Saturday, May 30, 2009

Stanley Cup preview: Who has the edge?

By now you've no doubt read dozens of Stanley Cup final previews, all of which followed the exact same format: quick blurbs about each team under the categories "Forwards", "Defense", "Goaltending" and "Special Teams", with an "edge" awarded to either side.

Well, sure, all those things are important. But what about everything else? Clearly there's more to winning hockey than just having skill at forward, defence, goal and special teams. After all, the Leafs didn't have any of those things last year, and they still managed to win six games.

So as always, it falls to me to dig a little deeper. Here's a Cup preview based on ten critical categories that everyone else is overlooking.


Did they touch the trophy?

Detroit: Acting captain Henrik Zetterberg refused to touch the Clarence Campbell Bowl.

Pittsburgh: Captain Sidney Crosby picked up Prince of Wales Trophy, skated it over to teammates, then took it home and made sweet tender love to it for three straight days.

Edge: Detroit


Fan Participation:

Detroit: Fan spend entire playoffs cheering on home team, debating every nuance of each game, and counting down the days until they can once again cheer the hoisting of a Stanley Cup.

Pittsburgh: Fan spend entire playoffs sending photoshops into The Pens Blog.

Edge: Even.


The Malkin Factor

Pittsburgh: Media unanimously agrees that Evgeni Malkin is the most unstoppable playoff performer in NHL history.

Detroit: Media will unanimously agrees that Evgeni Malkin is the greatest playoff choker in NHL history as soon as he has one bad game.

Edge: TBD


Playoff Beard Quality

Detroit: Entire team looks like Hagrid from the Harry Potter movies.

Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby looks like Adam Morrison's kid brother.

Edge: Detroit


Motivation

Pittsburgh: With a win, perhaps NBC will finally start paying some attention to this Sidney Crosby kid.

Detroit: Stanley Cup drought now up to a franchise record 12 months.

Edge: Even


Does Marion Hossa play for them?

Detroit: Marion Hossa does play for them.

Pittsburgh: Marion Hossa does not play for them.

Edge: Pittsburgh.


Injuries

Pittsburgh: Are relatively healthy, assuming nobody has tried to skate around Alexander Ovechkin lately.

Detroit: Have been without future Hall-of-Famers Nik Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk, forcing team's other twelve future Hall-of-Famers to somehow carry the load.

Edge: Pittsburgh


Defensive zone strategy

Pittsburgh: When an opposing player enters the defensive zone, the team reverts to a passive zone system, attempting to keep the puck on the perimeter and use speed and skill to create turnovers for quick strike counter-attack offensive opportunities.

Detroit: When an opposing player enters the defensive zone, Niklas Kronwall kills them.

Edge: Detroit


Ex-Leafs

Pittsburgh: Roster includes former Leaf Hal Gill, who was signed as a free agent by John Ferguson Jr. and coached on defensive positioning by Paul Maurice.

Detroit: Have no ex-Leafs on roster.

Edge: Detroit


Strength Implied by Logo

Pittsburgh: The penguin, a pathetic little creature that waddles around helplessly, can't fly, and is easily gobbled up by seals and other predators without so much as putting up a fight.

Detroit: The red "winged wheel", a symbol of Detroit's auto industry.

Edge: Pittsburgh




Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The NHL's official explanation of Kerry Fraser's blown call

As a fitting end to Kerry Fraser Day, and with a glove tap to 1967ers over at PPP for reminding me about this interview... here's NHL Director of Officiating Bryan Lewis explaining how Fraser and crew missed the call. This interview aired on HNIC during the second intermission of game seven.



I'll let the interview stand without comment, except to point out that Lewis' version (that Fraser and his linesmen thought Gilmour may have been hit with the puck) doesn't match Fraser's own explanation from years later (that he hadn't seen the play at all because he was blocked out).

And a bonus clip, just in case you were wondering how the notoriously neutral Don Cherry felt about all this ...




Happy Kerry Fraser Day!

Sixteen years ago tonight, this happened:



Yes, the infamous Wayne Gretzky high-stick. Or, more specifically, the infamous Kerry Fraser non-call.

I've written about that fateful game six before; how Wendel Clark played the greatest game of his career, how he almost managed to carry the Leafs into the Cup final on his back, and how Fraser's gutless copout took it away from him. I won't go over all of that again in detail here, mainly because that's what the restraining order says.

