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Maple Leafs forced to sign a new goalie for cap reasons.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been forced to sign a new goalie due to salary cap constraints.

Earlier today we detailed how the Maple Leafs may have backed themselves into something of a goaltending crisis of their own making, and it seems that what once was only a possibility has now become a reality.

According to the latest from Maple Leafs beat reporter Lance Hornby, the Maple Leafs have now signed goaltender Jett Alexander for the purpose of having him play backup to Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov tonight. This means that, despite what the Leafs were hoping for, veteran goaltender Matt Murray is still not healthy enough to play since suffering his latest in a long series of injuries this season.

23 year old Alexander most recently played for the University of Toronto where he had a 2.21 goals against average and a .927 save percentage over 22 games this season, but of course the NHL would be a major leap up in competition. In all likelihood we won’t see Alexander hit the ice tonight barring any major catastrophes for the Leafs, but it will no doubt make for a great experience and a nice payday for the young man.

The Leafs likely would have prefered to use Joseph Woll in this scenario, but they have called up Wayne Simmonds for what is believed to be his final home game in a Maple Leafs uniform, and they would be unable to fit Woll under the salary cap given the addition of Simmonds’ cap hit.

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Chris Wideman slams the Maple Leafs for using EBUG on Saturday.

Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports

The Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs played out what was a relatively meaningless game for both teams on Saturday night, with the playoff fates of both teams already decided long before the game took place.

In spite of the fact that it was not an important game, it turned into something of an embarrassing one for the Canadiens who were blown out by the Maple Leafs by a final score of 7-1. In fact the Maple Leafs were so far ahead during the game that, in the final minute of play they decided to give emergency backup goalie Jett Alexander a chance to get a taste of the National Hockey League.

It was most definitely a feel good moment for the 23 year old amateur goalie from the University of Toronto, but it would seem that the decision to use Alexander did not sit well with everyone.

Following the game, NHL veteran Chris Wideman would publicly call out the Maple Leafs for using Alexander during the game, even going so far as to suggest that Karma would be coming Toronto’s way in short order.

“They’ll get what they deserve in a few weeks,” said a frustrated Wideman.

Wideman’s comments came off as nothing more than sour grapes after a bad loss and they stand in stark contrast to the comments we heard from the Maple Leafs on the topic. Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who had to give up his net in the final minute in order for Alexander to have his moment in the first place, was just beaming at the thought of giving a young man such a special moment.

“I’m so happy for him. Great to see this moment,” said Samsonov following the game,. “First NHL game, doesn’t matter it one minute, but big for him. He come to the rink to probably sit on the bench, but he has the time for play. Thank you team, we got a chance for another dream in the world”

Samsonov’s imperfect English makes the quote all that much more endearing and you can tell that the Russian goaltender was genuinely thrilled for his temporary teammate.

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Maple Leafs put EBUG Jett Alexander in the game!

The Toronto Maple Leafs were put in a bit of an awkward goaltending situation on Saturday night, but it turned out to be a pretty feel good moment for their team, their fans, and of course emergency backup goaltender Jett Alexander.

The Maple Leafs, who have already secured their spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs, were facing off against the Montreal Canadiens in what was a relatively meaningless game for both teams with the Habs well out of playoff contention. The Leafs would dominate the contest, taking a 7-1 lead in the third period, and that opened the door for Jett Alexander to step in.

The 23 year old goaltender from the University of Toronto was given the thrill of a lifetime when he got to step out onto the ice in the final minute of the game thanks to a terrific gesture from head coach Sheldon Keefe and Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov.

Alexander now joins a very short list of emergency backup goalies that have played in the NHL, and the Maple Leafs finally find themselves on the right side of one of these stories.

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Potential goaltending crisis for the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a potential goaltending crisis on their hands, one that appears to be of their own making.

On Friday, the Maple Leafs announced that they would be sending goaltender Joseph Woll back down to the American Hockey League and the Toronto Marlies, a move that was announced in conjunction with the callup of veteran forward Wayne Simmonds.

There is a belief that the move was made out of a desire to give the aging veteran in Simmonds one final game in front of the hometown Toronto crowd, a feel good idea to be sure. Unfortunately it may be one that has left the Leafs in somewhat of a pickle on Saturday.

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has now confirmed that the plan was originally to have Matt Murray serve as backup for goaltender Ilya Samsonov tonight, a plan that may be in jeopardy due to Murray’s injury status. Not only did Keefe confirm that Murray’s status for tonight was now a question mark, but he also added that he was unsure of what the Leafs would do in the event of Murray being unable to play.

