The ramifications of the seven-player deal swung by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames on a Sunday in late January 2010 are still felt today, in spite of the retirement of Fredrik Sjostrom and Jamaal Mayers, Ian White being released yesterday from an AHL tryout, Niklas Hagman playing for Jokerit in the KHL or Keith Aulie struggling to stay in the NHL as part of the Edmonton Oilers blueline corps.
Dion Phaneuf and Matt Stajan are the only two components of the big deal struck by Brian Burke and Darryl Sutter still with the respective clubs and they appear to be more motivated for Tuesday night’s matchup at Air Canada Center than a normal mid-week inter-conference contest.
"I think for me it's always special to remember the times that I had there," Phaneuf(a Flames first rounder) said of his former club . "It's where I started my NHL career, so it will always have a special place and it means something to me any time you play a former team."
Stajan(a Mississauga native and the Leafs second round pick in 2002) is one of three former Leafs on the Flames roster and has played only 12 games this season due to a knee injury, but is looking forward to exacting a bit of revenge against his hometown club.
"Through your whole life, whenever you have a setback or a team gives up on you, when you play against them you want to show them they made a mistake.… Stajan said. “It's the competitiveness in all of us. To be playing at this level you have to have that competitiveness, so you want to give it back to your former team."
Mason Raymond, who signed a three-year, $9 Million deal with Calgary after a successful season with Toronto, will make his return after missing six weeks with a shoulder injury. The 29-year-old Alberta native scored 19 goals for the Leafs in 2013-14 and had five goals in 10 games this season before being injured against Washington on October 25.
Joe Colborne, who was traded for a 4th round pick prior to the start of last season and has eight assists in 11 games, is still out with a wrist injury.
"I think it's always part of the equation, I don't think that your competitive juices ever really leave you.… Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said on Tuesday. “If you're not motivated to play against the people that you worked for at one point or another, there's something wrong with you. It's as simple as that. It's not normal in sports if you don't feel that you owe them something."
Outside of the revenge aspect, the game on Tuesday is a meeting of two of the hottest and highest scoring clubs in the NHL. The Leafs are 5-1-1 in their last seven games, Calgary is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and among the biggest surprises of the season with 36 points. Both clubs are tied for second in the league with 89 goals scored.
Toronto has gone 3-1-0 in the first four games of their five-game home stand and will play at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Wednesday.
Jonas Hiller gets the start in goal for Calgary. The former Ducks netminder has a 9-6-1 record, 2.49 GAA and .913 save percentage in his first season in Alberta.
Jonathan Bernier will make his ninth consecutive start for the Leafs, a streak that will likely end with the club playing back-to-back games. Backup James Reimer has not played in three weeks and will likely get the unenviable task of playing the well-rested Red Wings on Wednesday night.
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The Leafs will go with the same lineup against Calgary that played in the 5-2 win over Vancouver on Saturday. Brandon Kozun is a healthy scratch, Carter Ashton's suspension is in effect until December 20, Roman Polak's knee injury is expected to keep the defenseman out until after Christmas and the status of winger Leo Komarov remains cloudy.
According to the National Post’s Michael Traikos, Komarov’s agent says that the feisty Finn is still suffering the after effects of the hit from Alex Ovechkin.
Agent Mark Gandler indicated that Komarov has had headaches ever since the hit from behind by Ovechkin on November 29 and after passing baseline tests and following the concussion protocol, the Leafs winger was allowed to skate with the club last Thursday.
Komarov did not inform the Leafs medical staff of the headaches until after the skate and said that the club was not pressuring him to return before he felt 100% healthy.
“I told Leo, you must report if you have a headache. You must not go on the ice,… Gandler said, “They cannot see. You have to tell them. And he said ‘I have a headache.’ There’s no problem here with Toronto. Where’s there’s a problem is with these tests, which are completely useless.…
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