Reddaye

Tonight's Coaches Corner actually made me feel embarrassed. I usually don't mind Cherry's comments, and sometimes even agree with him...but his tirade about Ovechkin just made me shake my head. Heaven forbid that we'd get a hockey player that has personality and is exciting. We really need more bland automatons...ugh.

Is Stapleton still up with the big club? If he is they can plug him into Mitchell's spot, and bring May back in. Scratch Frogren and keep White back on the blue line.

Oh, I'm not saying they're overly effective at killing anything. I just found they have the sound and look that I like...feels like I'm carrying something with some kick to it. Until you shoot something fifty times and it doesn't die. When I shoot the fucking helmet off someone's head, they really should go down. What makes it worse is a fucking melee attack kills in one hit...but a point blank shot to the skull with a high powered rifle doesn't? And why the fuck don't enemies in shooters act correctly when shot anymore? If someone gets shot in the legs they should limp...they should be crawling along the ground; trying to pull themselves to safety. Instead we get the typical bullet sponges. Killzone 2 isn't the only game guilty of this either.

Unreal Tournament has been THE quality shooter for multiplayer in my eyes for years. 2004 is still one of the best shooters to play with friends...fantastic stuff. Hammered away at Killzone 2 for another thirty minutes. I find I can play for around a half hour before getting bored so it should last me a while. This sucker has ALL the FPS cliches, some of which have been around since Doom. I really hate exploding barrels...really hate them. The whole scenario in this game reminds me of Quake 2. Invading the alien home world after they invaded us. Sadly the Helghast aren't as cool and interesting as the Strogg. The weapons are pretty boring too. I'm not asking for laser rifles but do we really need three assault rifles, and two SMGs? Gotta love that cover system though. The one thing this game does game play wise that stands out...and man is it a breath of fresh air.

I'd say Killzone 2 doesn't compare to Halo, they're totally different animals. Halo has a faster pace and looser feel than Killzone 2. I should also note that for whatever reason I've never liked Halo all that much. That being said it's not that Killzone 2 is a bad game. Everything it does, it does very well. The guns have that real 'whoomf' I like. Feels like you're shooting something with power (unlike Halo's Fisher Price guns), enemies react well to being shot (even if they can take a couple thousand bullets). It does the formula as well as any game...it's just that I've been down this road thousands of times before and it's a bit stale for me. This is also my first PS3 game to feature Trophies. Why aren't they as fun to get as Achievements? It's weird...

Should be more. Start suspending twenty or so games every time on a hit like this IMO.

I guess I'm the only one not really blown away or impressed. Used some trade in credit to pick it up, being my first PS3 game since Metal Gear Solid 4. Wasn't very hyped for it to begin with but I figured I'd give it a shot. Good news is that it's better than the first one, looks pretty too. I've been slowing falling off the FPS horse for awhile. This game is exactly like all the shooters I've been playing since Wolfenstein 3D. Run (slowly) - shoot - run down this corridor - man this turrent - shoot - jump into this tank - shoot - generic military tough guy cut scene here - run - shoot. I'm getting a bit tired of the formula I guess. Cover system works very well. Guns feel like they've got some power behind them...even if it takes a dozen shots to the head to kill anyone. Motion controls are used sparingly and in situations that are very cool. The action can get pretty heavy at times which reminds me of Call of Duty 4. Problem is the whole time I'm playing I'm just sitting there half paying attention to the game, shooting more on instinct than actual perception; thinking about my current Too Human character or Maple Leafs dynasty. I think I might have to lay off the shooters for a year or so.

TIMMY STAPLETON! I'm glad I FINALLY got to see this guy play after hearing so much about him. He played very well all game and got rewarded with a chance to win it which he did with a beauty of a shot. Kudos to Ron Wilson for giving him the chance. The only problem I can see with him is his lack of size. Also, the new rumor is that the deal between Pittsburgh and Anaheim is actually a three way deal involving Toronto: Pittsburgh Adds: Kaberle, Stajan Toronto Adds: Staal, Tangradi Personally I'd like to see us get a pick of some sort but even if not, that would be a pretty sweet deal. We get a guy who can easily be a number one center, and a real gem of a prospect (who Burke actually drafted himself which gives this rumor some weight), to play on the wing.

For anyone that's interested Mark Bell was picked up on waivers by the New York Rangers. So now we only take on half of his salary until the end of the season. Hope he does well on his new team, he deserves the chance to play in the NHL. I also just found out today that it's actually in the Sedin's contract that they HAVE to play together. That's a little bit odd.

Take what Eklund says with a grain of salt. I'm not saying it isn't true, but I certainly wouldn't hold my breath. The current word is that Burke doesn't plan on making a whole lot of moves come the deadline... No Firesale in Toronto... There's already been a wave of panic on some places . I figure we'll see a deal or two and that'll be about it. Which wouldn't be that bad if the deals are good. Antropov for a 1st rounder and a prospect from Vancouver would be nice if it were to happen.

You're probably right about Backstrom, now that I think about it. We're looking at Toskala starting next season, I'm pretty certain about that. CuJo I fully expect to see retire at season's end. He got his 450th win, and from what I remember hearing might be getting a job working for the Leafs after retiring. Or that's what I heard anyways. On another note: we got a MUCH deserved win against the Rangers last night. I haven't had the chance to see the woeful Rangers first hand, but it's easy to see the problems. Even if they fire Renney I'd bet the farm that the team will see little to no improvement. Toskala had a spectacular game, 39 saves on 41 shots. Seems he may be getting hip surgery during the off season.

