from Practise

Steve says:

Even though there is a shitstorm around them...the boys in blue and white still need to keep on keepin on...
so...here are some quick note from practise today...

- Tucker not at practise after taking a slapshot to the foot
- Tlusty / Blake / Wellwood practising on a line together

Fine for Fighting

Chris:

Here's the fallout regarding the Tucker/Avery scrap.

Rangers: $25,000 fine
Avery: $2,500 fine

Leafs: $10,000 fine
Tucker: $1,000 fine

So both squads got dinged. But I think, by the size of the fines, you can see where the league has decided to lay the blame.

Steve says:

oh yeah....Tucker is Blake's hero huh...
check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da0exRn-xcw

Trash Talk

Chris:
Apparently the whole tete a tete between Avery and Tucker the other night was because Avery had some choice words about Blake's cancer.

Genuine class.

I can see this popping up again the next time these two clubs meet.

Tucker shows Avery what happens when you talk shit to Toronto!

Steve says:

I bet Avery and Tucker get verbal warnings and that's it. Avery's agent tried to cover it up by saying that Avery made remarks about Tucker and his game...but if you saw it happen, it's pretty obvious he was talking to Blake first, and Blake was standing up to him. When Avery puts his glove on Blake, that's when Tucker stepped in and it got messy...

I like what Tucker did. You don't touch another player during the warm up and if the allegations against Avery are true (which we all know they are..let's be real here) then Avery should get a lot more than a verbal warning...but Betteman is a wuss...and that's as far as this will go...

NEXT!

The art of the backhanded compliment

Steve says:

from mapleleafs.com

Although it may not help them become better defensively, the Leafs will be happy to get rugged forward Darcy Tucker and defenseman Bryan McCabe back on Friday.

I think it is sad that getting a veteran defence man back from injury isn't expected to help us defensively...!

someone should really proofread these things before they post them...

Chris:

Wow, with a rousing endorsement like that, who WOULDN'T want to trade for McCabe.

Act now and you can get a goalie who doesn't actually stop goals (Raycroft) and a forward who hates to shoot the puck.

Injury Report

Chris says:

I'll take a knee to the groin for a thousand please Alex.

Tucker is out indefinetly from undefined ligament damage in his right knee. So that doesn't tell you much, but really it's all you need to know. Ligament damage is never good and it almost always means a long time on the bench.

This is not good news. Tucker may not post the highest numbers but he provides a lot of heart and soul to this team. With our unessecary and ongoing goalie baggage, and our continuing lapses at defence, I think it might be time to jettison one of goaltenders and fish around for a Tucker replacement if it looks like he'll have to ride the pine for any length of time.

Look at it like found money. Personally, I feel okay staying with Toskala.