Jake Gardiner News

They'll be trying to stay alive the next three games at Ricoh Coliseum to extend the American Hockey League final back here in 10 days.

March 15, 2012; Tampa FL, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Carter Ashton during the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf are two of the most important players on the Toronto Maple Leafs team, but who is more important: the sniper or the captain? The 24-year-old is currently the only pure sniper with the Leafs.

Buckle your seat belts folks because this could get interesting. Justin Schultz, the much talked about defenseman out of Wisconsin, has been Anaheim Ducks property for the limit.

Feb. 9, 2012; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke during an NHL press conference for the 2013 Winter Classic between Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium.

It's not often that a team fails to sign a prospect at Justin Schultz's level,* but all indications are that the Anaheim Ducks won't ink him in the 30-day exclusive negotiating window they've been granted.

The Ducks decided that Schultz had more potential, so Gardiner was deemed expendable and the Leafs are thankful for it.

But the first stage has definitely arrived, with hockey in June now a certainty.

Rick Dudley officially became the Montreal Canadiens assistant general manager on Friday, but on his way out the door the now former director of player personnel for the Toronto Maple Leafs offered encouraging words to their fans: Life is about to get much better.

The Marlies now have a 3-1 series lead in the American Hockey League Western Conference final.

That has become the running joke in the Toronto Marlies dressing room, where Matt Frattin's four-week-old playoff beard consists of a few whiskers above his lip and a few more on his chin.

As some of you are aware, there is some playoff hockey being played in Toronto. The Toronto Marlies - led by the scintillating goaltending of Ben Scrivens , the offence of Nazem Kadri , Jerry D`Amigo , and Matt Frattin , and the steel curtain of Jake Gardiner , Korbinian Holzer , and Jesse Blacker - have rampaged through the playoffs on the back of ... (more)

The Toronto Marlies are on a roll on the road and they'll have to continue their success if they hope to advance to the Calder Cup finals.

The Toronto Marlies are on a roll and have a serious chance of winning the first American Hockey League championship in franchise history.A Fresh off defeating the Abbotsford Heat in the Conference semi-finals, the Marlies will take on Oklahoma City starting on Thursday, May 17th, for the Western Conference title.

Along with Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner, Joe Colborne is one of the blue-chip players on the Marlies with the expectation being that he goes to the NHL, and soon.

I took Toews over Giroux for the fact Toews is already signed long-term, is one of the best two-way top centres, and a Stanley Cup winner.

Matt Lashoff is the kind of leader every team needs. The quality made him so endearing that the then-injured Toronto Marlies defenceman began travelling with the team at the onset of their playoff run solely for that reason.

For example, Leafs fans wouldn't want to talk about the Leafs goaltending issue.

After miserable seasons upon seasons in which the sports conglomerate has defined ineptitude on the ice, the pitch and the court, lo and behold Larry Tanenbaum and Co.

Standing tall. Stuart Percy of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors holds down the fort against a couple of members of the Brampton Battalion during OHL action this season.