The Former Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Team

It's always fun to look back at how former players on your favourite team are doing. A fun topic around my house is talking about how this guy is doing or where that guy is now. Finally, we got around to checking in on some of the active ex-Maple Leafs. With the players currently still playing in the NHL, we present to you:

The Former Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Team

(Note: all stats as of January 7th, 2011)

FORWARDS

Alexander Steen

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	253	50	76	127
Post-Leafs	168	44	55	99

Steen has been very solid for the Blues in both the offensive and defensive zones. He had a career best 24 goals last year, and should beat that this year.

Steve Sullivan

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	154	35	59	85
Post-Leafs	677	218	337	555

Old Steve Sullivan last played with the Maple Leafs during the 1999-2000 season. The NHL was a lot different back then, and many teams didn't like small players. The Leafs gave up on Sullivan and the Blackhawks claimed him off waivers. Sully's best season was 34 goals and 75 points with the Blackhawks. Not bad for a guy we gave up on. He also gave us one of the best fan karma incidents ever.

Alexei Ponikarovsky

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	477	114	143	257
Post-Leafs	38	5	11	16

I am not surprised that Poni's numbers aren't that great since he left the Leafs. He is a very solid 3^rd line player that can play some 2^nd line minutes. With the Leafs he was getting mostly 1^st and 2^nd line minutes. He misses Nik Antropov too.

Nik Antropov

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	510	125	166	291
Post-Leafs	131	38	61	99

Big Nik has struggled so far this season with the Atlanta Thrashers, but last year with them was by far the best of his career. Antropov had 67 pts in 76 games. The Leaf's could use his size up the middle now like Antropov could use Ponikarovsky as a roommate.

Matt Stajan

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	445	87	136	223
Post-Leafs	63	5	30	35

Stajan is a lot like Ponikarovsky. Both are 3^rd line players getting minutes they shouldn't be playing. The Calgary Flames will be regretting his new contract that will pay him $3.5M till 2014. Stajan also caused a little stir with Leaf fans when discussing the Phaneuf trade, some wanted to fight him.

Lee Stempniak

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	123	25	36	61
Post-Leafs	58	22	13	35

The Leafs traded Stempniak last year at the deadline and he went on to score 14 goals in 18 games proving that he could hit the net. Thankfully for the Leafs, he is back to his old self with 8 goals in 38 games this season.

Viktor Stalberg

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	40	9	5	14
Post-Leafs	39	6	8	14

Many Leaf fans miss watching Stalberg and his blazing speed fly up and down the ice. He started off hot this year with the Blackhawks and was scoring more than Kris Versteeg. I didn't like this trade at first, but Versteeg has been steady so far with 25 points in 36 games this season.

Nik Hagman

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	120	42	33	75
Post-Leafs	68	13	16	29

Hagman doesn't get the major powerplay minutes he did with the Leaf's and his point totals show this. Hagman is solid player and should score 20 this year. The Leaf's were smart in dealing him and now have Clarke MacArthur scoring more points at 1/3 the cap hit. Leaf fans do miss Hagman's wife though.

Dominic Moore

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	101	16	39	55
Post-Leafs	123	17	28	45

Dominic Moore had his best season of his career with the Maple Leafs scoring 41 points in 55 games back in the 2008-09. The Leafs offered Moore a contract extension around $1.8M a year for multiple years, but Moore was looking for $2.5M plus a year. Since then he has played for 4 different teams and been a 3^rd line player.

Wade Belak

	GP	G	A	P	PIM
Leafs	318	7	17	24	763
Post-Leafs	119	0	4	4	161

Wade was good with his fists and the media in Toronto. He now spends most of his time eating popcorn in the pressbox or at home.

Fred Modin

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	217	38	38	76
Post-Leafs	669	194	191	385

Freddy Modin always had the talent and a bomb of a slapshot (that rarely hit the net). The Leaf's gave up on Modin after the 1998-99 season. After that Modin went on to have two 30 goal seasons and won a cup with the Lightning.

Brad Boyes

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	0	0	0	0
Post-Leafs	449	142	173	315

That is the only picture we ever got to see of Boyes in a Maple Leafs jersey. I still remember how many Leaf fans were pissed when he was traded away to get Owen Nolan. Boyes has showed he can score goals, but has had problems doing it consistently. His best season was in 2007-08 when he scored 43 goals and had 65 points.

