MacK_Attack

It was his second season with the Leafs (he joined the NHL in the lockout-shortened '95 season) and Cliff Fletcher was desparate to keep his job, so he traded prospects (inlcuding a pick that turned into Roberto Luongo) for Wendel Clark and Mathieu Schneider.

Impossible! Apparently, the Leafs have the rights to "the next Lidstrom" in one Anton Stralman. I haven't seen much of him (save for one game in the World Juniors last year), but all I know is that he has had a breakout year with Timra in Sweden this year and the Swedish media are comparing him to Lidstrom when Nick was his age (20). From the reports I have read, he is basically Timra's #1 defenceman. Please keep in mind that this is the Swedish media labelling him, not the Toronto media, who have basically never seen the kid play. I'm not expecting a Norris Trophy defenceman, but hey, looks like the kid will be a steal for a 7th rounder in '05.

Another tidbit about Mosienko and his 21-second hat-trick.....right after he scored the third goal, he got the puck right off the draw, skating into the zone and rang one off the post.

Okay, so Skrastins can play a bunch of games in a row, but how good is his coffee?

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=195112&hubname=nhl

Well, he scored 18 last year, so I would hope he could become a 30-goal guy, but that's pushing it. He was the Leafs best player in January. He had a slow start to the season. His first son was born early in the season and that lead to a lot of distractions, plus the pressure of living up to his 45-point rookie season. He's got his confidence back and it looks like he'll be able to save the rest of his season.

Well, they won't score a lot of goals. Simply not enough offensive depth for that to happen. The Leafs game is a physical, high-pressure game. The Antropov-Sundin-Ponikarovsky line is simply too strong to be contained around the net. Nobody any smaller than 6'4" on that line. The biggest difference has been Raycroft's discovery of how to stop the puck.

Nashville hosts the somehow streaking Leafs on Thursday. Won five in a row and seven of their last eight. I believe they are 8-2 in their last 10 road games.

As much as I would love to tell you to go visit the Gardens, don't bother. It's all boarded up and is basically abandoned. Here's a news report with video of the interior that aired last week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltkVQb3OkN8 It's sickening to see a cherished hockey shrine fall into such disrepair. Gretzky's is interesting to see all the memorabilia, but if you're looking for a good place to eat, don't bother. It's nothing special. If you're looking for a pre-game place to tip a few glasses, definitely check out the Loose Moose on Front St.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=19...amp;hubName=nhl

Nobody will take him at 3.5 next year.

Adds a little bit. 650k for Ward, $1.1m for Avery.

That's a recipe for disaster.

Edmonton has coveted him for years. BIll Watters said on Leafs Lunch that they used to get calls all the time from Kevin Lowe trying to pry Tucker away from them. Plus, it might be a ploy by the Oilers to make sure that the Flames don't get him.

Well, the Edmonton rumours are Torres & a 1st and the Dallas rumour was Jussi Jokinen and a 2nd. Of course, that may be the return if Tucker is signed to an extension as part of the trade, not sure. The asking price won't be cheap, that's for sure.

Ottawa would kill to have him. He's exactly the kind of player that they've lacked for so many years and haven't been able to find.

There's 29 other teams that would love to have him.

Tucker can't go anywhere until he is off IR, and that's at least 2-3 weeks away. It'll be hit or miss if he's even healthy enough to be traded by the deadline. That said, there's going to be 8-10 teams going after Tucker, so his asking price should be steep.

Yeah, hip flexor injury. He'll be out 4-6 weeks or so, I figure. His groin takes an awfully long time to heal.

It still doesn't make much sense.... Here's the series of events: 1) Roberts takes the pre-game skate before the game against Edmonton on Tuesday. 2) He is held back before the start of the game and scratched 3) Panthers announced during the game that he was a healthy scratch 4) Following morning (Wednesday), they announce that Roberts has a lower-body injury and is day-to-day, but he will play tomorrow (Thursday) against the Flames. 5) Roberts participates in a full practice and full speed and skates on a regular line in practice. 6) Later that day, he is quietly placed on IR. Something doesn't add up. Gary Roberts doesn't go from hurt to healthy, back to hurt again that quickly. He gets hurt, is out for a week or two then he comes back.

Gary Roberts was held out of Florida's 4-1 loss to Edmonton last night. Roberts took the pre-game skate, but was held back before the game started. The club said he was a healthy scratch and they dressed only 11 forwards. It is believed that the Panthers are close to trading Roberts and do not want to risk injury. The Panthers are now claiming that Roberts had a lower-body injury and that he will play tomorrow against Calgary. I can tell you that at this stage in Roberts career, it takes him at least a week, usually two or three, to return from even the slightest groin injury. He was back skating at practice and looked just fine today, which tells me that something is up.

Why would they bring in a 40-year old rental when they are clearly in sell mode?

Niinimaa and Bonk? That's about the equivalent of giving him away.

John Kordic (RIP) was my favourite fighter....dunno if it was the mix of cocaine and steroids, but he was an animal.

Blue Jays to sign Frank Thomas http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/article.j...115_212220_2784