Here’s your bikini of the day from GetABikini.com

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- Bob McCown’s co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt

- round table with David Shoalts and Richard Griffin

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

-     Lou Lamoriello, GM of the Devils
-     Bob “The Bear” Cowan
-     Jolly Jonas Siegel from New Jersey to preview tonight’s Leafs-Devils game
-     hockey insiders Darren Dreger & Scott Morrison at 6:10
-     show ends at 6:30 to make way for the Leafs pre-game show

Sorry it’s soooooooooooo late!  I posted in case anyone wanted to go listen to podcasts.

See, that didn’t take long now did it? Last night was the exception to this years rule. Most of the positives from last night were replaced with the bad habits we’ve seen all year.

Vesa Toskala returned to form as did most of his teammates. In case Brian Burke or Ron Wilson had any doubts about the talent level of their players tonight should reaffirm that last night was merely a fluke, a rare occurence of the Leafs playing a team who isn’t prepared for the low level of play they are about to face.

The good news for Leafs fans is that after watching them last night and tonight we don’t have to suffer with them another night tomorrow.

Hope everyone enjoyed last nights game a lot. We knew it wouldn’t last long.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

The Toronto Raptors have lost three straight and the last seven of nine. Tonight they welcome Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards to the ACC. Arenas has been dealing with numerous ankle injuries and has missed the last seven games against the Raps. While injured Arenas was very vocal about the possibility of Raptor’s guard Jose Calderone being included on the all star team. Check out his blog here: http://www.wonderday.ca/2008/02/14/gilbert-arenas-disses-jose-calderon/ Washington’s last game was on Saturday night when they lost to the Charlotte Bobcats 92-76. Arenas scored six points and was held to under ten points for the second consecutive game. On Sunday, the Raptors’ defensive futilitycontinued. They were smoked 113-94 by the Phoenix Suns. Adding to Toronto’s woes was a brutal 1 for 20 performance from behind the arc. Chris Bosh was the lone bright spot. He poured in 30 points and pulled down 17 boards.

On the ice, the NHL’s oldest rivalry continues as the Toronto Maple Leafs are in Montreal to take on the Canadiens. This is a huge week for the Montreal franchise. On Friday the team will celebrate their 100 year anniversary. Both teams are coming off loses. The Leafs were shut out 3-0 by the Buffalo Sabres, while the Habs lost 4-3 in the shootout to the Washington Capitals.

Interesting reading about the sudden reprieve the Toronto Maple Leafs apparently bought themselves by defeating the Washington Capitals the other day. The moves that were imminent prior to the game vs. the Caps has been put on the back burner by Brian Burke because the buds beat the Caps? Please. I don’t buy it. Whatever Burke plans on doing won’t be the result of any one game, winning or losing. Likewise, he won’t take 2-5 guys out back and shoot them either as a result of the effort.

Instead what Burke must slowly be arriving to is the conclusion that his team has a ways to go before it can be considered one of the elite teams in the league. The evidence is so clear and now you are starting to see both Burke and Wilson confirm it in their words.

Burke the other day was quoted as saying that in his opinion the team had been “trying so hard”. Tonight, after the Leafs lost to the Islanders, despite throwing some 60 shots at the Islanders, Wilson said almost the same thing, “What can you say?” said Ron Wilson. “They hung around long enough and got a break. We made a bad play in our end and we ended up losing the game, but I can’t fault the effort of our players.” (Thanks to Jonas for that…)

So, despite solid efforts, the team just can’t win. What conclusion do you have to arrive at when everyone is trying their best and still not accomplishing the goal? Well, it’s that their best just isn’t good enough. The team that Burke has assembled simply doesn’t have the horses to compete night in and night out. One would have to think that by this stage, Burke knows exactly what he has, and what he is missing. The time is now for him to start adjusting by making moves, especially with injuries to John Mitchell and Vesa Toskala.

I am sure, the MSM will be back in full “change” force tomorrow- I mean the day after the almighty reprieve and the team is back in the loss column, surely another 1-2 scouts were in the audience to watch the Leafs vs. the Isles (some reporters said upwards of 19 scouts were in the house) So- let’s see the great rumors that those in the ACC pressbox result in.

Meanwhile, Stay At Home has one of the more useless blogs here- talk about writing about nothing- seesh

Hey all- a buddy is looking to unload a pair of tickets to tonight’s Maple Leafs vs Washington Capitals game. If you are interested, send me an email please at

torontosportsmedia at g mail dot com

thanks

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-
- open phones with McCown from 4:05 to 4:40
- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Jim Kelley
Friday Round Table

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S. :
420 Patrick Lalime, Buffalo Sabres
440 George McPhee, Washington Capitals GM
510 Rob Higgins, Sun Fantasy Hockey Expert
540 Daryl Johnston, Fox NFL Analyst
610 Scott Morrison, HNIC

The Leafs look to bounce back from their opening night OT loss to the Canadiens.  They’ll need a similar offensive effort but some improvement on the back-end – especially with the offensive skill the Caps bring beyond Ovechkin.

