If you’ve been itching to see a little hockey, look no further than the Toronto Maple leafs upcoming week of preseason play. The team plays six games in the next seven nights, the first five of which are on consecutive nights. Good thing Brian Burke invited 437 skaters to camp.
Here’s the TV schedule breakdown if you find the vast digital cable universe as vexing as I do: Leafs vs. Sens tonight on Sportsnet Ontario, Wednesday night vs. Sens on TSN, Thursday night versus the Flyers on Leafs TV, Friday night vs. the Flyers on Leafs TV, Saturday night vs. the Sabres on Leafs TV and Monday night on Leafs TV. All six games have a 7 p.m. ET start time.
James Mirtle reports that this is what the lineups will look like tonight:
Leafs:
Goalies: Jonas Gustavsson (starter), Jussi Rynnas
Defence: Dion Phaneuf, Tomas Kaberle, Brett Lebda, Carl Gunnarson, Matt Lashoff, Simon Gysbers
Forwards: Nazem Kadri, Colby Armstrong, Kris Versteeg, Christian Hanson, Brayden Irwin, Mike Zigomanis, Mike Brown, Jay Rosehill, Marcel Mueller, Joey Crabb, Ryan Hamilton, Jerry D'Amigo
Senators:
Goalies: Robin Lehner (starter), Brian Elliott
Defence: Jared Cowen, Brian Lee, Chris Campoli, David Hale, Matt Carkner, Andre Benoit
Forwards: Zack Smith, Bobby Butler, Jesse Winchester, Chris Neil, Ryan Shannon, Corey Locke, Roman Wick, Ryan Keller, Tim Spencer, Mike Hoffman, Nick Foligno
On to the links:
The Toronto Sun’s Rob Longley offers his take on ‘the most absurd schedule in the league.’ (We agree)
Puck Daddy weighs in on the Mikhail Grabovski legal drama. Note that the alleged victim was apparently wearing a Montreal Canadiens jersey at the time of the altercation.
Chemmy at Pension Plan Puppets suggests all Leaf fans take a deep breath when it comes to prospect Nazem Kadri. What, asking the kid to score 50 this year is a bit too much?
Blue Chip Prospects gives us a top 10 list of things to look forward to this season, including (gulp) a drive for a playoff spot.
Things got rough at camp yesterday, with Mike Komisarek and Jay Rosehill dropping the gloves. Michael Traikos at the National Post fills us in on the scrappy scrimmages.
The Star’s Damien Cox detects a sense of urgency at training camp this year.
Also in the Star, Mark Zwolinski reports that gargantuan defenceman Keith Aulie had a solid return to full-contact hockey.
