Penalty Minute Leaders of the 1990's (Jan.1/1990 to Dec.31/1999)
	Player	Pims	Games	Pims/GM
	Tie Domi  Rob Ray  Gino Odjick  Craig Berube  Bob Probert  Marty McSorley  Mike Peluso  Ronnie Stern  Kelly Chase  Shane Churla	2563  2528  2358  2211  2048  1980  1936  1912  1845  1833	591 657 513 708 546 593 456 574 424 389	4.3 3.8 4.6 3.1 3.8 3.3 4.2 3.3 4.4 4.7

(Click here for the main page). MAR.23 - WALLPAPERS!  nfallsc has made up some great Leaf wallpapers that you can get here!  MAR.23 - WASTING ENERGY:  That's all the Leafs are doing, along with pushing them further down the draft pick list, by bothering to push for the playoffs right now.  They're not going to get in, especially with other teams above them making as valiant efforst as they are.  So why destroy your draft picks?  They're only pushing themselves further down the list, which is going to end up hurting them next year.  Toronto does this every year - well, in recent years at least . They play terrible hockey all season long, then play hard during the last month.  They do it NOT to get into the playoffs, but to try and TRICK the fans into thinking they're a half decent team after all, which keeps the pessimists at bay throughout the summer.  That's the only reason they're doing this - to make the Leaf Nation try and forget about how completely pathetic they were the rest of the year.  IT WON'T WORK!  The end-of-season stats are all that count, and no matter how hard they play right now, they can't erase the past.  Except for this past month they've been a terrible team.  So if they play good hockey for one month out of an eight month season, does that mean they were successful this year?  NO!  Oh by the way Toronto defeated Ottawa in Ottawa tonight, 5-4.  MAR.18 - THE FUNNY THING is that the goal Toskala let in tonight was the shutout breaker!  Don't we all wish we could get paid millions of dollars a year to NOT stop shots from 200 feet away...  Oh well, Leafs continued doing a good job at destroying their draft selections this year by winning again tonight, 3-1 against the Islanders...  MAR.17 - GM FLETCHER SCOUTING OHL:  I had the pleasure of meeting Leaf interim GM Cliff Fletcher yesterday afternoon as he visited the local OHL team's rink to do some scouting.  What you see on camera is what  you get - very nice and humble person.  'Would be great to see our OHL players graduate to the Leafs.  Lord knows the Leafs need an influx of talented young players right now.  MAR.13 - WE'RE BA-AACK:  After a bit of an extended leave due to a strange illness, we're back to rant on about these boys in blue.  WHY.  WHY TRY.  WHY delay the inevitable.  It's GOING to happen, a game is GOING to go by that puts them out of playoff contention, so WHY PLAY HARD NOW WHEN THEY'VE COASTED ALL YEAR!?  They've done this the last 2 or 3 years in a row now - play like CRAP for lack of a better word, then push hard in the last couple weeks as if they'll "TRICK" us into thinking all summer that they actually had a year.  C'Mon guys, you're not fooling ANYONE.  FEB.27 - LEAFS VS. LEAFS:  It'll be a strange one tonight as Toronto plays *against* Wade Belak and Chad Kilger, who were traded to the Florida Panthers yesterday.  It's sad to see Wade go, but no matter what team he plays for, he'll still be a fan favorite in Toronto.  Game time: 7:30pm/TSN.  FEB.26 - HAL GILL GONE:  To Pittsburg for a 2nd round & 5th round pick (wow!)  FEB.26 - KILGER GONE:  Chad Kilger has been dealt to Florida for a 3rd round pick.  At least Fletcher has got the team going (albeit slowly) in the right direction!  There's some pressure now on the Leaf scouting staff to make sure all this hasn't been in vain.  FEB.26 - BELAK GONE:  [talk about it here] Wade Belak has been traded to the Florida Panthers for a 5th round pick this year.  If there was one person this site did NOT want to see traded, it was Wade.  Granted, he didn't get much ice time, but now the Leafs have nobody protecting their smaller players.  Not to mention - you thought this team was boring to watch before?  At least Wade could make things exciting by taking on the other team's heavyweight.  Why even bother tuning in now?  Every rebuilding team needs to keep some heavyweights on, just for the excitement factor.  Sure this year is supposed to be a good draft year, but 5th round?  C'mon.  FEB.26 - TRADE DEADLINE:  It's going to be hard for Leaf GM Cliff Fletcher to do much.  You can't expect him to trade Pintos for Porches all day long, so unless there's another huge multi-player deal that he's been working on like he did during his first stint with the Leafs, Leaf Nation should expect much today.  FEB.25 - LEAFS.  SENATORS.  TONIGHT:  So Sundin decides to stick around.  But why?  Does he really think Toronto will re-sign him in the off-season to another multi-million dollar contract?  A team that should be going with youth and prospects instead of veteran high-paid superstars?  If he had decided to stay with the Leafs, and it was to be for another 3 or 4 years, things would be different.  But with his salary alone the team could afford a couple well paid young stars-to-be.  Maybe Sundin knows something Leaf Nation doesn't?  Maybe Mats is willing to stay on the team and take a severe salary cut? (as did Kariya when leaving his $7M contract in Anaheim behind for a $1M year on Colorado).  Now THAT would be even better for the team than deciding to move in exchange for Toronto getting draft picks and/or young talent.  If he indeed has decided to stay with the Leafs, for much less money, in order to be an on-ice and off-ice leader to that young talent, then he would definitely go down in Leaf history as the man that helped rebuilding the future.  Oh yah, Leafs/Sens game tonight - Sportsnet.  FEB.23 - LEAFS WIN OVER ATLANTA:  Toronto put down the Thrashers 3-1 tonight, in a game that was on the backburner to the real story.  Mats Sundin has been asked to waive his no-trade clause, which would enable the Leafs to get something strong in return, and help them build for the future.  If Sundin refuses to be traded, he could be lost to free-agency in the off-season and the Leafs would get nothing of value for him.  Mats has hinted that he will waive it, saying that no matter what he decides, he loves Toronto and loves the fans, and that he hopes people will respect whatever decision comes out of it.  FEB.23 - SUNDIN & MCCABE ON THE WAY OUT:  Neither Byran McCabe or Mats Sundin have been showing up to practice lately, starting rumors that both are on the trade block.  GM Fletcher has reportedly had meetings with Mats and asked him what teams he would possibly accept going to.  Sending out these two players would free up a considerable amount of cap space.  Of course, we're still stuck with Kubina's big fat multi-million dollar contract.  But instead of spending, the Leafs need to be developers - go after high draft picks.  What's needed is a star rookie to build around.  Surround him with other prospective youth and go from there.  It should be an interesting few days ahead!  FEB.19 - NO LONGER IN THE BASEMENT:  Wow the Leafs are on a tear, beating down Columbus tonight 3-1, and moving up fast in the standings.  Ok.. not fast.  But they're no longer in last place in the East which is something to bbe proud of.  Leaf Nation's proud moments have been far and few between, so we'll take it.  And yes, the trade deadline is still slowly (too slowly) approaching.  Hopefully Fletcher is willing to turn the team upside down and clean the slate.  Of course, if Sundin still refuses to be traded, he'll be causing the team a LOT of damage for the future.  And so far, he's still adamant on staying put.  There will be NO rebuilding process if he continues this attitude.  We all love Mats, and love what he's done for the team, and love his pride in the team, but this decision of his will really hinder future progress.  FEB.16 - VISORS STATS:  Want to see some interesting stats on percentages of players wearing visors?  FEB.16 - LEAFS WIN IN OT:  After slipping into LAST place in the conference, the Leafs have shown they still haven't lost their competitive edge as they downed Boston tonight 4-3 in overtime.  FEB.9 - WHOLE STOLE OUR LEAFS and replaced them with this team that's been winning games?  Back-to-back wins against the hot Habs, and *the* hottest team in the league (Detroit) might lead one to believe that aliens have invaded the bodies of the Leafs, replacing them with skilled hockey players. 

FEB.6 - LEAFS TO BE BIG SELLERS?  A presenter on Sportsnet (aka. The Poker Channel) mentioned that the Leafs are expected to be big sellers before the trade deadline.  Ok, fine - but what team in their right mind is going to offer anything of value for anyone on the Leafs?  (save Mats - who refuses to help the team by letting the team get something in return for him)  It's easy to say "just sell everyone and get good picks".  But you have to be offering good players to get good picks for them in return.  There's a REASON the Leafs are 2nd from last in the entire conference - because they don't have good players!  Buckle up boys and girls because this is the 1980's era that we're about to re-visit all over again.  It's going to be a long time before Leaf Nation can see the light at the end of this tunnel.  Post your thoughts! FEB.5 - LEAFS GET SMOKED:  The Toronto Maple Leafs tonight showed just how bad they can really be when they work at it.  They lost to Florida tonight:  8-0.  Talk about the game here.  JAN.31 - GAME NIGHT:  Leafs @ Hurricanes tonight.  7PM/LeafsTV.  JAN.31 - HELP US ONE LAST TIME MATS!  Do you really think other teams are going to give up good draft picks for players on the Leafs?  That's their problem - they're a bad team made up of mostly bad (ok, maybe mediocre) players. Nobody's going to give up something good to get something bad. People seem to think that the Leafs can just get rid of their players that have little talent, and other teams will jump to give them their top draft picks in return.  Unfortunately it doesn't work that way - you get in return for what you have to offer.  The Leafs are in very deep doodoo for the foreseeable future. Fletcher can't really do much, because he doesn't hold anything important that other teams will be willing to give good stuff up for. Sundin right now is the ONLY asset that the Leafs can give up and get something good back in return. And as recently last night he said in a radio interview that he doesn't want to leave Toronto.  So... he's been here for all these years - great. But he won't leave now, which is the only way this team can get better for future years. So he spent years helping the Leafs, now he's killing them.  If Mats doesn't agree to leave now, the Leafs will have nothing in terms of the near future. He's a free agent this year too - why not help the team out and leave so they can get a good draft pick or young prospects for him? Otherwise, the Leafs won't resign him because they want to free up cap space, another team will get him anyway, and the Leafs will be stuck with NOTHING in return.  GO AWAY *NOW* MATS! FOR THE GOOD OF THE TEAM! Think of it as the noble thing to do! This is the one final thing he can do to truly help out the team. Sticking around now and tying their hands, is only selfish. Hard words, but the truth. There's nothing he can do to help out this team by sticking around.  Helping win a few games and still missing the playoffs doesn't really count for anything.  C'mon Mats - it's time to move on.  We appreciate all you've done, but you're standing in the way of the rebuilding process.  JAN.29 - LEAFS SINGING THE BLUES:  The Leafs lost to St. Louis tonight.  Not a big surprise considering the success that the Blues have had at the ACC in the past.  Leaf Nation must keep in mind that switching Ferguson for Fletcher won't change a thing - not until Fletcher gets active.  When all is said and done, we're still stuck with the same team right now, that was underachieving before.  Until drastic roster changes are made, don't expect this team to turn things around.  JAN.24 - LEAFS PARANOID, GILMOUR FOR GM?  The team is reportedly on edge, not knowing who's going to stay and who's out the door.  Doug Gilmour has had a chat with Cliff Fletcher (interesting).  More here.  JAN.24 - LEAFS WIN!  So it seams Toronto has solved it's problems.  Next year, replace your general manager 82 times and you should end up winning every game.  Ok, maybe not.  But worth a try.  Anyway, the Leafs were victorious over Washington last night by a score of 3-2, and play the Caps again tonight, in Washington.  Game time: 7PM/LeafsTV.  JAN.22 - FERGUSON FIRED:  Cliff Fletcher hired as temporary GM - All updates here for now.  JAN.19 - GAME NIGHT:  Even the Leafs current predicament can't kill the thrill of watching Hockey Night in Canada.  Especially against a division rival.  Gone are the days of the old Domi/Ray fights that everyone would await with great anticipation, but these two teams usually deliver an exciting game.  Game time: 7PM/CBC.  JAN.17 - WE STILL WANT CHANGE:  2 wins and management obviously thinks they don't have to do squat anymore because the fans are content.  And Leaf fans, making up a large portion of the slow-minded population, probably are content.  