The last time I live blogged a game, Sidney Crosby was part of a Canadian team that beat the Russians at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Crosby is in town tonight as part of a Pittsburgh Penguins team looking to end our playoff dreams.  I'm comfortably situated in my basement,

At this point in the season, every point matters.  We really needed two, but one is better than none.  We're sitting alone in 9th, a single point behind Tampa Bay and Montreal who are tied for seventh. We have the Penguins in town tomorrow night.  We've yet to beat them

Let's face it, we toss around the term "must win" pretty loosely.  In my humble opinion, last night's game against the Hurricanes was indeed a must win if we're going to make the playoffs this season.  A loss would have been devastating. We're tied with Carolina for 9th, two points

There, that's more like it.  I predicted a Buffalo split and that's exactly what we got.  We've got 82 points and sit two points out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference. With the teams we're trying to catch winning their games, we must win ours.  There is no room

It's 1-1 after one but with both the Rangers and Islanders picking up wins this afternoon, I'm not feeling particularly optimistic.  Thanks to YouTube, I just relived one of my favourite Leaf games of all-time. Game seven between the Leafs and Red Wings in 1993.  Nikolai Borschevsky has his defining

At 11pm last night, Buffalo Boy was already rubbing salt in the wounds. Holy cow what a meltdown the Leafs had last night, I of course was jumping through my ceiling in amazement as the Sabres took it to them and tore them apart in the third. To quote a

They're doing it again. We Leaf fans are probably the most perennially punished patrons of any professional sports team.  Our hopes are high, our teams are mediocre, yet with nine games to go we all know we have a chance.  With nine games to go we're right in the thick

It's official.  Kazakhsatan's Nikolai Antropov is no longer my whipping boy.  His game winning goal has us tied in eighth place with the Carolina Hurricanes. There's no room for error in these final nine games.  We're three points out of sixth and a point from being 11th.  These final nine

I wanted four points from the past two games, and I got one.  You'd think I'd be used to this team short changing me by now.  Who the hell is Jaroslav Halak? Enough talk, let's get to what matters.  We're 10th in the East with 78 points because the 9th

I got my rant out of my system when it was 1-0, so go there if you want a taste. It was pure crap.  If we don't beat the Habs tonight, I see little hope for a playoff berth. Current Record Last GamesSeason Leaders34-28-9 77 points 3rd in Northeast5-1 Loss

I subscribe to LeafsTV.  That means I'm watching tonight's game against the Washington Capitals and I just witnessed a major Andrew Raycroft gaffe that led to the opening goal.  This is a must win game, a game against a beatable team when so many of our remaining games are against

I would like to fully disclose my long time disliking of Nik Antropov.  I don't dislike him personally, just his performance on the ice.  Back in September I summarized my feelings in "Nik Antropov: The Bane of My Existence".  With Hoglund gone, he became my new whipping boy. Dagnabbit, the

I haven't been that excited about a regular season Maple Leaf victory in quite some time. When Tucker scored in overtime, I screamed loud and proud.  We fought back from a two goal deficit in the third and secured two points we needed bad. Elliot Friedman noted after the game

That egg we laid last night was our game in hand on the Hurricanes and we've been joined in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot by the New York Rangers.  This is a show down, a throw down. Andrew Raycroft is 2-4-1 against Ottawa this season.  With the

If you look up inconsistent in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of Andrew Raycroft.  One night he'll be so horrible I'm wondering if Peter Ing is still in shape, the next night he'll record a shut out when we desperately need a win. The win puts us 8th in

I found it easier to love our craptacular teams of the 1980s.  They'd bore us in the Norris and I was young enough to get really excited about a 6-5 win over Chicago in the middle of January and forgive them for finishing 19th overall. The Buffalo Sabres are missing

James and I watched that hit on Tomas Kaberle and while I was envisioning our playoff aspirations disappearing before our eyes, he felt the need to clarify something.  He looked at me and reminded me "they're not bad grown ups, they just play for a bad team". I disagreed with

What did Jean-Sebastien Aubin ever do to piss off Paul Maurice so royally? Guess who's getting the start in net for the Toronto Maple Leafs as we take on red hot Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils tonight?  That's right, Andrew Raycroft for the 26th game in a row.

I hate losing.  I really hate losing to the Sabres.  But the worst thing is losing big to Rochester. I knew Paul Maurice was going with Raycroft again and I knew it was a mistake.  How many games in a row has Raycroft started?  Isn't it time Jean-Sebastien Aubin got

It looks like the Leafs only made one deal today.  We've sent young defenseman Brendan Bell to the Phoenix Coyotes along with a 2nd round draft pick in 2008 for former Maple Leaf Yanic Perreault and a 5th rounder in 2008. Perreault is pulling a Wendel and returning to Toronto

Gosh darn it, I thought we were going to come all the way back in this one.  It was 5-2 heading into the third and I wrote this rant.  A couple of goals later and the momentum was ours.  We came close, but no cigar. Tonight we have Buffalo, but

About a year ago, our playoff hopes were dashed by back to back losses against the Habs.  Here's my recap of that first 5-1 loss and here's my recap of that second 6-2 loss. I mention those games because Jean-Sebastien Aubin started his first game for the Leafs the very

There are exactly twenty-four hours to go before the 2007 NHL trade deadline.  I've bookmarked TSN's Trade List and I'm visiting often. In year's past, I was looking for the Leafs to add a proven player for the playoffs.  Big names like Rob Blake and Owen Nolan would become available,

There's nothing like a trip into Philly to snap a losing streak.  The Maple Leafs have won five in a row against Philadelphia and seven of the last eight meetings. Alex Steen and Jeff O'Neill each had a goal and an assist and Bryan McCabe added three assists as we