So let's just stick to the facts: Gretzky high-sticks Gilmour, the rulebook says it's an automatic five and a game, Fraser and his linesmen huddle up and then decide that nobody saw anything, and Gretzky scores the OT winner seconds later.

Years later, Fraser finally came clean to the Toronto Sun and admitted that he blew the call. Sort of.

"I was blocked out on the play," Fraser said. "The replays show that."

In reality, of course, the replay clearly shows the exact opposite. At the moment that Gretzky's stick clips Gilmour (0:05 of the video above), Fraser has an absolutely clear view of the play, and is looking directly at it.

He wasn't blocked out. He didn't miss it. He saw it, but he didn't have the guts to call it.

Let's be clear: Bad calls happen. Missed calls happen. They're part of sports. And there was no conspiracy here, no secret plot to get a big market US team into the finals and avoid an all-Canadian matchup.

No, this was just one official, staring down the biggest call of his career, and finding himself without the courage to make it.

And of course, this being the NHL, Fraser was never held accountable. He even got the Finals assignment that year. After all, who better to work the biggest games of the year than somebody who'd just finished choking on their whistle?

(Update: Go here to see the NHL's official response to the blown call.)

And the media, for the most part, forgot all about it. Oh sure, they bring it up every now and then -- complete with a shake of their head and a finger-wagging for those silly Leaf fans, always living in the past.

Next year will be the final one of Kerry Fraser's career. As the season winds down, count on reading plenty of feel-good fluff pieces about Fraser's fine body of work, and how much he'll be missed.

Don't believe a word of it. He's a coward and liar, and no Leaf fan should forget or forgive.

Until then, feel free to print this and hang it on your wall today.




Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Remembering Peter Zezel

Terrible news today, as Peter Zezel has lost his long battle with a rare blood disorder. Zezel passed away today at the age of 44.

Zezel played for seven teams in his NHL career, and was one of my favorite Leafs from the 1993 and 1994 teams. While he never put up much in the way of offensive numbers in Toronto, he was a tenacious worker and defensive specialist. Together with Bill Berg and Mark Osborne, Zezel formed arguably the best checking line the Leafs have ever had. Zezel was the best defensive center on those Leafs squads, which is saying something considering those teams also featured a Selke nominee in Doug Gilmour.

During the Leafs' deep playoff runs in 1993 and 1994, Zezel took just about every important defensive zone faceoff. While I don't have the stats in front of me, I'm fairly sure that he won 100% of them, despite never touching the puck with his stick. Zezel was the master of tying up an opponent and then working the puck backwards with his skates, not surprising given his talent for soccer (at one point during his Leafs stint he also played for the North York Rockets, making him one of the few Canadian athletes to play two different sports professionally).

While the Wendel Clark trade was the big off-season news of 1994, the loss of role players like Zezel and Bob Rouse did almost as much to spell the end of that Leaf team's run as a contender. Fifteen years later, the Leafs still haven't found a player to fill Zezel's faceoff specialist/defensive center role.

Other random memories:

  • His appearance in "Youngblood". Seriously, he's was in there. Even has his own IMDB page.

  • His thick neck, combined with a hunched over skating style, which made him the easiest Leafs player to impersonate. If you were a kid who played road hockey in the early 90s and you didn't get to be Wendel or Dougie, you could count on a laugh if you declared yourself Peter Zezel and then played a shift with your ears between your shoulders.

  • His key role in the Leafs elaborate pre-game ritual which would see the entire team gather around Felix Potvin's crease to offer the goaltender glove and stick taps. As each player left the crease they'd bang fists with Zezel, who stood twitching nearby until he was the last player remaining. At that point, he'd charge in a deliver a two-handed slash to Potvin's pads before sprinting off the ice. I always liked to imagine that the mild-mannered Potvin had absolutely no say in the conception of this ritual.
Send out some good thoughts to Peter Zezel and his family today.




Monday, May 25, 2009

A few more Wendel Clark youtube finds

I posted a few more clips to the new youtube channel over the weekend. Among them were a few previously missing clips that came up during last fall's Top 17 Wendel Moments countdown:




The final ovation - Leaf fans say thank you to Wendel Clark

Original post is here. This is from the round two playoff game against the Devils during Clark's final stint with the Leafs in 2000. Wendel assisted on the winning goal, then got a long standing ovation after hitting the post on a third-period rush. (Unfortunately the CBC went to commercial during the ovation so you don't get the full impact in this clip.)






