely goals too, as he is tied with Pittsburgh's Petr Sykora, Vancouver's Daniel Sedin, and San Jose's Patrick Marleau for most game-winning goals (five)

To a lesser extent, the Toronto Maple Leafs can be regarded as a pleasant surprise, managing to play .500 hockey (14-14-6) in a rebuilding year under new head coach Ron Wilson. The Maple Leafs were able to pry away GM Brian Burke away from the Anaheim Ducks, and now he has been given the challenge of bringing this once proud franchise back to respectability.

Kudos to rookie defenseman Luke Schenn, who prior to his knee injury was logging over 20 minutes of ice time for the club and was fifth in the NHL in hits with 83.

The Leafs were too expected to be offensively challenged with the loss of captain Mats Sundin, defenseman Bryan McCabe, and forward Darcy Tucker. But to their credit, they've held their own.

Blossoming buds such as Niklas Hagman, Mikhail Grabovski, and Jeremy Williams have managed to score 28 goals and 49 points. Williams has five goals in seven games since being called up from the AHL's Marlies, while the diminutive Grabovski has lit the lamp 12 times since his arrival from Montreal.

The trio of Nik Antropov-Alexei Ponikarovsky-Matt Stajan has combined for 33 goals and 84 points. As a whole, Toronto is eighth in NHL goals with 107 after 34 contests.

We go from the pleasant surprises to the harsh disappointments in the East.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to surmise that the Ottawa Senators have been the biggest underachievers to date. The team, under new bench boss Craig Hartsburg, were suppose to compete for the division and possibly the conference title against the Canadiens, Penguins, and Flyers.

A lack of secondary scoring is the primary reason why the Senators are last in the Northeast division with a record under .500 at 12-15-5, 32 points

Forwards Antoine Vermette and Chris Kelly, as well as center Mike Fisher, have each scored only three times each this season. Ottawa's Big Three of Dany Heatley-Jason Spezza-Daniel Alfredsson can't seem to play with anyone else but themselves, and that leaves them vulnerable when facing a solid shutdown line.

Alexei Kovalev is clearly having a subpar season in Montreal despite registering eight goals and 26 points in 33 games. During a recent stretch this season, the skilled Habs forward went 19 straight games without scoring a goal. There were whispers a week ago that the team was shopping him around so they could free up cap space to land Sundin.

Finally, as bad and underachieving have the Senators have been, so too were the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first half. The Florida-based squad spent a whack of money in the offseason on greybeards like Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts, along with reclamation projects like Radim Vrbata, Ryan Malone, and Vaclav Prospal.

The result: last in the Southeast division with 25 points, only two points ahead of the New York Islanders for title to the basement in the Eastern Conference. They also fired coach Barry Melrose just 16 games into the season. Merry Christmas, Barry.

Tomorrow, we'll look at the good and the bad from the Western Conference.

Happy Holidays.

Maple Leafs-Stars: Not So Merry For Toronto as Dallas Wins 8-2 Rout

Dino Mori — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:07:15 -0500

The Dallas Stars had a pre-Christmas feast down at the Air Canada Center on Tuesday.

The Stars scored at will en route to a 8-2 drubbing over a road-weary Toronto Maple Leafs squad.

Whitby native James Neal scored a hat trick for Dallas, who also got goals from Fabbian Brunnstrom, Steve Ott, Mike Ribeiro, Krystopher Barch, and Brad Richards. Jason Blake and Mikhail Grabovski replied for Toronto.

It was a disastrous opening 20 minutes for the Maple Leafs, who got back to Toronto in the wee hours of Tuesday morning from Dixie. The team was playing its third game in four nights, while the Stars have been off since Saturday's overtime loss to Ottawa.

Toronto surrendered four goals to Dallas on just 11 shots in probably the worst period of hockey this season by the Maple Leafs. The Leafs had 22 shots on Dallas goalkeeper Marty Turco on the night, while the Stars directed 37 on Vesa Toskala and replacement Curtis Joseph.

Toskala, who sat out Monday's 6-2 victory in Atlanta with a slight groin injury, wasn't sharp in his return. To be fair, his mates left him out to dry on two of the first four Star goals.

Neal put home a rebound past Toskala at 3:23 to give the Stars the lead at 1-0. Neal was allowed a clear avenue to the net to register his ninth of the season as the Toronto defence converged on the puck-carrying Trevor Daley.

Ott made it 2-0 at 8:55, sneaking in the back door to tip home a pass from Mike Ribeiro after Leafs blueliner Tomas Kaberle gave up the puck behind the net to Swedish-born Fabbian Brunnstrom.

The Stars' Brunnstrom, using his great speed, walked around both the Leafs defence and Toskala to make it 3-0 at 10:45.

The onslaught continued when former Lightning forward Richards one-timed a slapshot past the beleaguered Toskala during a Dallas power play to increase the lead to 4-0.

Toronto heavyweight Andre Deveaux was in the box when the goal was scored after he took a needless roughing penalty on Ott. Earlier in the period, he fought winger Krystopher Barch in a spirited tussle.

The second period was a carbon copy of the first as the Stars enjoyed the majority of play in the Leafs end.

Barch was in the right place at the right time, scoring from his knees to give Dallas a 5-0 cushion at 3:45. It was a bad goal from a Leaf perspective, as Toskala gave up a juicy rebound off a backhand from Stars' winger Landon Wilson.

Less than seven minutes later, Ribeiro made it a 6-0 after depositing home a rebound at 10:15. Once again, a Dallas forward was allowed to station himself in front of Toronto's goal with little interference.

After Neal scored to put the Stars up by seven, Leafs coach Ron Wilson mercifully pulled Toskala, who was booed off the ice, for Joseph.

During a rare foray in the offensive zone, Blake re-directed Dominic Moore's centering pass, to put the Leafs on the board at 15:33. It was his seventh goal of the year, with the secondary assist going to Tomas Kaberle.

Less than two minutes into the third, Deveaux and Barch exchanged Christmas punches for the second time on the night. Both received five-minute fighting majors on the play, much to delight of the pre-holiday crowd.

Grabovski cut the Leafs deficit to 7-2, putting home a rebound from a Deveaux close in attempt. It was the diminutive forward's 12th goal of the season, to go along with nine assists.

For good measure, the Toronto-area Neal, who probably grew up watching Joseph completed his first ever NHL hat-trick beating Cujo threw the legs at 18:34 on a Stars power-play.

Following a two-day Christmas hiatus, Toronto will be on Long Island for a Boxing Day affair in Uniondale.