A few bits of news early this morning with your links.
Leaf prospects Jesse Blacker (Owen Sound Attack of the OHL) and Brad Ross (Portland Winterhawks of the WHL) were among the nine cuts by Hockey Canada this morning at the national junior team selection camp.
And if a rare trip to Edmonton by the blue and white wasn't enough to get you excited, Allan Maki reports the Oilers will finally unveil their cheerleading squad during tonight's game - a first for a Canadian-based NHL arena.
Quick prediction for tonight: The team with more power play opportunities wins. The Oilers are the worst team in the NHL when down a man (71.8 per cent), and the Leafs are the second worse (76.4 per cent).
The links:
Mirtle on head coach Ron Wilson booing his own captain at practice yesterday. He also spoke with Mike Komisarek about the potential logjam on the Leafs' blueline.
Our boy Al Maki on the young Oilers thinking about winning, not another high draft pick
Toronto Star reporter Kevin McGran on centre Tyler Bozak's fear of flying. We sympathize.
Luke Schenn gave the Leafs a scare at practice yesterday after blocking a shot with the inside of his right knee. We were following the entire episode on Twitter, which had us fearing the worst for about half an hour.
Pension Plan Puppets had a Leafs-related waffle photoshop contest going on the weekend. Genius! If you look close you'll see a Mirtle entry.
Here's a clip of Flames' centre Olli Jokinen and a magic waffle. Just because.
Battle of Ontario looks at the Leafs and Sens and decides they are headed in drastically different directions.
Oilers blog The Copper & Blue has an entry on Leaf prospects this morning.
Jim Mathieson at the Edmonton Journal has news and notes ahead of tonight's game.