2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs season

2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division	5th Northeast
Conference	12th Eastern
2008–09 record	34–35–13
Home record	16–16–9
Road record	18–19–4
Goals for	219
Goals against	257
Team information
General Manager	Cliff Fletcher (Sept–Nov) interim Brian Burke (Nov–Apr)
Coach	Ron Wilson
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Nik Antropov (Oct.–Mar.) Tomas Kaberle Pavel Kubina Brad May (Mar.–Apr.) Jamal Mayers Dominic Moore (Oct.–Mar.)
Arena	Air Canada Centre
Average attendance	19,243 (102%)
Team leaders
Goals	Jason Blake (25)
Assists	Matt Stajan (35)
Points	Jason Blake (57)
Penalties in minutes	Pavel Kubina (79)
Plus/minus	Alexei Ponikarovsky (+6)
Wins	Vesa Toskala (22)
Goals against average	Vesa Toskala (3.26)

The 2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the franchise's 92nd, and their 82nd as the Maple Leafs. The Leafs did not qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, and have not qualified for the post-season since the 2003–04 season.

Offseason

The Leafs faced an off-season challenge to hire a general manager. Brian Burke was a favourite for the position held by Interim General Manager Cliff Fletcher, but Burke decided to stay with the Anaheim Ducks. He was not given permission to talk to the Leafs about their vacancy by Ducks owner Henry Samueli.^[1] Burke had one more year left on his contract as the general manager of the Ducks, and those close to him say he was interested in the Maple Leafs' job.

On May 7, the Leafs fired Head Coach Paul Maurice, along with two assistant coaches, after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.^[2] On May 8, the Leafs asked the Vancouver Canucks permission to speak to Dave Nonis about hiring him for a position with the club.^[3]

In mid-May, there were rumours that Wayne Gretzky was in the running for a position with the Maple Leafs. Gretzky responded to the rumours linking him to the Toronto Maple Leafs by stating that his focus was on the Phoenix Coyotes and developing their young talent.^[4]

On June 10, Ron Wilson was hired as the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wilson was fired in May by the San Jose Sharks after the Sharks lost to the Dallas Stars in the second round of the NHL playoffs. Wilson has also coached the Anaheim Ducks and the Washington Capitals. The former U.S. college player spent parts of three NHL seasons with the Leafs in the 1970s.^[5]

The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Al Coates as their player-personnel director on June 16.^[6] Coates comes to Toronto after spending the previous six seasons with Anaheim. Coates has spent more than 30 years in pro hockey and has been part of two Stanley Cup-winning teams (2007 with the Anaheim Ducks and 1989 with the Calgary Flames).

The move perpetuated speculation that Anaheim General Manager Brian Burke would become the Maple Leafs' GM once his deal with the Ducks expired in 2009. The fact that new head coach Ron Wilson played hockey with Burke at the Providence College sparked further rumors about Burke potentially joining the club.

Former NHL star Joe Nieuwendyk was named as General Manager Cliff Fletcher's special assistant on July 8.^[7] While playing for the Florida Panthers, Nieuwendyk gained experience as a special consultant to GM Jacques Martin.

Throughout the off-season, the Maple Leafs have been involved in numerous transactions. On June 24, the Toronto Maple Leafs put goaltender Andrew Raycroft and forward Kyle Wellwood on waivers.^[8] Morever, Interim GM Cliff Fletcher informed Darcy Tucker that he is to be bought out of his three-year contract; however, this decision was not made official until June 25.^[9]

The Maple Leafs bought out goaltender Andrew Raycroft on June 28, making him eligible for free agency on July 1. When the free agent signing period began on July 1, Toronto signed defenceman Jeff Finger, goaltender Curtis Joseph and former Dallas Stars forward Niklas Hagman. Another transaction was made on July 3 when Toronto traded for former Montreal Canadiens forward Mikhail Grabovski in exchange for the rights to Greg Pateryn and a second-round draft pick in 2010. The Leafs also re-signed forwards Dominic Moore, John Mitchell and Greg Scott. On July 14, the Maple Leafs acquired forward Ryan Hollweg in a trade with the New York Rangers for a fifth-round draft pick in 2009.