Any large group of people that buy every available ticket resulting in selling out ever game, to see a pathetic organization like this display it's wares, are also the type of people that would forget about how bad things are, due to two wins in a row.  Did this site just call you stupid?  NO - not if you're still making noise about wanting change.  JAN.17 - Maple Leafs Blow Past Bruins in Shootout - Alexander Steen scored the Leafs' first goal and the shootout winner as Toronto defeated the Bruins in Boston 3-2 Thursday night. Vesa Toskala made 31 saves in the win as the leafs have now won two consecutive games and look to keep it rolling Saturday against the Sabres.  JAN.15 - GAME NIGHT:  To Leafs host Carolina tonight, and you can expect a lot of the pre-game and intermission talk to be about possible changes made to this franchise to get things back on track.  All sorts of rumors have been thrown around the last two days, but nothing has come to pass.  Big talk, no action - we're used to that.  JAN.15 - FLETCHER TO GM LEAFS?  Cliff Fletcher is a apparently the lastest name being tossed around in the rumor mill, as the Leafs try and replace Ferguson.  More in this thread.  JAN.13 - WE WANT CHANGE:  Well what else can be said?  It looked ok as the Leafs went up 2-0, but the ability to blow a lead was shown as a graphic on last night's broadcast, giving examples of all the other 2 goal leads they've blown this year.  Hopefully if they keep losing we'll get back to the point where we were just before Christmas - with the fans, the media, and everyone watching, coming to a breaking point which will result in some drastic permanent changes being made all over this organization.  Start at the top and let the changes flow down from there.  Sundin showed his frustration last night after the horn blew, by pushing a linesman out of his way.  Anyone else and it would have been an abuse of an official, but Mats should get special treatment.  C'mon - IT'S MATS!!  He's not usually like that.  JAN.10 - VIDEO:  Nice video posted showing a Philadelphia Flyer (Hatcher) laying out his own man  JAN.10 - ANYONE SURPRISED?  Lost 5-0, a couple good scraps at least.  Playing a superior team with the way the Leafs have been this year, was anyone surprised with the outcome?  Fights will be online in the forum soon. Game night tonight: 10PM in LA.  JAN.9 - GAME DAY:  Well there hasn't been a lot to talk about lately, and even less to cheer about.  The Leafs hit the west coast tonight for a game against Anaheim.  The Leafs are in last place in their division with 40 points, the Ducks are 10 points stronger with 50 so far in the west.  On a positive note, there's still a lot of games left this season and it's never too late to turn things around.  Game time: 10PM.  JAN.1 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!  The Leafs kick off 2008 tonight hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game they hope will put 2007 behind them and starting things off fresh with a win.  Game time: 7:30pm.  DEC.29 - AT LEAST ANTROPOV STILL CARES: Nik Antropov showed some unusual frustration last night, which was probably the only good thing that came out of that game.  Belak got in a half decent scrap with Orr, and landed some good shots at the beginning, but lost his dominant hold on Orr and got into a bad position allowing Orr to come back a bit at the end.  Say what YOU think will turn the Leafs around in the forums.  DEC.22 - THAT WINNING STREAK HURT THEM:  As it was mentioned on this site before, that fading-quickly-into-the-past recent winning streak that the Leafs had, was the worst thing for them.  At the time the fans and media were calling for public hangings all over the MLSE organization.  And at the time, it looked as though things had reached a climax and we were all getting prepared for some major announcement to happen about big changes in the team / management.  Then the Leafs decided to go on a bit of a winning streak, which was the worst thing that could have happened to them.  Why?  Because now the frustration level has been reset, and Leaf Nation has to go through it all over again before we get back to the point we were at before the streak - demanding change.  That winning streak ensured another month or more of nothing changing.  WE - NEED - CHANGE.  Oh yah, Toronto's in Florida tonight riding a road-trip- losing streak.  DEC.20 - GETTING BACK IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION:  Toronto visits Tampa tonight and after losses in Montreal and Carolina, must be hoping they play better the farther south they go.  Game time: 7:30PM / Leafs TV.  NOTE:  Tonight is the return of "Peter Puck" on LeafsTV!  DEC.18 - LEAFS VISIT CAROLINA:  Toronto will high-tail it out of snowy Canada and away from their loss in Montreal for a warmer and climate on the road when they visit the Hurricanes tonight.  Game time: 7PM/Sportsnet.   DEC.14 - LEAFS SHUT OUT THRASHERS:  Toronto continued on their hot streak by blanking Atlanta 4-0 tonight.  Antropov had 3 assists. DEC.8 - HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA:  Tonight is probably one of the most anticipated HNIC's of the year for Leaf fans.  There hasn't been many times the Buds have been in the middle of a hot streak entering a Saturday night game.  It might only be temporary, but hockey fever is back for the time being!  Toronto hosts Boston tonight, so Leaf Nation should get a better idea of what kind of team they've become over the past 4 games.  With a win, Toronto would kick Boston out of 3rd place in the Northeast division and take that spot for themselves.  DEC.8 - YOU KNOW YOU WORK FOR THE LEAFS WHEN..: Somebody creates a site for you like this.  DEC.7 - THE HOWARD BERGER PROBLEM:  TSN reported that THE FAN590  radio station which Howard Berger works for, "retracted" his statement about the Sean Avery/Jason Blake incident.  HOW you "retract" a statement is beyond us.  Once a statement is put out to the public, that's it - it's done - you live by it or come out like a man with SOME honor left and say you made it all up, and ask for forgiveness.  You don't hide behind your employer and get them and their public relations people to do damage control while you hide and cower.  So as it stands now, it looks like Berger MADE UP a story in which HE made up lies saying that New York Rangers forward Sean Avery made disrespecting comments about Jason Blake and his cancer.  How someone can be SO LOW to say that another person would make a statement like that, is beyond reason.  We all dislike Avery, but to put fake words like THAT into his mouth is terrible.  You've got to feel sorry for Avery in this matter because he's just a victim of Howard Berger's inhumanness.  The only thing lower would be actually SAYING a statement like that, but stating a person said those things when that person didn't?  That's a close 2nd.   DEC.7 - LEAFS CONTINUE MOMENTUM:  Another strong outing on what might be called the Leafs longest "fluke roll" of the season happened tonight when Toronto defeated the Rangers, in New York, 6-2.  It might be called a big fluke because it's the same team that couldn't buy a win just over a week ago, and Leaf Nation was calling for an overhaul of the team and its management (here at BSB, we still are).  But, just maybe, this team is learning how to click together.  Maybe the solid netminding the've had recently is giving the team some much-needed confidence.  Whatever the reason, the Leafs are hot right now.  Hopefully they can keep everyone cheerful throughout the holiday season and keep this strong level of play going towards Christmas.  DEC.6 - BELAK AND THE BUDS READY FOR RANGERS:    DEC.4 - HOWARD BERGER / SEAN AVERY OUTCOME:  Remember not long ago FAN590 radio personality put some words into NY Rangers Sean Avery's mouth, saying Avery said some tasteless remarks to Leaf's Blake during a game?  Then Avery said it was a lie and was following up with legal proceedings against Berger?  Well, it turns out Berger may very well have made up the entire story about Avery.  BayStreetBullies contacted FAN590, who has repeatedly refused to comment.  If the station can't put forth the effort to back up Berger on this one, what does that tell YOU what happened?  Here at BSB we hate Avery as much as anyone else in Leaf Nation, but as bad as Avery's on-ice antics are, saying that Avery made remarks to Blake possibly regarding Blake's fight with cancer is just inhuman.  How this entire story managed to get so quiet so quick is astonishing. DEC.4 - WHO STOLE OUR LEAFS?  Will whoever took the Toronto Maple Leafs and replaced them with this superior team please contact BayStreetBullies staff?  We need to work out a deal on how Leaf Nation can keep this team permanently.  GO WADE GO - Great to see Belak put one in the net tonight (and be named 3rd star).  Nobody's been that happy on any team scoring a goal in a long time.  'Great to see.  So, the Leafs now have their longest game winning streak going in full motion.  Can it last?  Is this team here to stay or is this just a short-lived burst of energy and morale?  Don't look now but the Buds are at the Rangers on Thursday.  This is their chance to prove their last win over NYR wasn't just a fluke.  DEC.4 - NASHVILLE'S NEXT! :  Next on the Leafs' chopping black are the Nashville Predators who visit the ACC tonight.  As lowly as the Predators are, they've got 2 more points than Toronto.  Of course, that's far from calling them a talented team.  If Toronto has re-found their confidence they should be able to keep this season's longest winning streak alive.  DEC.2 - LEAFS ON A ROLL:  Toronto defeated Pittsburg 4-2 last night.  Bell got his first goal as a Leaf, and Blake scored as well.  Nice to have those two on the scoreboard.  The Leafs host Nashville on Tuesday.  DEC.1:  The Leafs host the Penguins tonight in a game that should put things back into perspective for the coaching staff and management, who may have stopped taking their anti-anxiety medication after the Atlanta win.  The fact is, we're still at the bottom of the standings and if anyone wants to stop fearing for their jobs, they'll have to realize that a win here and there won't do squat - only some movement UP in the standings will show Leaf Nation things are getting better.  A fluke win against a better team now and then doesn't mean a thing.  Nevertheless, it's Hockey Night In Canada tonight everybody! That's reason enough for celebration. NOV.29 - BIG DEAL:  No, the Leafs didn't make a big deal.  Big deal meaning the Leafs beat Atlanta.  Leafs management is probably still dancing up and down the hallways celebrating the victory.  But when you beat a team like Atlanta, is it really reason to celebrate?  Does this really get the franchise off the hook from all the negative media attention that's been going on recently?  No, it doesn't.  Without huge change the fans are still going to be calling for heads to roll, but unfortunately, wins like last night might make people forget how awfully-run this franchise is.  Nevertheless, congrats to the Buds for ending the loosing streak.  Nice scrap between Belak and Boulton - and haven't we been saying all along that the Leafs win games when they fight!?  NOV.27 - NO CHANGE:  Things are the same... Toronto is still loosing (tonight in a shootout to Montreal), and the team/management are the same as a day ago.  NOV.26 - BIG LEAF CHANGES COMING?  FINALLY!  Lots of rumors are circulating right now about Toronto cleaning house, from the GM down.  Read all about it here.  Our Christmas wish?  Healy as GM - Gilmour as assistant GM - Domi as coach !   NOV.24 - 2ND TRY: ..for a win.  Last night's disappointing outing could be erased from people's minds quickly with a solid win tonight.  Granted, it's against Phoenix who are not a strong team, but they've got a better record than the Leafs so far this year.  IT'S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA!  7PM/CBC  NOV.23 - GAME NIGHT:  Toronto is in Dallas tonight taking on the Stars.  McCabe is playing well again, although the same can't be said as the team as a whole.  Maybe night they'll get things turned around.  In ENFORCER news: Todd Fedoruk is no longer with Dallas - he's been picked up by Minnesota.  Yes, the Wild now have Boogaard AND Fedoruk.  NOV.20 - GAME NIGHT:  After coming up with a victory against powerhouse Ottawa last game, the Leafs will be looking to revenge their loss in Boston the game before that.  The Bruins are in our barn rink tonight.  Game time: 7PM.  NOV.18 - HUH?  Was that the Leaf/Senators game we watched last night?  Did the Blue & White blank Ottawa 3-0 for real?  Talk about the game.  NOV.17 - OUT OF THE FRYING PAN:  Well, what can be said.  If things weren't already tough this year for our beloved Leafs, they sure aren't getting any easier tonight.  Toronto hosts Ottawa at the ACC this evening in a game nobody in their right mind is predicting the Leafs to win.  Of course, stranger things have happened in the past.  Even recently, Toronto posted back to back wins against Pittsburg and the Rangers, proving they can play a solid game against better teams.  CBC/7PM - It's Hockey Night in Canada!  Post your thoughts about the Leafs' efforts so far this year in the forum.

