Toronto Maple Leafs – Working Up a Sweat!
The Maple Leafs team is relatively optimized, but that can be a good thing. Forwards on the ice include Nik Antropov, Jason Blake, Andrea Deveaux, Mikhail Grabovski, Niklas Hagman, Ryan Holloweg, Nikolai Kulemin, Brad May, Jamal Mayers, John Mitchell, Dominic Moor, Alexi Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan, Lee Stempniak and Jeremy Williams. Defenders include Jeff Finger, Jonas Frogren, Tomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina, Luke Schenn, Jaime Sifers, Anton Stralman, Mike Van Ryn, and Ian White. Goalkeepers include Curtis Joseph and Vesa Toskala. Members off injured reserve include Williams, Finger and Van Ryn.
Players in the Maple Leafs system include team forwards Brent Aubin, Alex Barry, Darryle Boyce, Joel Champagne, Christopher Didomenico, Robert Earl, Jerome Flaake, Alex Foster, Matt Frattin, Stefano Gillati, Ryan Hamilton, Jimmy Hayes, Leo Komarov, Dale Mitchell. , Kris Newbury, Pierce Norton, Ben Ondrus, Chad Rau, Tyler Ruegsegger, Alexander Shinkar, Viktor Stahlberg, Jan Steber, Mikhail Stefanovich, Konstantin Volkov, and Ben Winnett. Defenders include Carl Gunnarsson, Chris Harrington, Korbinian Holzer, Staffan Kronwall, Andrew MacWilliam, Juraj Mikus, Phil Oreskovic, Richard Petiot, Maxim Semenov, Dmitri Vorobiev and Derrick Walser. Goalkeepers include Justin Pogge, James Reimer and Grant Rollheiser.
Coaches and coaches supporting the Maple Leafs this season include head coach Robert Wilson, assistant coach Keith Acton, assistant coach Tim Hunter, assistant coach Rob Zettler, player development coach Paul Dennis, goalkeeping coach Skating Coach Corey Hirsch, Grame Townshed, Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Matt Nichol, Team Manager Brian Paineau, Assistant Team Manager Bobby Hasting, Assistant Team Manager Tom Blatchford and Analyst of video Chris Dennis.
Ranked 11th, the Maple Leafs aren’t breaking any records with a score of 42, but the season is still young, so almost anything is possible. With two games remaining in January against the Avalanche and Penguins, the Maple Leafs move on to February when they will play road games against the Sabers, Canadiens, Panthers, Lightning, Rangers, Islanders and Senators. Then in February, the Maple Leafs will host games against the Panthers, Penguins, Sabers, Blue Jackets, Canucks and Rangers.
In March, the Maple Leafs will play road games against the Capitals, Senators, Lightning, Panthers, Canadiens and Sabers. Home games in March will be times when the Maple Leafs will host competitions against the Devils, Oilers, Islanders, Lightning, Flames, Capitals and Bruins. April ends the 2008-2009 season with six games for the Maple Leafs. Home games are scheduled against the Flyers, Canadians, Sabers and Senators and the game against the Senators will mark the last game of the season for the Maple Leafs on Saturday, April 11. Road games in April will be scheduled against the Flyers and Devils.
The Maple Leafs currently have 42 points in Eastern Conference League play with 17 wins, 22 losses, and 8 OTs. In the league standings, the Maple Leafs are currently in 26th place with only Tampa Bay, Ottawa, Atlanta, and the New York Islanders falling lower in the standings. Northeast division rankings put Maple Leaf fourth behind Boston, Montreal, and Buffalo.