SB Nation - Niklas Hagman

Game 28 Preview: The Rarely-Seen Buds Make the Trek to Ohio

Mike MacLean — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:32:58 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

They're getting better! The most recent game against the Blackhawks looked more like Jackets hockey than any other game this season, had they played the way they did during the losing streak, the score would have been ugly-very ugly in favor of the 'Hawks.

For the first time in a few years Toronto comes to town. The Leafs are still in the midst of a "re-tooling" (because if I would have said "rebullding" Ole Ironsides Burke would find a way to get me booted off of the internet) and are without either of their top goaltenders. Vesa Toskala is out with an injury, and Gustavsson will be going under the knife for another heart operation. Speaking of Gustavsson, when will the meda give him a new nickname? The Monster? Come on. Worst nickname for a player in all of sport, especially for a rookie. Joey MacDonald, a fellow Bluenoser, will get the start tonight. Mase is in for the Jackets.

The CBJ will be icing the same lineup as the past few games, although Raffi may miss it because his wife is in the hospital prepping for the delivery of the couple's first child. The Leafs have a tough defensive unit, so it will be interesting how the Jackets forwards can cope with that. I also wonder if Kris Russell can continue his red-hot stretch of play tonight. Here's hoping. Look for a good physical battle tonight folks.

Fearless Prediction: CBJ score at least four goals.

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Pension Plan Puppets

Game Page: Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TSN Preview: Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Toronto has played in Columbus only three times, most recently Nov. 20, 2006, a 4-2 Leafs win. The Blue Jackets would be wise to ignore the standings. After a horrible start, the Maple Leafs are 4-1-2 in their past seven games, including a 3-0 rout of Montreal on Tuesday. It could be a big special- teams game. Although the Blue Jackets excel on the power play, both teams struggle in killing penalties.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Kristian Huselius	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger	Derick Brassard	Jakub Voracek
Jason Chimera	Samuel Pahlsson	Michael Blunden
Raffi Torres	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Anton Stralman
Mike Commodore	Jan Hejda
Kris Russell	Mathieu Roy

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Alexandre Picard

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett, Rostislav Klesla, Marc Methot

Toronto Maple Leafs

Alexei Ponikarovsky	Matt Stajan	Phil Kessel
Niklas Hagman	Mikhail Grabovski	Christian Hanson
Wayne Primeau	Nikolai Kulemin	Lee Stempniak
Jason Blake	Jamal Mayers	Colton Orr

Mike Komisarek	Tomas Kaberle
Luke Schenn	Ian White
Francois Beauchemin	Jeff Finger

Joey MacDonald

Jonas Gustavsson

My Heart is Crammed in My Cranium...

blurr1974 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:24 -0000

...and it still knows how to pound. It's the Monday after a long weekend and Frank Black is singing a song just for me.

Let's just get to the links.

Steve is wondering what kind of return Niklas Hagman and Ian White could net the Leafs.
On the flip side of that argument, the general takes a look at Garnet Exelby and Jeff Finger to determine who is the less useless.
Down Goes Brown reviews the year that was.
Sometimes I worry about LD...
Leafs Rumination went to a Marlies game. Then it goes downhill.
Toronto Sports Commentary likes the cut of the Leafs jib lately.
Kavel is throwing a party for himself like nobody's business.
MLHS talks about the heavyweight battle that never was.
The Blue and White Beat likes Colton Orr. A lot .
Would Jason Blake be an easier commodity to move had Burke hung on to Dominic Moore? Would the rumored $3M per Moore asked be worth it? Hockey Centric's Leaf blog is wondering the same thing.
Supposedly the Anaheim Ducks are just one of the many teams pursuing Niklas Hagman.

Panthers delaminate, fall to Maple Leafs 6-4

Whale4ever — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:29:03 -0000

More photos » by Rick Silva - AP

Browse more photos »

The second of rookie defenseman Dmitry Kulikov's two goals. A big night on the scoreboard for the 19 year-old ends in depressing fashion as Florida drops leads and momentum; the Cats continue to struggle mightily at home.