NOV.15 - LEAFS IN BEAN TOWN:  Our struggling buds are in Boston tonight to face another struggling team in the Bruins.  But don't think for a second that Boston is worse than Toronto this year - Boston has 1 less point, but have played 3 less games.  Actually, Buffalo who is last in the division also has 3 less games played than Toronto - meaning, if those 3 games were/are wins giving Buffalo 6 points, the Leafs could very will be tied for last place in their division.  The point?  Never underestimate how bad these Leafs really are.  How to fix it?  A quick fix - PUT BELAK IN THE LINEUP.  The Leafs just seem to play better when he's in the roster.  NOV.13 -THE FAN590'S HOWARD BERGER ON THE HOT SEAT:  In case you haven't heard...  Howard Berger - sports talk personality on The Fan 590AM - has reported that NY Rangers forward Sean Avery said a malicious remark on the ice regarding Jason Blake and cancer.  Sean Avery has given a statement strongly denying this, and said it is now up to his legal counsel, leading one to believe that he is bringing charges (slander probably) against Howard Berger for making this up.  Is Howard Berger THAT MUCH of a brainless idiot?  Did he NOT realize that by reporting this, he'd be forced to give up his sources in order to prove to the public that he's not just making this up?  Obviously if you have anything between your ears, you're going to realize ahead of time that coming out with a statement as serious as that, like Berger did, you're going to have to prove it.  BayStreetBullies isn't taking sides, because the proof will come out, and there's not enough at this time to see who the guilty party is.  If Berger gives the source of his information and there's no doubt that Avery made those remarks, then Avery should be removed from the NHL - permanently.  If Berger can't prove to us that Avery said what Berger is claiming, than Berger should be taken to the cleaners by Avery's lawyers for slander, and Berger should be removed in disgrace from his current position, and be blacklisted by the entire broadcasting community from ever having a public voice again.  SOMEBODY is going to pay for this, it will just be interesting which side turns out to be the bad guy.  Read more here.  Talk about it in this thread.  NOV.12 - LEAF SALARIES:  It's sad that many of us need an entire week's paycheck to see these guy's play just one night, and in that one night they make more than many of us do IN A YEAR.  NOV.12 - KUBINA INJURED: Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Pavel Kubina sustained a medial collateral ligament injury to his right knee during the third period of Saturday night's game versus the New York Rangers. He will be out of the lineup indefinitely.  NOV.10 - LEAFS MOST VALUABLE TEAM IN NHL:  Forbes has put the Toronto Maple Leafs at the top of their list of the most valuable teams in the NHL, worth $413M US.  More on this here.  NOV.9 - HOE-LEE-SMOKES: They did it.  The Leafs beat Buffalo in Buffalo.  With a shut-out no less.  As history has shown us this season though, a great outing tonight means they're going to play *horrible* Saturday night against the Rangers.  Remember this is the team that defeated Pittsburg and the Rangers, then got smoked by Washington.  Oh well, it was good to see some of the regulars back in the lineup, and great to see McCabe contribute his first game back.  Of course, the Leafs have to go with Toskala Saturday night because he seems to be the only one that can handle the pressure of big games like that.  Good to see Raycroft have a strong game though.   NOV.9 - LEAF SALARIES:  Interested in what your favorite Leaf makes a year?  Check this out!  NOV.7 - NO SURPISES:  Did we really expect anything more than a 5-1 Ottawa win last night?  Sure it was good to see some Leafs back in the lineup, but an Ottawa win against the Leafs when in Ottawa is a given.  Next up - Sabres on Friday.  NOV.3 - LEAFS GET DR. JEKYL:  The monster of a goalie that Toskala can be was away tonight, and we saw a smart-playing, alert goalie between the pipes tonight.  With a save percentage going in to the game of only 88.8%, it just goes to show how -terrible- he can be when he has an off night.  Tonight wasn't one of those and he played solid.  Now get a sports psychologist or hypnotist in there and make him STAY THIS WAY.  Leafs win 3-2 over Montreal.  NOV.3 - BOOOORRRING:  Wow are those two teams hurt'n right now.  New Jersey - the worst team in their division, and Toronto only 2 points ahead of them.  Not to mention, NJ just built a multi-hundred million dollar new rink, stuck it in one of the most dangerous run-down city centers in the country, and only pulled in 14,500 people to see their team play the Leafs (and aside from opening night there, that was one of the larger crowds).  But as bad as New Jersey's problems are right now, Toronto lost to them last night.  So continues the season that MLSE management has in store for us this year...  The good news?  We're back to playing hockey in Canada, where hockey matters.  Big game tonight versus our ancient rivals the Montreal Canadiens.   Hockey Night in Canada - 7PM/CBC  OCT.30:  You've got to admit, MLSE is lucky to have the dumbest fans in the league. They'll keep on forking out a hundred bucks for a half decent seat, 13 bucks for a beer, to watch a 7-1 loss against a team like Washington. Leaf fans will pay big bucks to watch the team loose, and stuff like that couldn't make an owner any happier.  OCT.30 - MR. HYDE RETURNS:  A 7-1 loss to Washington.  7 goals allowed on 30 shots.  A combined goalie save percentage of 42.8%.  When you're allowing a goal for ever 4.3 shots you face, it doesn't matter what team you have in front of you - your problem is goaltending, plain and simple.  And Raycroft was just as bad as Toskala (who started).  Raycroft let in 2 goals on only 6 shots in the 2nd.  Time to dump some big salaries (err... Kubina?  And make McCabe take a pay cut) and get a goalie.  OCT.29 - GAME NIGHT:  Washington's at the ACC tonight.  7:30PM/LeafsTV.  LEAF STATS:  Don't look now but Mats Sundin is 2nd in the NHL in points and 2nd in assists, Antropov is 2nd in Goals and leads the league in plus/minus.  OCT.28 - ALL CYLINDERS FIRING - Another strong performance.  Solid goaltending by Toskala, and a noticeable drive to the front of the net by our forwards.  That's two straight wins versus strong teams.  Lets see how they do at home tomorrow night against the lowly Capitals. OCT.27 - IT'S HOCKEY NIGHT!  Toronto is in New York tonight to take on the Rangers.  The good news - the Rangers have only won one of their last five games.  The bad?  They've got a star lineup.  Toronto's goaltending has shown to be stellar and dismal, so it'll be interesting to see how [whoever gets the start] fairs tonight.  Somebody has to show they're they #1 guy between the pipes.  It's too confusing on the goaltenders when there's nobody cemented in to a starting goalie spot.  Antropov will need to show he can continue to be a great player, even in big-media-hype venues like Madison Square Gardens.  In non-Leaf news, New Jersey is playing their first game in their new arena tonight vs. Ottawa, located in beautiful (ahem..) downtown Newark.  OCT.26 - TURNAROUND:   After going down early 1-0 to Pittsburg, many had probably written the Leafs off last night.  Toronto did manage to come back and tie it 1-1 in the 2nd, but there was still little hope.  What happened in the 3rd?  Toronto fired 4 straight goals into the net and won the game 5-1 !  This was a very welcome surprise to Leaf Nation who was (and maybe still is) expecting another season missing the playoffs.  The Leafs will be in tough tomorrow against the Rangers in New York.  OCT.25 - GAME NIGHT:  After loosing 6-4 at home to the Penguins last Saturday night, Toronto is in Pittsburg this evening to get revenge.  Surprisingly, Toronto is only one game below 500 going in to tonight's match.  OCT.24 - YAHOO PUTS LEAFS AT BOTTOM:  Well, after ranting that Toronto could be considered the worst team in the NHL, it was discovered that Yahoo Sports echoed that fact...  OCT.24 - BAD TO WORSE:  If people thought the Leafs were off to a rough start, things just got a whole lot worse last night.  THE worst team in the NHL (Atlanta - who only had 2 points coming in to last night's game) were in town.  Toronto media had painted smiles on all the Leafs, who were eager to get an easy win.  After loosing to Atlanta 4-3 in a shootout, Toronto could now be called "currently" the worst team in the NHL.  Toronto plays Pittsburg tomorrow night.  OCT.18 - GAME NIGHT:  Florida @ Toronto tonight.  The team has been taken a lot of heat for their play (or lack of) recently.  Finger pointing has gone everywhere from goaltending, to the coach, to the GM, to the veterans.  Talk in the forums has mentioned everything from cleaning house with the roster, to waiting it out and letting the young players develop more.  Whatever direction the team decides to go, it's got to be a different one from the current, because that only leads down to the basement. OCT.15 - MCCABE GETS GAME WINNER!  Toronto Maple Leaf defenceman Bryan McCabe scored the game winning goal in overtime - into his own net!  Buffalo shot the puck and with Raycroft down the puck dropped into the goalie crease, and in an attempt to get possession of it, McCabe accidentally knocked the puck over the goal line, winning the game for Buffalo.  Very exciting 3rd period as both teams battled on the scoreboard.  OCT.15 - GAME DAY:  The Leafs couldn't hold back Pittsburg's offence last game, but gave it a valiant effort.  Tonight the Leafs are in Buffalo to face off against their divisional rivals - a rivalry that has been heavily in Buffalo's favor for the past lengthy while.  Buffalo did however loose two of their top goal scorers in trades, so maybe that lack of offence will be apparent tonight.  These are two points Toronto has to get!  Every loss against a divisional opponent is a big one.  OCT.13 - GAME DAY:  Toronto plays Pittsburg at home tonight.  Was the last 8-1 pounding of the Islanders a fluke or can Toronto truly go toe-to-toe and hold their own against a strong team?  The Penguins have turned themselves around from being in the basement to a top team in the league.  Game time: 7PM/CBC.  OCT.12 - TALK ABOUT A TURNAROUND:  After being slaughtered 7-1 by Carolina the previous game, Toronto found an offensive explosion as the defeated the Islanders 8-1.  Sundin broke 2 records last night, and is now the all-time Leafs point leader, and goal scorer.  Both records were broken with a bit of humor - by breaking Sittlers points record, Sundin got an assist - one in which he never touched the puck on the play.  Later in the game Sundin broke Sittler's goal record by scoring a goal which was originally intended as a pass, then mistakenly deflected off an Islanders foot, and found its way into the net.  To honor Sundin's achievement he was awarded all 3 stars of the game.  Way to go Mats!  OCT.10 - WHAT HAPPENED?  Was it just an off night for Toskala or were people too quick to in thinking he should be our #1?  Granted, the entire team failed to show up last night.  Defensive play was poor, spirit wasn't there, plays were sloppy, etc, etc.  The true test will be seeing how the Buds rebound from their 7-1 loss last night.  OCT.9 - GAME NIGHT:  Leafs vs. Hurricanes tonight, 7PM.  OCT.8 - BLAKE REVEALS HE HAS CANCER:  Jason Blake recently revealed he's been living with a manageable for of leukemia.  More on this here.  OCT.7 - FIRST WIN:  The Leafs managed to squeeze out a win in overtime last night against the Canadians.  It's the first win they've registered this season, albeit 3 games in.  Sundin had a few scoring chances but didn't get the goal that's been eluding him - tying Sittler's record for most goals scored by a Maple Leaf.  Next game: Tuesday hosting Carolina.  OCT.6 - GAME NIGHT:  Although Toskala gave a strong effort and made some great saves against Detroit Thursday night, the Leafs couldn't provide enough offense to get him the win.  It will be interesting to see who coach Maurice puts between the pipes tonight.  It would be nice to see Toskala back in, to see how he deals with the pressure of a huge Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada game in Montreal.  OCT.4 - ROUND 2:  After playing a fairly solid game at home last night, the Leafs are now in Ottawa's rink this evening to take on the Senators again.  Wade Redden seemed to be a marked man in last night's affair, and it should be interesting to see if Ottawa beefs up any protection around him.  Wade Belak was not in the lineup for the Leafs last night.  OCT.3 - LET THE GAMES BEGIN:  [game preview here] Pre-Game: 6:30PM/LeafsTV, Game: 7:30PM/TSN.  Postgame on LeafsTV.  The 2007-2008 season begins tonight with Toronto hosting Ottawa, then tomorrow night they're back to the Sens barn for part 2 of the back-to-back games, and back here to host Montreal on Saturday.  The season's off to a bang with these 3 big rivalry games, so Leaf Nation should be able to judge what kind of team we have quickly.  If the Leafs can't get up for these 3 games, they're doomed for the season.  There's no better way to judge your team than seeing them faced with their largest opposition.  Be sure to join the forums (external domain name / same server) and get in on the discussions throughout the year!  OCT.2 - HARRY NEALE WILL NO LONGER BE DOING LEAFS BROADCASTS:  (story here) It's a sad day when Leaf Nation gets this kind of news.  Long time Maple Leaf broadcaster Harry Neale who partnered with Joe Bowen and Bob Cole to do the Leaf games, will be moving to enemy ground (Buffalo Sabres) to do their games.  Harry lives in Amherst (suburb of Buffalo) so it was amazing that he drove all that way throughout the week for such a long time.  The Nation will miss you Harry!  OCT.1 - HOCKEY POOL:  Hurry up and get in on the hockey pool that is starting up!  Get full information here.  OCT.1 - FINAL CUTS MADE:  Check out this TSN article on the final cuts to the Leafs roster.  SEP.30 - ONE CHAPTER ENDS:  So, there was a complete lack of offence in their last game of the pre-season (they were shut out by Detroit).  And...  their goaltending and defensive play showed it needs a lot of work.  But who cares, it's just pre-season right??  Well, believe it or not, the pre-season games *can* be a glimpse of what's to come.  Yes, having a bad pre-season *can* actually mean your team might not do so well throudghout the year.  Then again, the pre and regular seasons could be black and white from each other.  Lets collectively hold our breath.  The season begins Wednesday night when the Leafs host the Senators.  SEP.28 - LOTSA GOALS:  The Leafs were triumphant finally, defeating Detroit 6-4.  Saturday they head to Detroit to play the Wings in their rink.  SEP.27 - UH OH:  Leafs get smoked 7-2 by Sabres.  Derek Roy had a short-handed goal, a power play goal, and a natural hat-trick to lead Buffalo over Toronto last night.  Team defensive play was weak, goaltending could have been better, toughness wasn't there.  Leaf Nation is hoping this isn't a sign of things to come against their division rivals this season!  SEP.26 - GAME NIGHT:  Toronto hosts Buffalo tonight.  It should be interesting to see how the Sabres do after losing a couple of their main goal producers in the off season.  Toronto desperately needs a win tonight to show the Leaf Nation that their loss is Toronto's gain, and that they'll be making up a lot of points against their divisional rivalry this season.  SEP.24 - GAME NIGHT: Toronto's biggest game of the pre-season will be taking on the Senators at home tonight.  Game time: 7:30pm/LeafsTV.  SEP.22 - LEAFS WIN!  It went to a looong shootout but Pavel Kubina, aka. THE SNIPER managed to score when Boston couldn't.  Fights pics/vids coming soon.  Talk about this game in the forum.

