Rebuilding from scratch: Toronto Maple Leafs' road to the Stanley Cup [EHM:2007]

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Maple Leafs hire their GM

August 25th 2008 - Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment have their very own way to run the Toronto Maple Leafs. A long research for a General Manager last spring ended in the announcement that Cliff Fletcher, current interim GM, was going to stay the head of the original six franchise. Fletcher lead the Maple Leafs for the whole summer while the team acquired a plethora of players that are expected to be regulars.

This is when the drama started. Last week, rumours started brewing that the Maple Leafs would finally hire a full time GM before training camp. It was confirmed today when the Leafs hired a complete unknown, businessman Nicolas Fillion, much to the dismay of their fans. Not helping himself, Fillion admitted during the press conference that he was actually an avid Habs fan.

"The season is coming soon, and the Maple Leafs already have a very different face from last year. We are going to be a very competitive team this year; none expect us to win every game, but you can be sure that we will work hard and make you earn your goals."

Fillion didn't deny that the team could still need some changes before opening day, although he didn't want to go into details.

"A few players don't fit in our team philosophy. We'll see what happens."

Training Camp opens September 12th.

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Moves start, Hollweg didn't last long

September 3rd 2008 - It looks like Nicolas Fillion is a man of his word as he has made his first move on the way to the new season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded away left winger Ryan Hollweg to the Anaheim Ducks for centre Todd Marchant. Hollweg never got to dress up for the Leafs; he had been acquired from the New York Rangers via transaction in July, but he was not a player Fillion wanted on his team.

"We wish Ryan well in Anaheim. He was not a player our team was ready to endorse and we felt it was a good opportunity to get a veteran like Todd Marchant."

Marchant, a Buffalo native, had slowed down since his arrival with the Anaheim Ducks. The fast skating centre only scored 16 points in 75 games last year. The Maple Leafs hope he can regain his old form as a solid two-way player on the bottom lines.

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Two important deals announced in the NHL

September 5th 2008

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is traded to the Los Angeles Kings for a 2nd round pick in 2009 previously acquired from the Calgary Flames.

The Buffalo Sabres trade winger Jochen Hecht to the New York Islanders for a 3rd and a 5th round picks in 2009.

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47 players to open training camp

September 12th 2008 - 47 players were in Toronto today as the Maple Leafs held their fitness tests to open the 2008-2009 NHL Season with their first day of training camp. Defensemen Pavel Kubina and Josef Boumedienne showed up in particularly good form. Only Mikhail Grabovsky was unable to take part on the tests as the former Montreal Canadiens' had recieved a puck on the ankle while practicing last week, although the injury is said to be minor.

http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/4056/20082009tcim9.jpg

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Ian White out

Nicolas Fillion continued his shaping up of the Toronto Maple Leafs today as he traded away defenseman Ian White to the Chicago Blackhawks prior to today's first pre-season game against the Philadelphia Flyers. In return, the Maple Leafs recieved 21-years old swedish defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.

Meanwhile the Maple Leafs, with a very young rookie-heavy lineup, lost their first pre-season game 4-0 to the Flyers in Toronto. Justin Pogge was in net for Toronto, blocking 25 of the 29 shots against. Steve Eminger scored twice for the Flyers on his way to being named first star.

Only 22-years old defenseman Anton Stralman put in a really solid performance for the Leafs in that game, notching 21 minutes of ice-time on the right of Jeff Finger and finishing the game with 3 shots, 2 hits and 2 shots blocked. Dominic Moore and Jeremy Williams had particularly difficult games. The team's first round pick in 2008 Luke Schenn player 13 minutes, finishing the game at -1.

The new acquisition is expected to play tommorow night against the Dallas Stars. He will wear #3.

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Loss to Dallas, first scratches announced

September 16th 2008 - The Dallas Stars beat the Maple Leafs 5-1 tonight in Toronto. The Stars' kid line of Konstantin Pushkarev, Perttu Lindgren and Vojtech Polak were the driving force for Dallas, combining for 8 points and being each named a star. Niklas Hagman had the goal for the Leafs, while James Reime blocked 30 of the 35 shots against.