The "waster" on Curtis Joseph

Original post here. I named this the #12 top Wendel moment and the feedback was almost unanimous that it should have been higher.






Wendel's subtle interference on Ed Belfour wins an OT game for the Leafs

Original post here. Todd Gill scores the winner, but watch for Wendel's sneaky tap of Belfour's stick to open up the fivehole. The CBC completely misses it, but the Global Sportsline guys get the scoop from an irate Belfour afterwards.






I've also uploaded several montages from various CBC games, including a version of their "The Chance Will Never Come Again" song that they should really still be using.

I won't clog up the blog with updates every time I post a new video, so be sure to visit www.youtube.com/downgoesbrown and subscribe if you want to be notified of new clips.

Back to regularly scheduled content later this week, including a new feature highlighting some of the small moments in every NHL game that are completely dumb.




Thursday, May 21, 2009

Down Goes Brown is now on Youtube

First DGB showed up twitter, which quickly became an indispensable part of the overall site experience. Then, DGB showed up on facebook, which... didn't.

Well, two out of three isn't bad. So now it's time to take over youtube.

Yes, after months of procrastination I've finally figured out how to upload some of my old VHS Leafs highlights. And you can subscribe to my updates by visiting my channel and clicking the big yellow "subscribe" button in the top corner.

Here's a few that I've posted so far...




Wendel Clark's return

I've written about this game before, but as best I know it's never been available online before. Enjoy.






Wendel's hat trick goal against the Kings

I've written about this one too, and how much it meant to Clark and the Leafs.

So let's take a moment to admire the icy cool of Felix Potvin, stopping a partial break and then playing the puck ahead in the dying seconds. I also like the way Potvin ignores two Leafs that are closer to him and sends his pass right to Gilmour. Good thinking, Felix.






Glenn Anderson's OT goal against the Kings



This is game five of the series. Nice effort on the backcheck, Gretzky. But hey, Glenn Anderson was awesome! He'll be a hero in Toronto forever!




Glenn Anderson's penalty



Glenn Anderson was an idiot!

General Borschevsky has already covered this, so let me just say this: seeing Kerry Fraser make this call still makes me angry to this day. I still get cranky when I see a Target logo.




The High Stick



"I was screened on the play. The replays clearly show that." - Kerry Fraser.

Yes, I guess that's the sort of thing you can say a few years later, when you assume nobody will ever see the replay again and notice how the players part like the red sea to give you a clear view of a play you're looking directly at.

I'm going to go pour draino into my eyes.




Leafs/Kings game seven CBC intro

A confession: I love musical montage intros to sporting event. I will post any that I can find. I don't care if nobody watches them.






"Go Leafs Go"

This is a Global TV pre-game song intended, one would assume, to get fans fired up. Between this and "The Leafs Are The Best", I'm really starting to question the mid-90s.






Remember: I'll post clips on the blog from time to time, but if you want to know as soon as anything goes up be sure to subscribe.




Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The final four: Who should Leaf fans be cheering for?

For the sixth season in a row, the NHL's final four is taking place without an appearance by the Maple Leafs. That means that the league's largest fan base has nobody to cheer for. And with the second round elimination of the Canucks, there's not even a Canadian team left for Leaf fans to pretend to be cheering for while secretly rooting against.

What's a Leaf fan to do? Yes, OK, but besides watching John Tavares highlight tapes and fondling themselves, what's a Leaf fan to do?

I'm not here to give you the answer, but I do want you to make an informed decision. So here, from a Leaf fan's perspective, are some of the reasons to root for (or against) the four remaining teams.



Detroit Red Wings

Plus: In this economy, having the Stanley Cup stay in Detroit for another year increases chances that Maple Leafs will eventually be able to buy it in a Windsor pawn shop.

Minus: Their second round victory over the Anaheim Ducks provided disturbing evidence that teams built by Brian Burke can sometimes still lose.

Plus: As the top remaining seed, are the team most likely to win the final round in a sweep. Which, based on the schedule, is the only way these playoffs are ending before July.

Minus: A raucous Stanley Cup celebration could endanger us all by startling Zombie Chris Chelios.