Pension Plan Puppets * Leafs at Cats GameDay Central * Boxscore

Ugly. Sickening. Disgusting. And that was just the crowd.

An announced attendance of 16,101 - on a Friday evening, with an abundance of $10 tickets (among other incentives) available, and the Toronto Maple Leafs as a ferociously strong drawing card considering the snowbirds have arrived in SoFla - was rather unimpressive. Downright embarrassing.

Folks who stayed away missed dual items of importance: the first two-goal game of Dmitry Kulikov's career, and the Panthers' collective inability to hold a lead finally bite them in the standings.

An eight-game point-streak was snapped - hard - while divisional opponents Atlanta and Tampa Bay advanced to a three-point lead over the Cats.

Leafs' coach Ron Wilson simply wove magic out of his troops, coaxing Phil Kessel and former Panther Niklas Hagman into two goals apiece, a four-point performance from Alex Ponikarovsky, and a less than awe-inspiring yet good enough to seal the deal 26 saves from Jonas Gustavsson.

Peter DeBoer's boys couldn't conform to Toronto's adjustments, despite Dennis Seidenberg's two assists, Radek Dvorak's splendid hustle (1g on 5 shots), and Tomas Vokoun's 27 saves.

This was a classic Florida meltdown, and it could be felt long before the Panthers lost their two-goal lead. Just a bizarre night on many counts.

The real entertainment came at the 11:12 mark of the first period, when Colton Orr and Steve MacIntyre decided to exchange phone numbers:

What more can be said other than someone's got to take the fall for a game the Panthers had no right - statistically - to lose?

Anyway, back at it tonight against the Predators. Which begs a question: Why did Scott Clemmensen not get the nod last night, freeing up Vokoun to start against his former club?

Maple Leafs 6 v. Panthers 4: Hagman and Kessel Have An Awesome-Off

PPP — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:00:13 -0000

LEAFS MAN inspired the Leafs' to victory.
What has Carlton done lately?

The Toronto Maple Leafs overcame an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Florida Panthers 6-4. By early I mean that the Panthers scored two goals in 53 seconds and Jonas Gustavsson looked like he might be in for a short night. Of course, he showed his ability to recover by stoning the Panthers on a breakaway and making a couple of big saves to keep the Leafs down only two. That set the stage for Phil Kessel to begin the Leafs' fightback. First off: don't the Leafs score some pretty goals against the Panthers? Here's Hagman's epic snipe from last year:

And here is Philty Phil Kessel's gorgeous goal. Aside from leaving Keith Ballard red-faced and bare-assed after the undressing I was really impressed with the cool, well-placed finish. Rather than try to hammer a puck home he just slid it through Alexei Ponikarovsky's wonderful screen:

Phil "Marc Savard Me Him" Kessel now has eight goals in 12 games (55 goal pace) and three assists none of which involved Marc Savard. Weird. The best part of that goal was the assist that Luke Schenn got for blocking a shot which bounced to Kessel. That's the third assist a Leaf has gotten off of a Kessel goal by getting him the puck in the Leafs' own zone. The first goal might have started the comeback but the second helped revive a Leafs team that could have been on the verge of folding after a heart-breaking fourth Panthers goal. Good thing he tied things up again 13 seconds later.

Going goal for goal with Phil Kessel is Niklas Hagman. He added two more tonight - one via a Ponikarovsky pass and another on the back of Christian Hanson's excellent forechecking - now has 13 goals in 23 games. Keep in mind that his career high is 27 goals in 82 games which he potted two years ago with Dallas. After a listless two goals and one assist start to the season Hagman has eleven goals and three assists in eighteen games since he was sent to the press box. I wonder if Ron Wilson will get any credit for the improvement?

The third head in this hydra of productive Leafs' forwards was Alexei Ponikarovsky. He added a goal and three assists but his most valuable contribution was showing what happens when forwards go to the net properly. He created a screen on Kessel's goal and then potted his on the powerplay because, instead of standing to the side of the goalie like every other Leafs' forward, he was planted right in front of Tomas Vokoun.