Regular season

With a young roster, the Maple Leafs were expected to have a lacklustre season. This proved to be correct, as they fell out of the playoff race relatively early and showed little sign of recovery. However, they showed signs of improvement in February and March 2009, during which they had a stretch of seven consecutive games that went into overtime. The Leafs lost the first two in shootouts, then won four in a row with two overtime wins and two shootout wins, followed by an overtime loss.

In November 2008, Brian Burke obtained his release from the Anaheim Ducks and joined the Maple Leafs as president and general manager.

The Maple Leafs were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs on March 31, 2009, with six games remaining in the season.

The Maple Leafs finished the season with 286 goals allowed (excluding seven shootout goals), the most out of all 30 teams. The Maple Leafs also struggled on the penalty kill, finishing 30th overall in penalty-kill percentage, at 74.68%.^[10]^[11]

Divisional standings

Northeast Division
		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Boston Bruins	82	53	19	10	274	196	116
2	Montreal Canadiens	82	41	30	11	249	247	93
3	Buffalo Sabres	82	41	32	9	250	234	91
4	Ottawa Senators	82	36	35	11	217	237	83
5	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	34	35	13	250	293	81

Conference standings

Eastern Conference
R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Boston Bruins	NE	82	53	19	10	274	196	116
2	y – Washington Capitals	SE	82	50	24	8	272	245	108
3	y – New Jersey Devils	AT	82	51	27	4	244	209	106
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	45	28	9	264	239	99
5	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	44	27	11	264	238	99
6	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	45	30	7	239	226	97
7	New York Rangers	AT	82	43	30	9	210	218	95
8	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	11	249	247	93
8.5
9	Florida Panthers	SE	82	41	30	11	234	231	93
10	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	41	32	9	250	234	91
11	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	36	35	11	217	237	83
12	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	34	35	13	250	293	81
13	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	35	41	6	257	280	76
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	24	40	18	210	279	66
15	New York Islanders	AT	82	26	47	9	201	279	61

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

Schedule and results

2008–09 Game Log

October 4–3–3 (Home 1–2–2, Road 3–1–1)

November 4–6–3 (Home 3–2–2, Road 1–4–1)

December 7–7–0 (Home 3–2–0, Road 4–5–0)

January 4–7–2 (Home 2–4–1, Road 2–3–1)

February 6–3–4 (Home 2–1–3, Road 4–2–1)

March 6–6–1 (Home 3–3–1, Road 3–3–0)

April 3–3–0 (Home 2–2–0, Road 1–1–0)

† Hockey Hall of Fame Game

Schedule

Overtime Statistics

	Games	Won	Lost	Goal Scorers
Overtime	10	4	6	Pavel Kubina (2), Niklas Hagman, Mikhail Grabovski
Shootout	13	6	7
	23	10	13

Playoffs

The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to qualify for the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs. If the Leafs had qualified for the playoffs, it would have been their first qualification since the 2003–04 NHL season.

Player statistics

Final stats^[12]