 SEP.22 - WADE BELAK VIDEO:  A nice tribute video to Leaf tough-guy/nice-guy Wade Belak has been posted in the forum.  SEP.22 - GAME AFTERNOON:  Toronto tries to prove to Leaf Nation again this afternoon that they've turned things around as the take on the Bruins in Boston.  Game time: 4PM/LeafsTV  SEP.20 - HOME OPENER:  Ok, so the Buds couldn't beat one of the worst teams in the league, even on home ice.  So what.  It's pre-season, it's the time to be experimental with your lines and roster, it's for working out the kinks.  The Leafs are in Boston, another team that feeds from the bottom of the standings, tomorrow night.  SEP.19 - LEAFS WIN:  Toronto picked up their first pre-season win - only their second game mind you - against one of the worst teams in the NHL last year.  They just edged Phoenix 3-2.  Raycroft looked similar to last year - flopping to his knees on a high shot he should have been standing for.  Blake looked good playing with Sundin, and there was a half decent fight between Murphy and Carcillo at center ice.  SEP.19 - GAME DAY:  With a 3-2 overtime loss last night, the Leafs will continue their pre-season right away playing Phoenix in an interesting venue tonight.  Phoenix, who of course came to that city after moving out of Winnipeg, will be back in Winnipeg tonight to play Toronto.  The Coyotes will surely be hoping to bleed less tonight - 2 Phoenix players suffered bad lacerations to the face last night, both leaving large  pools of blood on the ice.  To add to that, Anson Carter was knocked out of the game with a concussion.  Game time: 8:30PM/LeafsTV.  SEP.18 - GAME DAY:  Toronto's first game of the pre-season is tonight vs. Edmonton, 9PM/LeafsTV.  SEP.17 - THE DAY BEFORE PRE-SEASON:  The Leafs go up against the Oilers tomorrow night, in Edmonton, in their first game of the pre-season.  It's been a loooong wait for the Leaf Nation, as Toronto exited from hockey early last year, not making it into the post-season.  Game time: 9PM/LeafsTV.  SEP.15 - LEAF SUMMARY:  GoDogs has posted some great insights on the upcoming Leafs season.  SEP.14 - TRAINING CAMP UPDATE:  Sundin has been playing with Blake, although it's unsure as to how final that will be come regular season.  Sundin has stated that he wants to play with a goal scorer, and Blake has also said he'd enjoy playing with Sundin, so hopefully their wishes will be kept in mind when the lineup is finalized.  SEP.10 - NEW JERSEYS FOR LEAFS:  Rumor has it that the Leafs will be using a new design of jersey this year.  SEP.3 - LEAFS INK TONY SALMELAINEN: The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Friday that the club has signed forward Tony Salmelainen to a one-year contract. Salmelainen had six goals and 17 points with the Chicago Blackhawks last season .  AUG.16 - LEAFS ADD ENFORCER MARK BELL:  Former San Jose tough-guy Mark Bell will be coming into the Leaf roster this year.  He had 9 fight last year with the Sharks, but has been plagued with a hit-and-run incident in California of which he pleaded no contest to, and will serve up to 6 months in California jail after the end of this season.  'Just wondering where the 6'4" 220lb left winger will fit...  AUG.16 - BYE BYE PECA:  Michael Peca has reported signed with the Rangers.  He hardly played for the Leafs last year as he broke his leg in December and was out of the lineup from then on.  AUG.12 - LEAF NATION'S BIGGEST ENEMY:  As a Leaf fan, what team / city / fans do you hate the most?  There's been tons of rivalries over the years, but who do YOU absolutely hate?  VOTE HERE!  AUG.11 - ONLINE CHAT NOW INSTALLED!  You can now chat online with other Leaf fans!  We've installed FlashChat which is a full-fledged online chat program, similar to chatting on IRC or Messenger.  Be sure to go there after all the Leaf games to talk about them!  AUG.07 - GIANT DE-HUMIDIFIERS:  The Leafs have installed some giant de-humidifiers in an attempt to improve the ice surface at the ACC.  These units have reportedly cost $4 million, and will make seating near the ice level more comfortable with drier air.  Although if MLSE put that $4M towards lowering beer prices the fans would probably be just as happy.  AUG.05 - SCOTTY BOWMAN RUMORED TO COME TO LEAFS! GM FERGUSON AND COACH MAURICE ON THE WAY OUT:  Yes they're just rumors, but right now those rumors have the Maple Leafs organization making an offer to Scotty Bowman to come in as president, and that he would likely clean house - getting rid of current GM John Ferguson Jr, and head coach Paul Maurice.  What do you think about this!?  JUL.31 - Peca Waiting for Deal:  Michael Peca is confident he'll be playing next year, just not sure for who.  Read the article here.  JUL.19 - Leafs sign Williams / schedule released - the Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Jeremy Williams and Derrick Walser to 2yr contracts.  The Leafs 2007-08 schedule is now online.  JUL.1 - LEAFS LEADING GOAL SCORER THIS YEAR: Well, Tucker has shown he can put the puck in the net, and was only 3 goals behind Sundin who had 27. Black scored 40 with the Islanders, but can he hit the number again? Ponikarovsky had 21 last year and looks to b improving all the time, and 30 might not be out of his reach this year.  Who will lead the way this upcoming season? Vote here!  JUL.02 - THE DAY AFTER:  (all significant NHL transactions are here) Ok, so the Leafs managed to land Jason Blake.  He's a 40 goal scorer with a pesky attitude on the ice who should be a good fit playing with Sundin, and help out the power play.  Still, he's in his mid 30's, the Leafs aren't going to win the Cup while he's in his prime, so basically he's just killing time keeping the Leafs out of last place.  Not to mention - he's a 40 goal scorer in the non existant media of the NYI's market.  There's a very real threat he could choke under the pressure of the Toronto media.   Management has to learn that if the main core of the team (the captain, the starting goalie, your top 2 defenceman and your top goal 2 scorers and defensive players) aren't going to go all the way while they're playing their best hockey, *clean house now* and start young.  Of course that's harder to do now, because you can't just build up good young prospects then throw lots of money at them to keep them on the team as they develop into superstars.  The cap has killed that path of development.  But sticking band-aids on the roster just to keep them a mediocre team is not the way things should be done.  How it should work then?  Teams should be able to place money not spent (money under the cap) one year, onto future roster payments allowing them to go OVER the cap.  Example: the cap is $50M a year.  You choose to have a $40M roster one year.  The next year that allows you to have a $60M roster.  Maybe average it over a 10 year span (or 5 yr at the least).  Meaning going back the last 5 years, teams can place that money they didn't spend in previous years, onto future years "above cap" roster allowance.  Then Toronto could go 5 years with a $40M roster, go all out after that with a $100M roster (since $10M for 5 years is $50M), and have a real chance at making a run for the Cup!  Of course this would be technically impossible because the team would have to dump most of their roster the next year because they'd be $50M over the cap....  But if the Leafs can't be successful with current League rules, we've got to make up new rules so at least the team can win the Cup in our imaginations...  The problem with the cap is that everyone is too equal, so dynasty teams are *gone*.  Any team above 500 has a real chance of winning the cup every year.  So why bother having a playoff at all.  With this cap, a team can have a hot young prospect develop, only to have him become a superstar which they can't afford to keep, or if they do keep, are forced to dump half their team just to pay his salary.  THIS CAP FORCES TOO MUCH PLAYER MOVEMENT.  Solution?  GET RID OF THE CAP and if small market teams can't compete, SO BE IT.  Don't destroy the league because you refuse to have less than 30 teams!!   JUL.1 - LEAFS SIGN JASON BLAKE:  That's the big Leaf news of the day, for the other big signings (Ryan Smith, Gomez, Drury, Briere, etc,) go here for the full list!  HAPPY CANADA DAY!  And with Canada Day comes the NHL free agent market opening up.  Gomez, R.Smyth, Kariya, Briere, Drury - lots of big players available!  Go here to talk and read about all the signings.  JUN.30: TIE DOMI INTERVIEW PART 2 NOW ONLINE:  The 2nd part of the interview Tie Domi did with GlobalTV a little while back is now online.  It had originally gone missing but miraculously reappeared in a backlog directory.  Click here to watch!  JUN.30 - LEAFS INTERESTED IN BIG NAME PLAYERS:  It was reported yesterday that the Toronto Maple Leafs have shown interests in Ryan Smith, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, and Paul Kariya.  Apparently Ryan Smith isn't so much interested in the money, he just wants to go to a contender (which pretty much rules out Toronto).  How would any of these players fit into the roster?  Talk here!    JUN.26 - LEAFS SIGN GAMACHE AND HARRISON TO DEALS:  Full article here.  JUN.26 - 2007 DRAFT:  The draft picks the Toronto Maple Leafs choose are listed here, and the final roster stats of the 2006/07 season are here.  JUN.24 - NEW MESSAGE FORUM - PROFESSIONAL QUALITY SCRIPT!  Your feedback on the old forum script was read and your pain was felt.  It out-stayed its welcome and is now gone, and the forum is now being run on vBulletin (the BEST forum script available!)  PLEASE REGISTER with the new forum!  It has tons of features and will be the permanent forum run for this site.  TWIDDLING YOUR THUMBS UNTIL THE SEASON STARTS?  Join the club.  Try reading the Wikipedia entry for the Maple Leafs.  It contains some great history of the club.  JUN.07 - ANAHEIM WINS THE STANLEY CUP:  Well they definitely deserved it.  Ottawa was under their control for most of the series, as short as it was.  The Leaf Nation may have turned over to the dark side and rooted for Ottawa since they are a Canadian team, but as it was stated during a broadcast, Anaheim has more Canadian players on the team (which undoubtedly was a reason why they won the Cup).  So, congratulations Anaheim.  Maybe next time Ottawa.  But not if the Leafs have anything to say about it, and hopefully next season they will.  MAY.26 - NASHVILLE PREDATORS MOVING TO KITCHENER?  Rumors the last few days have the sale of the Nashville Predators and moving the team to the K/W area.  How Hamilton couldn't get a team because it was in the "Toronto market" yet K/W could, we'll have to wait and see.  But of course, the more teams in southern Ontario the merrier.  Chalk up another rival Leaf team that the Leaf Nation can watch do well, while Toronto holds up the bottom.  Granted, Kitchener *is* father from Toronto than Hamilton, but that area is already Leaf territory.  If K/W gets a team, we'll lose a lot of the Leaf Nation to them.  But we needn't worry - the almighty Leafs will undoubtedly put an quick end to it all before it happens.  Protect the ranks  MAY.24 - TIE DOMI INTERVIEW:  Tie was interviewed by Global TV to get a chance to set the record straight about all the media brew-haha that's been circling him since his retirement.  Download a clip of this video in the videos section.  In other hockey news, it's Ottawa against Anaheim in the Stanley Cup playoffs. MAY.13 - 2 LEAF ENEMIES FIGHTING IT OUT / RUMORS / SUNDIN:  This is by far the best team matchup of any of the series so far these playoffs - at least for Leaf fans.  It's hard to root for a team when they're both eternal enemies of Toronto.  One might choose Ottawa because they're a Canadian team (the last remaining), but there's always the Alfredson factor.  Any team he's on just MUST loose.  Not to mention, we'd never hear the end of it if Ottawa won the Cup.  So the Leaf Nation is stuck in a hard place with this one...  As for the Leafs, rumor has it they might be looking at New Jersey's sniper Scott Gomez.  Of course, most Leaf rumors never come of much.  And in other news, Mats Sundin will not have to undergo career-ending hip surgery (which was also a rumor apparently started by a Toronto Sun writer).  APR.22 - SO WHO Y'ALL ROUTIN FOR NOW?  With the Leafs making a habit of playing their 82 games and calling it quits, the Leaf Nation is going to have to choose a second-favorite team to cheer on in the playoffs.  So who is everyone following?  Also, post your comments in the forums as to what needs to be changed to get things back on track next season.  And they'll have to be BIG changes to have a big effect.  Simply squeezing in to 7th or 8th spot is not satisfactory.  It's about time this team got their act together and made a serious run at the Cup.   APR.8 - THANKS FOR COMIN OUT, SEE YAH IN THE FALL:  Well it just wasn't in the cards.  NJ ended up tieing the game with less than a second to go, only to loose in a shootout, which allowed the Islanders to move up into 8th and final spot in the East, pushing Toronto back down into 9th.  It sure was a rollercoaster this last week, but any Leaf fan has got to admit, they didn't deserve it this year.  Inconsistent play from the goalie, defense, and team as a whole, was just too much to make up for at the end.  Kudos to them for showing as much effort as they did this last week or two.  It's just a pity they didn't care as much throughout the rest of the year.  IT CAN'T GET ANY CLOSER THAN THIS:  The NJ Devils have just tied up the game with 0.9 seconds left after being down by 2 goals for most of the and they're going to overtime.  If the Islanders win in overtime, the Leafs are out.  LEAFS KNOCKED OUT OF PLAYOFFS?  Remember, just because the Islanders are going up against the *usually* strong DJ Devils, don't think they don't have a good chance of winning.  NJ has already clinched a playoff spot, so chances are they'll be resting their star players, including goaltender Brodeur.  So there's a very good chance the currently hot Islanders can get past a make-shift NJ team today, and knock the Leafs back out of the playoffs.  NYI/NJ GAME TIME: 3:30PM

