The Fifth Liners

The trade rumour mill has been grinding vigorously of late and one name that has been at the centre is that of Carolina Hurricanes captain, Eric Staal .  Word has been that Staal would be happy to waive his no trade cause and join the Toronto Maple Leafs instead. At 30 years old and with only one year left on his contract, this would certainly help lift $8 million off the Hurricanes salary cap. But the real question is, what would be the long term effect of letting one of their stars leave? Ever since their remarkable run to the 2006 Stanley Cup win, the Hurricanes have struggled to be any where near competitive and Raleigh, North Carolina is unlikely to see another cup banner raised any time soon. Eric Staal since being a second overall pick in 2003 has been a solid player for them over the years. His 690 points from just 770 NHL games reads very well, but his plus/minus figures have been consistently dropping recently. Last season amidst a lengthy knee injury, Sta...

The Pittsburgh Penguins won a titantic back and forth battle against the Toronto Maple Leafs last night for a 6-5 shootout win at the Consol Energy Center! From the very outset, things were far from straight foward and despite Chris Connor putting the Penguins ahead after 1.57 of the first period, James Van Riemsdyk soon made thing a tie game after he scored on the powerplay after 5 minutes. From there things got very tricky for the home team as Nazem Kadri gave Toronto the lead after 11 minutes. Less than 43 seconds into the next period- the Leafs hit Pittsburgh with a double blow as a crucial mistake by Marc-Andre Fleury as he attempted to pass the puck behind his net to Jayson Megna let in Van Riemsdyk for his second goal after only 13 seconds! Thirty seconds later Phil Kessel would score to put Toronto 4-1 in front and add to the home fans frustrations! Powerplay goals by Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang midway through help raise spirits- but when Tyler Bozak popped up to score...

NHL 2013/14 is under way and last night the Toronto Maple Leafs kicked off their season with an exciting 4-3 win over fierce rivals the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Center. In an action packed first period, James Van Reimsdyck put the Leafs in front after 8 minutes with a skillful wrist shot, but Eller soon scored for the Canadiens to bring us a tie game. Brendan Gallagher then scored to put the Quebec side 2-1 ahead before the end of the first period! In the second period, despite some great offensive awareness by Montreal, a first star performance by Leafs goalie James Reimer kept them at bay as Toronto levelled the scores at 2-2 with a goal from captain Dion Phaneuf and three minutes before the end, Tyler Bozak scored a wrist shot to put the Maple Leafs 3-2 ahead and leave the home supporters fuming! Things got worse for Montreal in the third period as a debut goal from Mason Raymond gave them a two goal cushion and despite Eller scoring again late in the period- it ...