Did somebody say "Stamkos"?

Sundin expected to miss weekend games. Colaiacovo out for season. Finally, from today's Leafs Insider email: "Nik Antropov is not expected to play this weekend as he is still recovering from a knee injury he sustained last Saturday against the Sabres."

Super duper. With Cola out does this mean we'll get to see Andy Wozniewski again? It's been a while.

Welcome to the rollercoaster

I watched a bit of last night's game, I'm going to admit it's hard for me to devote nights to the Maple Leafs when they play like this. It's hard, because I still feel like crap when they lose, but when they win I feel like I didn't do my part and thus can't enjoy it as much.

From what I saw though, two guys who've been in the doghouse played really well. Blake had a goal and an assist, and Tucker set up a pair of goals. Matt Stajan also looked good out there last night. Unfortunately Wellwood was as invisible as ever this season, and I'm starting to wonder if his groin just doesn't feel right (editor's note: that's what she said).

The third goal by the Blues on Toskala was maybe unlucky, but I felt annoyed watching it. Vesa's been really strong this season and he should have been able to hold on to that rebound. I guess the five guys standing around him could have shoveled the puck under his pads to help, but the whole thing just stunk.

So this is our rollercoaster ride. From feeling like we were in the hunt again last week, to this week where the Leafs are three points ahead of Tampa with an extra game played, and five points ahead of Los Angeles. Honestly some strong play for a week by either of those teams gives us Stamkos, and I think given our injuries:

• Bell - IR - Cracked orbital bone, requires surgery
• Devereaux - DTD - Wrist
• McCabe - IR - Hand
• Ponikarovsky - IR - Shoulder
• Steen - DTD - Seperated shoulder
• Colaiacovo - Healthy - Spot reserved for frequent customers

The Leafs have a legitimate chance at finishing 30th. My old man is from Philly and I gave him a pretty hard time about last year. Karma is a bitch. At any rate I'm still rooting for the Leafs to win, but I'm at the point where I can accept the probable outcome of this season so at least I'm done grieving.

ps. I bet my dad that the Flyers would finish 4th or 5th in their division and I'd like to not lose that bet, so if you guys could root for everyone in the Atlantic besides Philly that'd be a big help. Thanks.

Carlo Colaiacovo and the Leafs defense

Carlo played 20 minutes last night in a Marlies win, he was a plus one. To me that says his knee is probably feeling better. Looking ahead at the Marlies schedule though, they have the following:

12/26 Toronto @ Rochester
12/27 Grand Rapids @ Toronto

Unfortunately this coincides with the Leafs' next two game:

12/26 Toronto @ Long Island
12/27 Toronto @ Philadelphia

It seems unlikely that Carlo would get the call up in between those two games, though if he played in Rochester on the 26th it wouldn't be too far of a trip to get him down to Philly. More importantly, with two games in two days it might make sense to just let Colaiacovo play both games in the AHL to get some confidence, to find out more about his knee's shape, all while he's in the AHL and not really abusing it playing for the Leafs against a dirty physical team like the Flyers.

Here's hoping we see Colaiacovo on HNIC against the Rangers. As a Christmas gift, I present to you the Leafs' defensive lineup with Cola and McCabe:

McCabe-Kaberle
Kubina-Colaiacovo
Gill-White

No offense to Stralman, I like the kid, but it's clear that the Leafs think Andy "Herpes" Wozniewski is a better player than Anton, so all we can do is cross our fingers that McCabe and Colaiacovo are both healthy at the same time.