APR.7 - YOU CAN BREATHE NOW - BUT NOT FOR LONG:  Wow what a game.  It looked good as Toronto got the first goal, then bad as Montreal tied it up.  Then really good when Toronto went ahead 3-1, then hopeless as Toronto pulled a... well, a Toronto - letting in 3 straight goals (they're good at doing that - comes with a lot of practice).  So with the score being 5-3 heading towards the 2nd intermission, most (but not all) hope was lost.  Bellies getting full from all fingernails eaten.  The 3rd Period Curse?  Not tonight!  Toronto scored 3 in a row and actually held on to it throughout the 3rd!  Lots of chances for Montreal as they really turned on the heat, but Toronto managed to get possession of the puck when it counted and kept sending it back down to the Montreal end.  WHICH WAS A GOOD THING BECAUSE RAYCROFT BLEW IT FOR THEM AGAIN.  Everyone had to be thinking.. "Just don't let even one shot get through to Raycroft because it'll end up in the back of the net".  All you have to do to score on this guy - doesn't matter if you're an NHL'er or a pee-wee player - put it high on his glove hand and you'll score.  If it wasn't for the Leafs' firepower coming alive tonight, Raycroft would have caused them to go packing for the summer.  BUT ALL IS NOT WELL:  The Islanders can still blow Toronto's playoffs hopes with a win against NJ tomorrow afternoon.  A week ago it would have been a tall order to fill, but the Islanders have been hot lately.  It would be such a shame to be out of a playoff spot the entire time leading up to the end of the season, make a big push at the end to get in (along with a lot of luck), only to have their hopes dashed by someone not even in their division, on the last day of the season.  So all Leaf Nation eyes will be on the NJ/NYI game tomorrow to see if the Leafs are going to the post-season.  Start holding your breath again.  APR.6 - ONE GAME TO DECIDE IT ALL (MATS HAS TO SHINE / RAYCROFT MUST STEAL THE GAME):  Toronto has had a horseshoe up their ass this last week - having Carolina go on a loosing skid, the Islanders loose their starting goalie, and Montreal's loss last night.  There is NO REASON why the Leafs should still be viable for a playoff spot other than luck.  If Montreal won last night, the Leafs would have been out (although they still could be if the Islanders win their last 2 - a team Toronto SHOULD have taken care of last night, but blew it).  Without beating the Islanders last night, the Leafs have left them as a threat.  So it comes down to this:  providing the Islanders don't win their last 2 (which would give them 92 points and the Leafs can only get 91 with a win on Saturday), Toronto has to beat Montreal on the last game of the season, Saturday night, in *regulation time*.  If Toronto wins in overtime or a shootout, they'll be tied with Montreal, in which case Montreal would stay in 8th because they'll have more wins.  To all Toronto Maple Leafs:  THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR BLOWING ALL THOSE GAMES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SURE-WINS DURING THE SEASON!!  How bad is that 5-4 loss to Buffalo (when they WERE leading 4-1) coming back to haunt them now?  MATS SUNDIN can only redeem himself by being the star on Saturday night.  He's got to have a huge game to make up for the fact he hasn't scored in over a month - a time when his team needed him on the scoreboard the most.  Yes he's Mats, yes he's the captain, yes he's a great guy on and off the ice.  But NOBODY is beyond the reach of of BayStreetBullies' wrath when it comes to doing what you're paid to do.  Any soft goals by Raycroft and Leaf Nation will be calling for his head on a pike, or a public hanging, or both - although the order in which they occur could be important.  He's shown he can play a solid 60 minutes this season.  He just doesn't do it on a regular basis.  And not just a game-by-game basis, it's a period-by-period thing with him.  Playing solid for 2 periods doesn't mean they're guaranteed any chance of winning the game, because he can blow it in the 3rd.  Raycroft can NOT afford any weak goals if he wants to keep his team in the game tomorrow night.  So, look for Sundin and Raycroft to both have big games, look for the "D" to be strong defensively before going offensive, and look for a huge jump out of the gate with lots of crashing and banging.  Anything less and we'll all be short-seasoned again...  APR.4 - MUST WIN / SHOULD WIN:  Toronto vs. Philly tonight in a game that the Leafs *should* win but also *must* win.  All the teams the Leafs are competing against for a playoff spot are playing tonight, so things might look a lot different in the standings come tomorrow morning.  APR.2 - BIG LOSS:  Last night's 7-2 loss wasn't just a big one on the score board, it was a game that could have tied the Leafs into a playoff spot with the Rangers.  Now, with 3 games remaining, Leaf Nation will blue in the face holding their breath for a few more days.  Raycroft was week, Sundin's still gone over a month without a goal, defensive problems all around... they were asking for a loss.  Philly's up against the Leafs tomorrow night.  APR.1 - INCHING CLOSER WITH NAILBITER LAST NIGHT / HUGE GAME TONIGHT:  Yet another 4-1 lead doing into the third period - BLOWN.  Why hasn't team management hired an army of psychologists to figure out what's going wrong during that second intermission?  Even so, the Leafs managed to get the extra point in overtime, although they're still being held to 9th in the East.  That could all change tonight, as the Leafs play the Rangers - a team who is currently 2 points ahead of the Leafs in 7th spot.  So, a win tonight could tie them in that position, but a loss could absolutely solidify them into 9th for the remainder of the season.  This game is just as important to the Carolina tilt not long ago.  This one could very well be the deciding factor on whether or not the Leafs make the playoffs.  MAR.31 - THE FIGHT GOES ON:  Montreal and Carolina both lost last night which helped Toronto's playoff drive, but this evening the Leafs will hae to go up against "Sid the Kid" and the Penguins.  Game time: 7pm/CBC.  MAR.29 - HOPE CONTINUES / GAME NIGHT:  With retribution against Buffalo on Saturday, then a pounding of Carolina the other night, the Leafs are back at their playoff run again tonight as they take on the Thrashers.  MAR.27 - BIG GAME NIGHT:  Toronto hosts Carolina tonight in a game that could put them within 2 points of the Hurricanes - although a loss will drop them 6 points behind.  It's been reported that O'Neil will be out of the lineup and he's apparently not too happy about it.  Obviously the Leaf Nation is holding hope for a post season this year, but realistically it's not going to happen without a few miracles.  If they can get a win tonight, and the teams they're chasing start loosing, things will look a lot brighter.  But that 5-4 loss against Buffalo on Friday said a lot about how quickly this team can fall apart when the stakes are high.  MAR.24 - THINGS GO FROM BAD TO WORSE:  After having every team the Leafs were fighting for a playoff spot for win all their games Thursday night, the Leafs desperately needed a win last night in Buffalo to keep pace.  After going down 1-0 it didn't look good, but the leafs came back 2-1 by the end of the 2nd, and cranked it up 4-1 in the 3rd.  Looking good right?  Until the leafs decided to allow 4 unanswered goals and loose the game 5-4.  This team will *NOT* make the playoffs this year folks.  It's hard to face the facts when we want so much for this team to do well.  But the facts are - the Leafs can't win the crucial games, and the teams they're trying to catch are winning.  If one does the math, you'll realize other teams around them have to LOOSE and the Leafs have to WIN.  Unless the Leafs put together a winning streak and ALL the 4 or 5 teams around them go on a loosing streak...  it looks like we'll be turning our heads towards the Blue Jays again this spring.  MAR.23 - BAD NIGHT LAST NIGHT / GAME NIGHT:  Unfortunately for the Leafs, all the teams they're competing with for a playoff spot won last night.  Toronto heads down the QEW to Buffalo in a back-to-back series versus the Sabres tonight and tomorrow night.  The Leafs will have to take AT LEAST a game from this if they want to try to keep kidding the rest of us that they can make it to the post-season.  MAR.21 - PAYBACK:  There was a lot of hype about Toronto's first game versus the Devils after the nasty Cam Janssen hit on Kaberle (Janssen was suspended for 3 games, and Kaberle is still out as a result of the concussion).  Fans weren't disappointed when Belak dropped the gloves with Janssen, trading punches for over a minute and a half.  Belak was the only one throwing the punches for the first part of the scrap, but Janssen started throwing back.  Unfortunately for Cam, Belak held him at arms length and Janssen had trouble connecting.  Janssen seemed to have more steam in him as the fight wore on, and Wade seemed tired, looking like his arms had turned to rubber, and eventually went down from sheer exhaustion at the end.  Great scrap, great for Wade to stick up for his teammate, and the Leafs got the win, 2-1.  MAR.18 - ANYONE'S GUESS:  After the last 2 games, it's obvious the Leafs won't make it into the playoffs based on hard work (although last night they seemed more determined than the Washington game, but that Cap game showed everyone exactly how much the Leafs want the post-season).  If they make it into the playoffs it'll be entirely due to luck.  How can a team loose so many games at such an important time and still be in the race?  Well, the Leafs are now tied for 10th in the East.  But the good news - they're only 4 points out of 6th !!!   MAR.17 - BLUNDERS & SCREWUPS:  Toronto dropped a 5-1 loss to Washington last night night, caused by repeated giveaways and bad thinking.  Raycroft got the blunder ball rolling at the start of the game by mishandling the puck, having it jump over his stick, go between his legs, and right to an oncoming Capital who banked it into the open net.  And it didn't get much better after that....  LUCKILY - and one must wonder when the luck will run out - both Montreal and the Rangers lost tonight as well.  Still, the Leafs missed a great opportunity to gain some ground between those two teams tonight in a game they should have won.  The Leafs have shown us this is the team they're going to give us "down the stretch" in all these "must win games" as they say - so don't expect any post season at the ACC, it'll all be on the greens.  MAR.16 - A LITTLE HELP FROM THEIR "FRIENDS" / GAME NIGHT:  Other teams help out the Leafs last night, as both Carolina and the Islanders lost (who the Leafs are both fighting for a playoff spot) and Toronto is in Washington tonight to take on the Capitals.  There hasn't been a scrap in awhile, so hopefully both Belak and Brashear will be in the lineup of their respective teams.  Sure it's great to see them when, but it's even better to watch them win the game AND the fights.  MAR.10 - THE RE-MATCH:  After proving yet again that the Leafs simply are not in the same class as the Senators on Thursday, Toronto will try to keep themselves from being completely humiliated, but NOT allowing the Senators to take both games of this home-and-home series.  Worried?  Well, the Leafs play better on the road - they were skunked 5-1 in Ottawa on Thursday.   MAR.08 - GAME NIGHT VS. OTTAWA / WHAT'S UP WITH KABERLE?  Toronto is in Ottawa tonight in a game that could give them sole possession of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  News was put out a couple days ago that Kaberle's season was done (due to the Cam Janssen hit resulting in a concussion) - but on the radio today it was reported that Kaberle has said he's ready to start skating again in a few days and seemed to have sounded very good.  