Meanwhile, coach Ron Wilson announced his first round of cuts:

G James Reimer'
D Phil Oreskovic
D James Sifers
D Richard Petiot
LW Stefano Giliati
LW Darryl Boyce
C John Mitchel
C Andre Deveaux
C Tim Stapleton
RW Kyle Rogers
RW Dale Mitchell''
RW Alex Foster
RW Brent Aubin

'sent back to the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL
''sent back to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL

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Great camp for the Swedes

September 21st 2008 - Former captain Mats Sundin may be gone, but the Swedish reprensentation for the Maple Leafs is stronger than ever with Jonas Frögren, Anton Stralman, Josef Boumedienne, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Staffan Kronwall and Alexander Steen all having a realistic shot at the Maple Leafs' opening roster. It's not all, it seems like each of them is having an excellent camp, making it a tough job for coach Ron Wilson to decide on his final roster.

The Leafs played very well in both of their recent pre-season games, a 5-2 win to the Wild and a 5-2 loss to the Canadiens. There are only 30 players left in camp, but the fight for the remaining roster spots, two on defense and five up front, is very intense and it looks like none of the players is ready to be demoted to the AHL's Toronto Marlies.

With Kaberle, Kubina, Van Ryn, Finger and Colaiacovo set on defense, the sixth and seventh spot will go to two of the five swedish defensemen. It looks like Stralman and Hjalmarsson are the front runners at this time, but with the waiver eligibility of Kronwall and Boumedienne, it will be tough to send the down without losing them. Frögren will likely start the year in the minors as the 28 years old is making his first steps in North America.

Jiri Tlusty, Mikhail Grabovsky, Bates Battaglia, Kris Newbury, Dominic Moore, Boyd Devereaux, Nikolai Kulemin, Jeremy Williams and Ben Ondrus are themselves fighting for the five open spots up front. With all of them bringing different assets to the table, it is very difficult to say which ones are going to stay up. It is still safe to say that Tlusty and Grabovsky should be on the opening night roster.

Meanwhile, Luke Schenn, considered by many as one of the most NHL ready prospects of the 2008 NHL Draft, failed to secure a roster spot and was sent down to the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL.

Second round of cuts:
G Justin Pogge
D Luke Schenn'
LW Robbie Earl
RW Jimmy Hayes''

'Sent back to the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL
''Sent back to the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL

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Decided to change my approach here, I'll use this more as a notebook for my dynasty. So instead of posting results from match-to-match, I'm going to post on a more long-term basis with updates on how the team is going.

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The team opens the season with a home-and-home against Ottawa. Here's the lineup:

Grabovski-Antropov-Ponikarovsky
Hagman-Stajan-Steen
Bell-Blake-Mayers
Battaglia-Marchant-Kulemin
(Tlusty-Newbury)

Kaberle-Van Ryn
Colaiacovo-Kubina
Finger-Stralman
(Hjalmarsson)

Toskala
(Joseph)

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So I traded away Hollweg and White, but there are still two players I'm trying to get out of Toronto as soon as possible, but no teams have shown interest thus far.

Jason Blake and his four years left on a 4M$ p/y contract is up for grabs, his attitude and lack of effort being the main reasons. He's simply not a team player, and that's a big negative. Hopefully I'll find a team willing to take on him, maybe by trading away a bigger salary in return. Or maybe I'll have to trade him along with a top prospect to get a taker, but I don't want him in Toronto at year's end.

Mark Bell is another good-as-gone. I don't expect him to be as difficult to trade away than Blake, so I hope I can get one or two good young players for him. I'll give him as much exposure as possible, hopefully he performs and opens eyes. He has one year left on a 2,167M$ contract.

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We will not be using a captain this year, we're going with a three alternates system. Antropov, Mayers, Kaberle, Kubina and Hagman will alternate from game to game with a A on their jersey.