Leafs Rookies Out In The Cold

The pain Leafs Nation is set to endure became more evident today as the final cuts were announced and most of the promising Leaf prospects now find themselves preparing with Sheldon Keefe for the upcoming American Hockey League season.

Chief among the kids that got a long look was 2014 first rounder William Nylander. Nylander had a strong showing in camp and during the preseason he made new Leaf coach Mike Babcock think long and hard about his final cuts. Babcock's suggestion prior to camp was that the kids would have to steal jobs and Nylander was arguably the Leafs top forward during the preseason.

He made a strong impression and he certainly didn't look out of place however the new front office in Toronto clearly feels it's the wrong time to thrust the rookies into the NHL with the Maple Leafs heading for what could be a tough season.

Another bright spot was fellow second year pro Connor Brown.
The former sixth round pick has continued to improve while silencing many doubters. The small forward gained praise from Leaf coach Babcock and was also among the final cuts proving that not only has he defied his draft position but he's also found himself on the Leaf coaches radar.

Going forward it's clear the plan has not changed. The kids will over develop in the minors and the veterans will play out their contracts until it's time for the Marlies and Major Junior players to step in.

In the meantime settle in. It could be a very rough ride especially with future star Austin Matthews set to go first overall in the 2016 draft not that anyone would admit that maybe... just maybe this team is set up to fail. Mike Babcock will whip the dogs but maybe it's best the team bottoms out one time before the club begins to reassemble the main roster for the future.

Leafs: Looking forward

The Toronto Maple Leafs are finally in rebuild mode. Leafs nation saw a partial rebuild under former GM Brian Burke who came in with a bang acquiring now Leafs leading scorer Phil Kessel and then trading Stajan, Hagman, White and Mayers to the Flames for now Leafs Captain Dion Phaneuf. Eventually this led to trades for James Van Riemsdyk and Joffrey Lupul, Jake Gardiner and Cody Franson

Now we are witnessing the Leafs tear down. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch from a transaction perspective. Today Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli were moved to Nashville for Nashvilles 2015 First round selection and Brendan Leipsic. Leipsic is a former CHL scoring champion and one of the top rookie point producers in the American Hockey League this season. The Leafs strike early by moving two players they couldn't get signed to extensions and bolster the impressive group of young forwards on their way through the system.

New Leafs prospect Leipsic joins OHL scoring champ Connor Brown with the Leafs AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies. Both players are top 5 in rookie scoring in the AHL and should become the top line for the Marlies as the team battles it's way back from a rough start. The Leafs top prospect William Nylander will have some strong options on the wing as if he hadn't already with Frattin, Abbott and Mckegg having good seasons thus far.

Marlies will get more talent next season to develop in Gauthier, Verhaeghe and Andreas Johnson. Rinat Valiev is 2 years away. #TMLtalk
— Paul Hendrick (@HennyTweets) February 15, 2015

As Paul Hendrick points out there are also players graduating from juniors next season led by Leafs 2013 1st rounder Fredrik Gautier. The 6'4 220lb Gautier will continue to grow as he makes the jump to the AHL in what will undoubtedly become a Calder Cup contender. Joining him will be Andreas Johnson who will likely be coming over from the SHL and Toronto born Carter Verhaege.

Looking forward there are rumblings of potential Bozak, Lupul and Winnik trades before the deadline as teams look to beef up for playoff runs and the Leafs continue to tear down as they build for what we all hope will be a much brighter future. Toronto now has two first round picks for the first time since drafting Tyler Biggs 22nd and Stuart Percy at 25th overall in the 2011 Entry Draft

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LNAH Comes To Cornwall

It's been a long bittersweet wait for those who knew it was coming but finally the wait is over. On Thursday the last day of May a press conference was called at the Cornwall Civic Complex to formally announce the arrival of Cornwall's newest addition.  A new chapter is being written in the City of Cornwall's storied hockey history. A city that has housed Major Junior/AHL/CJHL will add another league to it's resume. The LNAH. A league which is normally known more for it's rough play and fisticuffs. However when you take a deeper look at this league you recognise a girth of talent ranging from former NHL'ers and AHL'ers to Major Junior veterans. A quality of competition not seen since the days when the Cornwall Aces plied their trade as the minor affiliate of the NHL's Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche

Here is the press conference video announcing the arrival of the River Kings

Video credit: Keith Papineau

Keeping with the tradition of Cornwall hockey the River Kings will sport the blue,red and white which has been the go to colours of the Aces, Colts and Royals before them.

Quick to make a splash the River Kings management announced the first ever River King former First Round Pick(14th Overrall to the Washington Capitals) Sasha Pokulok of Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC. The 6'5 defensemen spent the 2011-2012 season in the KHL playing for Zagreb Medvescak playing 49 games and registering  17 points and a +12 rating.

Photo credit: Keith Papineau



Formerly Sherbrook St-Francois and this season the Windsor Wild. The River Kings will look to continue the franchises winning ways. Sherbrooke won the championship twice in 05-06 and in 2010-2011 season. The organisation then moved to Windsor to become the Wild where under GM and former Cornwall Aces goaltender Jean-Francois Labbe the team played in the final against Thetford-Mines Isothermic falling short of becoming the first team to win back to back championships since the Laval Chiefs from 2001-2003.


The River Kings were quick to pull the trigger on trades:
#1 http://caronetguay.lnah.com/nouvelle.aspx?i=9202#.T8jpLxIhBmc.facebook 
Translation: Pierre-Luc Faubert and 8th round pick to Cornwall
Yann Joseph, Denis Demarais, M-A Huot and Stephane Boileau to Trois Rivieres.

#2 http://coolfm.lnah.com/nouvelle.aspx?i=9208
To Saint-Georges: Samuel Grenache, Phillipe Bolduc, Martin Nolet and Brandon Christian
To Cornwall: Former Colt and NHLer Eric Meloche and Ryan-James Hand

Shipping out former Windsor Wild players who likely had no plans of playing in Cornwall and bringing in pieces to build upon.

The biggest piece of these deals is former Cornwall Colt, Penguin, Flyer and Calder Cup winner Eric Meloche. The 36 year old right winger is a veteran of over 70 NHL games 400 AHL games and 200 DEL games. Potential to hit a point per game or more is high with Meloche as his depth of experience will serve him and the River Kings well. He has put up points at every level of hockey and will be a leader on and off the ice for a team in it's infancy.

Photo credit: Stefanie Kovacevic

Congratulation to everyone who was involved in making this happen. Cheers to new beginnings here in Cornwall!!!