Leafs to honour Gilmour and Clark

From the Toronto Sun:

Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour soon will take their place among the Toronto Maple Leafs' all-time greats.

The popular former Leafs captains will have banners raised at the Air Canada Centre in separate pre-game ceremonies this season to honour their achievements with the NHL club. Clark's No. 17 banner will go up on Nov. 22 before a game against the Chicago Blackhawks while Gilmour's No. 93 will be raised Jan. 31 when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit.

The Leafs only have two retired jersey numbers -- Ace Bailey's No. 6 and Bill Barilko's No. 5.

Clark and Gilmour's will be added to 12 others whose numbers are "honoured" with banners, but still available for current players to wear. The others are Syl Apps, Ted Kennedy, Turk Broda, Johnny Bower, Tim Horton, George Armstrong, Charlie Conacher, Frank Mahovlich, Darryl Sittler, Hap Day, Red Kelly and Borje Salming.

Read the entire story here.

Classy move by the Leafs organization.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Cujo has signed with the Calgary Flames.
2. Marc Savard will take Dany Heatley's place at the All-Star Game.
3. Pierre Lebrun suggests that everyone should be happy with Alex Ovechkin's deal.
4. Gilbert Brule is itching to get back to the NHL.
5. Rookies are getting big minutes with the Phoenix Coyotes.
6. Stuck in Ovechkin's shadow, Mike Green is blossoming into a star.
7. Interesting story on John Paris, Jr.
8. Scott Burnside writes that the inaction of the Leafs' management is hurting the team. Also hurting the Leafs: They are the Leafs.
9. The Hot or Not List from the CHL.
10. Inside College Hockey gives us their Weekly Power Rankings.
11.Al Strachan tells us that Craig Leipold's ownership will be bad for the State of Hockey. If the fans see enough Lemaire coached games, they will be too drowsy to notice.
12. Leafs mania (Leafaplacia, Leafonoma, Leafitis???) has spread to Calgary, as Eric Duhatschek writes another hand wringing on what to do with the Buds.
13. The cure for Leafs overload has arrived. A story on Women's College Hockey in Canada.
14. The Norfolk Admirals painted their ice pink in an effort to support breast cancer awareness. Shit. One more pink thing my wife will now want for our house.
15. Donn Clark has been fired as the GM of the Prince Albert Raiders.
16. The UND Fighting Sioux men's hockey team has received a commitment from a 15 year old defenseman. Tomorrow's Prospect Pulse will feature a few notes about Clarke and some other standouts from this weekend's tournament.
17. Rick Tocchet is set to rejoin the Phoenix Coyotes on February 7th. I bet he really helps the team.
18. Gaborik, Garon and Hartnell are the NHL's 3 stars of the week.
19. Darren Dreger suggests Doug Gilmour for curing what ails the Leafs. Nothing helps a shitty Leafs team more than old Leafs.
20. Fanhouse surmises that Brad Isbister won't be with the Canucks for much longer.
21. The AHL fight o' the week. I haven't been hit that hard since I forgot to Tivo Project Runway.
22. An interesting history lesson on Glenn Hall.
23. The Philadelphia Phantoms may be leaving the city of brotherly love.
24. Mike Brophy does not see the Sharks as legitimate contenders. Maybe not, but they feature some of the best dancers on Broadway.
25. Adam Proteau discusses the stories that made headlines last week.

EURO CURVE

Euro Curve chronicles the latest international hockey news.

You won't find pictures of Jessica Simpson here, but you will find Team Canada's roster for the upcoming 2008 Spengler Cup hockey tournament (December 26-31) to be played in Davos, Switzerland. The Spengler Cup is an annual hockey tournament played in Davos, Switzerland which features Canucks playing in Europe (along with others imported from the AHL, ECHL, etc), a club team from Switzerland [HC Davos], Russia [Salavat Yulaev Ufa],Germany [Adler Mannheim], Czech Republic [HC Moeller Pardubice].


Canadian Roster

Coaches: Sean Simpson (head), Dougy Gilmour (assistant), Jim Koleff (assistant)

Goaltenders

Wade Flaherty (Terrace, BC)
Curtis Joseph (Keswick, Ontario)


Defensemen

Andre Benoit (St.Albert, Ontario)
Mark Giordano (Toronto,Ontario)
Shawn Heins (Eganville, Ontario)
Curtis Murphy (Kerrobert, Saskatchewan)
Mike Siklenka (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan)
Danny Syvret (Milgrove, Ontario)
Yannick Tremblay (Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec)

Forwards

Ramzi Abid (Montreal, Quebec)
Serge Aubin (Val-d'Or, Quebec)
Hnat Domenichelli (Edmonton, Alberta)
Simon Gamache (Thetford Mines, Quebec)
Travis Green (Castlegar, British Columbia)
Kirby Law (McCreary, Manitoba)
Dale McTavish (Eganville, Ontario)
Marty Murray (Deloraine,Manitoba)
Domenic Pittis (Calgary, Alberta)
Yves Sarault (Valleyfield, Quebec)
Jeff Toms (Swift Current, Saskatchewan)
J.P Vigier (Notre Dame de Lourde, Manitoba)


Expert Analysis: This team is experienced in goal with Joseph and Flaherty, solid on the bluelines with the likes of Tremblay, Heins, Giordano and Syvret and packed with Euro and Spengler experience at the forward positions with Domenichelli, Pittis, Aubin and Murray.
Look for Canada to be in heavy contention for the Cup this year.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Ezra Ginsburg.