If Moore doesn't go into contract talks expecting a second or first line pay rate then I think we'd be better off keeping him. I can't see any team offering enough to really offset the loss of leadership and production he has with Jason Blake. On a side note...what would people think of trying to pick up Josh Harding during the off season if he doesn't go back with the Wild? Seems like every game I watch with him he plays extremely well.

I'd like to see Cammalleri get picked up as a UFA, assuming he's not asking for Iginla money like the rumors have been saying. We could use Cammalleri, Stajan, Moore, and Mayers or Mitchell in the center. That way we keep Grabovski away from face offs as much as possible...unless he improves a great deal. The only issue is our lack of enough right handed centers. I think Mayers is the only one, and that's only if you use him to take the draw. This is also assuming these guys will still be around in the years to come. Gaborik is too injury prone IMO. Especially considering he's going to likely want 6-8 million a season. That's a big cap hit for a guy that has a history of health issues.

I like how earlier in the year so many people were in a panic (not here specifically) about how we were so stupid to let Wellwood go. Yet last night he showed exactly why we let him go...he was a total nonfactor, and practically invisible on the ice. As much as I love Dominic Moore (I was laughing when he started kicking the puck up the ice, some nice hustle by Blake too) he seems to be taking a lot of bad penalties lately. I think it was during one of his penalties that they showed Burke up in his box cursing and swearing LOL. Boyd Deveraux played a pretty solid game last night IMO. He'd be a good fit in the bottom six pretty easily if we needed a spot to fill. Who was scratched last night anyways? Kulemin? Stajan is really coming into his own this season. He'll make a good top six center, which means we can hopefully throw Grabovski onto the left wing at some point. His face offs atrocious.

How does Comrie fit into what cap space the Sens have though? I'm not sure what their situation is cap wise, but would Alfie coming back (he's on IR right now, isn't he?) not help the cap situation at all, considering his rather large hit. The Senators have big money plugged into a small number of players, would they have enough money with the guys they have now to comfortably resign Comrie? As far as Campoli goes; well...he's been unimpressive overall with the Islanders. Maybe a change of scenery will help him out.

I think the Islanders may have landed the better deal here. Comrie is a UFA at season's end, and I believe Campoli is a RFA at the end of this season too. Being thirteen points back the Sens are going to need to do some serious hockey playing to get into the playoff picture. Or everyone ahead of them will need to sink like a rock. It'll be interesting to see how this all works out. NYI are stockpiling the picks for this year.

So what's this I hear about Burke giving an interview during the game or something and basically slamming Pogge? I mean the guy is green sure, but do we really need our GM talking down about him during a game? Seems kind of harsh to me.

Pogge hasn't exactly been lighting the AHL on fire either. Methinks he needs a lot more work before he's anywhere near ready to start in the NHL. Hopefully I'm wrong though.

WHAT HAPPENED?! WHAT HAPPENED?! I don't get fucking TSN so I dunno what's going on?! WHAT HAPPENED TOE?! TELL MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Seems that Brian Burke may be leaning more towards keeping Tomas Kaberle, rather than trading him. His exact words being: "I like this guy. Bet on him staying." Now everywhere I go all I hear is "LIES! LIES! HE'S LYING! RAISING KABERLE'S VALUE! SELL! SELL!" Which is pretty well the norm on the 'net lately. Is it really so bad to keep a top defense man who's only 30-31 years old? Do we really need to trade everything and the kitchen sink? Sometimes it seems like some Leafs fans just want change for the sake of change. I know we need to rebuild, but do we honestly have to completely strip the entire team just to do it?

At the very bottom for me is NASCAR. Any other sport I can see the appeal in...I just can't see it with NASCAR. Near the bottom are: American Football, European Football, NBA Basket Ball, Baseball, Poker, Cricket, Roller Derby, Tennis, Golf, etc, etc. Basically, if it's not hockey I'm probably not gonna watch it. Although I do like Rugby, despite not knowing what the fuck is happening. College basket ball is enjoyable too in small doses. MMA and boxing I have a casual interest in, but nothing too serious. I like soft ball too for whatever reason, but only live.

At least Schneider won't be slew footing everyone in his path. Did anyone catch the highlights and seen Andrei Kostitsyn slew foot Burrows right into Luongo during their game against the Canucks? These guys are just terrible. When you're so lazy that you need to slew foot a player right into his goalie you might want to think about a career change. The Habs are TERRIBLE with all these cheap shots and slew foots. They're a joke. Or maybe I'm just biased. EDIT: It appears that Pogge has been called up again. Maybe a start next game against the Sabres?

God I hope Burke doesn't trade away Moore or White unless he gets a blockbuster deal. Aside from Blake these two are just playing fantastically for us. White had an assist and was PLUS FIVE. He jumps into the play to make things happen. Makes beautiful passes from the defensive end in deep, and get's physical when needed. The guy seriously has a fire lit under his ass since the start of the season, and he's only 25. Moore plays with real heart and consistently wins more than 50% of his face offs night in and night out. Can work the powerplay, penalty kill, and seems to have great chemistry with Blake. For a third or fourth line guy he does very well on our first line. Nice to see Mitchell pot one too.

Wow, what happened here tonight? I was expecting a back breaker tonight...but I didn't expect the Leafs to be doing the breaking. Awesome game.

Stempniak scores?! CuJo plays well?! Yikes. I was loving getting a chance to see CuJo closer to being on his game than any other point this season. I've still got a soft spot for the old guy. Toskala's two previous good games have now both been washed away after another pretty abysmal performance. Also, Pavel Kubina is a waste of cap space. The positive? Tampa are two points closer to surpassing us in the standings. No shitty OT point for us this time. If we're going to lose I'm glad we get nothing out of it honestly. Maybe I'm too harsh though.