The Sunny Side Of The Street For Leafs Nation

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special "Hey" goes out to Hazel Mae.

A great night in Toronto as the Maple Leafs beat the Lightning 3-2. As has become custom, the game was not without controversy, but we'll get to that a bit later. Captain Mats Sundin ended a 7 game goalless streak with a goal and setting up Nik Antropov for the winner late in the third. Toronto had two of their top three lines going well last night and their defence did a reasonably good job of limiting Lecavalier and St. Louis' chances on the night. Toronto won inspite of a horribly officiated game last night; the officiating crew, lead by Bill McCreary missed a number of calls last night and could have very well cost Toronto the game. Tied at one early in the second period and with the Leafs on a power play, McCreary was standing 15 feet away and watched Lightning D Dan Boyle (accidentally) highstick Sundin in the face, allowing him to make an outlet pass, and follow the puck down the ice and score a short handed goal - as usual, McCreary was oblivious to the highstick and emphatically pointed at goal when Boyle put it past Raycroft. McCreary also watched Leafs D Pavel Kubina get highsticked as he was about to dish off the puck at Tampa's blue line - again no call. Still though, Toronto overcame and picked up an important two points to leave them one point behind Carolina for eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.

A number of players have gone on record saying that NHL referees should be made to face the media after every game to answer questions about their calls - rather than have the players put in the awkward position of having to answer for brutal calls and non calls made by these clowns. Last night was a shining example of why referees should have to face the media after a game - not only did McCreary missed TWO highsticks, the officiating crew in Carolina missed a high stick by Carolina's Trevor Letowski on a Florida defenceman Mike Van Ryn, which forced him to leave the game with a cut over his right eye...again, you guessed it, NO CALL - even though the referee was standing 10 feet away and looking at the play. Its time for the NHL to make these guys accountable - if you aren't going to fire them, they should be made to explain their actions, or inactions as it may be.

In addition to the Leafs win, last night's action in the NHL was very good to Leafs Nation. The SenaTards overcame a 2-0 deficit in New York to come back and beat the Rangers in regulation - I guess it would be good manners to say "Thanks Tards". The Montreal Canadiens beat the Islanders in regulation and took out Isles G Rick DiPietro in the process - an added bonus, its about time another team suffered a potentially catotrophic injury...let's see how Ted Nolan deals with that one. The only black mark on the evening was the Hurricanes beating Eddie Belfour and the Panthers.


HAZEL'S THREE STARS
Toronto Maple Leafs Captain Mats Sundin was dominant last night in leading the good guys to an important win over the Lightning - Sundin's 27th goal of the year puts him 1 goal back of the great Darryl Sittler for number one on the Leafs all-time goal scoring list.

Montreal Canadiens LW Steve Begin took one for the team last night, running into a sprawling Rick DiPietro knocking him out of the game (and hopefully a few more) to cue the Montreal comeback. Begin is a dirty player who will claim he couldn't avoid DiPietro, but if you have watched him play, you know better. It was good to see Begin leave the game too...Karma's a bitch sometimes huh?

Pittsburgh Penguins C Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, and added the decisive goal in the shootout as Pittsburgh beat Buffalo by a 5-4 count. No footage of Crosby flopping around last night - somewhere, Aaron Downey is smiling and taking credit for that.

We'll add a fourth today...because we can underestimate the importance of Steve Begin to Toronto's playoff run - San Jose Sharks RW Bill Guerin finally showed up last night, scoring three goals and adding an assist in a 7-1 pasting of the Blackhawks.

WEDNESDAY'S THREE PLAY
Another great night last night with three more winners; we are in the midst of a 12-1 over the last couple of weeks and our total for the week now stands at +$525; more importantly, we have dug ourselves out of the red for the year! I told you we'd get it back. Two picks tonight.

Anaheim over Columbus - a no-brainer. Don't be put off by the price, Ducks take it down tonight. Lay $100 on the Ducks - $320.

New Jersey over Pittsburgh - New Jersey must have been licking their chops watching last night's game against Buffalo going to a shootout - the Devils are smelling Sabres blood. Expect them to get up on Pittsburgh early tonight. Lay $50 on the Devils - $185.

That's about it for today gang - have a great one peeps!


KEEPING HAZEL UP ON WHAT'S WHAT IN TORONTO
Leafs beat Tampa!!!

Sundin takes charge

Antropov getting it done

Leafs are cautiously optimistic about Kaberle

Damien Cox called Sundin's number


BLUE JAYS
Hazel's old pal Zaun likes her hometown

Burnett outstanding against Boston

Jays are messing with Chacin


HAZEL'S WEDNESDAY HOROSCOPE
Getting emotional won't solve problems. You can get much further ahead just by doing what's required of you. Get the red tape out of the way where financial, legal or health matters are concerned. 2 stars

Hazel, I hope things are groovy in your world.

Song of the Day on Hazelspeeps - for how Leafs Nation is feeling today

Fiesta - The Pogues

Peesth Out...Buh Bye!