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Hockey

A night spent bouncing from hockey game to hockey game, watching whatever matchup looks the most appealing or tuning into a contest that's going down to the wire, is a night well-spent. More specifically, I have always been a ride-or-die fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It means I'm not afraid of commitment or a stranger to disappointment, attributes which have steeled me for modern living. The 2016 season was a fun time to get into things, with the Leafs adding Auston Matthews and suddenly looking like they might go somewhere, eventually. I could talk all day about the Leafs if you'd like even though they only exist to make me sad. Maybe next year is the year. Or maybe the year after that, or the one after that. Or maybe it'll never be the year, but I still would never walk away.

To put it simply: there's no doubt about it, I'm ready to be hurt again.

Featured Articles

Remember, my time as a certified Hockey Writer was back in 2016, so this archive is a bit of a time capsule. These were the days when people thought Nikita Zaitsev might be good. A fun experiment in Remembering Some Guys, the names here are sure to tug at the heartstrings of hardcore fans. Nikita Soshnikov! Stuart Percy! Connor Carrick! Sam Carrick! Colin Greening! Jhonas Enroth! Justin Fontaine! Notable Restricted Free Agents like Petr Mrazek and Jack Campbell! The Orlando Solar Bears! The World Cup! All your favorites are here, from Team North America to Roman Polak's second stint in Toronto.

Most importantly: I was right about Trevor Moore.

Today's SlapShot •

Nazem Kadri Emerging As Unsung Hero For Leafs

Obviously all eyes are on Toronto’s crop of promising youngsters this season. It’s an honor that’s clearly deserved if the early returns on Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander are signs of things to come. The sheer offensive talent that those three boast is tantalizing and they’ve already exhibited flashes of brilliance in the season’s early days.

But it’s the contributions of Nazem Kadri, now one of the team’s veterans, that have helped Toronto’s youth flourish.

For one reason
Today's SlapShot •

Three Things Maple Leafs Fans Should Look For At World Cup

For the first time since 2004, we have a World Cup of Hockey on our hands. Aside from the posturing concerning the NHL’s future Olympic participation and the notion of the tournament as a quick cash grab, it’ll be nice to get high quality hockey back in our lives a month earlier than usual.

There’s quite a bit out there for Maple Leafs fans to keep an eye on in the World Cup thanks to their strong international representation. Team USA has James van Riemsdyk, Team Czech Republic has Milan Micha
Today's SlapShot •

Maple Leafs Take Good Gamble With Trevor Moore - Today's Slapshot

The Maple Leafs dipped back into the NCAA free agent pool last week by signing Trevor Moore out of the University of Denver. College free agents have emerged as a cost effective way of filling out organizational depth charts across the league, as most lack the cachet to command guaranteed roles and don’t necessarily require as many developmental resources as a typical draft pick.

It’s a route the Leafs have pursued before, signing the likes of Tyler Bozak, Christian Hanson, Brady Irwin, Casey B
Today's SlapShot •

Breaking Down Maple Leafs' Qualified And Non-Qualified RFAs - TSS

The deadline to extend qualifying offers to restricted free agents (RFAs) passed on Monday. While many teams formally announced their offers, the Toronto Maple Leafs operated under the radar.

The team extended qualifying offers to six players while allowing three others to potentially hit the market as unrestricted free agents (UFAs) on July 1.

According to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, the team qualified forwards Peter Holland and Josh Leivo, defensemen Connor Carrick, Frank Corrado and Martin
Today's SlapShot •

Seth Griffith Claim A Sign Of The Times In Toronto

The Toronto Maple Leafs claimed Seth Griffith off waivers from the division rival Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Griffith isn’t likely to be a regular member of the lineup just yet but it’s still another solid move from a management team that’s been tweaking and reshaping the roster to their liking.

The fact that Griffith will have to battle for ice time speaks to management’s shrewd moves in packing the organization with players worthy of NHL ice time.

Last season saw the team trade away Phil Kess
Today's SlapShot •

Can Josh Leivo Emerge As A Useful NHL Player

The Toronto Maple Leafs are bound to have a refreshing dimension of youthful exuberance this season thanks to the fruits of a painful rebuilding process. Beyond the first tier names like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander are the second level prospects who, while still very good, don’t garner nearly the same notoriety for one reason or another, including Kasperi Kapanen, Nikita Soshnikov, Connor Brown and the like.

Beyond them are the players who lie somewhere between “prospect”
Today's SlapShot •

Can Colin Greening Keep Contributing?

The Dion Phaneuf trade was one of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ finest moves last season. The team was able to get out from the defenseman’s massive contract and used their financial muscle to sweeten the pot by taking on some of Ottawa’s own ugly deals.

The key pieces of the trade were prospect Tobias Lindberg and a second round pick, but one of the forgotten pieces ended up being surprisingly productive down the stretch.

