Marlies Lose to B Sens in Shootout.

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TorontoMarlies.com
The Toronto Marlies unveiled their 2007-08 North Division title banner prior to the game in front of a rowdy and spirited 5,157 fans last night at Ricoh Coliseum. Despite a strong, physical effort by the Marlies, the Senators defeated Toronto, 2-1 in a shootout.
The Binghamton Senators opened the scoring at the 8:59 mark of the first period. Josh Hennessy snapped a wrist shot past Marlies starting goalie, Justin Pogge on the glove-hand side to put the Sens up 1-0. Senators starting goaltender, Brian Elliott made some key saves in the first to keep Toronto off the board, turning aside all 15 shots faced. The Marlies power play had many chances, but couldn’t capitalize on four attempts.
Jaime Sifers and Cody Bass dropped the gloves late in the second period, which added to the hostility between the two teams. The Marlies went to their sixth power play shortly after and fired three shots on goal but still couldn’t get the puck past Elliott.
In the third period, after killing off a Binghamton power play, Kyle Rogers received a pass as he stepped out of the penalty box and broke in all alone. Rogers was denied by Elliott on the backhand. Under two minutes later, Tim Stapleton finally solved Brian Elliott on Toronto’s 29th shot of the night to tie the game at 1-1. Stapleton fired a wrist shot that beat Elliott blocker-side. Staffan Kronwall started the played with a pass to Stapleton.
With just under five minutes remaining the Senators Hennesy was penalized for tripping. The Marlies failed to capitalize on their seventh power play of the game. In the dying moments of the game, the Marlies broke in on Elliot with a four on two rush but were again denied by the Senators goaltender.
The overtime period passed quickly as the Senators were limited to only two shots. The Marlies mustered just one shot but had a great scoring opportunity from a Stapleton backhand attempt. The shoot-out was reached after a stellar regulation performance by both goaltenders.
The Marlies first shooter, Stapleton, walked in and fired a wrist-shot past Elliot on his glove side. The Senators then replied with Brendan Bell sliding a backhander past Pogge. The Marlies and Senators shooters were then stopped until the fifth and final shooter for the Senators – Denis Hamel faked a slapshot and then stepped around Pogge to pot in the shoot-out winner.

Langdon sent to Reading.

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Marlies have assigned defenseman Scott Langdon to the Royals.



Langdon (6’2/195) (23) begins his pro career this season after completing his collegiate career at Niagara University last year. In 101 games over three seasons with the Purple Eagles, Langdon scored six goals, assisted on thirteen others (19 points), and amassed 118 penalty minutes. In his senior season, Langdon and his Niagara teammates won the College Hockey America title and earned a berth in the NCAA Hockey Tournament, where they were knocked out by the top rated Michigan Wolverines in the first round.

purpleeagles.com

Marlies Fans! Start your Cheering.

So here we go again for another season of Toronto Marlies Hockey. DDP will be in full force tonight to Cheer on the Blue and White. And to unveil the new DDP Section Banner. Don't forget that the Blue and White Week Truck will be out side for a Tailgate party before the game, be sure to visit to get your free Toronto Maple Leafs Swag.

Also tonight The Toronto Marlies will have a opening night celebration with the Hanging of the AHL north division banner. Congrats go out to the 07 - 08 Marlies for a Great Season and we wish you the best of luck in the upcoming season.



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The B-Sens played the Marlies four times last season, going 1-2-1-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) against the North Division Champs.

AHL Updates some rules to NHL standards

TheAHL.com
2008-09 Rules Changes The American Hockey League has implemented the following rules changes for the 2008-09 season:

Playing rosters during the regular season have been increased to a maximum of 18 skaters and two goaltenders (up from 17 and two).

At the request of NHL general managers, the AHL has implemented one-minute minor penalties during overtime in the regular season. Carry-over time on minor penalties from the third period will be halved.

In order to bring the AHL rule book closer in line to the NHL's, the AHL Board approved the following:

Rule 60.3 ("High-Sticking") now calls for a double-minor penalty (rather than a major) in the event of a high-sticking infraction that causes injury, whether accidental or careless, in the opinion of the referee.

Rule 63.2 ("Delaying the Game") now calls for an automatic minor penalty when any player or goalkeeper, while in his defending zone, shoots the puck directly out of the playing surface, except where there is no glass.

A change to Rule 81.1 ("Icing") states that "Any contact between opposing players while pursuing the puck on an icing must be for the sole purpose of playing the puck and not for eliminating the opponent from playing the puck. Unnecessary or dangerous contact could result in penalties being assessed to the offending player."

A change to Rule 85.5 ("Face-Off Location") provides that if a puck is shot off the goal frame, goal post or crossbar, the subsequent face-off will remain in the end zone where the puck went out of play.

