mrusse01

No real surprise there, he's an NHL defenceman. What will be interesting is to see who gets the ice time when Finger and Van Ryn get healthy.

I don't know if he's outplayed Stempniak either though, but he's got a little chemistry with Stalberg going. And despite all the bluster, I'll believe Burke is serious about sending down veterans when I see it happen. Sucks for Tlusty to have such a bad camp, he lit it up in the A last year, I had high hopes, but he might be your classic quadruple A type player.

Tomorrow. There are rumors Bozak has jumped Kulemin on the depth charts, and may start the season with the team. Stalberg has almost certainly made it. If Bozak does make it, I don't know where they play him, I'm guessing on the wing but who knows. Mitchell has been playing a lot more wing lately, so perhaps Bozak slides in 3rd line centre.

Vesa lit up for 7 goals tonight....I didn't see any of the game, but on only 24 shots, I assume a few of those must have been bad goaltending. Toskala is going to be on a short leash I think this year, maybe not with the team, but with the fans. I can see a potential 'McCabe' like situation brewing here, if he lets in a few ugly ones to Montreal on Thursday you can bet the boo birds will be out.

Two guys that have me a bit worried are Tlusty and Kulemin, I think they've both been badly outplayed by the likes of Stralberg, Bozak, and even a guy like Stempniak. Rosehill did look really good last night, he's pretty fast and was in good defensive position several times. I actually liked him more than Orr from what I saw. You almost feel bad for Toskala giving up that terrible goal and then seeing Gustavsson come in and play like that, but I get the feeling from Toskala he's not the type of guy who's going to rise up to the occasion if he'e being pushed like that. He seems like the guy who could sulk a littlle bit.

Easier said than done to go roof on a 2 on 0 like that....any way you slice it, it's a gigantic save, especially given that it's late in the 3rd up a goal. No way in hell Toskala makes that save. Rebounds looked shaky a bit tonight, but you had to admit there was a bit of a swagger there that he just wasn't going to let in a goal anyways....haven't seen that in Toronto since the days of The Eagle. I don't think Wilson can cut Stalberg now, he's simply scored too many goals and has looked too good. I'd love to see Bozak stick as well, but he looks like he is pushed off the puck a little too easily right now. There is an open spot on the top 2 lines until Kessel comes back, and I think you gotta give that to Stalberg.

Rosehill and Orr would be awesome. I don't know if you can employ 2 pure fighters any more though, too many teams easily neutralize it by just not having any fighters...and then you've got two goons skating around with nothing to do really. And I haven't seen Rosehill play at all, but Orr is not a strong defensive player, and I can't imagine Rosehill is either. I'd rather have Bozak or Stralberg make the team, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Wilson made some strange comment about them having 'earned' a job, but they haven't 'stolen' one, so they're likely headed to the Marlies.

You think they can get rid of Finger with that contract of his? I'd personally love to get a 2nd round pick back for him, he really is overpaid quite severely in my opinion. I'm interested with what Wilson/Burke are going to do with the 3rd line. There has been the of-stated preference for a bottom 6 and top 6, but really the team is more along a top 9, bottom 3 making right now. I don't see a lot of real grinders/defensive specialists with some scoring upside who fit into that 3rd line role, and there aren't any real top 6 guys besides Kessel now and I guess Grabovski. All the talk has been Stajan and Grabo as the top 2 centers, so that leaves Mitchell as 3rd line centre? Is Wallin going to make the team? Now you have to find a spot for White too? That big idiot Poni is still around, Stempniak has looked good and is cashing a big paycheque, Tlusty you figure has to get a shot, Kulemin seems like he should be up there too after playing 70+ games last year. Kessel-Grabo-Hagman Blake-Stajan-Poni Stempniak-Mitchell-White Orr-Primeau-Mayers Kaberle-Komisarek Beauchemin-Schenn Finger-Exelby Still leaves Tlusty, Kulemin, Bozak, Stralberg, Wallin, Hansen all on the outside looking in. Not to mention Frogren and Van Ryn on D. Maybe you keep Van Ryn and Wallin in the press box....but the kids I think would all be better served playing for the Marlies than sitting.

You mean the Pittsburgh model of 'getting to draft two of the highest rated forward prospects in a generation and having them both pan out as well as anybody could have expected', haha? The Pens are ridiculous, they had Sid #1 overall, MAF #1 overall, Malkin #2, Stall was #2 as well I think right? And they also had Ryan Whitney who was a #5 overall. Frankly it would be a gigantic, colossal disappointment if they weren't one of the best teams in the league right now. Regarding the Leafs, I think one thing a lot of people forget about Kessel is that he's TWENTY ONE YEARS OLD. That is extraordinarily young for a player with his experience (and results) in the NHL. I find it hard to follow the logic when people argue the Leafs are trying to short cut around the 'rebuilding process' by trying to acquire the guy. As for pre-season, I'm interested to see how the defense is going to shake down. Schenn/Beauchie/Komisarek/Kabby are all 100% locks, so that leaves 2 spots among Van Ryn, White, Frogren, Exelby and Finger. I think Exelby is a near lock to get one of those spots, so it comes down to one opening...and frankly I don't see how White doesn't make this team given his contributions over the past few years. But then again, what can you do with Finger and his contract? It's a slap in the face to Fletcher (who's still kicking around) to send the guy to the AHL or even stick him in the press box. And I mean, Van Ryn is also a really good player if he can stay healthy so what do you do with him? Not to mention Frogren, who I assume is last in line more or less and is almost guaranteed to open up with the Marlies. Do they play White on the 3rd line maybe and wait for the inevitable injuries to come? It's definitely a log jam.

That's pretty stupid of anybody to complain about that, in my opinion. Usually colours like baby blue, yellow, even red can go white or dark where I play, we just figure it out before the game (white and red's versus everybody else) and it doesn't take more than a shift or two for people to figure it out.

I mentioned something about this is the original One95 thread. My old man has had a pair of Supreme 5000's for...10 years? at least, and he still uses them for coaching. They're a great skate that has held up well on him. My old man still rocks his 5000's twice a week, got to be at least 10 years now. He actually bought One90's, took him about 2 months to actually wear them in a game, used them a few times and just put them back on the shelf in the basement. I'm furious they are one size too small for me.

hahaha.

What does "hold an edge" mean? Does it measure how long the steel stays sharp? If that's the case then I don't think it's relevant because I never get my skates sharpened due to dulling. I sharpen when I get nicks. "hold on edge" is like whenever you are going into a turn and you don't loose any grip whatsoever on turns, etc. JR is right, I meant it as in I don't need to get them sharpened as much. Also, I have no idea how you can go about playing hockey and never get your skates sharpened due to dulling...you must be a goalie, right?

I've got the regular step steel and am very happy with it. Certainly seems to hold an edge longer than my LS2 steel did.

close to it but im pretty sure this is http://www.hockeylife.com/store.cfm THose pictures are of Sports Rousseau, specifically the Laval location. I don't think the Hockey Life stores are that nice. Pretty sure that's the Hockey Life in Vaughan, ON....either that or the Laval location looks the exact same.