Toronto Maple Leafs: Checking in with the Toronto Marlies, December Edition

This month's edition of the Toronto Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate check-in comes at an exciting time for Toronto Marlies fans.

The Marlies are in the midst of a nice winning streak, which they will look to continue on Wednesday night, when they hit the road to take on the Lake Erie Monsters.

In fact, the Marlies have won six of their last seven games, with the lone blemish being a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Abbotsford Heat.

This run has them sitting in fifth place in the AHL's Western Conference, just one point out of fourth and five points out of first, with a game in hand on both of those teams.

Since our last check-up with the Marlies, goalie Jussi Rynnas recorded another shutout, which gave him the Marlies franchise record, as he passed both Justin Pogge and Ben Scrivens with eight for his career.

The 24-year-old Finnish native now has a 4-0-1 record on the season, with three shutouts, a 1.55 GAA and .950 save percentage. Not too shabby.

It seems like Jussi Rynnas has been one of Toronto's best development stories of the last few years, as he's steadily improved each year he's been in North America.

Nazem Kadri has also kept his hot hand going, as he is now tied for the team lead in points with 24. Keith Aucoin also has 24 points on the season.

Kadri has finally shown Leafs fans some of the talent he possesses at the professional level. His hot streak began after he was benched for a game by head coach Dallas Eakins.

Joe Colborne still has yet to find his groove though, posting just seven points in 22 games. He has, however, managed a player rating of plus-four, which is nice to see.

While the 2012-13 regular season up to this point has been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride for the Marlies and their fans, the Marlies seem to have found their groove and could be poised to make another run at the Calder Cup next spring.

Here's to hoping the Marlies can continue their winning ways for the rest of the regular season.

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