Der Toronto Maple Leafs Thread

[Lichtgestalt]

St.Louis Blues - Toronto Maple Leafs 1:2 (0:1, 1:1, 0:0)

und das gegen die direkte konkurrenz!

bearbeitet 7. Februar 2007 von Lichtgestalt

[XSCHLAMEAL]

Und noch immer nicht auf einem Playoff-Platz ... Carolina und Tampa sind in Reichweite und theoretisch schon überholt, ich bin aber skeptisch dass die Leafs das durchhalten und so konstant bleiben.

Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt ...

Falsch

[Seppo Dramac]

Falsch

OK, gleichauf nach Verlustpunkten. i-Tüpferl-Reiter ...

[AustroLeaf]

Raycroft's Save gegen Bill Guerin beim Stand von 2:1 Mitte des Schlußdrittels. Unbefuckinglieveable.

Paul Maurice auf die Frage, was er zu dieser Parade sagt: "Well, it was his rebound, so he had to save it."

bearbeitet 8. Februar 2007 von AustroLeaf

[XSCHLAMEAL]

OK, gleichauf nach Verlustpunkten. i-Tüpferl-Reiter ...

Und nach Anzahl der Siege hinter Tampa

[themanwho]

Raycroft's Save gegen Bill Guerin beim Stand von 2:1 Mitte des Schlußdrittels. Unbefuckinglieveable.

Paul Maurice auf die Frage, was er zu dieser Parade sagt: "Well, it was his rebound, so he had to save it."

Nett .. passt irgendwie zur aktuellen Form von Razor, so darf es gerne weitergehen, außer #1 und #2 in der Eastern ist mMn noch nichts vorentschieden.

(save of the year - Preis muss er sich allerdings mit diesem save: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvZM6oY59Xo teilen mMn )

[AustroLeaf]

Und nach Anzahl der Siege hinter Tampa

Dafür riechen wir besser.

[Lichtgestalt]

Dafür riechen wir besser.

genau. antiforza tampax!

[AustroLeaf]

Nashville Predators - Toronto Maple Leafs 4:2 (1:1, 1:0, 2:1)

1:0 (15.) Legwand 19 (Erat)

1:1 (16.) Ponikarovsky (Sundin, Antropov)

2:1 (27.) Sullivan 21 (Kariya, Arnott) PP

3:1 (51.) Dumont 11 (Sullivan, Radulov) PP

3:2 (57.) Kilger 9 (Devereaux, Battaglia)

4:2 (60.) Fiddler 7 (Arnott) EN

SOG: Preds 28, Leafs 32

PP: Preds 2/11, Leafs 0/8

Recap

[Seppo Dramac]

Musste ja wieder mal schiefgehen, ok gegen Nashville ist eine Niederlage erlaubt. Jetzt geht's wieder drei Mal gegen Eastern Teams, da ist Gas angesagt!

[Fex]

Newbury hat da heut ganz schön eins auf die Nase bekommen

[AustroLeaf]

Toronto Maple Leafs - Pittsburgh Penguins 5:6 OT (0:1, 3:2, 2:2, 0:1)

0:1 (20.) Staal 21 (Ouellet, Malkin)

0:2 (24.) Staal 22 (Malkin, Nasreddine)

0:3 (29.) Malkin 27 (Crosby, Gonchar) PP

1:3 (34.) Antropov 9 (Ponikarovsky, Sundin)

2:3 (37.) Sundin 22 (Antropov, Ponikarovsky)

3:3 (40.) Battaglia 9 (Kilger, Kaberle)

4:3 (42.) McCabe 10 (Steen, O'Neill)

4:4 (42.) Malone 9 (Recchi, Gonchar)

5:4 (52.) Devereaux 3 (McCabe, Battaglia)

5:5 (54.) Talbot 7 (Whitney)

5:6 (64.) Staal 23 (Malkin)

SOG: Leafs 28, Pens 28

PP: Leafs 0/4, Pens 1/3

Recap

bearbeitet 11. Februar 2007 von AustroLeaf

[Lichtgestalt]

LEAFS MAKE A POINT THE HARD WAY

Moral victories don't, typically, get a team into a playoff position.

