mitch told Tim & Sid this week that justin holl is currently living with him (the holls are close friends of mitch & gf steph - recommend watching their leaf-to-leaf if you haven’t!)
Nation Sites
The Nation Network
The LeafsNation has no direct affiliation to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Page 6ix Wednesday, December 16th: Snowmageddon Edition
Hello from NY, where we are expecting up to a foot of snow tonight, so as I sit all cozy inside in my layers I thought I’d bring you all some of the hockey happenings. As you might expect at holiday time during a pandemic, it is a tad slow on the gossip front. But let’s see what we can find, shall we?
Leafs Lads
As always, we begin by checking in on our Leafs. @Auston Matthews continues to entertain big name guests down in AZ, and this week it was the one and only Justin Bieber!
Their friendship seems very special.
As we mentioned last week. the non-Toronto based Leafs seem to be slowly making their way back to the Six, and we learned this week that @Justin Holl is camping out with @Mitch Marner and his girlfriend, Steph.
@Jack Campbell is settling into snowy life in Toronto, and so are his cats.
And finally, apparently some Leafs fans don’t value our players as much as I do:
Most frequently selected Maple Leafs by fans using @CapFriendly's Seattle Kraken expansion draft simulator: 1. Dermott 2. Holl 3. Campbell 4. Simmonds 5. Engvall 6. Vesey 7. Anderson 8. Kerfoot 9. Bogosian 10. Thornton sprtsnt.ca/34f4sCU
Change is Coming?
There has been quite a bit of change this year in the sports world, with some teams that have had culturally insensitive names and/or logos moving away from their past and into a more inclusive and culturally aware future (looking at you, Chicago Blackhawks.)
This past week, new Canucks goalie @Braden Holtby was informed that his mask design was appropriative of First Nations culture. He was quick to apologize and pledge to change the design and use an Indigenous artist in the future.
Vancouver Canucks goalie Braden Holtby is apologizing after the artwork on his new custom-painted mask was criticized for appropriating First Nations art. bc.ctvnews.ca/artwork-on-cus…
In the aftermath, there was suggestion that similar measures be taken regarding the Canucks logo:
In light of sports teams in Cleveland, Washington, and Edmonton getting rid of racist and appropriated Indigenous team names/logos, it's time to have a discussion about the Vancouver @Canucks's Indigenous appropriated Orca logo. Here's a thread.
Moving toward a league that is culturally aware, inclusive, and diverse can only be a good thing.
Scandal in Sweden?
Listen, I don’t know much about Swedish hockey, but this seems like A Big Deal:
Potentially big story brewing in Swedish hockey: There are allegations that members of Björklöven "fixed" tonight's 8-4 loss to Mora in the Allsvenskan. The CEO of the team says he welcomes the investigation, which is already underway.
Björklövens vd: ”Fullkomligt oacceptabelt”: I efterspelet till Björklövens 4-8-förlust mot Mora har det spekulerats i att spelare från Björklöven varit inblandade i ”matchfixning” och medvetet agerat på ett sätt som gynnat motståndarlaget. Björklövens vd… dlvr.it/RndzTT
Holiday Hijinks
Over in St. Louis (we assume). @Steve Ott adorably terrified the sh$t out of his kids during family holiday photos. Thanks to his wife Erica for capturing the hilarity and sharing it with the world.
Check out the whole series HERE.
Divisional Drama
So we also learned this past week that the original divisional realignment that was leaked a while back was incorrect, and the new alignment was released. This in and of itself is fairly undramatic.
However, hockey reporters arguing about it? That’s pretty entertaining:
BTW, if you want to pretend to be @ddale8, by all means. Bring it on. We can start with your divisional alignment, which was wrong from jump street - and we’re not talking about the Flyers omission. 👍🏻
(This was in response to the tweet below)
Checked in on Max Pacioretty being shopped by the @GoldenKnights, and I don't believe he's in play. Even if he was, I believe his NTC would cover some of the teams being mentioned as destinations.
*insert eating popcorn gif*
Final Thoughts
If you missed it somehow, The Toronto Six unveiled an awesome new locker room yesterday, and we had an exclusive first look! Really cool stuff.
Stay warm and dry out there folks, and don’t forget to check us out on Twitter.
Breaking News
- Darren Raddysh calls joining the Maple Leafs a ‘no-brainer’
- Scenes from Toronto Marlies’ Calder Cup championship rally
- James Mirtle thinks the Raddysh deal signals Toronto’s intent to win now: Leafs Morning Take
- Friedman: Maple Leafs in on Sergei Bobrovsky as team looks to upgrade in net
- 5 players Maple Leafs should target with 2nd-round pick