Some Hot – Others Not: The St. John’s Maple Leafs seem well on the way to erasing the bitter memories of last season … the club has won 4 of its first 6 starts and is performing well for new coach Lou Crawford … amongst the large contingent of young prospects on the roster. Alexei Ponikarovsky and Mikael Hakansson (playing together with Bobby House on the 1st line) have been the most impressive thus far … Franticek Mrazek, Jeff Farkas and Adam Mair have yet to begin posting the numbers that are going to be expected from them (each has 3 points in 6 games) … Michal Travnicek, though held to 2 points in the early going, has been finishing every check with extreme prejudice and is quickly becoming a fan favorite on the Rock … on the backline, minor league vets Nathan Dempsey, D. J. Smith, Tyler Harlton and David Cooper are all contributing on the attack and performing solidly defensively as well … in the absence of #1 goalie, Jimmy Waite, the combination of Mike Minard and Jamie Hodson has so far been more than equal to the challenge …
Leafs Trivia I: Only 3 Toronto Maple Leafs have ever scored 50 or more goals during a single NHL season … name all three players (answer below Whatever happened to) …
Tellqvist Scare: Swedish super prospect Mikael Tellqvist missed 2 starts with Djurgarden last week with Stockholm media reports indicating that he had suffered a significant leg injury during one of the club’s training sessions … fortunately, Tellqvist quickly returned to action and led his team to back-to-back wins over Brynas and Timra – stopping 50 of 53 shots during the 2 victories … the wins propelled Djurgarden back into first place atop the Swedish Elite League … Mikael’s GAA now stands at a miniscule 2.06 after 10 games, just a fraction behind Tim Thomas’ current SEL leading 2.04 …
Wendel’s Back: Wendel Clark has agreed to become the Maple Leafs’ official ambassador in both the business sector and in the community at large … although this appointment has been in the works for a long time, it is nonetheless a very welcome piece of news … it would be difficult to think of a former Toronto player who commands as much respect and true affection from the team’s huge fan base … welcome aboard Wendel …
Leafs Trivia II: Complete this deal … Lou Franceschetti and Brian Curran to Buffalo on December 17, 1990 in exchange for (answer below Trivia I answer) …
Prospect news: Erie’s Brad Boyes continues his blistering early season pace with 20 points (8 goals – 12 assists) in only 11 games played … Boyes has now crept up to 5th place in the OHL scoring race … Jon Zion leads the Ottawa 67′s in scoring with 14 points (5 goals – 9 assists) in 13 games … Zion is currently tied with Mark Popovic of Toronto St. Michael’s as the leading scorer among all OHL defensemen … Jon’s Ottawa teammate, Miguel Delisle, is also producing reasonably well with 9 points in 9 games …
Who am I: I was the only Toronto Maple Leafs player to garner more than one official NHL award during the team’s rather impressive run through the 1960′s (answer below Trivia II answer) …
Galbraith Cut Loose: In a rather unfortunate turn of events, Lance Galbraith has been released by the Maple Leafs’ organization … Galbraith had been the talk of the Kitchener Rookie Camp, scoring several key goals and playing a strong physical game after being invited to participate on a “make good” basis … following a stint at the Leafs’ Main Training Camp and another with St. John’s, Toronto’s front office has apparently decided that Lance has no significant NHL potential … Galbraith has recently returned to the Ottawa 67′s of the OHL as an overage player and has performed unevenly in a handful of games … Galbraith will also confront potentially serious legal problems later this fall …
Blake TO-bound: Small whispers from the left coast suggest that Kings’ captain and wheelhorse, Rob Blake, wants to leave the decidedly non-hockey atmosphere in LA in order to ply his trade closer to home … in Rob’s case, home is Simcoe, Ontario – just north of Toronto … although Blake has been one of the best defenders in the NHL for over a decade (and has 1 Norris Trophy to his credit), he has never really gotten the attention that he deserves as Kings’ games rarely appear on national television in either Canada or the US … indications are that Blake now longs to play in a hockey hotbed and for a legitimate Stanley Cup contender … Rob has already told team management that he will not re-sign with Los Angeles and so will become an unrestricted free agent following the 2000/2001 season … although a quick trade remains a possibility, Blake will ultimately be in a position to choose his own team in July … before you dismiss this information as just another dream penned by a devoted Leafs fan, be aware that similar stories concerning Gary Roberts and Shayne Corson circulated around the league constantly throughout last season and were eventually proven to be accurate … this one could yet become very interesting …
Prospect thumbnail – Brad Boyes (C): Toronto’s 1st choice at the June 2000 Entry Draft, Boyes improved markedly during the course of the Rookie Tournament in September … though still slight and far from the fastest player on the roster, Brad controlled the play whenever he was on the ice … he also showed that he wasn’t bothered at all by the rough play that prevailed during much of the tournament … Brad was quite impressive during a short stint at the Main Camp, clearly displaying all of the on-ice intelligence that he was said to possess … Boyes is the main man at Erie of the OHL this season and is off to a very strong start (see above) … and must simply continue to get bigger and stronger (just as Jeff Farkas has previously done) in order to secure an NHL future for himself …
Whatever happened to: Marek Melenovsky …
Trivia I answer: Rick Vaive (54 goals in 1981/82, 51 goals in 1982/83 and 52 goals in 1983/84) … Gary Leeman (51 goals in 1989/90) … Dave Andreychuk (53 goals in 1993/94) … Andreychuk also recorded a total of 54 goals during the 1992/93 season, but 29 of those markers were scored for the Buffalo Sabres prior to a mid-season trade …
Trivia II answer: Mike Foligno brought his trademark “salad bowl” helmet and post-scoring leap over from Buffalo in this popular trade … Foligno, 10 times a 20 goal scorer for the Red Wings and Sabres, had become a useful role player by the time he joined the Maple Leafs … though he managed only 29 goals in 129 games with Toronto, Mike provided large amounts of inspiration and enthusiasm to the team and was an integral part of the 1993 playoff run …
Who am I answer: Legendary Leafs’ captain, Dave Keon, employed an effective combination of tireless skating, fierce competitiveness and sound fundamentals in all areas to win the Calder Trophy (Best Rookie) in 1961, the Lady Byng Trophy (Sportsmanship) in 1962 and again in 1963 and finally the Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoff MVP) in 1967 …