Gustavsson didn't have his best game but he made the big saves when the team needed them (except on the goals). The second on was very weak, the third wasn't helped by the presence of Garnet Exelby in the crease, and the fourth was knocked in my Gustavsson's blocker as he scrambled back after the Leafs' penalty killers allowed a slick cross-box pass. Speaking of penalties, Pierre Champoux was the cause of one so terrible that the ref apologised to Beauchemin after the game.

The Leafs were not able to get a lead until Hagman put them up 5-4 but once they did they did a good job of shutting things down. While they were pressured in their zone a couple of times they did well to prevent any great scoring chances other than a Nathan Horton blast that went over the net.

So as was pointed out, the Leafs are 6-4-6 since their 0-7-1. That's good for 18 points out of 32 available during those 16 games. That's pro-rates out to 92 points over a full season which would put them right where most fans expected them to be: scratching and clawing for the playoffs. They are on an honest-to-goodness winning streak and get a Saturday off to rest up for the upcoming games against the Bruins on Monday before heading out on the road for three tough games in Montreal, Columbus, and Boston.

On a final note: Congratulations to Tomas Kaberle who moved into second spot on the Leafs' all-time defencemen scoring chart with Tim Horton.

Poll

Who was the player of the game?

Niklas Hagman - 2 goals, +1

39 votes

Phil Kessel - 2 goals, +2

129 votes

Alexei Ponikarovsky - 1 goal, 3 assists, +3

70 votes

238 votes | Poll has closed

Leafs No Turkeys

blurr1974 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:00:13 -0000

The feel good vibe we're building here extended all the way down to Tampa Bay last night, and the result? A Leafs win.

Lots to like about the game, but even more to like about the links, so lets get to it. Oh, and before I go, happy gobble gobble to our American friends. I'll be stuffing my face with turkey in Orange County today, and may take in a Ducks game (it's a poultry theme...) tomorrow. Have a good one gang.

Those Zambonic Youth guys talk and talk and talk. But, at least they talk about cool stuff, like Star Wars. Oh, and the Leafs too.
Jared recaps the win, succinctly.
Hungry Leafs Fan has unlocked the secret to the Leafs success.
Over at Leafs Rumination, puckurgently is speaking out on a very important topic.
Leafs Fan Forever asks the Hagman question. I can only assume the answer is "awesome."
MLHS gang recaps the game and takes a closer look at a few players.
TSM has all the MSM takes on the undying Brendan Burke story.

Poll

The Leafs won and I feel

Fine

35 votes

Good

36 votes

Supercalafragalistic

26 votes

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

116 votes

213 votes | Poll has closed

Leafs 4 Lightning 3

Chemmy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:48:03 -0000

FINAL	1	2	3	Total
Toronto Maple Leafs	2	2	0	4
Tampa Bay Lightning	2	1	0	3

Join the Game Thread

Goals: Kulemin from Gunnarsson and Primeau, Hagman from Beauchemin and Gunnarsson, Hagman from Grabovski and Exelby, Stajan from Gunnarsson.

The Leafs came out and scored a pair early before letting Tampa come right back into this game with two goals in a thirty second span. Kulemin and Hagman did a good job crashing the net on the first and third goal to pick up rebounds; it's something we haven't seen this Leafs team do a lot of.

Once again our defense ran around in their zone which led to the first two Tampa goals. The third Tampa goal was scored off a bad rebound given up by Gustavsson as Kaberle left his man uncovered. Francois Beauchemin looked great out there tonight, he had a spectacular play where he ran down Ryan Malone and dove to pokecheck the puck off his stick.

Gustavsson wasn't completely blameless on the Tampa goals but our defense didn't help on them. He made a ton of huge saves through traffic including a pair of saves on a penalty kill that honestly kept us in the game. Any win is a huge win for this hockey club right now, but the Leafs are 2-0-2 in their last four games which honestly is pretty good. Let's hope they keep working on the little things and start to turn this around.

