It’s the New Year’s Edition of AFTIC. Episode 4.16 on the way to you today with news on three Maple Leaf games from the past week: losses to the Islanders and Capitals and a win against the Thrashers. The Revolving Door updates you on a plethora of injured Leafs including a bizarre one for leading scorer Matt Stajan. Now that Mats Sundin is officially off the market, we weigh in on whether it’s time for the Maple Leafs to pick a captain as we wrap the Leaf Note portion of the Redline Report.

Quick Hits features news on Paul Kariya, the aforementioned Mats Sundin and World Junior Team Canada netminder Dustin Tokarski. On The Bubble brings you Listener Email, the Junior Hockey Report with news on the Central Division Showcase and the progress of Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships. We wrap On The Bubble with the return of the Gong Banger in the Troubling Fact of the Week.

For more information on the Central Division Showcase including articles, reports, highlights and interviews, check out the official website of the Central Division.

Finally in rigamarole we lay out some New Year’s Resolutions for the Toronto Maple Leafs. To be sure, 2008 was not the best year for the Maple Leafs, will 2009 be any better? Find out coming right ahead in the next 365 days!

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Ahead on the Christmas Edition of A Foot In The Crease, we take you through the last week of Maple Leaf action: two downright impressive games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Atlanta Thrashers bookended by two atrocious outings against the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars. As well we update you on the statuses of injured Maple Leafs including Mike Van Ryn, Luke Schenn, Jamal Mayers and Vesa Toskala in the Revolving Door.

Mats Sundin finally rendered a decision. We weigh in on his decision to return to the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks to conclude the Redline Report.

Listener Email, the Junior Hockey Report which includes news on the St. Michael’s Buzzers and the CJHL vs OHA Central Division “Battle of Ontario” tournament along with a fireside chat with Brampton Battalion defenseman Kyle Pereira follow in On The Bubble.

In rigamarole, we hand out glasses of holiday cheer and lumps of coal to the best and worst from the first portion of the Maple Leafs schedule.

Big thanks to Kyle Pereira of the Brampton Battalion for joining us for an interview (fireside chat) on today’s edition of the program!

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Ahead on Episode 4.14 of AFITC, the Maple Leafs were cruising this past week, picking up a pair of victories over the Sabres and Devils to stretch their winning streak to three games. All of a sudden they are playing too well again according to some members of Leaf Nation. The Revolving Door brings you some progress a number of injured Leafs including Schenn, Hagman, Frogren and Mayers. Quick Hits wraps the Redline Report with news on a further injury to Joe Sakic and the conclusion of the Sean Avery saga in Dallas.

In On The Bubble we feature more Listener Email from Simon, Stuart and Aaron; the Junior Hockey Report with a look back at two St. Michael’s Buzzers games from the past week; a Troubling Fact of the Week pertaining to Peter Forsberg and an interview with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Director of Player Development, Tom Fitzgerald.

Rigamarole concludes the show with a look at why Jeremy Williams has never been able to stick with the Maple Leafs and why this time around, he may have a better to do so. All that and more ahead this week on A Foot In The Crease.

Big thanks to Tom Fitzgerald for joining us this week on the program!

Become an AFITC Insider by joining A Foot In The Crease Fans on Facebook. Send along listener email to afootinthecrease@gmail.com.

To suit a few scheduling conflicts that arose earlier in the week, Episode 4.14 of AFITC will be delayed until Thursday December 18th. However, the two day delay will allow us to bring you an interview with a great guest, Tom Fitzgerald - former Maple Leaf and Director of Player Development for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

We'll ask Tom about what his job with the Penguins entails, his experience working with younger players, the importance of a committment to the defensive side of the game, his career spanning 1097 NHL games, the World Junior Hockey Championships and much more.

Thanks for your patience with the delay and be sure to check back on Thursday for Episode 4.14 Featuring Tom Fitzgerald!

University of Wisconsin Badgers' defenseman, Brendan Smith, who appeared on Episode 2.41 of AFITC, has been invited to participate in the 2009 Team Canada World Junior Selection Camp beginning Thursday December 11th in Ottawa.

For more, visit the official website of the St. Michael's Buzzers, Brendan's junior hockey team from 2005 to 2007, to read Dave's story.

If you have yet to join A Foot In The Crease Fans on Facebook, we encourage you to do so. An exciting guest announcement awaits therein!

Source of photo: UWBadgers.com

After a solid start to a three game western road trip in Los Angeles last Monday, the trip went downhill from there with two disappointing losses to San Jose and Phoenix. We’ll cover those games as well as the two the Maple Leafs played since returning home to kick off the Redline Report. In the Revolving Door, we tell you about two more Maple Leafs to go down with injuries and update you on the statuses of Jamal Mayers, Mike Van Ryn and Jonas Frogren. News on two front office changes concludes the Leafs Notes portion of the show.

In Quick Hits, we focus on news pertaining to Joe Sakic, Daniel Briere, Paul Maurice and Wade Belak. On The Bubble brings you Listener Email from David, Andre and Alan along with the Junior Hockey Report and a delicious, albeit Troubling Fact of the Week.

