Goal Line Report

Entries with the tag: Toronto+Maple+Leafs

A Brief Interview with Millian of “The Blue Line: Hockey Talk Radio”

by Patrick Hoffman on 02/07/10 at 10:56 AM ET
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Millian, the host of “The Blue Line: Hockey Talk Radio”, was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk about the trades that took place in the past week as well another thought on our favorite sport:

PH: What do you make of Kovalchuk landing in Jersey? Does the deal automatically make them Cup contenders?
M: Kovalchuk, IMO, is going to be a rental player, and I feel he is is going to see what the KHL has to offer. Not many teams will be available to offer $101M dollars, so there is definitely more to that story. A lot is going to hinge on what happens in the Olympics as well. One twisted knee and he is out for the remainder of the year, and NJD gave away players for nothing.

I worry about the Devils chances in general simply because of the amount of Olympians they have, including their star goalie, who has been having a rough time lately. With Kovy, they add another Olympian to that equation.

Also, I am not sure how Kovy is going to mesh with Lemaire, both in terms of playing styles and of butting heads. Kovy does not really play defense, nor backcheck, and I dont see Lemaire looking the other way too much. If he butts heads with him, Ilya has no ties to NJ, and therefore, no reason to stay. In the KHL, they will be happy to smooch his rump, and in my estimation, he will command near $20M per year.

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 Tags: Blue+Line:+Hockey+Talk+Radio, Calgary+Flames, Millian, New+Jersey+Devils, NHL, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Senators and Leafs Highlight Northeast Division

by Patrick Hoffman on 02/03/10 at 12:22 PM ET
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From good friend of the blog James Murphy at NHL.com:

The Ottawa Senators will try to stretch their franchise-record winning streak to 10 games Wednesday when they take on the Northeast Division-leading Buffalo Sabres. But as coach Cory Clouston pointed out Tuesday, there’s always room for improvement even when everything seems to be going right.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect game or perfect team,” Clouston told the Ottawa Sun. “There are always areas to improve on. We’re playing well (but) you can’t get complacent. You can either move forward or backward. We want to continue to move forward. To just say one or two areas, it doesn’t work that way. There are a lot of areas where we’ve got to get better.”

Jason Spezza also has a streak of his own going as he has scored a goal in seven straight games; he can break former teammate Dany Heatley’s club record with a goal against the Sabres on Wednesday. Spezza, though, ruled out superstition as the secret to his success.

Click here for more from our good pal Murph.

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 Tags: NHL, Northeast+Division, Ottawa+Senators, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Luck Number 7

by Patrick Hoffman on 10/18/09 at 04:33 PM ET
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Last night, the New York Rangers won their seventh straight game of the season by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second time in a span of five days by a score of 4-1. The usual suspects were at it again for the Blueshirts as the team got strong performances from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik, Brandon Dubinsky, Vinny Prospal, and Michael Del Zotto.

Unfortunately, I was not able to watch the game last night because I was at the New York Yankee game. With that in mind, check out the links below for the latest news, notes, and opinions from last night’s victory:

- NewYorkRangers.com: Rangers Plow Through Leafs; Streak at 7
- Rangers Report: Rangers-Leaves in Review
- Blue Notes: The Wrap from Toronto: Rangers Streak Best since 2006
- Ranger Rants: Rangers 4, Maple Leafs 1: Postgame Wrapup
- Scotty Hockey: 7-1-0: Beating the Beatable
- Blueshirt Banter: Rangers News and Notes from last night’s win over Toronto

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 Tags: New+York+Rangers, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Rangers Look to Pounce on Leafs tomorrow night

by Patrick Hoffman on 10/16/09 at 12:28 PM ET
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Tomorrow night, the New York Rangers take on the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre as the Blueshirts look to extend their winning streak to seven games.

This should be an easy task, considering the Leafs are the only winless team in the National Hockey League. They’ve struggled with everything from offense (13 goals for), defense (28 goals allowed), bad bounces and of course, goaltending.

The Rangers, on the other hand, are clicking on all cylinders right now as they lead the league in goals (that’s not a misprint), points, and are tied for the league lead in wins with six. The team is getting scoring up and down the lineup, playing solid defensively, clicking on the power play and penalty kill, and getting timely saves from both Henrik Lundqvist and Steve Valiquette.

However, do any of you Blueshirt fans out there see tomorrow night’s game as a potential trap? I know it is the lowly Leafs but that has never stopped the Rangers from blowing a game before. Hopefully, Tortorella will have them ready to go for what should be a great crowd in Toronto and lots of viewers on Hockey Night in Canada. 

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 Tags: New+York+Rangers, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Your thoughts on this year’s start and last year’s start

by Patrick Hoffman on 10/13/09 at 07:34 PM ET
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The New York Rangers have jumped out to a 5-1 record through their first six games this season. Last night, they crushed the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 7-2, feasting on poor goaltending from Vesa Toskala and a struggling Leafs team.

As most of you knowledgeable Ranger fans know, the team was 5-0 to start last season before dropping the sixth game of the season. What I want to know is which record do you folks think is more impressive - this season’s or last season’s?

