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Leafs still going
By Chris | February 21, 2008
The Leafs defeated the Blue Jackets in a 3-1 win on Tuesday, they face Buffalo tonight.
Several key members of the team may not be playing at full tilt. Tomas Kaberle is said to have the flu and missed practice yesterday. Pavel Kubina and Darcy Tucker both have foot injuries after both were hit with pucks on Tuesday night. Both have gotten x-rays and they were both negative. They both missed practice yesterday. Boyd Devereaux has an injured knee from a collision in the game on Tuesday where he fell awkwardly onto the ice. Everyone except Devereaux is likely to play. The Leafs did not make any call ups from the Marlies.
It's said that "the big line" will return tonight. Mats Sundin and Nik Antropov are said to be reunited with line-mate Alexei Ponikarovsky. Ponikarovsky has spent the past few games since his return on the 4th line to work his way back in the lineup.
The trade deadline is less than a week away so far there are no deals that have been publicly announced yet, which is not abnormal. It is said that any player with a no trade or no movement clause will be staying. However plays that offer "the best bang for your buck" may need to look to settle in somewhere else. Some players names mentioned in the rumor bin are Nik Antroprov, Chad Kilger, Hal Gill and Alexei Ponikarovsky.
Whatever happens, the Maple Leaf organization and Cliff Fletcher have come out with a statement. Cliff Fletcher is the man in charge. He does not need authorization or permission to make any trades or changes to the team. This is a big change from a few weeks ago just before John Ferguson Jr was fired, he had no authority to make any changes without permission from the MLSE board.
Fletcher also came out and stated that the teams goal to end up in 7th or 8th place in the conference is no longer a goal. The new goal will be to assemble a team that can compete and go head to head with the best teams in the NHL on a nightly basis.
Although JFJ has left the Leafs organization, Leaf fans may not be done seeing his face or hearing his voice. If you play on watching any trade deadline coverage you will see him on TSN analyzing possible and official trades. It also appears he will be staying in the Hockey industry so we may see him more in the future.
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