Maple Leafs 3 v. NY Islanders 4 (OT): Second Verse Same As The First

PPP — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:58:15 -0000

More photos » by Nathan Denette - AP

Boo This Man! Dwayne Roloson and a lack of desire to go to the dirty parts of the rink for the majority of the game torpedoed a wonderful effort.

Browse more photos »

Despite throwing 61 shots at Dwayne Roloson the Maple Leafs fell 4-3 in overtime to the New York Islanders. On the bright side, John Tavares was a complete non-factor. After a dominating first period the Maple Leafs fell behind to a Jeff Tambellini breakaway goal as a long period of pressure went unrewarded, a pretty good Matt Moulson deflection, and, frankly, a terrible all around effort on Sean Bergenheim's short-handed goal. Toskala left with a lower body injury which was probably a pain in the ass from all of the needless needling he took from fans after the third goal. I hate Toskala as much as the next guy - and hope he's really injured because Kypreos seemed to be intimating that he quit on the team - but Kaberle made a brutal effort at blocking the shot and ended up doing nothing more than backing in too far and providing the kind of screen that the Leafs' forwards couldn't match all night.

Update: Here is Dominik's (Lighthouse Hockey) recap of the game and a look at the NHL.com shot chart for tonight's game.

Of course, when you're playing a terrible team like the Islanders (I know, the irony) who is on the back end of a seven game road-trip, it's not that hard to continue taking the game to them. The Leafs were rewarded when Matt Stajan's embarrassment at getting his stick knocked out of his hands turned to joy as he ended up by a loose puck to set up Phil Kessel to break Roloson's goose egg. The third period was one way traffic as the Leafs' dogged puck pursuit created chance after chance. Wayne Primeau potted a rebound after showing the Leafs that it's not actually against the law to stand directly in front of the goalie. And then Niklas Hagman made a great rush to prove that he can finish just as much as he can dangle. The Leafs were attacking with speed and looked poise to snatch a winner in regulation.

Instead, they didn't score on a final powerplay and almost made it through overtime before a terrible Ian White play combined with Tomas Kaberle's exhaustion and a bad bounce off of the side of the net (seriously, that shot comes by a million times and shoots in front of the net maybe 5 times) conspired to keep the Leafs from another shot at the shootout. So the Leafs' don't begin a winning streak but they also lose John Mitchell. Great news all around.

Who were your players of the game and who could have done more? Let's talk it out sans razor blades folks.

Hooray for Hagman!

blurr1974 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:15:09 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

Browse more photos »

Lost in all the hoopla that is the Leafs 4 win in a non-consecutive row streak, is the fact that Niklas Hagman continues to be awesome.

As a card carrying member of the "Hagman for Captain" and "How Awesome is Awesome?" Niklas Hagman booster clubs, I felt inclined to remind you.

In case you forgot...

eyebleaf knows how to use a great quote. I'm glad it wasn't something by Nietzsche...
Steve sees no need to take Ronnie's hands off the wheel.
JaredFromLOLdon has some LOLeafs to share.
MLHS has a duo of links today. The first calls for Burke to send messages to the players buy waiving Blake and Stempniak to the Marlies, while the second hypothesizes on the rumoured deals Brian Burke is currently working on.
Truth and Rumours takes David Shoalts to task for his latest piece of Leaf fan bashing.
The bud blog sees only a delay of the inevitable for the Leafs, despite the win against the Caps.
TML Fan Fury has a list of their all time top Leafs goaltenders. Do you have yours?
Winning is infectious. Seems the Marlies caught a case of it as well...
HockeyCentric has updates on the kids. Who are alright.

Poll

Who is awesome?

