LATEST STORIES FROM THESTAR.COM
The Un-Five-Million-Dollar Man
Cudda. Wudda. Shudda.
Two more losses have piled up since Leafs GM Brian Burke proclaimed that on trade deadline day he could have added four first round draft picks for players on his current roster.
In addition to the club's own first rounder, that would have made it five picks in the top 30 this June, a position of terrific possibility and flexibility.
Burke declined all of...
Via thestar.com
March 01, 2012
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Begging For Dismissal
Saw this once with the late Pat Burns back in March, 1996. Nobody knows when its all over faster than the head coach, and after a game in Denver against the Avalanche, Burns' basic reaction was a shrug of "what-can-I-do?"
He knew it was over. On the flight home, it was.
That's what Ron Wilson looked like last night after his team's ninth loss in 10. The fact...
Via thestar.com
February 29, 2012
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No More Whining
So the big mean bogeyman is gone.
No more nasty old trade deadline talk to have the Maple Leafs cowering under their beds. As it turned out, only Keith Aulie had anything to fear, and that outcome has him calling Tampa home today. Not so bad, right?
Even if you buy the iffy proposition that the deadline has this great impact on the Leafs that it doesn't have on teams in other...
Via thestar.com
February 28, 2012
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Positional Preference
Sure Keith Aulie disappointed the Maple Leafs. If he didn't regress, he didn't progress, either. With multiple chances to play in the NHL this season, he couldn't stick. But more to the point, Brian Burke and Co. felt they were...
Via thestar.com
February 27, 2012
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Standing Pat?
It won't be easy for Brian Burke to sell a show about nothing. Or at least a trade deadline about nothing. Certainly, Burke and his front office colleagues with the Leafs are trying to make something happen, from Rick Nash...
Via thestar.com
February 27, 2012
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Last Day of Shopping
Sure the Maple Leafs are getting some nibbles. How about a deal involving Marcel Mueller of the Marlies? Does that get your blood flowing? If not Mueller, who has attracted some interest in a minor-type deal, maybe Nicolas Deschamps after...
Via thestar.com
February 27, 2012
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Misery
Can't think its much fun to wake up as part of the Toronto management team today. Ouch. With new ownership taking over this summer, suddenly another non-playoff campaign could start to make folks squirm. The key to making good decisions...
Via thestar.com
February 26, 2012
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Deadline Deals Underway
So the Philadelphia Flyers were so convinced that the duo of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were absolutely killing their chances to succeed that last summer they shipped Richards to L.A. and Carter to Columbus, two players they had once...
Via thestar.com
February 24, 2012
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Contagion
These days, it seems like the NHL teams that don't have goaltending problems are in the minority. The list of those with goalie woes is long. Chicago. San Jose. Buffalo. Tampa Bay. And, of course, the Maple Leafs. Its just...
Via thestar.com
February 23, 2012
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The Big Disconnect
If there ever was a chance Jonas Gustavsson was going to succeed in Toronto, that time has passed. With all that happened before Tuesday night and his disastrous performance against the New Jersey Devils, that performance just put a big...
Via thestar.com
February 22, 2012
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Ten Days in the Life of Milos
To celebrate, Milos Raonic got to hop on a red-eye flight to Memphis. Such is the life of a professional tennis player, one in which over the course of slightly more than a week the 21-year-old from Thornhill has competed...
Via thestar.com
February 19, 2012
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Understood
Milos Raonic will play for his country. But his career comes first. Maybe his sponsors, too. The good thing is that while you may agree or disagree with the tennis star's priorities, at least they are now crystal clear. There...
Via thestar.com
February 16, 2012
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Beyond Lin
VANCOUVER--Tough to notice much of anything else with Jeremy Lin hysteria sweeping the world like sub-prime mortgage defaults. But two terrific hockey stories worth noting slipped through the Lin-mania hurricane on the weekend. First, the 20th consecutive home win by...
Via thestar.com
February 13, 2012
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Canadian Tennis Stunner
VANCOUVER--What shaped up as a huge day for Canadian tennis has been destroyed. With a national TV audience anticipating a significant Davis Cup match today between Canada's Milos Raonic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, the Canadian team was hit with...
Via thestar.com
February 12, 2012
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Climbing Everest
VANCOUVER--The good news is that it didn't take long. Canada's Davis Cup doubles team of Daniel Nestor and Milos Raonic, hurriedly thrown together on Saturday, were whipped in three sets by the French tandem of Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau...
Via thestar.com
February 11, 2012
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Game On
VANCOUVER--Jo-Wilfried Tsonga schooled a very nervous Vasek Pospisil. Milos Raonic, meanwhile, did what a top player is supposed to do and what he didn't do in Australia last month; facing a player he was supposed to beat, he took him...
Via thestar.com
February 11, 2012
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If Ya Gotta, Ya Gotta. But Leave Me Out of It.
VANCOUVER--Never been a fan of the NHL's Winter "Classic." Never will be. So if you're thinking you've got a convert on your hands just because the team in the city where I spend most of my time, the Maple Leafs,...
Via thestar.com
February 08, 2012
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Monday After Madonna
It was a good game. Watched it. Enjoyed it. There was drama, some of it real, some manufactured, and this year's Super Bowl (sorry, can't do the Roman numerals) was indeed a hard-hitting, teeth-jarring contest that was generally well-played by...
Via thestar.com
February 06, 2012
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Prospects and Suspects
KELOWNA--Nail Yakupov didn't show, and in the end, it probably doesn't matter. Mikhail Grigorenko did show, but not really, and that probably won't matter either when it comes to the 2012 NHL entry draft. But there were those who participated...
Via thestar.com
February 02, 2012
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Yo-Yo Leaf
KELOWNA--Even out here on the west coast you can feel the frustration of Nazem Kadri and those who want him to be a Leaf. This was supposed to be the time he came to say in the bigs, so his...
Via thestar.com
February 01, 2012
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Already Enough
OTTAWA--It's not entirely clear whether some fool did indeed yell "Wade Belak" as Zdeno Chara and Joffrey Lupul were deciding on a defenceman to pick Thursday night at the NHL all-star draft. Videos making the rounds on social media seem...
Via thestar.com
January 27, 2012
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Fedal
It's a rivalry that's been so riveting for so long it has a nickname. "Fedal." Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal. But the fact is this is a rivalry that has swung so heavily to Nadal that it's Rafa most of...
Via thestar.com
January 26, 2012
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Politics and Hockey
Tim Thomas wasn't the first and he won't be the last. Remember NFLer Mark Chmura declining to visit the White House in '97 because of the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal? Steelers linebacker James Harrison skipped the White House twice, the...
Via thestar.com
January 24, 2012
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High on Grass and Other Monday Morning Thoughts
Of course, the new artificial almost-grass is better than the old rock hard stuff, and it's cheaper than having to replace natural sod every season after it gets chewed up. That's why you see so many high schools and even...
Via thestar.com
January 23, 2012
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Lessons of the Game
Tough one for Milos Raonic. But a compelling final blast from Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt, always one of the sport's toughest competitors, may be in the twilight of his long, successful career. But he had enough guile and patience and fire...
Via thestar.com
January 21, 2012
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