In my eyes, it has clearly been this season. The Rangers are getting contributions from everyone, putting the puck in the net, converting their power play opportunities, playing solid defensively and of course, getting great goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist.

Last season, although the team started out 5-0, I believe that it was due to their excellent defensive play, strong penalty killing and outstanding goaltending from Lundqvist. This year, however, it’s been more of a team effort and that’s exactly the way Rangers’ head coach John Tortorella wants it.

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 Tags: New+York+Rangers, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Weekend Update

by Patrick Hoffman on 10/09/09 at 03:27 PM ET
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Good afternoon folks. Just wanted to give you all a heads up that I will be in Massachusetts/New Hampshire this weekend for a wedding so unfortunately, I will not be able to update the blog.

With that in mind, I figured I’d take a brief look at this weekend’s game for the Blueshirts. In my mind, the game on Sunday against the Ducks will be a tough one but with the Rangers’ newly found offense and forechecking skills, they should be able to pick up two points.

It’s my guess that they’ll go with Henrik Lundqvist in that game and than use Steve Valiquette on Monday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, another team that the Blueshirts should be able to beat. The Leafs are struggling left and right and not getting the goaltending they need from starter Vesa Toskala, which is unfortunate since the “Monster” Jonas Gustavsson is out with a groin injury. 

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 Tags: Anaheim+Ducks, Los+Angeles+Kings, New+York+Rangers, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Interesting Take on Gustavsson

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/06/09 at 10:36 PM ET
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From Scotty Wazz at The Strangest One of All:

Gustavsson is the prized Swede of the summer, following Fabian Brunnstrom last season, which could spark warning signals considering how inconsistent Brunnstrom was with the Stars. It’s a risk/reward situation when you bring a European trained goalie into the NHL. By all accounts though, Gustavsson will be fairing just fine in his new dig wherever they may end up being. Plus, since he’ll be seen as a franchise goalie, the odds are that the team will build around him and give him what he needs to feel protected. That was the main issue why he said he was going to wait until after July 1st to sign with a team, in order to see which of his suitors would give him the most help in his first years over in North America.

Cue Brian Burke’s signings.

You can bet that after hearing that news, any kind of other plans the Leafs had on the free agent market went into the can when they heard that news and focused on giving their goaltender some help, whoever it may be. However, to say they aren’t hoping for Gustavsson to sign in Toronto is silly. That’s the main thing they are gunning for, it seems, with the signing of two defensemen of the “shut down” style of play. Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin will provide grit and solid defensive play for whoever is in the Leafs net this season, and if it happens to be a rookie Swede who was wooed by the two signings....sobeit.

The question remains on if the young Swede will go to a place where the defense is better or if it’s a balanced system. There’s the flaw by the Leafs, who do have a solid defense now, but the fact remains they don’t have many guy who can bury the puck in the back of the net. If Gustavsson cares about goal support, that could be a detriment to the Leafs push in signing him.

Click here for more. A few questions from my end:

- Are people making too big a deal about someone who hasn’t even played in an NHL game yet?
- If he does go to Toronto, what kind of pressure will he face? We all know how impatient Leafs’ media/fans can be.
- What happens if he goes to Toronto, starts and fails? What will become of the big Swedish netminder?

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 Tags: Jonas+Gustavsson, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Thoughts on Orr (not that one)?

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/01/09 at 02:21 PM ET
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As you read it here on KK, Colton Orr has signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which makes sense since Leafs’ GM Brian Burke loves that kind of player.

What do you think this means for the New York Rangers? Who is going to step up and be their enforcer? Sure, Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan can hit but I’m not sure Blueshirts’ head coach John Tortorella wants them fighting.

What do you think?

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 Tags: Brandon+Dubinsky, Colton+Orr, Free+Agents, New+York+Rangers, Ryan+Callahan, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Antropov Coming Into His Own on Broadway

by Patrick Hoffman on 04/15/09 at 11:00 PM ET
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For what seemed like his whole career in the blue and white in Toronto, Nik Antropov was a guy that the Maple Leafs were looking to unload. He had become known as a player who could turn on a switch a play great hockey whenever he wanted to. However, he didn’t do that often enough with the Maple Leafs and at the trade deadline, he found himself acquired by the New York Rangers.

So far, the move has worked out in spades for the Rangers as Antropov put up 13 points (7 goals and 6 assists) in 18 games and helped a struggling Ranger team clinch the seventh playoff spot in the tight Eastern Conference.

What’s more is that he has been consistent on both sides of the puck. Everyone knows that Antropov, 29 years old, is gifted offensively but as a Ranger, he has shown that he can back check, forecheck, give a hit, take a hit and more importantly, play in the last few minutes of the game.

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 Tags: Eastern+Conference, John+Tortorella, New+York+Rangers, Nik+Antropov, Toronto+Maple+Leafs, Washington+Capitals,

Thoughts on Antropov

by Patrick Hoffman on 03/04/09 at 03:05 PM ET
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The New York Rangers picked up Nik Antropov from the Toronto Maple Leafs this afternoon.

