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Tallinder Trying To Extend Career With Toronto; Scrimmage Sunday

September 21, 2014, 10:37 AM ET [390 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
For free agents like 10-year AHLer Francis Wathier, 2009 World Junior Gold Medalist Stefan Della Rovere or ex-Flyers farmhand Cal Heeter, an invitation to Maple Leafs training camp is an opportunity to nail down a job in the AHL or ECHL, but 12-year NHL veteran Henrik Tallinder believes that he can still make his mark in the league and selected Toronto from a group of interested clubs.

“Yeah….otherwise I wouldn’t be here.” Tallinder responded when asked whether he has a chance to make the team. “I knew I was going to play somewhere, if it’s not the NHL, it’s somewhere else.”

The 35-year-old stay-at-home defenseman has played the majority of his 678 career games with the division rival Buffalo Sabres and his experience facing Atlantic Division foes gives Tallinder an advantage over youngsters Petter Granberg, Stuart Percy, Viktor Loov or Andrew MacWilliam for the seventh defenseman spot on the Leafs roster.




“(Tallinder’s) a veteran guy, lots of moxy.” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. “We feel that a veteran presence can have that calming effect and(that he can)challenge for a position.”

The need for a stable experienced hand on the blueline may be needed, especially at the start of the season with free agent addition Stephane Robidas recovering from a broken leg.

“We feel in our research with Tallinder that there’s a possibility that he could make our hockey club and play against some top lines.” Carlyle said. “Just envision…..Tallinder and Polak, if they take or spell some of the tough minutes that Dion Phaneuf has to play.”

The veteran will have to show in the eight preseason games that he can still keep up with the pace of the league and be a more viable option as an extra defender than a younger, more aggressive Granberg, who played his first NHL game at the end of last season and appears to have adjusted well to North America with the Marlies.

“(Granberg) gets in people’s face and he doesn’t really care who it is. He has an assignment and a job to do out there. He’s a physical defenseman and that’s one of the assets he brings to the table and that’s one of the things we like about him.”

With the emphasis on defensive responsibilities at training camp and the future of Carlyle riding on the success or failure of the Leafs this season, the option of having a known commodity in Tallinder as a security blanket may be too tempting to pass up.

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On day three of training camp at the Mastercard Center in Etobicoke, ON, the Maple Leafs split their group of 64 players into two groups and practiced for 45 minutes before holding team scrimmages for the second straight day.

Injured forwards David Clarkson and Tyler Bozak skated prior to practice, but are still a few days away from being able to participate.

Team White won both sessions, 3-0 in the first with Brandon Kozun and 2011 first rounder Tyler Biggs scoring a pair. 4-0 in the second scrimmage as 2014 first rounder William Nylander, Carter Verhaeghe, Morgan Rielly and Spencer Abbott had goals and Jonathan Bernier registered a shutout.

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