Now that it’s clear the Maple Leafs won’t be a team competing for the playoffs once again this year, rigamarole wraps the show with a look at who is likely to be the first Maple Leaf traded. We’ll try not to say anything stupid during the show; we’ll leave that to Sean Avery.

For the complete roster for the 2009 Team Canada World Junior Selection Camp, click here.

Become an AFITC Insider by joining A Foot In The Crease Fans on Facebook. Send along listener email to afootinthecrease@gmail.com.

And stop the clock. Some eleven months after John Ferguson Jr. was relieved of his duties as General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the worst kept secret in hockey became a reality last week as Brian Burke was officially introduced as the new President and General Manager. What does this mean for the Maple Leafs? We’re all over it in the Redline Report after we take a look back at four games from the past week against Atlanta, Ottawa, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Spinning you through the Revolving Door, we update the Maple Leafs’ injury situation and conclude the Redline Report with a Quick Hit featuring former Maple Leaf Wade Belak. On The Bubble brings you Listener Email as always along with the Junior Hockey Report.

At the end of the segment we welcome back to our program the host of Off The Record on TSN, Michael Landsberg to discuss the hiring of Brian Burke, the first quarter of the Maple Leafs season and much more.

Finally to wrap the show, rigamarole looks at the play of Curtis Joseph thus far this season and explains why it is time for him to call it a career.

Big thanks to Michael Landsberg for joining us on the program this week!

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Today on Episode 4.11 of AFITC, the Maple Leafs were not busy on the ice this past week playing only one game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Most of the action came in the front office when Cliff Fletcher sent a pair of former first round picks (Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo) to St. Louis in exchange for a former All-American College player (Lee Stempniak). We’ll tell you who was involved and who got the better end of this deal. Also in the front office, as Fletcher continues to wheel and deal, he’s also preparing to step aside for Brian Burke. How close is the deal to being done? We’ll have those answers too coming up in the Redline Report.

To wrap the Redline Report, we take you through the Revolving Door with updates on a pair of injured Leafs and focus on news regarding Brendan Morrow of the Dallas Stars and the injury situation of Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo in Quick Hits. On the Bubble brings you a healthy crop of solid Listener Emails from Simon, David, Andre, Alan, Aaron followed by the Junior Hockey Report and a Troubling Fact of the Week.

Not surprisingly, rigamarole wraps the show with a controversial look at the decision to raise Wendel Clark’s number 17 to the rafters at Air Canada Centre. We don’t think he should be up there and we’ll explain why in rigamarole.

Become an AFITC Insider by joining A Foot In The Crease Fans on Facebook. Send along listener email to afootinthecrease@gmail.com.

Ahead on Episode 4.10 of AFITC, the Maple Leafs struggled through a difficult week, winning only once in four games. We’ll cover the week of action, examining the highpoints and the low points from their trip to Western Canada and their return home Monday against Boston along with spinning you through the Revolving Door to kick off the Redline Report.

Brian Burke steps down as GM in Anaheim. How soon will he be in Toronto or is it still even the right move for the Maple Leafs? We’ll examine the possibilities coming up in Quick Hits. News on Ducks’ defenseman Francois Beauchemin, a coaching change in Tampa Bay and the departure of Doug Gilmour from the Toronto Marlies follow to conclude Quick Hits.

In On The Bubble, we feature a Listener Email followed by the Junior Hockey Report with an exciting announcement and an appearance from six of the Team Canada East bronze medalists from the World Jr. A Challenge. Greg Miller, Reilly Smith, Nick D’Agostino, Jeremy Franklin, Marty O’Grady and David Pratt discuss their experiences representing Canada on the international stage and a whole lot more. Check out the official Central Division Hockey website for more information.

Finally rigamarole wraps the program with a look at the most concerning aspect of the Maple Leafs play through the first six week of the regular season. Stick around, all that and more coming your way on Episode 4.10 of AFITC.

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Today on Episode 4.9 of AFITC – the Remembrance Day Edition – one win, one loss and one overtime loss keeping the Maple Leafs very much in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference. The Revolving Door spins again for the first time in three weeks including two injuries: one a minor injury and the second a far more serious one. We’ll tell you who’s out and for how long coming up in the Redline Report.

In Quick Hits, we discuss a long term injury to Martin Brodeur and the resurgence of Kyle Wellwood.

An ambitious portion of On The Bubble brings you Listener Email, the Junior Hockey Report with news on the St. Michael’s Buzzers last week of action and the results of the World Jr. A Challenge and a Collegiate Hockey Award to a friend of the podcast. Be sure to check out the official Central Division Hockey website for game reports, high definition video highlights and much more! The segment concludes with another Troubling Fact of the Week.

If there was ever a player whose apology we buy for injuring another player, it’s Tom Kostopolous and we'll tell you why in rigamarole.

While we sit back and talk hockey for an hour, let’s remember why we have this privilege along with so many others in this great country of Canada. Without our courageous veterans and those currently serving our country, our way of life founded on freedom and democracy would not be possible and for that we salute you all!

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