Come on, raise your hand if you have ever heard of Luca Caputi. As word circlated through the ACC tonight that Burke had apparently dealt Alexei Ponikarovsky for Luca Caputi the biggest response was WHO. Apparently Martin Skoula was thrown in the deal as well, however the MSMers out there seem to think that Burke will try to deal him as well. After watching the game tonight, I would like to think Burke is going to deal about 6-8 guys tomorrow for ANYTHING in return. The Leafs were playing the Carolina Hurricanes, the Maple Leafs made the Canes look like Team Canada 2010. My favorite Ponikarovsky Maple Leafs memory was about 2-3 years ago I was at a local Toronto restaurant on a Saturday night around 10:30pm near the ACC. As I was leaving Poni showed up and asked for a table, without batting an eye he was turned away. He tried to tell him that he was a Maple Leaf player and was laughed out the door.
Awesome night here in Pittsburgh. At 6pm we headed over to a pub to grab a bite to eat before the penguins took on the devils. Wow what a mob scene. I kid you not, every person in the place (except us) were wearing a pens jersey ( little tsm was wearing his Crosby t-shirt).
The tv’s were all focused on pens hockey and it’s all everyone was talking about. It was really great to see.
When we got to the same it was more of the same. The fans were totally in to the game. Maybe it’s not the nicest rink, maybe it doesn’t have the nicest suites, the prettiest concessions, but man do their fans get into their pens.
Lastly, whomever does the buying for the Maple Leafs stores clearly buys from different suppliers than they do here. The pens merchandise is much nicer than the crap sold at the acc. They have a ton of variety in shapes and sizes that normal people would actually wear.
Even though the home team got smoked, and Martin Brodeur got his shutout record, it was a really fun night. For those who haven’t been to a game here yet, it’s a really easy drive and a hell of a lot more exciting than the drive to Montreal or Detroit.
The last time Chicago played San Francisco the Bears jumped out to a 41-0 halftime lead and coasted to a 41-10 landslide victory at Soldier Field. That was back in 2006. Tonight the two teams meet in San Fran as the NFL kicks off its weekly Thursday night games. The 49ers (3-5) come into this one losers of their last four and are tied for second in the NFC West, two games back of the division leading Arizona Cardinals (5-3). Week one starter Shaun Hill has been replaced by former number one draft pick Alex Smith. Since signing rookie receiver hold-out Michael Crabtree the team has gone on its losing streak, although the wide out has played well. In four games Crabtree has caught 14 balls and is averaging 11.9 yards per reception. Chicago is in a similar situation. The Bears (4-4) are tied for second in their division, while the Minnesota Vikings sit atop at 7-1. Last week the Bears were romped 41-21 by the Cardinals. Chicago’s defence was horrible. The team gave up touchdowns on each of Arizona’s first four possessions. On a positive note tight end Greg Olsen had a break out game. He had five catches for 71 yards and three touchdowns.
If hockey is you thing, its a battle for supremacy in the Atlantic Division, as the Pittsburgh Penguins host the New Jersey Devils. The Devils are on fire. They’ve won six straight and are a perfect 8-0 on the road. The same can’t be said for Pittsburgh. They started off hot, but since losing Evgeni Malkin to injury the team has struggled and have lost their last three (the last two have been back-to-back shut outs).
For all you hoop heads, the two top teams in the West go at it tonight, as the Phoenix Suns (8-1) are in LA to take on the defending champ Lakers (6-1). Guard Steve Nash has already had two 20 assists games this season and last night the Suns hit 13 treys, becoming the first team in NBA history to hit 100 threes in fewer then 10 games. By the way, Phoenix torched the New Orleans Hornets 124-104.
1. Can Toskala take advantage of the ice time he will get with the Monster on the shelf? Let’s hope so – and lets hope the fans support him tonight. We need him to play well…not only to help the team win but to be a tradable asset when we hit the trade deadline.
2. Which team will show up? The aggressive team that opened the season up against the Canadiens or the one that slept through the Ottawa game.
