The 2010-2011 Leafs roster is anything but set in stone, and although there are several stand-outs that will, barring injuries, be wearing blue and white for the season opener against Montreal, there could be some surprise scratches.  For the first time in a long time, there is a lot of pressure coming from the farm in terms of challenging for roster spots, and gives the appearance of being one of the hardest for Leafs management to figure out in quite some time..  Regardless of what is decided, it is certain that the Leafs are going to be a much better team, and the Marlies are going to get a much needed shot in the arm.  Let's start by setting down what could very possibly be the starting line-up for the Leafs, for arguements sake, focusing specifically on the forwards.

  Left Wing                                      Center                                            Right Wing

Kris Versteeg                                Tyler Bozak                                       Phil Kessel

Nikolai Kulemin                             Mikhail Grabovski                              Colby Armstrong

Clarke MacArthur                          John Mitchell                                     Fredrik Sjostrom

Mike Brown                                  Christian Hanson                               Colton Orr

More after the jump...

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Ryan Miller and Jason Pominville were sporting the ever fashionable Helmet Cam at tonights game versus our Toronto Maple Leafs.  It seems though the league is trying to test them out as a possible new venue for hockey fans to get into the game.  What is your take on them?  Do you think they should be utilized?  Is it another flashy gimmick to draw fans, or would the avid hockey fan enjoy seeing the game from their favourite players eyes?

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Saturday that the team has trimmed its training camp roster by 22 players.

The following players were assigned to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League: Alex Berry, Darryl Boyce, Josh Engel, Andrew Engelage, Tom Galvin, Stefano Giliati, Richard Greenop, Juraj Mikus, Dale Mitchell, Phil Oreskovic, Todd Perry, James Reimer, Kyle Rogers, Joe Ryan, Greg Scott, Robert Slaney, and Mikhail Stefanovich.

The Maple Leafs assigned the following players to their respective junior clubs: Jesse Blacker (Windsor – OHL), Joel Champagne (P.E.I. – QMJHL), and Brandon Manning (Chilliwack – WHL).

Bill Thomas and Juha Uotila have been released from their Professional Try-Out contracts.

Notably, there are a few interesting names still in the mix.

Though Kadri has shown that he is the real deal, safe money says he will be playing with the London Knights come the start of the season.  If not for the wealth of centers on this team, it is very possible that he would be getting a better crack at this roster, but that's not the case, and he looks poised to tear up juniors next year.  Future line possibility: Kulemin, Kadri, Kessel.  We may have to go with first names when referring to this lines name.

Jason Allison has done enough to still warrant kicking around, and though his speed is a really negative, he has shown great vision and hockey sense, and seems likely to continue to get a good look.  Again, it makes the situation that much tougher feat with the great play of Grabovski and Stajan.  It seems as though this comeback attempt may have been staged at the worst possible time.

Lastly, I am very intrigued with Jay Rosehill's play.  He has been very effective in the role he's played for this team, and I think it is very possible he could unseat someone for a spot on the big club.

More to come.

On the Septmeber 9th edition of The Director's Chair, heard on FAN 590, Doug Farraway was joined by Michael Grange of The Globe and Dave Feschuk of The Star to talk about their new Leafs book, Leafs Abomi-nation.  The description of the book is as follows, just to give you an idea of where they're coming from:

The Toronto Maple Leafs are an exception to every law of the sporting jungle. They miss the playoffs and the sellouts keep coming. They haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967, but the earning power of that blue-and-white maple leaf, no matter the chronic woes of the blue-and-white’s power play, never ceases to increase. In this description of failure and prescription for hope, Toronto Star sports columnist Dave Feschuk and Globe and Mail sports reporter Michael Grange draw the illogical roadmap that pinpoints how the once-proud Leafs got lost in the sporting hinterlands, who’s to blame for stranding them there, and how they might extract themselves from this historic mire.

-Production Description, Amazon.ca

Just over half way through the interview, found here, there are comments made about how PPP epitimizes the point they are trying to make with this book.  Bordering on indirect racism, they go on to explain how families immigrating to Canada use the Leafs as a way to create an identity for themselves.  They continue, talking about how fans like this, and in general, feed the Blue and White money machine blindly, even though team has arguably not put a winning product on the ice since '67.  Several other points are touched upon.

I would love, personally, to sit down and have a conversation with these two about the origin of a Leafs fan, given that it promises to be about as revolutionary as Darwin's 1859 book, On the Origins of Species.  Perhaps get into the topic of where they think babies come from.  The fact that they felt it necessary to use immigrant families as an example to their point aside, I don't see how any fans situation is different.  It basically all boils down to having a memorable experience involving said sports team, whether it be time with family, a memorable win, or a funny sports moment in history.  Though different personal experiences create different end-results, the love of a sports team starts with one or several moments.  As for the identity comment, I'm pretty sure if I moved to China, I'd probably start eating more rice.  *insert Wellwood joke here*  The Toronto Maple Leafs are front page news, makes it a little hard to ignore.  Hey, don't the two of you write for The Globe and The Star?  Maybe that's the key, lets all start writing about the Coyotes and we can save Glendale.

Mr. Feschuk and Mr. Grange also comment on how fans continue to throw money into the team, even though I, along with many others, have never seen OUR team win a Stanley Cup in their lifetime.  Now, I couldn't find ages on either of these two, but I did find it a little humours that when I searched Dave Feschuk, I got Scott, his brothers, Wikipedia page.  Dave was commented on in the last sentence at the bottom of the page:

His younger brother Dave is a sportswriter for the Toronto Star.

Maybe that's where his anger stems from, sounds like someones got a case of the Jan Brady's.  I would take a guess that he was not alive for the '67 Leafs, so at least they're being consistent on the condescension.  In this thinking, we would have a smaller league than the current 30 teams we have right now, that's for sure.

Atlanta Thrashers
Buffalo Sabres
Columbus Blue Jackets
Los Angeles Kings
Ottawa Senators (expansion)
Nashville Predators
Minnesota Wild
Phoenix Coyotes
Washington Capitals
St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks
San Jose Sharks
Florida Panthers

Above are all the teams that shouldn't have fans, because they've never won a cup, and thus, should have 0 fans.  In fact, with the mentality that these two are taking, the only true fan is a band wagoner.  It's just too bad that us sheep are not the chosen ones, enlightened with the all knowledge and real truths pertaining to the Leafs.  You too, can be enlightened for the low, low price of $19.67, $14.94, $14.19.  But wait, there's more!  Buy now and you'll receive a Slap-Chop  I'm still trying to figure out why it was originally marked for the 67 cents.  I guess it must fall under that whole enlightened talk, because I just can't figure it out....

Most informed Leafs fans know exactly where the team stands.  I am pretty sure we all know that the Leafs have about as much likely-hood of finishing in the top 5 overall this year as they do finishing in the bottom 5.  But I think that this basically boils down to one thing, it's a last gasp attempt at preying on the bank accounts of bewildered fans hungry for success.  It'd be a heck of a lot harder selling a book like this when the teams winning.

And no, you both didn't get brought to your mothers via stork.