Hockey has a new product that hopes will make social changes within the game. Pride Tape, a rainbow-coloured stick tape, was created to promote the inclusion of LGBTQ athletes in sports.
Former Leafs general manager Brian Burke is returning to the Ducks.
Burke, who was fired in January 2013, was kept on in an advisory role to the Toronto club, but will now return to the Anaheim Ducks as a part-time scout.
Burke was in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on Friday to watch the Leafs 2012 first round draft pick Morgan Rielly step on the ice for the Warriors home opener.
The 2011-12 NHL season kicks off for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, and it may very well be Ron Wilson’s last with the team. The Leafs’ head coach is in the last year of a four-year contract he signed in 2008, when then-Leafs general manager Cliff Fletcher inked the former San Jose Sharks bench boss to a deal that Wilson’s Team USA friend and old buddy, Brian Burke, inherited. At the time, Wilson was seen as a fairly solid hire for the Leafs, considering he was on the heels of a very successful tenure with the Sharks, at least in the regular season, and also considering he once coached the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup Finals.
After winning its opening two games of the season for the first time since 1999, Toronto had been abuzz after Saturday’s 5-1 win over provincial-rival Ottawa. As quick as fans of the blue-and-white were to get excited about a franchise that has not given much to cheer for since the lockout, many outsiders were mocking those Leaf supporters for planning the parade route.
The Nazem Kadri decision has been made. Toronto officially sent the 19-year-old down to the AHL's Marlies on Monday, as the team trimmed its roster in advance of Thursday’s season opener against the Montreal Canadiens.
One of the Maple Leafs best young players has somehow escaped the spotlight of the Toronto media thus far in training camp. Luke Schenn spent his first two seasons with the blue-and-white having every move criticized by both fans and media as he was the lone prospect in the system.
With 21 players cut from Maple Leafs training camp this week, the composition of the Toronto Marlies is slowly coming into focus, as the pre-season schedule officially opens on Friday.