Plus: Occasional news of a Red Wings championship is the only joy left in the life of Bob Probert, as he spends his post-retirement days in the concrete underground bunker he constructed to avoid Wendel Clark.



Chicago Blackhawks

Plus: Sort of tough to root against the team that gave us Stu Grimson, Dave Manson, and the quivering corpse of Mike Peluso.

Minus: Their upset win over the Canucks brought on the start of Kyle Wellwood's off-season much earlier than expected, possibly leading to summer-long food shortages in Western Canada.

Plus: An appearance in finals might lead to someone mentioning that the Hawks have the longest current NHL championship drought, which would be news to the majority of Canadian hockey fans who assume that the Leafs do.

Minus: If the Hawks win a Cup, a gleeful Toronto media will no doubt produce a flood of stories about the Leafs drought now being the NHL's longest, including one article produced solely by Howard Berger dry-humping his keyboard.

Plus: Are proving that a team can win despite overpaid and sub-par goaltending, which might help create an off-season market for Vesa Toskala.



Pittsburgh Penguins

Plus: Offer hope to Leafs fans by proving that a decade of constant losing, front office incompetence, and almost total irrelevance can result in a pretty darn good roster.

Minus: Every game they win means a few more days of having to look at Sidney Crosby's child molester moustache playoff beard.

Plus: Jordan Staal's showdown with brother Eric will inevitably result in TSN doing a "top ten hockey brothers of all-time" countdown, and it will be nice to see Luke and Brayden Schenn in the #1 spot.

Minus: Not really fair for them to win this year's Stanley Cup, since they're already pencilled in to win the next five or six.

Plus: Feature an inspiring feel-good story in form of defenceman Hal Gill, the only player ever signed by John Ferguson Jr. who is still playing in the NHL.



Carolina Hurricanes:

Plus: Each win results in more momentum for the idea of Cam Ward starting for the Canadian Olympic team in place of Roberto Luongo, which is great news assuming you're among the 99.5% of the world's population that isn't from Canada.

Minus: Sometimes, their runs to the Cup final result in Leafs getting stuck with their loser coach.

Plus: If they win, Leaf fans won't have to put up with annoying trash-talk from die-hard Hurricanes fans, since there aren't any.

Minus: Yet another Cup ring for Frantisek Kaberle might make brother Tomas start to have second thoughts about this whole "have zero interest in ever playing for a winning team" policy.

Plus: A championship run would help with publicity for Scott Walker's admirable new charity, "Beat Cervical Cancer by Sucker Punching it in the Face".



The bottom line: I think when you weigh the evidence, the final verdict is pretty clear. Leafs Nation, we can all agree on this, right?

Yeah, I thought so. Pass the Tavares highlights.




Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Great Obscure Moments in Leafs History - Gary Leeman vs. Denis Savard

Great Obscure Moments in Leafs History - An ongoing series to honor the greatest, completely meaningless moments in Toronto Maple Leaf history.

All human beings agree that Wendel Clark vs Marty McSorley is pretty much the greatest thing that has ever happened, anywhere, ever. OK, maybe you could make an argument for the invention of the concept of justice. You'd be wrong, but you could make the case.

But here's a thought experiment: what would be the exact opposite of Clark vs. McSorley? What hockey moment would be so awful, so cringe-worthy, so embarrassing, that it would have the potential to cancel out the greatness of Clark/McSorley if viewed side-by-side?

Older Leaf fans don't have to wonder, because they saw it on December 23, 1989. That was the night that the Leafs and Hawks squared off in one of the most memorable line brawls of a generation. And the main event, such as it was, featured a pair of franchise players: Gary Leeman and Denis Savard.



Let's identify the participants in this ten-man rumble. For the Leafs we have Leeman (#11), Tom Kurvers (#25), Brian Curran (#28), Johnny McIntyre (#44) and Dave Reid (#14). For the Hawks, it's Savard (#11), Cam Russell (#52), Dave Manson (#3), Dirk Graham (#33), and a guy wearing #14 who I think might be future Flames coach current Marlies coach Greg Gilbert.

As far as background, let's just say that the Leafs and Hawks were both in the Norris division, which means they hated each other and wanted to fight. The Hawks and Leafs had several memorable brawls over the years (like this one, and of course this one).

But this particular incident was different. What makes this among the most entertaining five minutes on all of Youtube? Let's walk through it in excruciatingly obsessive detail and find out!

