Giguere and Armstrong Return From Injury; Ross Named to World Junior Selection Camp

Leafs News & Notes

After losing 4-3 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, the Leafs received some positive news on the injury front today. They announced that James Reimer was being assigned to the Toronto Marlies – following a two-week stint with the Leafs – to make way for the return of Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Giguere has been cleared to play, but will not make his official return to action until Saturday against the Boston Bruins. Jonas Gustavsson is expected to start his eighth consecutive game tomorrow night when the blue and white tangle with the Edmonton Oilers.

Colby Armstrong will also be back in the lineup Saturday after rehabilitating a finger injury that has kept him out since October 26th. There was some speculation that Nazem Kadri would be scratched or sent back down to the Toronto Marlies to make room for Armstrong, but it appears that there will be no significant roster changes, as Mike Brown was placed on the injured reserve today for up to six weeks with a broken index finger.

Just as things were beginning to swing in the Leafs favour, down goes Brown, who has been the team’s most underrated forward this season. His combination of speed, physicality and penalty killing prowess has been a welcome addition. To put things into perspective, the combined salaries’ of Mike Brown and Colton Orr is $1.575 million. Considering that New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard makes $1.65 million, the Leafs management team has done a fine job of acquiring role players at a low cost. Not that the Orrs and Boogaards of the world are known for their offense, but it is worth noting that Orr has 10 goals since the lockout compared to Boogaard’s lone tally. Yeah, he isn’t 6-foot-7, but Colton Orr tops his counterpart Boogaard in nearly every other aspect of the game.

Ross Named to World Junior Selection Camp

Team Canada announced his 39-man selection camp roster for the upcoming World Junior Championships that are being held between December 26th and January 3rd in Buffalo, New York, over the Christmas holidays. To the surprise of many, only one Maple Leafs prospect – Brad Ross – was chosen to participate in the selection camp. The Portland Winterhawks left winger has 23 points in 20 games this season. The 19-year old was the 18-year old is not a sure fire bet to make the squad, but has something in his favour heading into the camp.

There will be no high-profile names on Canada’s roster, along the lines of Taylor Hall, John Tavares or Sidney Crosby. Many of the players still eligible to play in the tournament are playing leading roles on their respective NHL teams. The only returning players from last year’s silver medal winning team are defenseman Ryan Ellis, Calvin DeHaan and Jared Cowen. The Boston Bruins may release Tyler Seguin, who didn’t make the team last year, but assuming he is not released, the team will be compromised of role players. This bodes well for Ross, who plays a complimentary third line role in the mould of two-time World Junior gold medal winner Stefan Della Rovere. It should be an intriguing story to follow leading up the Boxing Day, when Canada hits the ice in search of their sixth gold medal in seven years.

Other Leaf prospects Greg McKegg and Jesse Blacker, who are having fine seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, were surprise no-shows on the roster. McKegg has 40 points in only 28 games for the Erie Otters, along with two OHL player of the week honours. By contrast, Owen Sound Attack defenseman Blacker is not a defensive standout, but was a darkhorse to make the selection camp roster.

Leafs Defeat Pens for Best Start Since 1999

The Maple Leafs continued their winning ways tonight with a 4-3 decision over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tonight's win gives the Leafs a 3-0 record, which is their best start to the season since 1999 when they finished first in the Northeast Division with 45 wins and 100 points.

Clarke MacArthur led the way with 2 goals to bring his current total to 4 goals, which ties him for first in the entire NHL. Colton Orr and Francois Beauchemin both contributed by each scoring their first goal of the season.

Orr opened the scoring at 5:18 of the first period by tipping in a shot by Luke Schenn. Pittsburgh forward Chris Kunitz responded six minutes later with his first of the season from Evgeni Malkin and Alex Goligoski. Maxime Talbot gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead in the final minutes of the first period, on a wrist shot from Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy.

Clarke MacArthur evened the game at 2-2 after scoring his third of the season, with assists from Tomas Kaberle and Dion Phaneuf. Francois Beauchemin gave the Leafs their first lead of the game on a slapshot from the blueline through traffic. MacArthur tipped in his second of the game on a no-look pass from Mikhail Grabovski to give the blue and white a comfortable lead. Mike Brown’s aggressive forecheck created the scoring opportunity for MacArthur.

At 19:16 of the second period, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby beat Jonas Gustavsson on a backhander to bring the score to 4-3 after 40 minutes.

The Leafs controlled the game with overall team speed and pursuit of the puck. Toronto’s first line didn’t have an impact on the score sheet, but their second and third lines played hard all game.

Colton Orr left the game midway through the second period after being shaken up in a fight with Deryk Engelland of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The rookie Engelland connected with a punch to Orr’s jaw, which knocked him down to the ice.

Jonas Gustavsson earned his first win of the season, stopping 22 shots for a %0.880 save percentage. Marc-Andre Fleury had only 10 saves in a losing effort. Jean-Sebastien Giguere is expected to start Friday’s game against the New York Rangers.