About the Maple Leafs - 2-14-09

A preview of the Maple Leafs.

Record: 20-25-10, 50 points. Toronto is in fourth place in the Northeast Division and 11th place in the Eastern Conference.

Leading Scorer: Jason Blake, 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists).

Last Game: 6-4 road loss at Tampa Bay, Thursday. Lee Stempniak had two goals for Toronto.

Last Game against the Penguins: 5-4 home win, Jan. 31. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had a goal and an assist while Mathieu Garon made 21 saves in his Penguins debut.

Maple Leafs Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Who else but Blake? He had a goal and an assist in the Jan. 31 win and has 45 points (22 goals, 23 assists) in 45 games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Maple Leafs: Dominic Moore (right, above), C; Dennis Bonvie, pro scout.

Ex-Maple Leafs on the Penguins: Hal Gill, D; Tom Fitzgerald, director of player development; Eddie Johnston, senior advisor/hockey operations.

Useless Maple Leafs trivia: Prior to the 1977-78 season, the NHL ordered every team to begin wearing names on the back of their jerseys. The Maple Leafs put up opposition because they feared a decline in the sales of scorecards. The NHL put its foot down and the Maple Leafs relented, but with a twist. They initially put blue lettering on the backs of their blue jerseys and white lettering on the backs of their white jerseys. The NHL wasn't amused and threatened penalties against the franchise. At that point, the Maple Leafs got it together and put contrasting colors on their jerseys. (Source: NHLUniforms.com)

Best Maple Leafs YouTube Video We Could Find: A 1996 line brawl between the Flyers and Maple Leafs that featured a battle between goaltenders Felix Potvin and Ron Hextall:

Notes:

-Marc-Andre Fleury (19-14-3, 2.75 GAA, .913 SV%) is expected to start in net for the Penguins. No word yet if Toronto will go with Vesa Toskala (18-17-9, 3.41 GAA, .882 SV%) or Curtis Joseph (1-6-1, 3.81 GAA, .854 SV%).

-The Penguins are looking for payback tonight.

-The statuses of Ruslan Fedotenko and Sergei Gonchar will be determined at today's morning skate.

-Ryan Whitney cares not for your criticism.

-The Maple Leafs made a few roster moves. Forwards Bates Battaglia and Boyd Devereaux cleared re-entry waivers and were recalled from the team's AHL affiliate while forward Ryan Hollweg was put on waivers. Forward Jeremy Williams was assigned to the team's AHL affiliate.

-Defenseman Tomas Kaberle, Toronto's only all-star this season, remains on injured reserve due to a hand injury. Another defenseman, Mike Van Ryn, is on injured reserve also due to a "lower-body" injury.

-Blake got into a tussle in practice with teammate Mikhail Grabovski yesterday.

-Is Curtis Joseph a hall-of-famer?

-Does coach Ron Wilson deserve more of the blame for the Maple Leafs' woes?

-Is it us, or does Ron Wilson look like actor Chris Cooper?

-Tonight's game is being broadcast on CBC in Canada and on NHL Network in the U.S. If you're planning on watching it on Center Ice or Game Center, you may need to make alternate plans.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 7 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photo: Moore-Elsa/Getty Images; Wilson-Toronto Maple Leafs; Cooper-Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)