He currently has 21 goals (which actually leads the Rangers) and 25 assists for 46 points in 63 games.

He’s struggled with consistency and seems to be a player that can turn it on when he wants to. Hopefully, under fiery head coach John Tortorella, he’ll learn to play with passion, hustle and produce on a nightly basis.

What do you folks think about this one? 

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 Tags: John+Tortorella, New+York+Rangers, Nik+Antropov, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Same Team, Different Day

by Patrick Hoffman on 02/27/09 at 11:30 AM ET
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Much like the team did on Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Rangers dominated the first two periods of their game against the Florida Panthers and still managed to find a way to lose 2-1 in regulation.

The Blueshirts outshot the Cats’ 41-22 and yet, only got one past Panthers’ netminder Craig Anderson. Though, Brandon Dubinsky had a goal waved off early in the first period and after reviewing the play over and over, it’s clear that Dubinsky’s stick was below the crossbar so once again, the Blueshirts caught a tough break.

It really is amazing how this team can’t score. Last night, they had trouble lifting the puck, they missed open notes, they shot right into Anderson, etc. They did all the things that’s been killing them this season and got a typical Blueshirt result over the past couple of months: a loss.

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 Tags: Brandon+Dubinsky, Carolina+Hurricanes, Colorado+Avalanche, Craig+Anderson, Florida+Panthers, New+York+Rangers, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Give It Some Time

by Patrick Hoffman on 02/26/09 at 10:00 AM ET
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I hope New York Rangers fans weren’t expecting the team to come out and fire in four or five goals last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs because if they were, they had to be disappointed.

In last night’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Leafs, the Rangers dominated the first 40 minutes of the game as they got to loose pucks, put pucks on goal, crashed the net for rebounds and played tight defense. However, due to John Tortorella’s attacking style, the team got tired and simply ran out of gas in the third period and the OT. This is obviously something that the team will need to adjust to if they want ot have any kind of success going forward.

As Tortorella mentioned in his post-game press conference, this team obviously has trouble finishing and it’s definitely hurting their confidence right now. When they get the chance to shoot it, it either gets blocked or they pass it off. They have pucks bouncing over sticks in front of the net, they’re hitting posts and they’re making every goalie look like the second coming of Patrick Roy. 

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 Tags: Eastern+Conference, Florida+Panthers, John+Tortorella, Montreal+Canadiens, New+York+Rangers, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,

Change on the Way?

by Patrick Hoffman on 02/25/09 at 04:30 PM ET
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With John Tortorella making his season debut as the New York Rangers head coach tonight against the Toronto Maple leafs, many fans are hoping that this will signal lots of positive changes.

Based on what Tortorella told the press corps yesterday, he wants to instill confidence in his troops and give them the creativity that they need to play effectively. At the same time, however, he also mentioned that he does not want to fall into the same trap he did last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where his team went all out on offense and suffered on the defensive end.

With that said, Tortorealla is going to do everything he can to get some offensive chemistry into this lineup. For one thing, expect to see a lot less of the fourth line and more of the top three lines as Tortorella believes in playing his best players as much as possible in order to give the team the best chance to win a hockey game.

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 Tags: John+Tortorella, Kalinin, Michal+Rozsival, New+York+Rangers, Rietz, Steve+Zipay, Tampa+Bay+Lightning, Toronto+Maple+Leafs, Wade+Redden,

A New Season

by Patrick Hoffman on 02/20/09 at 10:45 AM ET
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When the New York Rangers beat the New York Islanders on Wednesday night, Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist said it was a good start to the new season.

It’s a good thing that the Blueshirts are looking at this as a new season since more than halfway through this 2008-09 campaign, a season that has been mired with a lack of scoring, a lack of finish, a terrible power play and overall, inconsistency.

This weekend, the team looks to continue its perfect new season with games against the Buffalo Sabres (tomorrow night in Buffalo) and Toronto Maple Leafs (Sunday night at the Garden). To pick up four points, the team will need to do the following: 

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 Tags: Buffalo+Sabres, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, Scott+Gomez, Stephen+Valiquette, Toronto+Maple+Leafs, Wade+Redden,

Christmas Could Come Early

by Patrick Hoffman on 12/16/08 at 09:15 PM ET
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According to Vancouver Canucks’ General Manager Mike Gillis, Mats Sundin will have his decision by Thursday.

All I can say is, and I think the rest of the hockey world will agree with me, it’s about time. Since last season ended, all anyone could talk about was “What is Mats Sundin going to do?” “Is he going to retire?” “Is he going to stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs?” “Is he going to be a Montreal Canadien, Vancouver Canuck, Philadelphia Flyer, New York Ranger, etc.?” “Will he really just be a rent-a-player?”

That question will finally be answered on Thursday and right now, it’s tough to say what he is going to decide.

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 Tags: Daniel+Sedin, Fredrik+Sjostrom, Henrik, Henrik+Sedin, Markus+Naslund, Mats+Sundin, Mike+Gillis, Montreal+Canadiens, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Toronto+Maple+Leafs, Vancouver+Canucks,