So are the Leafs without their best defenceman for the rest of the year or is he due to return back to the lineup!?  CLICK HERE for more news.  MAR.03 - BIG WIN COMEBACK / HORRID HIT BY JANSSEN ON KABERLE / LEAFS ARE *WHIMPS* / BRING BACK TIE DOMI / GAME NIGHT:  (post your comments on the Janssen/Kaberle hit)  It didn't look like it was meant to be last night after New Jersey went up with a 2-0 lead on Toronto.  The Devils are one of, if not THE, most defense-oriented team in the league, so climbing a 2 goal deficit against them is the equivalent of 4 or 5 goals to another team.  BUT...  the Leafs did it last night.  Toronto came back with 3 goals and took at 3-2 lead, only to have NJ tie it up at 3-3, sending it to an un-deciding overtime (in which Toronto had a 4-on-3 powerplay) then to a shootout.  New Leaf Yanick Perreault had a sweet goal in which he waited out Brodeur for a LONG time and finally popped it into the top corner.  After going 5 or 6 rounds into the shootout the Leafs came out on top.  Solid goaltending last night by Raycroft as well.  Much of the game was revolving around talk of a brutal dirty hit by NJ tough guy Cam Janssen on Leaf All Star blue-liner Thomas Kaberle.  Kaberle was back deep in the Leaf zone, made a long pass up, then after about 2 seconds from relinquishing the puck, Janssen skated hard into Kaberle, smashing his head against his arm as he JUMPED towards Kaberle's head.  Late hit, possible elbow, jumping at his head.  Kaberle, who didn't even see Cam coming, was out cold instantly and the play was stopped.  After being revived and carried off on a stretcher, Kaberle was said to have been coherent and alert in the dressing room, but was taken to hospital for further observation.  NOT ONE LEAF did or even SAID anything to Janssen about the hit.  So much for having the confidence that your team mates are there to protect you.  Granted, maybe they didn't see the hit as it was far behind the play - BUT THEY KNEW IT WAS JANSSEN after the fact, and should have made it known that that's not going to happen without repercussions.  Even if Cam didn't have a shift in the game after that hit, SOMEBODY should have taken liberties against their key non-physical players to just to show how they felt about the hit.  Not one Leaf did squat.  WHERE'S DOMI WHEN WE NEED HIM!!!  Ok Tie, it's time to put that jersey back on - the team needs you!  Post your comments about this.   GAME NIGHT - Aside from all the crap that went on last night, it's game night tonight.  At home, Buffalo, 7PM, CBC.  MAR.2 - NEW LEAF IN LINEUP:  Perreault  will be in the lineup tonight when Toronto plays New Jersey.  As many of the interviewed Leafs have said, every game is important right now.  (???)  EVERY game is ALWAYS important because if they WON a few MORE games back at the BEGINNING of the season they would be IN this mess!!!  Any athlete that says "every game is really important right now" is a poster boy for procrastination.   FEB.27 - GAME NIGHT / YANICK PERREAULT A LEAF AGAIN:  After an "almost" comeback last night in their 5-4 loss in Montreal, the Leafs host Buffalo tonight.  And, this afternoon Toronto traded Brendan Bell for Yanick Perreault who returns to the Leafs.  Other notable trades:  Gary Roberts to Pittsburg, George Laraque to Pittsburg (so we'll see more of him now), Martin Biron to Philly, Ryan Smith to NY Islanders.  FEB.26 - TUCKER SIGNED:  Darcy Tucker will be with the Leafs for awhile longer as he signed a 4 year deal with the team at $3M per year  GAME NIGHT:  Leafs/Habs tonight in Montreal.  FEB.25 - GOT THE 2 POINTS:  A bore of a game but what can one expect when you're playing the worst team in the league.  Exciting, no, but at least it's 2 points to keep the Leafs from falling further down in the standings... FEB.22 - GAME NIGHT / WEBMASTER AWAY:  Toronto vs. the Islanders tonight as both teams are fighting for the same playoff spot at present.  HUGE brawl in the Ottawa/Buffalo game tonight (clips coming this weekend).  Webmaster will be back Sunday night.  Leafs vs. Philly Sat. night.  Go Leafs Go.  FEB.17:  GAME NIGHT - Toronto vs. Edmonton:  The Leafs will host the Oilers tonight after their 4-2 win over Philly on Thursday.  LEAFS HONORED:  The Leafs will be honoring the last players that one the Stanley Cup for Toronto.  Yes, it was 40 years ago.  Yes, all the times the Leafs won the Cup occurred when there was only 6 teams in the league (and no matter how bad they were, they *still* had a 1 in 6 chance of hoisting the Cup at the end of the season) - but hey, maybe it'll work as motivation for the current roster.  CBC/7PM.  FEB13:  GAME NIGHT - Toronto vs. NY Islanders.  The Islanders are only 1 point behind Toronto in the standings in the Eastern Conference, both have played 56 games.  This is a must-win game for Toronto just to stay in the same position (9th).  FEB.12:  After seeing Newbury fight two games in a row (Brookbank on the 8th vs. Nashville then Petrovicky on the 10th vs. Pittsburg), one has to wonder - isn't Wade Belak paid to do that?  With an enforcer in the lineup (Belak), there should be no need to pull up someone from the minors to fight for the Leafs.  If it's against a team that has more than one heavyweight in the lineup, fine - there's a need to have more than one in the Leaf lineup.  But if Newbury is pulled up to fight guys that Belak should be fighting, then they should swap roster spots for that time - send Wade down to the minors while Newbury is on the Leaf roster.  Belak seems like a great guy off the ice, but when he's paid to do on the ice what a minor league player is called up to do, it's time to sit back and question what the hell you're paying Belak for.  FEB.10:  The Leafs will try and string together a new win streak tonight while hosting the Pittsburg Penguins.  CBC/7PM. FEB.08: TAKING THE ROAD WIN STREAK INTO NASHVILLE:  Nashville will try to stop the hot Leafs tonight as Toronto rolls into town.  Raycroft has been great on the road so far and the leafs have 8 wins in their last 10 games as they push towards a playoff position.  Game time: 8PM.  FEB.06 - LEAFS ROLL INTO ST. LOIUS:  The Leafs and the Blues tonight, 8pm. Toronto's on a 3-game-road-win-streak right now!  Racroft was also named player of the week. FEB.03 - DIVISIONAL/PROVINCIAL RIVALS:  Toronto takes their 3 game winning streak in to Ottawa tonight.  7PM/CBC.  JAN.31 - LEAFS DEFEAT DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS:  Antropov bagged 2 goals to lead the Leafs over Carolina 4-1 last night in Carolina.  That's 2 wins in a row since the All Star break.  Toronto takes on the Rangers tonight and are in Ottawa on Saturday.  JAN.27 - BACK IN ACTION:  The Leafs resume their post-all-star break schedule tonight by hosting the Habs at the ACC.  Tucker's foot is now in a cast for a couple weeks so don't look for anything from him.  The Leafs are hovering around 10th in the East so it's crunch time - this is the time when they need to begin building up the points.  JAN.21 - LOTS OF SCRAPS LOTS OF GOALS (AGAINST):  The 3 fights were a nice surprise but the 8 goals against have put the Leafs back in the boat where they scratch their heads and wonder if another horrible loosing skid is on the horizon..  JAN.20 - GAME NIGHT:  The Leafs are in Pittsburg tonight to take on Crosbey and the Penguins.  JAN.16 - LEAFS INVADE SUNNY FLORIDA:  Toronto plays Tampa tonight and the Panthers tomorrow night as the Leafs escape Toronto with their tails between their legs after taking a 6-1 beating Saturday night at the hands of the Canucks.  Popular demand has Raycroft sitting out a few games to get mentally re-grouped.  With Aubin a backup, it can't be a bad idea.  JAN.12 - LEAFS HAVE SABRES' NUMBER:  For a team that really struggles with opponents that they should have no problems with, Toronto shows they can still put a complete game together on occasion, as they yet again defeated Buffalo (who are top in the East) last night.  Nice fight betwee Belak and Peters in the 3rd as well.  JAN.11 - GAME NIGHT:  Toronto is in Buffalo tonight to take on the Sabres.  Ex-Leaf-now-Leaf-again Travis Greene will be in the lineup tonight.  It was a close game against Buffalo last Saturday - maybe they an do better this time around.  JAN.09 - GAME NIGHT:  The Leafs play Cup-defending Carolina tonight at the ACC.  7:30pm. JAN.07 - NOT A BAD GAME:  Ok, we can't expect every game to have the Leafs coming out on top 10-2.  For the most part, Toronto held their own against Buffalo last night, and the "temps" are even dropping their gloves on a regular basis.  JAN.06 - THE REAL TEST is tonight when the Leafs go up against Buffalo.  If they developed big heads after their 10-2 pounding of Boston the other night, they'll soon get cut down to size as they play one of the best teams in the NHL tonight.  The Leaf Nation will truly see what this team is made of - was last game a fluke?  Toronto being merely mediocre and taking advantage of a horrible Boston team?  Of course it was a mix of both (Leafs played great, Bruins very bad), but if you're going to make any predictions of how the Leafs will fair the second half of the season, base it on tonight's game.  The only positive thing that could have come out of that 10-2 win is that it was a huge confidence builder for players who really needed it.  Hopefully it didn't lead to overconfidence.  CONGRATULATIONS TEAM CANADA!  What a great game played by the Team Canada junior team yesterday.  The guys defeated Russia and took the gold medal in that tournament.  Way to go!   JAN.04 - DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN?  (Talk about the game here) After scoring the first goal, the Leafs went down 2-1 to Boston and it looked as though maybe the Bruins had it in their minds that they weren't going to allow the Leafs to beat them in their own arena, after loosing in Toronto a couple nights ago.  But...  Toronto scored 9 straight goals after that, unleashing a relentless fury on the Bruins in a 10-2 win.  At one point, the Leafs scored 3 goals in 42 seconds.  (also 2 goals in 26 seconds in the 3rd period) Steen had 3 goals and an assist.  To add injury to insult, Donovan of the Bruins started a fight with Bell, and left with a bloody face at the end of it.  Unfortunately, Belak got himself kicked out of the game before the rough stuff started (apparently it was something to do with his stick, then being a wise-ass to the ref).  To see all the stats from the game click here.  ROUND 2:  The Leafs play Boston again tonight, this time in Bean Town.  Tucker will probably be out of the lineup with a foot injury, which may also take away from any bad blood boiling over from the last game, but with an Ottawa win last night, the Leafs need these 2 points.  JAN.02 - LEAFS UNBEATEN ALL YEAR!  Well, at least in the calendar year.  It's impossible to tell what team is going to show up each game, but last night's Leafs were hot.  Add that to a poor game by Boston and you get a 5-1 win.  Boston will have a chance to get it back on Thursday.  DEC.27 - FOR A MINUTE THERE...  we all probably thought to ourselves, "Oh no, here comes another 7 game loosing streak", but the Leafs put a quick end to their 3 game skid last night with a back-and-forth win over the Wild last night.  NOTE: There won't be another update for a few day as the webmaster is going to be away in Peterborough until the New Year.  DEC.24 - LEAFS CAN'T MATCH SUNDIN'S EFFORTS:  After going down 3-0 to Washington after two periods, it didn't look well for the Leafs, especially with their current-season third-period curse that's been placed on them.  But captain Mats Sundin scored on a penalty shot, then followed it up only 14 seconds later with another goal, bringing the Leafs to within 1.  But, it just wasn't meant to be, and the Leafs have started another loosing skid...  On the brighter side, Darcy Tucker showed a lot of emotion as he dropped the gloves and traded wild swings in a fight with Sutherby, and later in the game Wade [Leatherface] Belak went toe-to-toe with Brashear as they battled to a draw.  If only the Leafs could play night in night out with the emotion they showed in moments against Washington last night...  DEC.23 - BACK ON THE LOOSING SIDE:  Well the win streak didn't last long as Toronto was humiliated 7-3 a couple nights ago, followed by a 3-1 loss last night against Chicago.  To make matters worse, Michael Peca suffered a leg injury, Wade Belak got stabbed by a stick between the eyes, amd McCabe was back at it with his horrific giveaways...  tonight the Leafs take on Washington.  7PM/CBC.  DEC.22 - ORIGINAL SIX MATCHUP:  The Leafs go up against the Blackhawks tonight in Chicago.  They'll need a big win to help us all forget about their last game (7-3) loss...