Camouflage Coat Guy
Right off the bat, we get a classic Maple Leafs Garden moment: a fan blocking the camera. And not just any guy, but a guy who appears to have worn a camouflage coat to a hockey game. And also seems to be nine feet tall.

This forces the CBC to switch to the overhead camera view, which somehow always made whatever came next seem ten times more awesome.

Bob Cole
Right as things start to heat up, Bob Cole displays his excellent sense of timing by encouraging viewers to "listen to this!" and then going silent, just as the Hawks players start lobbing obscenities at Leeman.

And by the way, how is it possible that all the Hawks players are trash-talking Leeman and yet Al Iafrate's name never comes up?

The sucker punch
With Andy Van Hellemond yelling to "open the door up", Savard breaks away and lands a viscous sucker punch on Leeman, then scurries away like a rat. The only Leaf who sees it is under-rated tough guy Curran, who goes berserk. But he can't get at Savard, because he's being held back by...

Cam Russell
And since it's Cam Russell, and since it's the Leafs, Russell immediately winds up flat on his back. (Just like here and here and especially here.)

If there was a stat for most times getting destroyed by a Maple Leaf, Russell would be the Phil Mickelson to Jim Cummins' Tiger Woods.

Savard's "Hold Me Back" routine
I called Stu Grimson's performance against Wendel Clark "the all-time greatest 'hold me back while I pretend to want to fight' routine", but I think we may need a recount.

Savard pretends to desperately want to fight, right up until the linesmen call his bluff and simply skate away. We then get a full 75 seconds of Savard backing away from Leeman.

So how do you fill over a minute of dead air? With a big dose of...

Harry Neale
Neale is probably best known for his pre-prepared soundbites; if you like your color commentators to suddenly quote Edgar Allan Poe during an icing call, Harry is your guy. But here he shows that he's pretty good when going off-script too.

While Leeman and Savard stumble around, Neale starts firing off rapid one-liners like "This is the longest shadow-boxing match I've ever seen" and "If looks could kill they'd both be on their backs" and "They've been skating more on this shift than they have when the game was on".

But then he tops himself with this instant classic: "I've seen more hits when I take my kids to the petting zoo!"

What does that even mean? Who's getting hit when Harry Neale takes his kids to the petting zoo? Do his kids hit the animals? Does Harry hit his kids? What's he trying to tell us here?

Alain Chevrier
Chevrier is the Hawks goalie. And do you know what he does during this long line brawl, which features multiple sucker punches, mismatches and two-on-one situations? Nothing. Nothing! In fact, he does less than nothing. He never comes remotely close to getting involved.

I will never forgive him for that. Because do you know who was in net for the Leafs that night? Allan Bester. How great would it have been to see Allan Bester skate the length of the ice to join a brawl? Tell me that wouldn't have been an instant top-five highlight of the decade for Leaf fans.

And besides, if Felix Potvin could wipe the floor with Ron Hextall, I'm pretty sure Allan Bester could take Alain Chevrier.

"Durno"
In the middle of Leeman and Savard's dance of futility, the camera pans by a young hockey fan wearing a #8 Leafs jersey that reads "Durno". This begs two questions: how bad were the camera angles in Maple Leaf Gardens that a small child could block them, and what the heck is a "Durno"? Stay with me, I'm going somewhere with this.

Since nobody by that name ever played for the Leafs, I'm going to assume it's the kid's name. A few minutes of google research reveals a journeyman minor leaguer named Chris Durno, who at the age of 28 finally made his NHL debut this year by playing two games for the Avalanche. Chris Durno grew up in Scarborough, would have been nine years old when this game was played, and according to this interview he always wore #8 when he was growing up.

You know what? I'm going to go ahead and make the claim that that's future NHLer Chris Durno blocking the camera in the middle of this fight!

(Update: DGB commenter and Durno family friend "JDub" confirms that it is Chris Durno!)

And based on that, I'm establishing the Chris Durno Fan Club, and demanding that Brian Burke sign Chris Durno to play for the Marlies next year. Burke already knows Durno, having once acquired him when he was with the Ducks. And the Hockey News says Durno brings "plenty of physical toughness and intimidation". Just what we need in Toronto!

Who's with me? We want Durno! We want Durno!

No? Just me? OK, moving on...

