The Maple Leafs announced Thursday their roster for the upcoming Rookie Tournament at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario from September 13th to 16th. The roster consists of 28 organizational prospects and free agents invitees who will take on prospects from the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators.
Toronto Marlies head coach Gord Dineen will be behind the bench for the three games, with associate coach Derek King and recently added assistant Ben Simon.
The roster for tournament consists of 17 forwards, eight defenseman and three goaltenders:
Forwards Biggs, Tyler (21, Toronto(AHL), 1st round, 2011) Bilcke, Ty (20, Windsor(OHL), Free Agent) Bowles, Parker (19, Tri-City(WHL), Free Agent) Bratina, Zachary (18, North Bay(OHL), Free Agent) Broll, David (21, Toronto(AHL), 6th Round, 2011) Brown, Connor (20, Erie(OHL), 6th Round, 2012) Findlay, Brett (21, SF-Alaska(ECHL), AHL Contract) Gauthier, Frederik (19, Rimouski(QMJHL)), 1st Round, 2013) Hall, Zachary (21, Barrie(OHL), Free Agent) Hopponen, Waltteri (18, Sioux City(USHL), Free Agent) Leivo, Josh(21, Toronto(AHL), 3rd Round, 2011) Nylander, William (18, MODO(SHL), 1st Round, 2014) Philp, Luke (18, Kootenay(WHL), Free Agent) Rupert, Matt (20, London(OHL), Free Agent) Rupert, Ryan (20, London(OHL), 6th Round, 2012) Verhaeghe, Carter (19, Niagara(OHL), 3rd Round, 2013) Watling, Patrick (20, Sault Ste. Marie(OHL), AHL Contract)
Defense Doetzel, Kayle (19, Red Deer(WHL), Free Agent) Donaghey, Cody (18, Quebec(QMJHL), Free Agent) Finn, Matt (20, Guelph(OHL), 2nd Round, 2012) Fraser, Jeremie (19, Val D’Or(QMJHL), Free Agent) Knodel, Eric (24, Toronto(AHL), 5th Round, 2009) Loov, Viktor (21, MODO(SHL), 7th Round, 2012) Nilsson, Tom (21, Frolunda(SHL), 4th Round, 2011) Valiev, Rinat (19, Kootenay(WHL), 3rd Round, 2014)
Goaltenders Bibeau, Antoine (20, Val d’Or(QMJHL), 6th Round, 2013) Gibson, Christopher (21, Orlando(ECHL), Toronto(AHL) Sparks, Garret (21, Toronto(AHL), 7th Round, 2011)
Toronto will take on the Blackhawks rookies at 7pm on Saturday, September 13th, the Senators rookies at 7pm on Sunday, September 14th and the Penguins rookies at 2pm on Tuesday, September 16th.
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National Hockey League Deputy Commisioner Bill Daly did his best to snuff out rumors of a potential expansion by four teams in 2017, that included the possibility of a second team in Toronto.
“We are in no different position today with respect to expansion than we were the last time we answered the same questions,… Daly said in a piece by the National Post’s Sean Fitz-Gerald on Wednesday. “There has been interest expressed, we have and will listen to the interest, but we haven’t defined a process and certainly no decisions have been made.…
The report from Howard Bloom of Sports Business Journal indicated that the league plans to expand to 34 teams with new franchises in Las Vegas, Seattle and Quebec City, which would generate $1.4 Billion in expansion fees for NHL owners, but according to Sportsnet’s John Shannon, such a move is not a priority for the league at the moment.
“It’s gonna happen eventually, whether it’s Vegas or not, but expansion it’s just not high on the agenda right now.… Shannon said on Sportsnet’s Prime Time Sports Wednesday. “They want to do it at the right time and that right time is to make sure the arenas are built, that there’s a bidding process in place and that there is an opportunity to put good teams in the right spot.…
Shannon believes that the league will expand to 32 teams and that cities on the list will be candidates either for a new franchise or for relocation of an existing team that is not thriving financially in their current location, but is skeptical of the chances of a second team coming to the GTA, as MLSE would not want another NHL-size venue to be built in the area to take away business at Air Canada Center.
The plans for an arena in Markham, ON are in limbo, as the city appears not to be willing to go ahead with construction unless there is some guarantee of a primary tenant and the only option then would be for the second team to play at the ACC, along with the Leafs and the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.
“That might be a little more palatable to them(MLSE) if their able to reap the benefit from a below the line operations side, like selling tickets and advertising and marketing for a second team.… Shannon said. “The key thing becomes is there a state-of-the-art, second arena in this market that can take a team and right now there isn’t and just as importantly, there’s no one, not Hamilton because Copps(Coliseum) is not state-of-the-art, not Vaughan, not Markham, no one is prepared to build with government money a state-of-the-art arena and there is no appetite to build one with private dollars at this point either and that would be between $400 and $600 Million.“
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