Leaf Buzz With myself and CTV's Norman James recording live at 12:30:
If trade and coaching firing rumors weren’t enough to deal with for the Toronto Maple Leafs, widespread illness has struck the club in advance of their match against the New Jersey Devils at Air Canada Center.
A sizable portion of the Leafs roster did not take to the ice at the ACC on Sunday for the pre-game morning skate because of flu like symptoms or perhaps food poisoning, according to Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle.
"There's just too many of them under the weather, having the same symptoms. We don't quite have a finger on exactly what it is.… Carlyle said after the sparsely attended skate.
Among those not on the ice were center Tyler Bozak, goaltender James Reimer, defensemen Mark Fraser and Tim Gleason. The Leafs coach indicated that some of the players who missed the skate around will be able to play against the Devils, winners of two straight and tied with Toronto with 47 points, two points in back of the New York Rangers for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
It is expected with the absence of Reimer that Jonathan Bernier will get his second straight start and eighth in the last nine games for the Leafs. Bernier played well in a 3-2 loss to Washington on Friday night. Corey Schneider will be in goal for New Jersey.
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In a bit of good news, Leafs center Dave Bolland is expected to return to the ice later this week, more than two months after suffering a lacerated ankle tendon.
“He’s travelled to Montreal to have a new boot specifically designed to relieve the pressure around where his injury, the incision, the repair, was done,… Carlyle said. “And that boot is supposed to be made available to us after this weekend and hopefully he'll join our hockey club for practice on Thursday.…
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NY Post scribe Larry Brooks reported on Saturday that a well placed source indicated that “Maple Leafs players had started tuning out… head coach Randy Carlyle some time ago, well before the cameras of HBO’s 24/7 gave some signs of that being the case.
Winnipeg fired head coach Claude Noel on Sunday after 2 1/2 seasons behind the Jets bench mostly for an inability to get the most out of players like Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien. His replacement is ex-Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice. Hockey Night In Canada's Glenn Healy mentioned Marlies coach Steve Spott as a possible replacement if Dave Nonis decided a change was needed, but the Leafs GM indicated to the Toronto Star's Damien Cox that Carlyle is going nowhere.
“Randy’s job is not in jeopardy,… Nonis said. “It’s the players who have to play better, and they know that. The biggest piece in all of this is the players, collectively. This is not a bad hockey team.…
Carlyle is asking players to make better decisions with the puck and be more defensively conscientious. If players continue to defy the coach's directions, Nonis will continue to explore trade avenues to shake up the current roster.
The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch reported Sunday that Nonis is one of the more active GM's is pursuing a trade and that the names of Carl Gunnarsson and Jake Gardiner have been mentioned.
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