Dave Manson
Manson had already been escorted off the ice earlier in the brawl, but he makes a dramatic return just in time to execute a sunset flip onto Leeman and Savard, wiping out linesman Ron Finn in the process.

That earned him the ultra-rare triple game misconduct on a single play: one for coming back onto the ice, one for abuse of officials, and one for being third man in. This inspired Paul Morris's infamous announcement of "Number three, Dave Manson, two minutes for instigating, five minutes for fighting, a game misconduct, a second game misconduct, a third game misconduct".

Paul Morris dones't care how many penalties you got, he's announcing them one at a time even if we all have to stay here all night.

Bob Cole again
"Uh oh. UH OH! Baby... this thing... has come apart... at the seams!"

I love Bob Cole.

Doug Carpenter
Carpenter doesn't actually do anything. I just like seeing him. Where does Carpenter rank on the list of great red-headed coaches in NHL history? I'm going to say behind Terry Crisp, but ahead of Dave Allison.

Wendel Clark almost coming off the bench
When Manson blindsides Leeman, Clark jumps off the bench before being grabbed by a teammate. If Clark had entered the fight, he would have been suspended for ten games, touched off a bench-clearing brawl, beaten Dave Manson to death with his bare hands, and then beaten Cam Russell to death with the corpse of Dave Manson.

But none of that happened, because Clark is grabbed from behind at the last moment by...

John Kordic
Think about that. John Kordic prevented a bench-clearing brawl.

Here's a rule of thumb: when you're relying on John Kordic to serve as a calming influence, you're dealing with a situation that is completely out of control. It may be time to call in the army. Or, failing that, hope that a jolly mythical character inexplicably makes an appearance.

Hey look, it's Santa Claus!
With the situation on the verge of complete implosion, the officials desperately try to usher the Blackhawks off the ice. What better time for Santa Claus to randomly make an appearance?

Seriously, what is happening here? When did David Lynch start directing NHL games? And why does "Santa" weigh about 140 pounds?

"I don't think Santa Claus has seen anything like this in a while," deadpans Cole. No, Bob, I suppose he hasn't.

The epilogue
Dave Manson was suspended for 13 games. More impressively, Savard managed to pick up two fighting majors on the same play even though he never fought anybody. As a side note, these were the first two fighting majors of Savard's career. He would later add two more, against Craig Janney and Dale Hawerchuk. Apparently, Denis Savard really hates marginally over-rated wimpy guys.

There were a total of eight fights in this game, including John Kordic delivering some payback by absolutely destroying Cam Russell in the second period. A young Damien Cox was so traumatized that all his hair fell out.

Leeman went on to score 50 goals this season, was traded for Doug Gilmour, and was never heard from again. Manson actually played for the Leafs for one year in 2000, although sadly he never tried to hurdle another linesman.

Chris Durno signed with the Leafs in the 2009 off-season, made the team out of training camp, scored the Stanley Cup winning goal during the Leafs' shocking playoff run, and dedicated the championship to this blog.




Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The top secret Toronto Maple Leafs Facebook feed

Social networking sites are all the rage among businesses these days, and it turns out that the Toronto Maple Leafs are no exception. The team has been operating a Facebook page for almost a year now -- but for some reason it's closed to the general public.

Well, no more. I was able to hack into the network long enough to grab a copy of their newsfeed. And since I figured that DGB readers might be interested, I'm cutting-and-pasting the entire thing here.

Paul Maurice left the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
May 7, 2008
Ron Wilson joined the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
June 10, 2008
Cliff Fletcher has become a fan of Luke Schenn.
June 18, 2008
Luke Schenn joined the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
June 20, 2008
Kyle Wellwood was tagged in a photo from the album Rare Beached Whale Sighting.
June 23, 2008