Skaters

Regular Season
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Blake, JasonJason Blake	78	25	38	63	−2	40
Ponikarovsky, AlexeiAlexei Ponikarovsky	82	23	38	61	+6	38
Stajan, MattMatt Stajan	76	15	40	55	−4	54
Grabovski, MikhailMikhail Grabovski	78	20	28	48	−8	92
Antropov, NikNik Antropov^‡	63	21	25	46	−13	24
Hagman, NiklasNiklas Hagman	65	22	20	42	−5	4
Moore, DominicDominic Moore^‡	63	12	29	41	−1	69
Kubina, PavelPavel Kubina	82	14	26	40	−15	94
Kaberle, TomasTomas Kaberle	57	4	27	31	−8	8
Kulemin, NikolaiNikolai Kulemin	73	15	16	31	−8	18
Stempniak, LeeLee Stempniak^†	61	11	20	31	−9	31
Mitchell, JohnJohn Mitchell	76	12	17	29	−16	33
White, IanIan White	71	10	16	26	+6	57
Finger, JeffJeff Finger	66	6	17	23	−7	43
Mayers, JamalJamal Mayers	71	7	9	16	−7	82
Schenn, LukeLuke Schenn	70	2	12	14	−12	71
Stralman, AntonAnton Stralman	38	1	12	13	−2	20
Devereaux, BoydBoyd Devereaux	23	6	5	11	+3	2
Van Ryn, MikeMike Van Ryn	27	3	8	11	+2	14
Williams, JeremyJeremy Williams	11	5	2	7	+2	2
Frogren, JonasJonas Frogren	41	1	6	7	0	28
Hamilton, JeffJeff Hamilton	15	3	3	6	+2	4
Steen, AlexanderAlexander Steen^‡	20	2	2	4	−4	6
Tlusty, JiriJiri Tlusty	14	0	4	4	0	0
May, BradBrad May^†	38	1	1	2	−5	61
Hollweg, RyanRyan Hollweg	25	0	2	2	−7	38
Oreskovic, PhilPhil Oreskovic	10	1	1	2	−2	21
Sifers, JaimeJaime Sifers	23	0	2	2	−4	18
Hanson, ChristianChristian Hanson	5	1	1	2	−1	2
Colaiacovo, CarloCarlo Colaiacovo^‡	10	0	1	1	−2	6
Deveaux, AndreAndre Deveaux	21	0	1	1	−3	75
Harrison, JayJay Harrison	7	0	1	1	−2	10
Stapleton, TimTim Stapleton	4	1	0	1	−3	0
Ondrus, BenBen Ondrus	11	0	0	0	−4	34
Newbury, KrisKris Newbury	1	0	0	0	0	2

Goaltenders

Regular Season
Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	PIM
Toskala, VesaVesa Toskala	53	52	3056	22	17	11	166	3.26	1518	.891	1	2
Joseph, CurtisCurtis Joseph	21	11	841	5	9	1	50	3.57	383	.869	0	0
Gerber, MartinMartin Gerber^†	12	12	705	6	5	0	38	3.23	402	.905	0	0
Pogge, JustinJustin Pogge	7	6	372	1	4	1	27	4.36	173	.844	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Maple Leafs. Stats reflect time with Maple Leafs only.
^‡Traded mid-season.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached

Transactions

On October 6, the team placed Mark Bell on waivers.

Trades

June 19, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Jamal Mayers	To St. Louis Blues Third-round pick in 2008 (James Livingston)
June 20, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs First-round (5th overall) pick in 2008 (Luke Schenn)	To New York Islanders First-round (7th overall) pick in 2008 (Colin Wilson) Two conditional picks (Shawn Lalonde) (Mat Clark)
July 3, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mikhail Grabovski	To Montreal Canadiens Greg Pateryn Second-round pick in 2010 (Jared Knight)
July 14, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ryan Hollweg	To New York Rangers Fifth-round pick in 2009 (Andy Bathgate)
September 2, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Van Ryn	To Florida Panthers Bryan McCabe^[13] Fourth-round pick in 2010 (Sam Brittain)
November 24, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Lee Stempniak	To St. Louis Blues Alexander Steen Carlo Colaiacovo
January 7, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Brad May	To Anaheim Ducks Conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2010 (not exercised)^[14]
January 21, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ryan Hamilton	To Minnesota Wild Robbie Earl
March 4, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Second-round draft pick in 2009 draft (Kenny Ryan) Conditional draft pick	To New York Rangers Nik Antropov
March 4, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Second-round draft pick in 2009 draft (Jesse Blacker)	To Buffalo Sabres Dominic Moore
March 4, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Olaf Kolzig Jamie Heward Andy Rogers Fourth-round draft pick from Carolina in 2009 draft	To Tampa Bay Lightning Richard Petiot

Free agents

Player	Former team	Contract Terms
Curtis Joseph	Calgary Flames	1 year, $700,000
Jeff Finger	Colorado Avalanche	4 years, $14 million
Niklas Hagman	Dallas Stars	4 years, $12 million
Christian Hanson	University of Notre Dame	2 years, $1.575 million
Tyler Bozak	University of Denver	2 years, entry level