This is certainly a less than ideal situation for the Maple Leafs, and we will have to wait and see how it all plays out as the day wears on.

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Matt Duchene loses part of his finger in horrific hockey injury.

Mark Humphrey/AP

We now have more details about just how bad the injury to Nashville Predators forward Matt Duchene truly is, but be forewarned this is not for the faint of heart.

On Sunday, National Hockey League analyst Darren Peng revealed that Duchene had quite literally lost a part of his finger after he was struck by a blistering slap shot. That slap shot came courtesy of Predators teammate Dante Fabbro, who fired the shot off during the second period of last Sunday’s game between the Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs. Duchene immediately jumped up in pain and rushed off the ice holding his hand up in a bizarre fashion,  of course we now know the reason was that the tip of his finger was quite literally missing.

Here’s a look at the shot striking his hand:

And a look at Duchene leaving the ice holding his hand out:

According to Peng’s comments on Sunday, Duchene was heard saying that the tip of his finger was still inside of his glove when he removed his hand from the glove, something that must have been truly horrific for Duchene to experience.

I can only hope that Duchene will make a full and speedy recovery.

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Sheldon Keefe slams NHL officials for their treatment of Michael Bunting.

John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs are very unhappy with how one of their player’s in particular has been treated by National Hockey League officials on the ice, and it seems they are finally speaking out about it.

After falling to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, in what was a meaningless game for a Maple Leafs team that has already locked in their first round Stanley Cup playoff matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but it would be after the game that the real drama would unfold.

During the course of the game, the Maple Leafs clearly felt that Michael Bunting was targeted by the officials, including being called for a penalty after he was on the receiving end of multiple cross-checks to the back.

That wouldn’t be the only incident that the Maple Leafs took issue with during the night, with head coach Sheldon Keefe also clearly disagreeing with a 10 minute misconduct that was awarded to Bunting later during the same game.

Following the game the Maple Leafs head coach spoke to the media and made it crystal clear how he felt about the officiating towards Bunting.

“Surprised? Based on the way that he’s been officiated of late, no not surprised at all,” said an unhappy Sheldon Keefe.

In fact the head coach went one step further and made it clear that the team would be raising the issue with the National Hockey League immediately following the game.

“Kyle [Dubas] will talk to the league,” confirmed Keefe following the game.

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Matt Murray injured after being tripped by Lucas Raymond.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and goaltender Matt Murray just can’t seem to catch a break.

The Maple Leafs were the victims of a very unfortunate incident on Sunday night during the first period of their game against the Detroit Red Wings. Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond appeared to accidently trip/slew-foot the aforementioned Matt Murray when he lost his footing and crashed in Murray’s crease.

Unfortunately for Murray, he never saw the Red Wings forward coming and as a result he would crash to the ice, slamming the back of his head in the process. Murray’s head bounced off the ice and he appeared to be feeling the ill effects of that blow to the head almost immediately.

That forced Murray off the ice and subsequently that forced goaltender Ilya Samsonov back into action after he played against the Ottawa Senators just 24 hours ago.

Update: No surprise here but Murray will not return to tonight’s game.

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Heartfelt comments from Ilya Samsonov on injured teammate Matt Murray.

Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports

On Sunday night, the Maple Leafs suffered a meaningless loss to the Detroit Red Wings given the fact that they are already locked into a first round Stanley Cup playoff matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In spite of that, the Maple Leafs would walk away from the loss feeling dejected for a variety of reasons with the injury to veteran goaltender Matt Murray being the most notable one.

Murray was injured by what appears to have been a freak accident when Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond lost his footing and slid into the back of Murray’s legs. Raymond’s forward momentum was enough to sweep Murray’s legs out from under him, sending the Leafs netminder soaring through the air before landing hard on the ice. The worst part though would be Murray, who has had concussion issues throughout his career, smacking the back of his head on the ice in sickening fashion as a result of the fall.

We would learn later during the game that Murray would not return, and although there has been no update on his status it sounds like there is genuine concern among his teammates. Fellow goalrender Ilya Samsonov, who doesn’t have a flawless grasp of English, offered up some truly heartfelt comments about his injured teammate following the game.

“I’m sad,” admitted the Russian goaltender. “This is hard. Hard for him. Hard for [his] family, yeah, first one, & hard for team. It’s hard for us. It’s third one. We don’t know long-term or whatever. Third injury is really hard and I’m so sad about it.”

There has as of yet been no official update on Murray, but as always I hope he will make a full and speedy recovery.