Kyle Wellwood left the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
June 24, 2008
Darcy Tucker left the group The Muskoka Five.
June 27, 2008
Bryan McCabe
That sucks! Won't be the same around here without you!
Jeff Finger joined the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
July 1, 2008
Cliff Fletcher
Cool. $3.5M total spread over four years like we discussed, right?
Jeff Jackson
Uh oh...
Mats Sundin left the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
July 1, 2008
Bob Gainey poked Mats Sundin.
July 1, 2008
Jonas Frogren joined the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
July 9, 2008
Cliff Fletcher
Jonas, don't worry about it. Even if he found out, what's Bettman going to do?
Bob Gainey poked Mats Sundin.
July 10, 2008
Cliff Fletcher gave a fifth-round draft pick to the New York Rangers.
July 14, 2008
Bryan McCabe updated his status: "Still not waiving my NTC, even if the Leafs ask me to."
August 13, 2008
Cliff Fletcher
Oh, don't worry. We won't be asking.
Bryan McCabe
Cool, that's a relief. I was worried that... wait, who are these guys with tire irons?
Bryan McCabe left the group The Muskoka Five.
August 14, 2008
Bob Gainey poked Mats Sundin.
September 13, 2008
Mats Sundin has blocked Bob Gainey.
September 14, 2008
Mikhail Grabovksi completed the quiz "Which 1990s Maple Leaf are you?" with the result "You are Sergei Berezin".
October 11, 2008
Ian White joined the group Moustaches Are Sexy.
October 19, 2008
Howard Berger posted a note: Most Valuable Losers Once Again.
October 30, 2008
Howard Berger left the group Hockey Reporters With Credibility.
October 30, 2008
Brian Burke left the Anaheim Ducks network.
November 12, 2008
Wendel Clark joined the group Toronto Maple Leafs honored numbers.
November 22, 2008
Brian Burke joined the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
November 27, 2008
18 people joined the group Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general managers.
November 30, 2008
Tyler Bozak joined the group Future NHL Stars.
December 2, 2008
Alexei Ponikarovsky completed the quiz "Which 1990s Maple Leaf are you?" with the result "You are Fredrik Modin".
December 7, 2008
Mats Sundin joined the Vancouver Canucks network.
December 18, 2008
Mats Sundin and Leafs Nation changed their relationship status to "It's complicated".
December 18, 2008
Johnny Mitchell installed the Hallway Soccer application
December 28, 2008
Matt Stajan
OW!
Johnny Mitchell
Sorry bro.
Matt Stajan
Don't worry about it.
Curtis Joseph completed the quiz "Which 1990s Maple Leaf are you?" with the result "You are Curtis Joseph".
January 3, 2009
Jamal Mayers gave a Severe Beating to Tom Kostopoulos.
January 9, 2009
Brad May gave a Can Of Whoop-Ass to Francis Bouillon.
January 9, 2009
Mikhail Grabovski gave a Flurry of Body Punches to an NHL linesman.
January 9, 2009
Brad May
You're doing it wrong.
"Brian Burke" added the Twitter application.
January 26, 2009
Doug Gilmour joined the group Toronto Maple Leafs honored numbers.
January 31, 2009
Evgeni Malkin and Tyler Kennedy joined the group People Who Have Had Their Souls Destroyed by Luke Schenn.
January 31, 2009
Justin Pogge left the group Future NHL Starting Goaltenders.
February 17, 2009
The Toronto Maple Leafs posted a video: Thank You Mats.
February 21, 2009
Dave Shoalts and Eklund added the Twitter application.
February 23, 2009
Brian Burke is no longer a fan of Down Goes Brown.
February 23, 2009
Mark Bell left the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
February 25, 2009
Nik Antropov and Dominic Moore left the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
March 4, 2009
Olaf Kolzig, Jamie Heward, Andy Rogers and a fourth round draft pick joined the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
March 4, 2009
Gary Bettman
WTF?
Ron Wilson gave a Kick In the Balls to Howard Berger.
March 10, 2009
Tyler Bozak joined the Toronto Maple Leafs network.
April 4, 2009
Tyler Bozak left the group Future NHL Stars.
April 4, 2009
Mikhail Grabovski is no longer friends with Shady Belarusian Mobsters.
April 10, 2009
Ian White, Luke Schenn, Jason Blake, Niklas Hagman, Mikhail Grabovski, Martin Gerber and Ron Wilson added Switzerland to the Places I've Been application.
April 13, 2009
Brian Burke sent a friend request to John Tavares.
April 14, 2009
Garth Snow
Dude, seriously...
Mike Cammalleri, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Jay Bouwmeester joined the group Your 2009-2010 Toronto Maple Leafs.
May 1, 2009
Rick Nash
Save me a good locker!
Tomas Kaberle
Um, why can't I access this group?

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(Glove tap: The idea and some of the code for this post were stolen from inspired by Slate.com.)