Player	New team
Darcy Tucker	Colorado Avalanche
Andrew Raycroft	Colorado Avalanche
Kyle Wellwood	Vancouver Canucks
Scott Clemmensen	New Jersey Devils
Andy Wozniewski	St. Louis Blues

Claimed from waivers

Player	Former team	Date claimed off waivers
Martin Gerber	Ottawa Senators	March 4, 2009
Erik Reitz	New York Rangers	March 4, 2009

Draft picks

Toronto's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft^[15] in Ottawa.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Club Team
1	5	Luke Schenn	(D)	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
2	60 (from Pittsburgh)	Jimmy Hayes	(RW)	United States	Lincoln Stars (USHL)
4	98	Mikhail Stefanovich	(C)	Belarus	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
5	128	Greg Pateryn	(D)	United States	Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL)
5	129 (from Phoenix)	Joel Champagne	(C)	Canada	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
5	130 (from Florida)	Jerome Flaake	(LW)	Germany	Kolner Haie (DEL)
6	158	Grant Rollheiser	(G)	Canada	Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL)
7	188	Andrew MacWilliam	(D)	Canada	Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)

Roster

Updated March 30, 2009.^[16]^[17]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
55	United States !	Blake, JasonJason Blake	6.0 !LW	L	43	2007	Moorhead, Minnesota
56	Bahamas !	Deveaux, AndreAndre Deveaux	4.0 !C	R	33	2008	Freeport, Bahamas
22	Canada !	Devereaux, BoydBoyd Devereaux	4.0 !C	L	39	2006	Seaforth, Ontario
4	United States !	Finger, JeffJeff Finger	2.0 !D	R	37	2008	Houghton, Michigan
24	Sweden !	Frogren, JonasJonas Frogren	2.0 !D	L	36	2008	Falun, Sweden
29	Switzerland !	Gerber, MartinMartin Gerber	1.0 !G	L	42	2009	Burgdorf, Switzerland
84	Belarus !	Grabovski, MikhailMikhail Grabovski	4.0 !C	L	33	2008	Potsdam, East Germany
9	Finland !	Hagman, NiklasNiklas Hagman	6.0 !LW	L	37	2008	Espoo, Finland
51	United States !	Hamilton, JeffJeff Hamilton	4.0 !C	R	39	2009	Dayton, Ohio
20	United States !	Hanson, ChristianChristian Hanson	4.0 !C	R	31	2009	Venetia, Pennsylvania
43	Canada !	Harrison, JayJay Harrison	2.0 !D	L	34	2001	Oshawa, Ontario
	Canada !	Heward, JamieJamie Heward	2.0 !D	R	46	2009	Regina, Saskatchewan
31	Canada !	Joseph, CurtisCurtis Joseph	1.0 !G	L	50	2008	Keswick, Ontario
15	Czech Republic !	Kaberle, TomasTomas Kaberle (A)	2.0 !D	L	39	1996	Rakovník, Czechoslovakia
	Germany !	Kolzig, OlafOlaf Kolzig	1.0 !G	L	47	2009	Johannesburg, South Africa
77	Czech Republic !	Kubina, PavelPavel Kubina (A)	2.0 !D	R	40	2006	Čeladná, Czechoslovakia
41	Russia !	Kulemin, NikolaiNikolai Kulemin	7.0 !RW	L	31	2006	Magnitogorsk, U.S.S.R.
10	Canada !	May, BradBrad May (A)	6.0 !LW	R	45	2009	Toronto
21	Canada !	Mayers, JamalJamal Mayers (A)	7.0 !RW	R	42	2008	Toronto
39	Canada !	Mitchell, JohnJohn Mitchell	4.0 !C	L	32	2003	Oakville, Ontario
40	Canada !	Oreskovic, PhilPhil Oreskovic	2.0 !D	R	30	2005	North York, Ontario
1	Canada !	Pogge, JustinJustin Pogge	1.0 !G	L	31	2004	Fort McMurray, Alberta
23	Ukraine !	Ponikarovsky, AlexeiAlexei Ponikarovsky	6.0 !LW	L	37	1998	Kiev, U.S.S.R.
3	USA !	Reitz, ErikErik Reitz	2.0 !D	R	35	2009	Detroit, Michigan
2	Canada !	Schenn, LukeLuke Schenn	2.0 !D	R	27	2008	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
14	Canada !	Stajan, MattMatt Stajan	4.0 !C	R	33	2002	Mississauga, Ontario
12	United States !	Stempniak, LeeLee Stempniak	7.0 !RW	R	34	2008	West Seneca, New York
35	Finland !	Toskala, VesaVesa Toskala	1.0 !G	L	40	2007	Tampere, Finland
26	Canada !	Van Ryn, MikeMike Van Ryn	2.0 !D	R	38	2008	London, Ontario
7	Canada !	White, IanIan White	2.0 !D	R	33	2002	Steinbach, Manitoba