Niklas Hagman

58 votes

Hagman, Niklas

14 votes

N. Hagman

8 votes

Hagman - #9

45 votes

125 votes | Poll has closed

Gameday Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Dallas Stars (7:00p CDT)

Brandon Worley — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:26:22 -0000

Next Game

Toronto Maple Leafs (1-7-1)
@ Dallas Stars (5-2-4)

Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009, 7:00 PM CDT
American Airlines Center

Local TV: FSSW (Not on DISH)
Radio: KTCK 1310 The Ticket

Complete Coverage >

This is one I've had circled on my calendar. The Toronto Maple Leafs, the Dallas Cowboys of Canada, make a rare appearance at the AAC tonight in what should be an extremely entertaining game.

Niklas Hagman makes his return to the AAC for the first time since signing with Toronto as a free agent. Hagman was a key member of the Dallas Stars playoff team in 2008, having a breakout season with 27 goals and 41 points. He had a hat trick in Monday's big 6-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks, which came a week after Hagman was a healthy scratch for the first time since playing for the Florida Panthers.

To make this game even more interesting, Jonas Gustavsson will be in net for the Leafs. You may remember him; the Stars were in the running for his services this season, and watched free agent goaltenders get signed while Gustavsson stalled on his decision. In the end it all worked out; the Stars landed Alex Auld in a brillaint trade and Gustavsson seems poised to take over the starting goaltending job in Toronto.

After the jump, a Q & A with Pension Plan Puppets...

The Dallas Stars:

A little shake up today, as the Stars held their morning skate in Frisco in an effort to get better ready for a home game. So far this season Dallas is 1-2-1 at home and has looked halfway decent in only one game in front of their home crowd.

Matt Niskanen will play, but Mike Modano is sitting this one and is hopeful to play Friday.

Mike Heika takes a stab at the lines for tonight:

Neal-Richards-Eriksson
Morrow-Ribeiro-Benn
Petersen-Wandell-Brunnstrom
Wathier-Sutherby-Barch

Hmm. Looks a lot like what I predicted earlier today (actually, I just copied the line combos from the last game Wathier played in).

The Toronto Maple Leafs:

Here's a Q & A I did with Pension Plan Puppets. You can find my side of the interview here.

In the offseason, a lot Stars fans might have become jealous with the amount of moves Brian Burke was making for the Leafs, while Dallas stayed relatively quiet. What's gone wrong that the Leafs have struggled so mightily?

It's a situation that you guys might be familiar with: Crappy Goalieitis. Unfortunately, despite a couple of major off-season surgeries, a long recovery period, and the threat of competition Vesa Toskala came out and did nothing more than put an exclamation point on the belief that he is washed up. Couple that with Jonas Gustavsson's heart issues and tweaked groin and the Leafs' goaltending has been suspect.

The defence has three new members most nights and the lack of chemistry due to a compressed pre-season schedule hasn't helped. Of course, the nerves caused by wondering if every shot is going in has contributed as well.

But at the end of the day, it all starts in goal. Once that's settled down the team will as well.

Let's just say that Toronto's goaltending so far this season has been......a bit off. With Jonas Gustavsson returning to the ice, should fans expect this area to improve drastically or is it much to early to hope he can be their savior in net?

Even by being mediocre by league standards he would be a drastic improvement. If he's tending goal at .900 that's already a huge jump over Toskala's .812 or whatever low sv% Joey MacDonald had before the game against the Canucks.

It's hard to say what Gustavsson will do because even though he had great numbers before coming over from the SEL so did Mikael Tellqvist (ouch). From what we have seen though he definitely makes good use of his big body. He doesn't struggle with traffic, he challenges shooters, and he has made a couple of ridiculous pad saves. He has a habit of getting a bit out of position but that's what Francois Allaire is supposed to improve.

How jealous should Dallas fans be that Nik Hagman got away?

Very. We love him. He'll likely go into the books at Fletcher's best signing during his second go-around. For $3M/year and four years the Leafs have a player that is the definition of the 'model professional'. Last year he was on pace to put up about 50+ points before Brendan Witt scrambled his brains with an absolutely brutal elbow to the head. He has the skill to play on any team's top six forwards but combines that with the kind of effort that third and fourth liners would be well advised to replicate.

