Results tagged “senators”

Hope is a cruel thing for a sports fan: no matter how bleak the situation, as long as there's a straw in sight we'll happily clutch at it. Case in point: Leafs Nation, of which we're proud, occasionally defiant members. We've been flip-flopping over the Leafs all season long. A few weeks ago we'd written them off, then watched as the team put together an impressive run (which included comprehensive victories over the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins). Suddenly, they were back in the thick of things—and hope, suddenly, sprung eternal once more.

Far be it from us to conflate professional sports with Bill Shakespeare—but the Toronto Maple Leafs’ actions before, during and after Tuesday's NHL trade deadline recall Macbeth’s famous words: full of sound and fury, yet ultimately signifying nothing. Charges of heresy will be duly acknowledged.

It's been the best of times, it's been the worst of times for the Toronto Maple Leafs; in fact, the past couple weeks have been nothing short of surreal. First, the best of times: wins against the high-flying Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, followed by a thoroughly unexpected Hockey Day in Canada victory over the league-leading Detroit Red Wings, have given the team a boost. Injured players are getting healthy. The return of the much-maligned Bryan McCabe has apparently galvanized the team's defensive corps, not to mention relegated Andy "The Cause" Wozniewski to the Toronto Marlies. Mats Sundin, meanwhile, who turns thirty-seven years old today, has fifty-eight points in fifty-seven games—not bad for a guy with a "career-threatening" injury (we'll never tire of using it against you, Steve Simmons!).

With much-maligned NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in the crowd, the Toronto Maple Leafs dropped the puck on the 2007-08 season at the Air Canada Centre last night. He was probably unable to catch a glimpse of a homemade sign halfway across the arena that read: “Bettman: ruining the NHL since 1993.”

Toronto places three roads in the province's worst twenty streets. Steeles placed fifth, Bathurst ninth and Dufferin twelfth in the survey of the worst-maintained roads in Ontario. That having been said, be glad you don't have to drive in Sudbury (first, third, eighth and tenth). Take THAT, Sudbury!

The Anaheim Mighty Ducks win the Stanley Cup. Thus finally fulfilling the lifetime goals of Emilio Estevez. Asked to comment, the Ottawa Senators said "aggghhhhhhhhhhccckkk," then scored on their own net again.

Ottawa denies entrance to Nelson Mandela's wife. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was supposed to give a speech at a fundraiser gala last night, but was told that she was denied a visa because she had been previously convicted of kidnapping and fraud. The fact that she was allowed in the United States three weeks ago means nothing. Come on, the U.S. never lets anyone in!

Jordan Manners will be laid to rest today. His mother is calling out for an inquest so that her 15-year-old son did not "die in vain." If it prevents another shooting in this city, we're all for it.

A six-member jury announced the winner of the Nathan Phillips Square design competition last night. The city plans to rely on public and corporate donations for the remaining $24-million it needs to complete the project. For a thorough write-up on the new design, check-out our coverage.

Nope, Torontoist isn't referring to the classic movie series. With Halloween just around the corner, it's a different goalie mask creating this sequence of horrors. Although it may be Friday the 27th, the number 13 represents the total amount of goals Toronto Maple Leaf netminders - mainly Andrew Raycroft - have allowed to Ottawa Senator shooters this week. Even by factoring in his day off in between, Raycroft's goals against average over those 3 days would still put him near the bottom of the NHL. Now Torontoist has been quick to jump to conclusions in the past. Granted the Leafs were off to a rather decent start this season, and it was Raycroft who was indeed leading the way. However, Tuesday's 6-2 and Thursday's 7-2 losses to their provincial rivals are an all too familiar occurance over the past couple of seasons, and surely have to serve as a reality check for Paul Maurice's club.

With all the personnel changes the Maple Leafs made this offseason, it appears little has infact changed on the ice. With the team opening their 2006-07 pre-season against the Buffalo Sabres at the ACC Monday night, it was the same old story for Mats Sundin's team. Excessive penalties, an inability to score, a bleeding Darcy Tucker, average goaltending and Bryan McCabe's goatee each contributed to a performance that was all too familiar to post-lockout Leaf fans. Even with their unsightly new uniforms, the Sabres had no problem picking up where they left off last season. After dominating the Leafs head-to-head in 05-06, the Sabres scored all of their goals on the powerplay, while Martin Biron turned aside twenty-three Toronto shots in the 4-0 victory. Three of those Sabre goals came during a stretch of the second period in which the Leafs committed six consecutive penalties. All-in-all, it was a dissappointing start to what fans had hoped would be a more satisfying season. The team now travels to Ottawa to play the Senators tomorrow night.

Matt Stajan was eight years old the last time Pat Quinn was considered to be the NHL's best coach. That's right... this season will mark fourteen years since Quinn was at the top of the game. So with the way things unfolded for the Maple Leafs and Team Canada this year, one might expect him to quietly disappear into retirement. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case. Although Torontoist may not be a big fan of Quinn, they would never wish for the energetic coach to lose his mind. Sadly, it may have just happened. Following the Leafs victory over the Islanders on Wednesday night, Quinn stated that his team will make the playoffs. Understandably Leaf supporters are on a high right now, with the team recording points in each of the past 9 games. It's the same classic symptoms that Leaf Nation has been plagued with for too long now. A few wins and the Stanley Cup is now a sure thing, management is praised, contracts are extended, and everyone forgets that Jean-Sebastien Aubin isn't Martin Brodeur.

The same team of minds that confused you with a Scottish talking stick of gum have taken it an EXTRA step with their latest marketing initiative.

After last night's closing ceremonies, Torontoist wonders if their Itallian cousins will know what to expect when they arrive in our county next summer. What is our national identity exactly?? Because as of today, the world is probably as confused as yours truely. Snow shoes, ice fishing and ice sculptures bred way for a performance by Avril Lavigne as the Olympic Flag was handed over to Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan. Interesting combination.

Try repeating the following sentence five times...

Ed Blefour's play in the Maple Leaf goal this season has for the most part been the calibre of play his team has relied on from the Ottawa Senators in four of the past five playoffs. He has yet to record a shoutout in 24 games this season - a stat that illuminates when you realize that the St.Louis Blues' Curtis Sanford already has a pair. When the Eagle takes the ice in Ottawa this weekend, nineteen days will have passed since his last victory, while backup Mikael Tellqvist has won two games, stopping 55 of 57 shots in that span. So when Torontoist looked at the goalie ratings on YahooSports today, it was no surprise to see Tellqvist ranked 15, while the aging Belfour sat 25th.

The puck drops on the big game at 7 pm this evening. The tailgate, however, begins at 4:30 pm, as I look to extend my five game winning streak against Drew in the classic Sega Genesis game, NHL'94.