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The Countdown Begins to the Debut of the 2021 Toronto Maple Leafs

By James Tanner

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his third period goal at 16:54 with Morgan Rielly #44 and William Nylander #88 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his third period goal at 16:54 with Morgan Rielly #44 and William Nylander #88 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have only played five times in the last ten months.

Therefore, even though I normally wouldn’t care at all, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be playing a inter-squad game tonight and I’m actually quite pumped up for it.

I mean, it’s even on TV – that’s how starved for hockey content everyone is.

A televised practice?  Hey it’s not like I have anything else to do or anywhere to go, so bring it on. But that’s not even half the fun! The NHL starts on Wednesday and my fantasy draft is on Sunday where I not only own Freddie Andersen and Carter Hart, but where I will use my recently acquired first overall pick to select Alexis Lafreniere to solidify my hold on the championship belt.

Where was I? Oh yes, the countdown to action.

Toronto Maple Leafs in T-MINUS…

Four hours and counting.

Personally, my main reason for watching tonight will be to see Mikko Lehtonen for the first time. The reining KHL defenseman of the year is again tearing up the Euroleague with his point a game performance, which has earned him the title of Best Defenseman in the World Not Currently in the NHL.

Is it hype? Is there any substance to this?  Do we get another Zaitsev or Ozhiganov? Or do we get a real star?  Who knows, but it will be to find out.

What about T.J Brodie? He doesn’t hit, doesn’t score too much and will get blamed for every goal despite being an overall positive force in the lineup.  He is the kind of player who doesn’t get too much love when things aren’t going right, but I suspect he’s going to be a great addition to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

So those will be my two main reasons for tuning in tonight, but don’t forget about Wednesday.

Wednesday night at 7 PM the Leafs will hosting the Montreal Canadiens at home. The government waited until the last possible minute to grant permission, but now they have it.

I really hope the Leafs win on Wednesday after all the trash talking I did over the Canadiens misguided offseason where they traded a potential star player for David Clarkson v2.0.  I don’t think the Leafs will  quite be able to go 56-0 but it would still be nice to get off to a great start.

Next. Scrimmage Will Make or Break These 4 Players. dark

Either way, it’s about four hours until tonight’s game, and only three full days and a work day until the season kicks off.  Will the Toronto Maple Leafs be 2021 Stanley Cup Champs?  I hope so. But watch out for Buffalo!

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