Finger is back in (Exelby sits) and the same guys remain out with injuries: Stalberg, Primeau, Kessel, Gustavsson
Are you panicking? No, really. Three games in, have the alarm bells started to ring? When the Blue Jays were on their tear early on, where you ready to annoint them playoff bound? When a guy hits a homerun or scores a goal in game one of the season, do you project their season totals???? I mean really.
We Toronto Sports fans take a lot of shit. Some of it is deserved. Most of it is fabricated in attempt to sell papers (who reads em) or radio ads(who listens)… Listening and looking around this town, you would think the Maple Leafs are this years version of the Detroit Lions. Wholly smokes folks, it’s 3 stinking games. It’s three games with how many new faces? Get a grip.
The good news, I think is that most of the hysteria is media generated. No one I know has hit the panic button yet. It is way too early for that. With all due respect, those who call in to Leafs talk aren’t, in my mind anyways representative of Leafs fans. Seriously, do you know anyone who calls in to those shows? That is not to say that people don’t…It’s just that the notion that those who do are speaking for the larger group is bunk. I mean the larger group doesn’t think that the guy from Maple is bang on when he suggested the Jamal Mayers for a first round draft pick.
So, is it the media who creates hysteria and the fans feed off of it, or are fans really panicked as has been suggested. I am not buying that it is the fans. I don’t see it, I don’t hear it and it makes no sense. It makes about as much sense as the Bruce Garrioch Ron Wilson story today.
Look, this is really simple. If the Leafs are any worse than they were last year when the season ends and lottery positions are finalized, Brian Burke is going to have some explaining to do. If the Boston Bruins are on the podium with the Maple Leafs pick things have gone dramatically astray. If this team regresses after the overhaul the lineup has undergone, something is amiss. It’s really that simple. To reach that conclusion after game 3?????????? I am sorry. We aren’t, collectively anyways, that dumb are we???????
I certainly hope not. Saturday could be ugly by the way. If the same Leafs team shows up that did against Ottawa, Pittsburgh may have a field day.
Chins up leafs nation. It’s a long haul, and we’ve only just begun.
With only three games remaining for most teams in baseball it’s tough to ignore what’s happening in the AL Central. The Detroit Tigers still have a two game lead over the Minnesota Twins. So if the Tigers win and the Twins lose tonight the division title and final playoff spot would be claimed by Detroit. Both teams are at home. Detroit welcomes the Chicago White Sox, while Minnesota hosts the Kansas City Royals.
If baseball is not your thing you can always turn to hockey. The NHL season kicked off last night. Tonight the two teams that battled for the Stanley Cup last season are in action, just not against each other. The Detroit Red Wings are on the road tonight, a long way away from Detroit. They’re in Sweden to take on the St Louis Blues. Even though there are more Swedes on Detroit, St Louis is the home team. The Red Wings lost a little depth over the off season and hope that Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom have enough in the tank to lead the winged wheel back to a third straight final series. The defending champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins, open their season at home as they battle the New York Rangers. Pittsburgh lost some depth at the blue line, but with superstars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the team the Pens should be a lock for postseason play.
“”It’s not so much what the young guys are doing,” Wilson said before Tuesday night’s 3-2 pre-season shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Air Canada Centre. “It’s that the veteran people have responded. They’re the ones who have played really well. I couldn’t say that last year, and we ended up with young people getting elevated roles in our lineup.” National Post
So, the question is….Should he stay or should he go?
Forwards: Jordan Staal, Dustin Jeffrey, Paul Bissonette, Mike Rupp, Wyatt Smith, Chris Conner, Tim Wallace, Matt Cooke, Ruslan Fedotenko, Ryan Bayda, Nick Johnson and Tyler Kennedy.
Defencemen: Nate Guenin, Alex Goligoski, Ben Lovejoy, Mark Eaton, Jonathan D’Aversa, Robert Bortuzzo, Jay McKee.
Goaltenders: Brent Johnson, John Curry
No Malkin or Crosby…unfortunate for the Fans who go to see the game…