DEC.20 - HAL GILL MUST GO:  Why?  Read here.     DEC.19 - GAME NIGHT:  Toronto vs. Florida tonight!  OPEN FIRE ON THE EAGLE!  Yes, Ed Belfour is back between the pipes tonight to face his old squad.  We'll soon find out how the crowd reacts.  Surely he was well-liked as a person, but everyone who knew anything about hockey knew he blew the season for them the last year that he wore the Blue and White.  Can the new win streak extend to 4 games?  DEC.16 - DOMINANCE:  Kyle Wellwood had a hat-trick and 5 points in a game where the Leafs scored 5 goals in the first period and ended up with a 9-2 win over the Rangers.  Strange contrast as the leafs scored only 9 goals over their entire 7 game loosing streak not far into the past.  To add some salt into the Ranger wounds, Wade Belak won a decision in a fight with NYR tough guy Colton Orr.  DEC.16 - WINNING STREAK:  At 2 wins in a row, it's officially a streak.  Toronto, for once in 3 weeks, managed to hold on to their lead and beat Carolina 5-4.  Much of the credit went to 5-on-3 power plays, but nonetheless, they won.  Bring on the Rangers tonight at the ACC!   DEC.15 - GAME NIGHT:  The Leafs will try to put their loosing streak farther into the past and build a 2 game winning streak tonight against Carolina.  They can jump a handful of positions in the standings with a win tonight, so hopefully their lack of confidence was left behind when the loosing streak was snapped.  DEC.12 - GAME NIGHT: Here we go yet again as the Leafs try to end a 7 game loosing skid. Tonight versus Tampa Bay. DEC.09 - GAME NIGHT:  Old time rival Detroit goes against Toronto tonight as the Leafs try yet again to break their 3rd period curse which has brought them to a 6 game loosing streak.  With the way they're playing, you could probably just watch the 3rd period to see how the game turns out.  It doesn't seem to matter if they've gone into the third with the lead or behind, they've lost it in that period regardless.  DEC.08 - 3RD PERIOD CURSE CONTINUES:  Yet another game where the Leafs go into the third period with the lead, only to end up loosing the game.  This problem has to be pointed at coach Maurice.  It's his job to see trends and to stop them if they're bad or keep them going when they're good.  Obviously the coaching staff has no idea what changes occur during the 2nd intermission.  It's almost comical how a team can be so pathetic, and always in the last period of the game.  They'd better figure out what's causing this soon because the Leafs aren't far out of 13th place.  DEC.05 - GAME NIGHT / THRASHERS AGAIN:  Toronto plays Atlanta again, this time *in* Toronto.  Will the loosing streak end tonight?  DEC.03 - TOUGH TIMES:  The Leafs looked good going up 2-0 on Montreal Saturday night, then 3-1, but Montreal came back tying it up, and winning the game in a shootout.  They're back at it with Atlanta again on Tuesday night in yet another attempt to stop this loosing streak.   NOV.30 - GAME NIGHT / WEBMASTER ON LEAVE:  Toronto faces Atlanta tonight and are currently down 1-0 in the 2nd period.  They just can't seem to buy goals.  The Leafs will face Montreal on Saturday night in Montreal.  NOTE: BSB's webmaster will be away up in Peterborough until Sunday night so there won't be any web updates over the weekend.  NOV.28 - GAME NIGHT / TUCKER'S REVENGE?: Darcy Tucker stated in an interview that he'd like to fight Mara tonight, close to the beginning of the game while Tucker was still rested, hinting that Mara had a big advantage in their fight in the last game vs. Boston, as Tucker was at the end of an energetic shift.  Could be a nice rough game tonight!  NOV.27 - TRY #2 TOMORROW NIGHT:  After scoring 7 goals against Washington the night before, the LEafs were able to get just a single puck into the net Saturday night against division rival Boston.  They get anoth er crack at the Bruins tomorrow night as they host Boston again.  Maurice better know what the difference was between last Friday night and Saturday night's games and make the necessary changes.  NOV.25 - SMOKIN:  The Leafs smoked Washington 7-1 last night in a game where everything seemed to go in.  Mind you, there were some nice plays as well, but scoring 3 goals in a minute was nice too.  Toronto hosts the Bruins tonight at the ACC.  7PM/CBC.  NOV.24 - GAME NIGHT:  Toronto takes on Washington tonight in the capital.  Raycroft is reportedly going to start both tonight and tomorrow night against Boston.  After allowing 7 goals against them last game, they'll need to play a lot smarter defensively.  NOV.23 - OFFICIATING MESS:  The refs were calling everything and even seemed to be making up infractions last night, but the Leafs were outplayed in the 2nd and 3rd periods, skating to a 7-4 loss versus Buffalo lst night.  NOV.21 - BRING ON THE SABRES:  Toronto made quick work of the Islanders last night jumping to an early lead and managing to hold on to it.  Raycroft was solid in net which is good to see from any goalie coming back from an injury.  With last night's win the Leafs snapped a small loosing streak they had going.  They'll need to play a solid game all around tomorrow night in Buffalo.  Remember, Toronto DID beat Buffalo already this year, so don't count them out.  NOV.18:  OFFENSIVE STRUGGLE CONTINUES:  The Leafs managed only 1 goal late in the game, after NJ had already gone up 2-0.  Toronto did however pour it on strong late in the 3rd period and it looked like they were on the verge of tying it up, but it just wasn't in the cards tonight.  Tellqvist was in net as Aubin ducked out after warmup with the flu, and Telly played solid.  But it's hard to win games when the team in front of you is only scoring a single goal.  GAME NIGHT:  Toronto vs. NJ tonight.  7PM/CBC.  NOV.17 - LACK OF OFFENSE:  Aubin was solid in net, allowing only 1 goal early in the game, but the Leafs couldn't score until the third period.  The goal gave hope but Boston won the game in overtime. Next game tomorrow night when the Leafs host New Jersey.  NOV.16 - LEAFS HIT BEAN TOWN:  Toronto takes on Boston tonight, 7pm/TSN.  The Leafs are tied for 3rd place in the Eastern Conference and Boston is in last place in the division.  Aubin should be starting in net again, as Raycroft recovers from a muscle pull.  NOV.13 - NO PLAYERS, NO PROBLEM!:  The Leafs, who are without captain Sundin and main goaltender Raycroft, played a solid game Saturday night and defeat their old-time and divisional rivals the Montreal Canadiens.  Over the past couple weeks the Leafs have proved they can play a solid game, so the only question now is their consistency.  Lets hope the Leafs don't cool off over the time they have to wait unti ltheir next game (Thursday@Boston)  NOV.11 - OLD TIME RIVALRY:  Toronto takes on Montreal tonight at home.  They'll be without captain Mats Sundin and most likely without goaltender Raycroft as well, after he pulled his groin in a save a couple nights ago.  Can Aubin fill the voice successfully?  CBC/7PM.  NOV.09 - GAME NIGHT:  Toronto is in Boston to take on the Bruins tonight.  7pm/TSN.  We'll see how the team holds together with captain Sundini out of the lineup.  NOV.08: SUNDIN GONE - Mats Sundin will be out of the lineup for up to a month with torn a  torn ligament in his right elbow.  It might have occurred when he was bodychecked by Eager of Philadelphia during the last game.  Will this cool of the Leafs who are hot right now?  Post your comments.  NOV.07 - MORE FIGHTS ADDED:  a handful of more fight videos have been added.  LAST NIGHT:  The Leafs made Philly look like the Flyers weren't even in the same league.  Although Philly *did* manage to get 40 shots on net.  Whatever happened to that team...  oh well, who cares - it's Philly.  Go Leafs Go.  NOV.06 - GAME NIGHT:  The Leafs take on the lowly Flyers tonight.  Philadelphia has only managed to scrape together 7 points so far this season.  With Brashear no longer on their team, and Domi no longer playing, the rivalry that was once there has pretty much disappeared, but the Leafs need to start building points so they'd better get up for the game tonight.  NOV.05 - DR. JYKELL/ MR. HYDE:  Tonight we had the opposite side of last night's Leafs, with THIS team playing a solid game, and being the only team to beat the Buffalo Sabres in regulation time this season, with their 4-1 win tonight.  There was a sloppy but very long scrap between Belak and Peters, there was Tucker's jersey covered in blood, and some great tic-tac-toe passing to set up the Leaf goals.  A very enjoyable game to watch, especially after the previous bunch of disappointments.  NOV.03 - LOWLY LEAFS LOOSE TO ANOTHER LOWLY TEAM:  No the Leafs aren't a strong enough team to defeat the Panthers, who themselves are in a pretty sad state.  But that's the lot in life Leaf Nation has come to accept.  As Leaf fans we're used to sitting back and watching other teams win Stanley Cups.  We've got lots of experience at it.  Almost 40 years worth.  40 years of non-Cupworthy teams can't be blamed on the team itself, it can't be called a fluke - it has to lie directly at the highest level of the organization.  The Leaf Nation has simply had horrible people managing their franchise for four decades.  People that have been incapable of producing a team capable of winning the championship.  Getting smoked 2 games in a row by Ottawa (almost still an expansion team), and losing to Florida last night...  it's almost time to find a new team to root for.  Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment simply DOES NOT KNOW how to win the Cup.  They've tried it for 40 years without success.  Tampa did it in no time (relative to "Leaf time").  It's about time we start pointing our fingers not at the players, not at the coaches, but at the GMs and Presidents.  We need to switch GM's quicker than we do players.  Keep switching until we find one that knows how to make things work.  None have so far.  How much worse could it get by replacing Ferguson and Dryden?  Not winning a Cup?  We're already not winning a Cup!  It doesn't matter if we place 2nd or 30th - it's NOT 1st and that's all that matters.  Truthfully, most of us would RATHER BE IN LAST PLACE and have a bunch of tough fighters on the team like in the 1995-98 days.  At least we could cheer for winning the fights...  If we can't get a team that can win the Cup, stock it up with goons, beat the crap out of the other teams, and take the loss.  As it is now we're still loosing to bad teams, we're just not beating anybody up while doing so.   NOV.02 - NICE COMEBACK / GAME NIGHT:  The Leafs has a surprising comeback from being down 2-1 and beat Tampa last night 4-2.  Hal Gill scored his first of the season.  Tonight the Leafs are lucky enough to face their old goalie Ed Belfour when they play in Florida.  Hopefully  Eddie's struggling ways will continue and the Leafs can chalk up another win.  NOV.01 - GAME NIGHT:  The Leafs take on Tampa Bay tonight - TSN/7:30. 