Two line-up changes that should help tighten up the D….Mayers is in for Rosehill and Finger is back in replacing Exelby.

Projected Lines vs. Capitals

Forwards:
Stalberg – Stajan – Blake
Grabovski – Ponikarovsky – Hagman
Stempniak – Mitchell – Wallin
Mayers – Primeau – Orr

Defencemen:

Kaberle – Komisarek
Beauchemin – Schenn
White – Finger

Goaltenders:
Toskala
Gustavsson

LT

Interesting place we are at this juncture of time. The Toronto Maple Leafs are just about to conclude their first off-season under new GM Brian Burke. So we are really about to start the first season under the new regime. This, unlike last year is the first season of building the Toronto Maple Leafs. So of course I have lots of questions for you….

What do you want this coming season? What are the expectations, what will you be happy with? None of us, not even an overly homeristic blogger expects the Leafs to compete for the Stanley Cup this season. What then are realistic goals? Does it include the playoffs? Does it have to include the playoffs? Here is my take, I want a season where we don’t get embarrassed at home. I want a season where they show up 9/10 nights. I want a season where the kids play a lot and they are afforded the opportunity to make mistakes as Schenn was last year. Most of all I want a season where they are fun to watch. The outcomes of the games to me is secondary. I don’t care if they make the playoffs. I want ever young kid to get their chance and to grow as a player.

On a more specific point, which Maple Leaf do you want to really break out, have an incredible season, won where you can say, he is a true Maple Leaf? I am not sure which player specifically it is as I don’t’ know much about them, but I am rooting really hard for the US college players. I have so much respect for the guys who go that route. I have a lot of time and respect for guys who are bright enough to get educations in case things don’t work out for them on the ice. I am not so naive as to think they are all rocket scientists, but there is something admirable about having a college degree in your back pocket in case things don’t pan out. I would love to see more and more players go that route. I firmly believe that if the NHL is sincere in it’s hope to grow the game south of the border than it has to fully endorse and help grow the college game. Hockey isn’t basketball or football, but if they could get 1/100th of the focus on college hockey that they do nationally for football and basketball then the game would grow.

Now, I am also curious, if you aren’t cheering for the Maple Leafs, who is your team? Which teams do you want to have break out years, which do you want to see fall back? Me, I am a huge Capitals fan. I love their coach and I think Alex Ovechkin is a rockstar on skates. I really want to see them continue their climb upwards in the standings. Same goes with the Blackhawks. I am a little less enthused with them after they turfed Dale Tallon, but I love the young guns on that team, they are fun to watch and I think they play the game the right way. Of course, my two favorite teams are the Maple Leafs and whomever the Senators are playing on any given night, so as a die hard Leaf fan I really hope the Sens improve just enough to not make the playoffs but high enough to not have a good draft position.

From a media perspective, I hope that Jonas Siegel grows as a reporter, that someone new emerges as the voice of reason in covering the Maple Leafs. Jeff Blair was a fresh voice last season, Steve Simmons has grown by leaps and bounds in my books and Damien seems to luke warm on the Maple Leafs prospects as well. Finally, I hope that the Howie rants are greeted as warmly by Ron Wilson and Brian Burke as they are by each of us. How about you, what are your wishes from our beloved beat writers and broadcasters for the 2009-2010 Maple Leafs season.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Pretty cool shot of the Verizon Center in Washington before a Capitals game.

Thanks to Flickr and the photo by Clydeorama

So, little TSM said to me tonight, “I want to cheer for the Maple Leafs AND the Penguins this year”. Woo Hoo I said. “But who is their Crosby?” he asked. Shit. How the hell do I answer that one???? “Well”, I said…………………. “Did you hear about Erin Andrews?” just kidding. I didn’t know what the hell to say. I don’t know who our Sidney Crosby is. You know where this is going right? When little TSM was born, one of his uncle’s bought him his first Leaf jersey. It had his birth year on the back and on one arm his birth month and the other his birth date. That same brother of mine bought the same jersey for the littlest TSM. She walked in the room, hearing the discussion and of course said, “I want to chear for the Maple Leafs too, plus the Capitals.” The littlest TSM is a big Ovechkin fan, while little TSM is a Crosby fan. None of that bodes well for either myself (who would take Ovechkin over Crosby any day) or Mrs. TSM who is a Red Wing fan.

So as I thought long and hard about the question, who is our Crosby, or Ovechkin, little TSM said to me “If you want me to cheer for the Leafs, you have to get me a Maple Leaf shirt with their Crosby’s name on it!” Smart kid that little TSM. Hearing that, the littlest TSM of course said, “”If you want me to cheer for the Leafs, you have to get me a Maple Leaf shirt with their Ovechkin’s name on it!”

Now, what the hell is a father to do????? I feel a little bit like the Seinfeld episode where the Yankee has to hit 2 grandslams for the sick kid in the hospital. Getting the Leaf Jersey’s is going to be hard enough. Coming up with who’s name and numbers to put on the back, that’s impossible. So, TSM readers, I turn the question over to you, Who’s name goes on the back of my kids jersey’s??? Points of course for originality.

TSM

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