But a one-point consolation prize against the NHL's hottest – and perhaps most entertaining – team last night kept the Maple Leafs in the race and might have provided a foundation for some much-needed success at home. A wild night of last-shot-wins pond hockey dominated by the young guys of Pittsburgh and the old sods on the Toronto roster saw the Penguins skate off with a 6-5 overtime victory.

"Painful loss, but we will survive," Leafs coach Paul Maurice said. Painful? Perhaps. But not if you were one of the paying customers who flocked in record numbers – the 19,620 found-ins was the biggest hockey crowd ever at the Air Canada Centre – to see Sid the Kid and company. They are probably still catching their breath.

Toronto fell behind 3-0, fought back to take a 4-3 lead early in the third, then grabbed a 5-4 lead after Pittsburgh tied it, only to have it all slip away in overtime. "Crazy game," Mats Sundin said, summarizing the night. "We'll take the point being down 3-0 early in the game and battling back. It was one of those games. We felt in the third it was our game. Even though we earned the point, we didn't play a very good hockey game."

But the loss, thanks to the point, actually improved Toronto's perspective, if not its standing, in the NHL's Eastern Conference. Toronto sits ninth, but Montreal and Carolina, sixth and seventh, respectively, both lost in regulation. Tampa Bay, the eighth-place team, didn't play. That means Toronto is now only three points behind the tumbling Canadiens with a game in hand. The Leafs trail the Hurricanes by two points with two games in hand and are one point behind Tampa for eighth with both teams having 26 games remaining.

"We can't afford any time to mope. We'll take the good things from that game and move on," said winger Boyd Devereaux, who played another energetic game for Toronto.

Ultimately, it wasn't Sidney Crosby who did in the Leafs. It was the other Pittsburgh kids who dominated in this entertaining tilt. Rookie Jordan Staal, only 18, scored three goals, including the winner in overtime. Evgeni Malkin, a 20-year-old freshman, had a goal and three assists. "It just seemed like everything went my way tonight," Staal said.

Toronto captain Sundin, who turns 36 on Tuesday, led the attack in both spirit and production with a goal, an assist and his usual passion. His assist was the 700th of his career. A couple of 31-year-olds, Bryan McCabe and Bates Battaglia, each had a goal and an assist. The Leafs appeared to be in great shape in the overtime when Pittsburgh's Rob Scuderi took a penalty for hooking but, 10 seconds later, Nik Antropov, who had played an excellent game, evened up the sides with a hooking penalty, hauling down Mark Eaton. For the fleet-footed Penguins – 11-0-2 in their last 13 games – 3-on-3 hockey played to their strength. With Staal, Malkin and Ryan Whitney on the ice, Staal potted the winner.

The Leafs, after an excellent road trip in which they won four of five games, are now 11-12-3 on their own ice this season. "But I think we showed some character," winger Wade Belak said. "If we'd fallen behind 3-0 earlier in the year, it was pretty much game over. So it was nice to come back and get it to overtime."

Goalie Andrew Raycroft, so strong on the road trip, had another tough night at the ACC, allowing six goals on 28 shots. "I definitely would have liked to have gotten in front of a couple more, but that's the way it goes sometimes," he said. "We got a point. It was a hard-earned point."

On Tuesday, the Leafs play host to the Islanders, the 10th-place team that is only one point behind them.

-> Toronto Star

[Il Capitano]

Ein Knallerspiel, habe ich mir extra aufgenommen, das kommt in meine Sammlung. Die Reporter gingen auch mächtig ab, Staal ist derzeit glaube ich das Lieblingskind der NHL-Experten!!!

[Lichtgestalt]

TRUE BLUE BLUEBLOOD

Leaf captain Mats Sundin celebrates his 36th birthday today. Here's a look at his horoscope, what was happening the day he was born and some other notable Feb. 13 events over the years:

A union between Uranus and Mercury augurs well for the changes that you seek this year. The right opportunities will present themselves just when you need them and a benign sky will steer you right where you need to go.

WHAT HAPPENED 02-13-71:

In Toronto, Bill Davis is chosen Ontario Progressive Conservative leader, succeeding John Robarts.

U.S. vice-president Spiro Agnew injures two people by hitting two tee shots into the crowd at a golf tournament.