Kyle Wellwood (extra forward)

	GP	G	A	P
Leafs	189	31	77	108
Post-Leafs	149	32	20	52

Wellwood showed so much promise as a rookie. He was just so lazy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player try less than Wellwood. It’s no wonder no NHL team could use him, and now the KHL has discovered his work ethic is not as strong as his appetite. Wellwood was recently released from Atlant Moscow Oblast.

Defencemen

Bryan McCabe

	GP	G	A	P	+/-
Leafs	523	83	214	297	63
Post-Leafs	188	28	73	101	2

Looking back at McCabe's numbers, he was a stud D. He had seasons that he scored 15, 16, 17 and 19 goals a year. He was booed out of town because of many of his defensive mistakes. I see a lot of comparisons with him and Dion Phaneuf. Both have some sort of faux hawk going on with their hair, and both are paid to score. Both players make a lot of mistakes in their own zone and many think they are overpaid. So what is the over/under on years that Phaneuf gets booed out of town?

Pavel Kubina

	GP	G	A	P	+/-
Leafs	215	32	69	101	-3
Post-Leafs	115	8	43	51	-4

I liked Kubina a lot on the Leafs. He was solid in his own zone, a great team guy, and could also play on the powerplay. The Leafs traded Kubina after his 14 goal and 40 point season for Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart. So basically nothing, because they needed to move his $5M cap hit to bring in Mike Komisarek. Yes, fan favourite Mike Komisarek.

Hal Gill

	GP	G	A	P	+/-
Leafs	145	8	32	40	11
Post-Leafs	190	5	23	28	-2

Many Leaf fans were pretty happy when Gill got traded for a 2^nd rounder to Pittsburgh. But, Gill was a huge part in the two Stanley Cup appearances for the Penguins and also helped Montreal go deep last year in the playoffs with his shot blocking and active stick.

Anton Stralman

	GP	G	A	P	+/-
Leafs	88	4	18	22	-12
Post-Leafs	105	6	37	43	-23

I can remember reading years ago that some scouts thought Stralman was going to be the next Nicklas Lidstrom. He is still rated a 8.0C prospect on Hockey Futures. Stralman is still pretty young and put up 6 goals and 34 points in 73 games last year. It will be interesting to see how he pans out for Columbus.

Carlo Colaiacovo

	GP	G	A	P	+/-
Leafs	111	12	21	33	-1
Post-Leafs	162	14	63	77	2

Colaiacovo always had so much potential with the Leafs, but injuries would always set him back and he would have to battle to get back into the lineup. He has put up career high stats since the trade and looks to be a solid 30 to 40 point defenceman

Ian White

	GP	G	A	P	+/-
Leafs	296	28	77	105	8
Post-Leafs	64	6	15	21	-2

White was the Leafs best defenseman last year before he was traded to the Flames. White has since been traded to Carolina and hasn't shown the same offensive abilities since he was a Leaf. He got a pretty nice raise in the offseason though and is making $3M a season now. He grew funny things on his face too.

Goalies

Tuukka Rask

	GP	W	L	GAA	SAVE %	SO
Leafs	0	0	0	0	0	0
Post-Leafs	63	28	21	2.12	.930	7

I am a goalie. I like to think I know goalies pretty well. And I didn't fall for all the hype of Justin Pogge. I was so pissed when the Leafs traded away Rask. Yes, he is backing up Thomas still in Boston, but he will be a top 5 goalie in the NHL in very soon. Last season's playoffs were just a preview.

Andrew Raycroft

	GP	W	L	GAA	SAVE %	SO
Leafs	91	39	34	3.45	.885	3
Post-Leafs	64	28	24	2.60	.910	2

Raycroft sucks. I can't believe he is tied for the single season win record in the Maple Leafs history. He has found a roll as a solid backup goalie. He can handle 20 starts a year tops.

Martin Gerber (in the pressbox)

	GP	W	L	GAA	SAVE %	SO
Leafs	12	6	5	3.23	.905	0
Post-Leafs	2	2	0	1.50	.950	0

I am still pissed that he ever did play for the Leafs. He helped the Leafs play over .500 at the end of the season and bumped them out of the bottom 5 in the league. He did let Cujo have one last great moment in his career though. If the Leafs finished 5^th, we would have had a chance at any of the top 5 picks with the draft lottery: John Tavares, Victor Hedman, Matt Duchene, Evander Kane, and Brayden Schenn. The Leafs picked 7^th and got Nazem Kadri.