Maple Leafs Odds to Win Stanley Cup & 2008-09 Regular Season Win Totals

"Oddsmakers from online sports book SBG Global have listed the Leafs’ odds to win the 2009 Stanley Cup at 75/1. Bodog has Toronto at 80/1, while Sportsbook.com gives the Leafs an 100/1 shot."

Canadiens Odds to Win Stanley Cup & 2008-09 Regular Season Win Totals

"Can the Northeast defending champion Montreal Canadiens repeat this season? Oddsmakers have established the Canadiens’ odds to win the 2009 Stanley Cup at 10/1.

The Canadiens were busy this offseason, signing forwards Robert Lang and Alex Tanguay, although general manager Bob Gainey couldn’t convince free agent Mats Sundin to join the Habs this offseason. Lang is coming off a 21-goal season while Tanguay finished with 40 assists in 2007.

The Canadiens will rely on Carey Price to protect the net and while he’ll be playing in his first full season, he did finish with a .920 save percentage last year. If the youngster can step again this season, Montreal should repeat as Northeast Division champs."

SID SHAVES!!!

Just finished watching the Rangers vs Pens game, nice to see Sid without that girlie beard from last year's playoffs

Toronto Maple Leafs News, Scores, Schedule, Stats - Yahoo! Sports

"The Maple Leafs could end up disappointing a lot of their critics—and some of their own fans—by not finishing last overall this season.

While most have pegged 2008-09 as the season the Leafs finally pay the price for pre-lockout spending sprees, no-trade contracts to fat cat players and lack of emphasis on draft and development, they might not be as bad as their own forecast.

Even as general manager Cliff Fletcher predicted 'rocky days ahead' and said he only had one top-six forward (Nik Antropov), it's conceded the Toronto defense is as good or better than last season, the Leafs' goaltending is top notch and new coach Ron Wilson has a pretty good track record at confidence-building.

'People have been telling me, 'Good luck with that team,'' Wilson"

Rookie shines in Habs win over Cup champs

Montreal 2, Detroit 1

DAVE STUBBS, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE

PUBLISHED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

MONTREAL - Conventional wisdom has Montreal Canadiens rookie left-winger Max Pacioretty starting the season on the farm in Hamilton.

But there seems little doubt that this impressive, popular bulldog will be one quick phone call from joining the NHL club.

Pacioretty, 19, scored two nifty backhand goals, one in the second period and another in the shootout, and earned the game's first star in lifting the Canadiens to a 2-1 pre-season win over the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

Montreal improved to 5-2-0 in the pre-season, with their final two exhibition games at home Wednesday against Boston and Saturday against Minnesota.

Goaltender Carey Price was brilliant in his second consecutive shootout victory, his 28 saves including a couple of dazzling stops late in the game and in overtime, then two more in the shootout.

Habs looking great for new season: Cherry

There's no reason to believe that the Montreal Canadiens won't be contending for the Eastern Conference crown, according to Hockey Night in Canada's Don Cherry.

The colourful HNIC commentator said the coaching staff, led by Guy Carbonneau and Kirk Muller, is top-notch and the acquisition of Robert Lang was a key move for the club.

"I don't see [that] they need anything," Cherry said.

Cherry made his comments during a media conference call in which hockey analysts across North America assessed the upcoming season.

Hockey Night in Canada presents the beginning of the 2008-09 NHL campaign with a pair of games from Europe on Saturday.

Leafs Short Sighted?

"In the article on Globesports.com, David Shoalts discusses the words of Part Owner Larry Tanenbaum and the insistence of an experienced, veteran GM whenever they find someone to eventually replace current GM Cliff Fletcher.

One of the candidates Tanenbaum completely ruled out was none other than the great Steve Yzerman. The reasoning? He would be a rookie GM thus not meeing the standard of experience set.

“Steve needs to be a general manager some place (else),” said Tanenbaum, who stopped by the Leafs' practice on Thursday. “We don't want a rookie.” said Tanenbaum.

The short sightedness of the Maple Leaf organization continues to boggle the mind of many."