South Vietnamese troops invaded Laos, backed by air and ground support from the United States' military.

OTHER FEB. 13 EVENTS:

Birthdays: Grant Wood (American Gothic artist, 1892), Patty Berg (LPGA Hall of Fame member, 1918), Eddie Robinson (Grambling football coach, 1919), Chuck Yeager (test pilot, 1923), Robert Fulford (Canadian journalist, 1932), Sal Bando (Oakland A's, 1944), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke basketball coach, 1947), Peter Gabriel (rock musician, 1950)

1952: Rocky Marciano knocks out Lee Savold in the sixth round in Philadelphia for his 39th straight win. Later that year, he wins the world heavyweight title.

1959: First Barbie doll goes on sale in the U.S.

1972: Grease opens on Broadway.

1988: Opening ceremonies of the Calgary Winter Olympics.

1990: N.Y. Islanders' Bryan Trottier scores his 500th NHL goal.

2000: Charles M. Schulz's last original Peanuts comic strip appeared in Sunday newspapers.

Captains' club Mats Sundin turns 36 today and the captain's only wish is to win a Stanley Cup with the Leafs. Calling Toronto his "home," captain Mats Sundin said he has no desire to leave the Maple Leafs even if it meant a more realistic shot at winning the Stanley Cup elsewhere.

"I think my feelings have been that I really want to stay and be a Maple Leaf," he said yesterday, on the eve of his 36th birthday but, more significantly, two weeks before the NHL trade deadline. "I've never had the desire to – or never looked at it that way, anyway – that if our team doesn't make the playoffs, I want to go somewhere else just to win. If the team comes to me and says they want to trade me, you have to listen and see why. But if they come to do me a favour, I'm not (interested)."

It's no surprise, really, that even in the mercenary world of professional sports, Sundin sees Toronto as more than just a way station to play hockey. He's matured here and the fans have matured with him over, appropriately, 13 years of remarkable hockey. Always a sublime centre, the acceptance of Sundin as a captain in the mould of Doug Gilmour or Wendel Clark was granted grudgingly at first, but the affection now seems mutual.

Good thing. With a no-trade contract and playing on a club that has no desire for him to waive it, Sundin has become the house guest that will never leave.

Always willing to discuss the game, insights into what Sundin is genuinely feeling are rare. He has a guarded nature which is both reflective of his personality and, likely, one of the ways he has chosen to steel himself to the scruntiny that comes with wearing the "C" for the Leafs. But, like on the ice, Sundin has a sense of occasion; a moment when he opens up, whether it be after returning from a lengthy injury, on the night of his 500th goal – an evening when the admiration of Toronto fans was clearly evident – or when turning 36, a time when many athletes are playing out the string, awaiting their farewell tributes.

"I know in life, 36 is not a big age. But in hockey it's a lot," he conceded yesterday. "But physically, and mentally too, I feel as strong as I ever have on the ice. In that aspect, age is not a factor for me yet, I hope. I think once you get to my age, in my case anyway, you really do enjoy it more coming to the rink. You realize it won't last forever and you realize you're in a very fortunate position to do something you love."

Speaking to reporters after practice, Sundin said he does not have a specific retirement time in mind but said he won't be playing when he is 45, as is the case with Detroit defenceman Chris Chelios.

He said the decision to leave the game will come when he feels he can longer play at a high level and when there's no more enjoyment in the grind of a long season. "I think I have some more hockey in me for sure," said the captain, who has at least a point in each of Toronto's seven games since the all-star break. "You don't really feel the age. You realize it, obviously, and you realize you have a different role in the dressing room. But you're still laughing at the same jokes and you're at the same level as the young players coming, you think."

Sundin's desire to play out the autumn of his career in Toronto – though the passion he still brings to the ice suggests the finale is a long way off – isn't simply self-sacrifice based on loyalty. He said he absolutely believes he can win a championship here based on the quality of young players in the organization. And echoing the mantra of all teams on the cusp of post-season qualification, he said he believes any team, such as the Leafs, can win the Cup if it gets to the post-season.

"We'll make it this year," Sundin predicted of the playoffs. "I want to win a championship here with the Toronto Maple Leafs and I think we have as good a chance this year as the other teams right around us."

-> Toronto Star