Today the Toronto Marlies announced that defencemen Noel Hoefenmayer and Matteo Pietroniro have been re-signed to one-year standard AHL contracts. Hoefenmayer, 23, appeared in only eight games for the Marlies this past season, but suited up for 46 games for the Newfoundland Growlers, where he found success as an offensively gifted, but defensively sound member…
It was just over two weeks ago that Jason Spezza announced his retirement and accepted a job in the Maple Leafs’ front office. The 19-season veteran called it a career after amassing a total of 995 points in 1248 career regular season games and an additional 76 points across 97 career playoff games. However, the…
The Newfoundland Growlers season has come to an end. The Leafs’ ECHL affiliate squad’s quest to reclaim the Kelly Cup was halted in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Florida Everblades in five games. From the start of the series, it seemed impossible for Newfoundland to find and maintain momentum, but they battled to the…
It sounds like something out of fiction, but this statement is very real: in 2022, a hockey team under the MLSE banner is going to the Eastern Conference Finals. There were times when it looked like the train had run out of track, and it came down to an unprecedented show of determination to get…
In just over 13 months, the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise will cross a threshold. Earlier this week, at the season-ending media availabilities, Brendan Shanahan said on Matthews “We’d like to make him a Leaf forever.” And despite ever-present anxiety in the fanbase, it’s not hard to imagine a world where Shanahan’s wish comes true. In…
It was never going to be this easy. It was always going seven. And it was always going to be heartbreaking as the Tampa Bay Lightning found a way (though legitimately or not- don’t worry, we’ll get to that,) to stave off elimination and force yet another Game 7 for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Much…
If I were Sheldon Keefe, I would definitely drop a comment that the Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t have to play particularly hard to beat the Maple Leafs last night. It’s hard not to look at this game as the Leafs beating themselves, as they have done many times in the past. The Leafs took the…
With all eyes on the NHL playoffs, another team in the Maple Leafs organization has just punched their ticket to the second round. It was a hard-fought battle that took the full seven games, but the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers ultimately emerged victorious in the opening round of the playoffs against their Canadian rivals from Quebec,…
Game 2 is upon us and the question all across Leafs Nation is pretty simple: can the Maple Leafs put up another performance like the first game? Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper gave the Leafs zero respect for the 5-0 rout in Game 1 of the series, going as far to say “we gave…
With the announcement from Sheldon Keefe before Tuesday’s game versus Detroit that Michael Bunting would not play this week, the Leafs’ top left-winger closes out his first full season in the league with a very impressive 63 points in 79 games. Is that enough to capture Toronto’s 11th Calder Trophy? There is no shortage of…
The Maple Leafs made two moves at the NHL level around the trade deadline (three if you include signing Nick Abruzzese). The Leafs also made a trade for Ilya Lyubushkin about a month earlier and traded away Travis Dermott for a third-round pick. Since the deadline has passed, the team has put together a tidy…
The regular season came to an end for the Newfoundland Growlers on April 17 in a 5-0 victory over the Adirondack Thunder. The Maple Leafs’ ECHL affiliate team ends of the 2021-22 regular season with a 42-20-5 record, good for 89 points on the league standings and securing the team 2nd place in the North…