OCT.31 - Who's Our Team?  Last night Toronto showed they could play with the best of them, and beat them.  But they can also lose 2 straight and allow 13 goals in 2 games versus their division rivals.  What team is the Leaf Nation going to have this year?  OCT.30 - GAME NIGHT:  Leafs host Atlanta tonight.  It'll be a good test of the Leaf squad as Atlanta has a good team going this year.  OCT.29 - CLOSE GAME LAST NIGHT:  Toronto kept taking the lead but Montreal kept regaining it.  After the Habs tied it up 4-4 sending it to overtime, nothing was resolved, forcing a shootout.  Even the shootout lasted into extra players, but was finally won by Toronto when Kyle Wellwood did a shifty little deke.  CHEERFUL WORDS:  If the bad play by the Leafs of late has got you down, here something to keep in mind - the Leafs are only 1 point out of second place in their division.  So as bad as they've been, they NOT bottom feeders (yet).  OCT.26 - PATHETIC:  If you were wondering if it could get any worse than being embarrassed by your divisional and provincial rivals 6-2, wonder no more - it got worse.  Trying desperately to lose even worse than 6-2 the previous game to Ottawa, the Leafs tonight lost 7-2.  The only solution: DUMP THE ENTIRE DEFENSE ROSTER.  Save maybe Kubina.  The rest are all liabilities.  Post your thoughts on tonight's pathetic outing.   GAME NIGHT:  FIGHT NIGHT OR FRIGHT NIGHT?  Tonight's game will show if the hostilities from a couple nights ago boil over into tonight's game versus Ottawa.  Will the Leafs get smoked twice in a row by their provincial rivals?  If the Leafs can't fight back tonight and show they can compete against teams in their division, the boo-birds will undoubtedly be out in full force.  Go Leafs Go.  OCT.24 - EMBARRASSED: The Senators embarrassed the Leafs in front of their home crowd tonight by pounding them 6-2 on the scoreboard, and having their heavyweight pound Toronto heavyweight Wade Belak (although it wasn't as bad as it looked).  Darcy Tucker TKO'd Eaves pretty good though.  Pictures and videos of both fights are now online.  GAME NIGHT:  Toronto vs. Ottawa tonight, 7:30pm, TSN.  It's been a hard few weeks to judge the Leafs so far.  They've had some spectacular offensive outings, only to be followed by 60 minutes of fumbling around.  OCT.21 - FIGHT VIDEOS:  Lots of new fight videos posted from October's games.  OVERTIME PRACTICE DOESN'T MAKE PERFECT:  One would think that with the number of times the Leafs have gone into a shootout, they'd be getting pretty darn good at it.  Obviously not, as the Leafs lost to the Rangers tonight at the hands of Brendan Shanahan who scored the winner in the shootout.  ON A WINNING STREAK:  If you count one win a streak, the Leafs are on a roll.  A sloppy game by both sides last night by Toronto and Columbus didn't show much to be happy about, but the Leafs got the 2 points nonetheless.  Tonight the Rangers are in town.  OCT.21 - We know the NHL wants to try and phase-out fighting, but this is scary.  Hardly any fights have occurred in the dozens of games over the last week.  With the need for an enforcer becoming history, it will be open season on the star players.  OCT.18 - BAD OUTING:  The Leafs looked good for about the first 5 minutes of the game, then their offense disappeared, and ended up losing to Colorado.  What more can be said... GAME NIGHT:  Toronto vs. Colorado, 7:30pm.  The Avalanche have only won a single game so far this season, and the Leafs only have one regulation loss (of course, half their games go to overtime though...)  Maybe tonight the Leafs can finish the game in the first 3 periods?  OCT.15 - PERROTT'S BACK!:  Nathan Perrott, after failing to make the New Jersey team, is back with the Leafs, although it is unknown as to what type of a role or how much he'll play.  Bay Street Bullies has always liked Perrott, although we might not see much of him on the big team.  OCT.14 - WHAT A CLASSIC FINISH!!  What a night!  MATS SUNDIN: In overtime, tied 4-4, down short-handed, his hat-trick goal, the game winning goal in overtime - HIS 500TH CAREER GOAL!  It does NOT get any better than that if you're an NHL player scoring your 500th goal!  And to top it off, it was a classic slapshot sending the water bottle into the air. OCT.13 - GOALTENDING FAILURE:  Both teams had poor efforts from their goaltenders last night, resulting in 12 goals being scored in regulation time before going into the shootout, which the Leafs lost.  Final score - NJ: 7, TOR: 6.  Although Toronto was up 6-3 at a point.  On a positive note, Stajan is looking hot, Wellwood is doing good so far, and Kubina doesn't need surgery.  So with Raycroft in net, the new kids playing strong, and a healthy defense core - it's not a bad team!  OCT.12 - GAME NIGHT:  The Leafs are in New Jersey tonight.  Game time 7:30PM, LeafsTV.  OCT.10 - GETTING BETTER AT THE SHOOTOUTS:  Toronto badly outplayed and out-shot Florida last night, but the Panthers scored first.  But, Wellwood let a *classic* open-ice slap shot go soon after to tie the game up.  Tucker and Sundin scored in the shootout and Raycroft was solid.  This team is starting to look pretty good!  OCT.09 - GAME NIGHT:  No, Belfour will not be playing against the Leafs tonight.  Apparently he started for Florida a couple nights ago, and let in 4 goals on 9 shots!  Too bad for the Leafs he's not in net tonight. OCT.07 - OVERTIME LOSS:  Great game against Montreal tonight but the Habs took the game in a shootout.  HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA:  Toronto plays their first big Saturday night game against Montreal tonight.  Montreal looked good last night versus Buffalo but blew their lead and lost in a shootout.  The Leafs are coming off a 6-0 pounding of Ottawa and will try to show us that it wasn't a fluke.  OCT.05 - OWNED:  The Leafs were in full control in a 6-0 win over Ottawa.  This was their second game in as many nights versus the Senators, and were looking for a strong game to make up for their disappointing loss to the Sens last night.  If nothing else, this has at least given hope to the Leaf Nation, making a statement that they CAN beat their rivals, and they can beat them bad.  Raycroft was in net and got the shutout.  View the Belak/McGrattan fight here.  OCT.04 - NOT A GOOD START:  Leafs lost 4-1 against Ottawa and play the Senators again tomorrow night in Ottawa.  How did the Leafs fair?  Post your comments online.  OCT.04 - SO IT BEGINS:  The dawn of another season.  Big changes - new coach, new goaltender, no Domi.  The defense has been beefed up, LeafsTV has a new studio, and Tie works for TSN.  How will this all come together?  Before conquering the rest of the league the Leafs have to be able to stand on top of their division.  That means beating Ottawa on a regular basis.  They've got to make up points against teams they play the most.  At least Leaf Nation won't have to cringe at the soft goals allowed by Belfour last year. Aki Berg is still gone, that's a plus.  So time will tell if this is a team we can be happy about.  OCT.1 - LAST GAME OF PRE-SEASON:  Toronto will try again to defeat the Red Wings in their last game of the pre-season.  It's been a hard time to judge so far.  The goaltending has been spectacular some times, mediocre at others.  What are your views of the team for the upcoming season? 

SEP.29 - WEBMASTER GONE FOR 2 DAYS, LEAFS VS. DETROIT:  BSB's webmaster will be up in Peterborough until Sunday night, so any fights that happen between then that need to be updated to the web site will be done then.  The Leafs play Detroit at 7PM Saturday night, and 7:30PM Sunday.  Go Leafs Go.  SEP.27 - LOST THE GAME, WON THE FIGHTS:  Tellqvist is great at making the first save but seems to continually be too far out of position to make a second save.  He seems to put all his focus on making the first stop but just can't do it without leaving have the net open for a second chance goal.  Very entertaining game tonight with lots of goals and a couple scraps.  Fight summary here.  SEP.27 - GAME NIGHT:  Toronto vs. Ottawa again tonight and Toronto just recently trimmed another 9 players off their roster, so hopefully the Leaf Nation will see a team that better resembles what we'll see for the regular season.  Team defense has to improve.  Tellqvist, Aubin, and Raycroft have all shown they can make spectacular saves, but the team needs to limit the number of scoring chances their opponents are gettting.  SEP.24 - LEAFS LOSS NOT A BAD THING:  Toronto couldn't hold on to their 2-0 lead and ended up losing the game 3-2, but they had quite a few of their "lesser" players in the lineup, and still held Ottawa to a strong game.  GAME NIGHT:  Toronto vs. Ottawa and the Leafs are going for 4 wins in a row, and hopefully their 2nd victory over the Senators this pre-season.  SEP.23 - LEAFS HOLD ON TO 4-3 LEAD:  In a game where Montreal kept coming back to make a battle out of it, Toronto ended up on top.  Raycroft made some -unbelievable- saves in the first couple periods, but don't look at his GAA in the first two games (7 goals allowed in 2 starts).  Suglobov was great, as were many of last year's rookies.  The Leafs are 4-1 in their 5 pre-season games so far.  LEAFS TAKE THE FIGHT TO MONTREAL:  After having their way, 5-1, against Montreal in Toronto last night, the Leafs will try to do it in their rink tonight.  Hopefully we'll get to see Raycroft again and he'll be able to give the Leaf Nation some confidence, as he is supposed to be our starting goaling this year (and had a disappointing start in the first game of the pre-season).  SEP.22 -  GAME NIGHT - BRING ON THE HABS:  Montreal visits Toronto tonight in another division rivalry.  The Leafs are 1-1 in the pre-season so far.  SEP.20 -  LEAFS WIN:  Tellqvist made some solid saves in net tonight, including an outstanding glove-hand save on a 2-on-1, and the Leafs finally scored not one goal, but 3.  With a solid performance by Tellqvist and an "iffy" game one from their "starter" - could the Leafs be in goaltending limbo?  GAME NIGHT - As if the Leafs weren't in tough enough against Buffalo the other night, they switch over to their Ontario divisional rivals tonight in Ottawa.  The Senators are without Hasek now, so at least they won't have him to contend with.  But it doesn't matter who's in net if they can't find their offense.  SEP.19 - TIE DOMI ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT, JOINS TSN:  Former Leaf enforcer and fan favorite Tie Domi announced today that he will be retiring and not returning to the NHL.  H