Colin Greening wound up scoring 15 points in his 30 Leaf games, with 13 comi
Today's SlapShot •

Should The Maple Leafs Use Their Second Buyout Window - TSS

The Toronto Maple Leafs avoided arbitration with each of their restricted free agents. Peter Holland, Connor Carrick, Frank Corrado and Martin Marincin all struck last minute deals and spared themselves the potentially awkward process.

Those signings have given the Leafs a good idea of how this year’s cap sheet will look. As it stands, they have about $55,000 left in cap space. Even if the roster was set, entering the season with that little wiggle room would leave the team with almost no flexi
Today's SlapShot •

Holland's Contract Is A 'No Lose' Scenario For Leafs - TSS

Peter Holland’s tenure with the Maple Leafs hasn’t exactly been smooth. He’s been the victim of a few ill-timed injuries and has occasionally been yo-yo’d between lines, but has still emerged as a productive third line player after turning in a career year for Mike Babcock.

Those ups and downs would have made for an interesting arbitration case: the Leafs put forth a $900,000 offer while Holland requested $2.1 million. Splitting the difference between the two would’ve netted Holland a $1.5 mill
Today's SlapShot •

Does Carrick or Corrado Have The Edge In Toronto - TSS

In the last handful of years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had issues filling out their blue line with competent defenders. While the restocking process has been slow and arduous, the Leafs currently find themselves headed into the season with eight defensemen who deserve NHL ice time.

The Leafs might carry all eight to begin the season and could employ the seven defensemen and 11 forwards arrangement that some teams have used recently. While that would get more defenders ice time, it might be
Today's SlapShot •

Can Joffrey Lupul Bounce Back Next Year? - TSS

When Joffrey Lupul was originally acquired by the Maple Leafs in February of 2011 he was little more than a salary dump that allowed the Anaheim Ducks to take on Francois Beauchemin and remain under the salary cap. While that deal was all about landing defender Jake Gardiner, Lupul actually turned out to be a fine acquisition, at least at first.

He joined the Leafs midseason and had a strong finish with 18 points in 28 games. He found a home alongside Phil Kessel in 2011-12 and turned in a care
Today's SlapShot •

Nikita Soshnikov Could Be Maple Leafs' Breakout Player - TSS

Last season saw a multitude of young players join the Toronto Maple Leafs to make their NHL debuts. This year will be a similar story as the rebuilding process continues. While last season saw the losses pile up, it wasn’t nearly as painful as Mike Babcock suggested it would be in his introductory press conference.

That’s in large part thanks to the arrival of Auston Matthews, who joins William Nylander and Mitch Marner atop Toronto’s prospect totem pole. Those three are the pillars of the team
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Andersen Insurance - Picking Toronto's Backup Goalie - TSS

The Toronto Maple Leafs cleared up a potentially uncomfortable situation by trading Jonathan Bernier to Anaheim last week. Bernier, likely too good to be a pure backup and deemed untrustworthy with the keys to the proverbial car going forward, was in for an awkward year playing behind Frederik Andersen.

Some thought that two goalies would form a sort of 1A and 1B tandem like the one the Ducks had with Andersen and John Gibson. However, when Andersen received a five year $25 million contract the
Today's SlapShot •

Finding Bargain Basement Forwards For Maple Leafs - TSS

The Toronto Maple Leafs are mostly set. There’s a plan in place to turn the Leafs into contenders on the back of young talent that’s beginning to make its way to the NHL. While that’s a major step forward for an organization recently mired in mediocrity, or worse yet irrelevancy, there are still little things to take care of.

Serious contention won’t happen this season even if they somehow manage to snag a wild card spot. As such, the team should be filling out its roster the same way as last s
Today's SlapShot •

After Auston - The Maple Leafs' Baffling Offseason - TSS

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a clear path forward. The summer started with a no brainer after Mike Babcock’s first year at the helm yielded a first overall pick. Auston Matthews was the slam dunk atop the draft that would kick off another smart summer in Toronto.

Things haven’t necessarily gone to plan, however, as the Leafs have made a series of puzzling moves after Matthews’ selection.

The draft saw the Leafs pass up a litany highly regarded players to take 19 year old Yegor Korshkov (though
Today's SlapShot •

Does Tyler Bozak Have A Future In Toronto - TSS

The last decade holds its share of misery for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ron Wilson oversaw a group that was more often than not tanked by brutal goaltending, James Reimer notwithstanding. Randy Carlyle chose toughness over talent and produced a possession black hole.

Now, Brendan Shanahan and company are ready to usher in a new age of Maple Leafs hockey.

It seemed like Toronto had finally washed their hands of those futile eras after trading Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf. While the main cast of

Even Joffrey Lupul himself liked my work. It's the greatest testimonial I'll ever receive. No offense to the other 479 people (and counting!) there, some of whom literally loved the article.

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