The Toronto Maple Leafs kick off the season tonight in a highly anticipated exhibition matchup against the Ottawa Senators. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm at the Air Canada Centre.
The Leafs enter the pre-season with expectations of making the playoffs after falling short last season. On the other side, the Senators continued to bolster their team into a perennial playoff contender by signing Sergei Gonchar in the off season. Both teams will showcase their core of younger players in the pre-season to give them an indication of where they fit in the organization.
Tonight’s game is the third annual ‘Free Leafs Game’, sponsored by Coke Zero. Fans across the GTA have been lining up for contests and scouring for Coke products throughout the summer in hopes of winning tickets to the game. Tonight is when the true Leafs fans come out.
Ron Wilson is expected to rest his veteran players, namely Tomas Kaberle and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, during the pre-season so they are ready for the regular season.
Wilson also said that he expects to trim the Leafs roster down to 26 players (15 forwards, 8 defenseman and 3 goaltenders) by next Sunday. This means some players won't even see the ice in exhibition games. More high profile prospects like Nazem Kadri, Marcel Mueller and Jerry D'Amigo will play the majority if games so Leafs management can determine whether any of them are NHL ready.
Jonas Gustavsson is expected to start in tonight net for Toronto, while either Brian Elliot or Robin Lehner will go for Ottawa.
Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Sergei Gonchar, Alex Kovalev, Pascal Leclaire, Mike Fisher, Chris Phillips and Milan Michalek are all healthy scratches for tonight's game. Nothing official has been reported, but I'm hearing that Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Tomas Kaberle, Mike Komisarek, Mikhail Grabovski, Fredrik Sjostrom and John Mitchell are all sitting out for Toronto.
Experiencing success in the pre-season doesn't necessarily dictate how a team will play when the real games start. Just look at Toronto’s record last year. Furthermore, boasting a lowly record in the exhibition schedule could still translate into a winning season.
The game can be seen on Rogers Sportsnet in Ontario or on the www.mapleleafs.com live stream. For those who are not near a television., AM640 Radio will have play-by-play commentary of all the action, followed by 'Leaf Talk' hosted by Andy Frost. You can also follow us on Twitter @leafsnationweb for updates from the Air Canada Centre.
Tonight is the first of nine regular season games over a span of 12 days for the Leafs. There will be nighly Leafs hockey action leading up to the start of the regular season on October 7th, so things will start to get busy around here. Mike Komisarek puts it best: “Let’s drop that puck,” defenceman Mike Komisarek said. “Let’s get going.”
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