TV and promotional timeouts will not be permitted immediately following an icing violation.

Leafs Win First Game of the season.

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Torontomapleleafs.com

DETROIT - A Toronto Maple Leafs season that isn't expected to include many highlights has already produced a memorable moment.

One of the youngest teams in the NHL watched the Detroit Red Wings bring the Stanley Cup onto the ice and raise another championship banner at Joe Louis Arena before going out and beating the defending champs 3-2 on Thursday night.


Nikolai Kulemin's first NHL goal came on a third-period breakaway and stood up as the winner for a revamped Maple Leafs team that dressed eight new players. Four of them, including the 22-year-old Kulemin, were playing their first NHL game.

Just a Reminder Why Fans Make a Diffrence.

On the Marlies message boards, there has been a bunch a topics about how fans should or should not be. Tonight i have had the pleaure of reading a post that seems to get the point across about the people that look at you funny when you cheer on your team.

Posted by Leafs Chat member 1927

" It can easily be said that suits are the number one reason why the Air Canada Centre is one of the worst places to go watch a hockey game in North America. They like to come into the ACC with their friends, colleagues and co-workers as you pointed out. The problem with this situation is the fact you go to the Ricoh to watch the game LIVE and SUPPORT your team. If a person wanted to just sit around and socialize, you might as well watch the game at the bar with all the people you interact with on a daily basis. I am not advocating for people NOT to attend the games, far from it. My only point is that if you are going to watch a live game, the crowd atmosphere is part of the experience. If anyone has ever went to watch the Toronto FC, you would see huge banners, drums, flags and chanting going on throughout the entire game. Ever wonder why soccer (football) is the number one sport in the world? Soccer has the strongest supporters group as a sport in the entire world, and it is so popular that patrons at the stadium view their teams as almost a religious experience to watch them play live.Hockey as a sport needs to transcend from the typical North American attitude of cheering or clapping when the team forces their fans to cheer by prompting them on the scoreboard. It looks ridiculous when teams have to "condition" their fans to help their players out by putting cheer icons and music on the scoreboard to get the crowd going. I can tell you this right now. The Maple Leafs would have won at least one Stanley Cup since 1967 if we had the best fans in the entire NHL. The players would have been more pumped up at home games to win the Cup. Look at the 1991-1993 teams when the Leafs were in the playoffs. I remember hearing the fans on TV chanting their hearts out and we almost went to the Stanley Cup finals because of the support of the fans and talent from the team. The Marlies did exceptionally well last year and you can see the difference when cheering was going on. Is it a coincidence that the Marlies played better when more cheering occurred last year? Let us look at the Marlines record before Duke's Dog Pound cheered on the team.Season Games Points Goals for Goals against Standing 2005–06 80 92 270 263 4th, North 2006–07 80 75 220 270 6th, North Before the cheering occurred the atmosphere was dead and dull in the Ricoh Coliseum. I went to my first Marlies game last year after the final home game of the Toronto FC. It was like coming from a big wedding at the Toronto FC, to a Funeral at the Marlies game. It was very depressing to come from such a high spirited game to a low spirited game. This is something that the Marlies needed to change fast, or have the same situation happen like the Roadrunners, where they left Toronto.Now if you look at the first season of active cheering from all sections, you see a significant improvement:Season Games Points Goals for Goals against Standing2007–08 80 109 246 203 1st, North The team as a whole improved greatly with the help of the coaching staff, solid goaltending, and fans who supported the team the entire season. When players hear the fans chanting, it pumps them up to play better and in turn makes the game more enjoyable to watch. The playoffs were a perfect example last year where the fans were getting more involved and the atmosphere was the best in years. You cannot deny the fact the atmosphere at the Ricoh improved significantly, along with the team’s fortunes. I understand that not everyone likes to hear loud boisterous fans chanting throughout the game. Just as you stated, you can move to a section where you like peace and quiet. However, you will start to see an increase in fan participation throughout the Ricoh in the next few years, and I am sure the experience will be 100 times better then what it has been in the last three years. It would be nice to see hockey in the Toronto market grow outside of the Maple Leafs grasp at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto needs a different team to support that is fresh, different, and more engaging to the average fan then what the Toronto Maple Leafs offer. We already have people socializing at the Air Canada Centre with their colleagues, friends, co-workers, etc. Toronto needs a different atmosphere for the average fan to enjoy and the Toronto Marlies offer this experience. The fans who cheer offer this experience. This is why fans need to see the Toronto Marlies play live for the excellent hockey action, and fan participation that is different then anything you see at the stifling Air Canada Centre. Everyone who reads this should get tickets to the Marlies and experience first hand with what I have written. "

if anything i think this captures what the meaning of fan is!

Around the AHL

Its was opening night in the AHL for the 08 - 09 Season. Here are the Scores from around the Leauge.


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