Farm teams

The Maple Leafs continue their affiliation with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

References

↑ globeandmail.com: Burke stays put, leaving Leafs in the lurch
↑ Paul Maurice fired as Leafs head coach
↑ CANOE – SLAM! Sports – Hockey NHL – Toronto – Leafs' timing questionable
↑ Gretzky's focus remains in Phoenix, not Toronto
↑ CANOE – SLAM! Sports – Hockey NHL – Toronto – Wilson faces different challenge with Leafs Archived June 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ CANOE – SLAM! Sports – Hockey NHL – Toronto – Leafs hire Al Coates Archived June 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ CANOE – SLAM! Sports – Hockey NHL – Toronto – Nieuwendyk brought in as GM's right-hand man
↑ Toronto Maple Leafs – Mike Ulmer's Blog: Leafs Begin Promised Overhaul – 24 June 2008 Archived June 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Toronto Maple Leafs – News: Maple Leafs To Buy Out Tucker – 24 June 2008 Archived June 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2009.html
↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2009_games.html
↑ "2008–2009 Regular Season Stats – Points – Toronto Maple Leafs – Statistics". Toronto Maple Leafs. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
↑ http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Toronto/2008/09/03/6646861-sun.html
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
↑ "NHL.com – Stats". June 21, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
↑ "Toronto Maple Leafs – Team – Roster". Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
↑ "AHL stats". Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2009.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Founded in 1917 Based in Toronto, Ontario
Franchise	Franchise General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History (Original Six) Records Award winners Retired numbers
Personnel	Owners Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Larry Tanenbaum, chairman) President Brendan Shanahan General manager Lou Lamoriello Head coach Mike Babcock Team captain Vacant Current roster
Arenas	Arena Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens Air Canada Centre
Rivalries	Detroit Red Wings Montreal Canadiens Ottawa Senators
Affiliates	AHL Toronto Marlies ECHL Orlando Solar Bears
Media	Broadcasters TV: Leafs TV Sportsnet Ontario TSN4 TVA Sports RDS RDS2 Radio: Sportsnet 590 The Fan TSN Radio 1050 Choq FM 105,1
Culture and lore	Toronto Blueshirts Toronto Arenas Toronto St. Patricks Maple Leaf Square Fifty Mission Cap J. P. Bickell Memorial Award Carlton the Bear The Kid Line The Love Guru 2014 NHL Winter Classic NHL Centennial Classic 2018 NHL Stadium Series

Toronto Maple Leafs seasons
1910s	1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

2008–09 NHL season
Atlantic	New Jersey Devils New York Islanders New York Rangers Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins
Northeast	Boston Bruins Buffalo Sabres Montreal Canadiens Ottawa Senators Toronto Maple Leafs
Southeast	Atlanta Thrashers Carolina Hurricanes Florida Panthers Tampa Bay Lightning Washington Capitals
Central	Chicago Blackhawks Columbus Blue Jackets Detroit Red Wings Nashville Predators St. Louis Blues
Northwest	Calgary Flames Colorado Avalanche Edmonton Oilers Minnesota Wild Vancouver Canucks
Pacific	Anaheim Ducks Dallas Stars Los Angeles Kings Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks
See also	Victoria Cup Draft Winter Classic All-Star Game Playoffs Stanley Cup Finals Transactions

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