Also, he has a smoking hot wife so you'll miss seeing her at games.

Here's the projected line combos for tonight:

Forwards
Ponikarovsky Grabovski Blake
Stalberg Stajan Stempniak
Kulemin Mitchell Hagman
Primeau Wallin Orr

Defence
Kaberle Komisarek
Beauchemin White
Exelby Schenn

Goalie
Gustavsson

Injuries:

Dallas: D Matt Niskanen is probable. RW Jere Lehtinen (intercostal muscle) and C Mike Modano (ribs) are out.

Toronto: G Vesa Toskala (knee) is doubtful. RW Phil Kessel, D Mike Van Ryn (knee) and D Jamie Heward (concussion) are out.

Attention Canucks: Don't Take Leafs Lightly

Sean Zandberg — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:00:21 -0000

After a spirited win over the Blackhawks, the Canucks now return home to face the winless Leafs (0-6-1). This has got to be a sure-win, right? Well don't get too cocky. The Maple Leafs have had a full week, (thanks to that dumb scheduling) to think about being winless and I cannot see them as a guarantee to lay an egg in GM Place. The team itself has been staying positive throughout the week, and the coaching staff has not talked all that much to the media except to say that they have their fingers crossed that The Monster Jonas Gustavsson will play against the Canucks. Monster is nursing a groin injury, and Canucks fans know what that's like having lost Luongo to a groin injury last season. Toronto cannot rush this kid back.

Where to start with this hap-less Leafs team:

OFFENCE: They are not getting enough scoring, which was predicted by many before the season started. They rank 29th in goals for per game. A shocking stat (to me, anyways) is that Alexei Ponikarovsky is leading the team with 3 goals and 4 points in 7 games. He is also a +5. A miracle, considering. Jason Blake, who is expected to carry a lot of the load, has 1 goal and 2 points. Beyond Niklas Hagman (2 goals and 4 points) there are way too many forwards that aren't pulling their weight yet. many of them are younger players who are/were projected to do more. The arrival of Phil Kessel may inject something more down the road, but he's not supposed to be back for a while yet, not is it fair to say that he can repeat his offensive output from last year because of the caliber of players he was with in Boston. Hey, you never know.

DEFENCE: Brian Burke signed big named guys like Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin this past summer in hopes of "rebuilding" the D corps. So far, that has not even come close to panning out. Beauchemin looks lost out there and Komisarek is taking a butt-load of penalties. The Leafs rank last in the NHL in goals against (try 4.57 goals against per game). My lord. That is atrocious. That is also a team stat.

Luke Schenn ~~looks to watch this game from the press box.~~ will play.

GOAL: Not much help from the goalies either. Vesa Toskala, who is also out with an injury, continues his less than stellar play. So if Gustavsson does not play against the Canucks, that leaves Joey MacDonald; he of the 0-2 record, with a .857 GAA and a 4.00 save percentage. I like our chances with him being in net). However, he knows what is at stake tonight. He wants to steal one for the team.

At some point, it is going to come together for the Leafs. It had better not be against the Canucks though. I just hope Vancouver doesn't play down to their level. We've seen it before. The Canucks gotta bury these guys early and often to finally get to .500 hockey. No use in taking their foot off the gas pedal.

Some Canucks news: Rick Rypien will not play against the Leafs. His groin still ails him.

-Canucks and Leafs hanging out together at Earl's? I'll let you be the judge of that story.

-Detroit's Loss a Vancouver Gain: Great Samuelsson story here.

It is time for Kyle Wellwood to score. 1 assist in 9 games is bunk and he needs to get it going. What better time than against his old team (and fans who sadly keep butchering him about his weight)? Silence your critics, Woody!

Same with you, Mason Raymond. It looks all fancy when you zip up and down the ice, but we need some goals.

GAME TIME: 4:00 PST. Yes this is bullshit.

TV: CBC