

Starting with overtime wins over Boston on Tuesday and Tampa Bay on Thursday, the 29th-place Leafs have four games with clubs in the playoff race or below them. That's plenty of incentive for the second-youngest team in the NHL, which is trying to find ways to make an impression for coach Wilson and general manager Brian Burke for 2010-11.
"With the position we're in, you want to take a lot of pride and purpose going into a game," second-year defenseman Luke Schenn said before the Leafs beat the Lightning.
"It's a matter of finding our identity," winger Viktor Stalberg added.]]>
Starting with overtime wins over Boston on Tuesday and Tampa Bay on Thursday, the 29th-place Leafs have four games with clubs in the playoff race or below them. That's plenty of incentive for the second-youngest team in the NHL, which is trying to find ways to make an impression for coach Wilson and general manager Brian Burke for 2010-11.
"With the position we're in, you want to take a lot of pride and purpose going into a game," second-year defenseman Luke Schenn said before the Leafs beat the Lightning.
"It's a matter of finding our identity," winger Viktor Stalberg added.]]>
Tampa Bay is not quite in the same bracket of ineptitude, but unlike the Leafs, the Bolts have a couple of real gems amidst the paste of their lineup and, most especially in sophomore sensation Steve Stamkos, a nugget of franchise gold.
]]>Tampa Bay is not quite in the same bracket of ineptitude, but unlike the Leafs, the Bolts have a couple of real gems amidst the paste of their lineup and, most especially in sophomore sensation Steve Stamkos, a nugget of franchise gold.
]]>TORONTO - The youth movement has injected some new life into the long moribund Toronto Maple Leafs, and the way the kids have played of late offers up some tantalizing visions of better times ahead.
TORONTO - The youth movement has injected some new life into the long moribund Toronto Maple Leafs, and the way the kids have played of late offers up some tantalizing visions of better times ahead.


Viktor Stalberg showed he has both game-breaking speed and the potential to be an important part of the Maple Leafs' future after scoring two goals in Toronto's overtime win over Tampa Bay last night.
]]>Viktor Stalberg showed he has both game-breaking speed and the potential to be an important part of the Maple Leafs' future after scoring two goals in Toronto's overtime win over Tampa Bay last night.
]]>







Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning started it. And Toronto’s Phil Kessel ended it. In a wonderful game featuring Stamkos and several of the Leafs young guns, it was the Leafs who prevailed 4-3 in overtime at the Air Canada Centre Thursday night.
]]>Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning started it. And Toronto’s Phil Kessel ended it. In a wonderful game featuring Stamkos and several of the Leafs young guns, it was the Leafs who prevailed 4-3 in overtime at the Air Canada Centre Thursday night.
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Maybe it's time Gary Bettman looked at owning an NHL team of his own. After all, Bettman's record, or at least that of the league, is pretty good when it comes to operating bankrupt organizations and nursing them back to health.
]]>Maybe it's time Gary Bettman looked at owning an NHL team of his own. After all, Bettman's record, or at least that of the league, is pretty good when it comes to operating bankrupt organizations and nursing them back to health.
]]>Maybe it's time Gary Bettman looked at owning an NHL team of his own. After all, Bettman's record, or at least that of the league, is pretty good when it comes to operating bankrupt organizations and nursing them back to health.
]]>Maybe it's time Gary Bettman looked at owning an NHL team of his own. After all, Bettman's record, or at least that of the league, is pretty good when it comes to operating bankrupt organizations and nursing them back to health.
]]>Maybe it's time Gary Bettman looked at owning an NHL team of his own. After all, Bettman's record, or at least that of the league, is pretty good when it comes to operating bankrupt organizations and nursing them back to health.
]]>Maybe it's time Gary Bettman looked at owning an NHL team of his own. After all, Bettman's record, or at least that of the league, is pretty good when it comes to operating bankrupt organizations and nursing them back to health.
]]>Steven Stamkos makes his homecoming Thursday night as not only the hottest points producer in the NHL. He also arrives with the chance to become the first 50-goal scorer from the GTA in almost two decades.
]]>Steven Stamkos makes his homecoming Thursday night as not only the hottest points producer in the NHL. He also arrives with the chance to become the first 50-goal scorer from the GTA in almost two decades.
]]>