I thought he played a very good game. I was very happy with him, Quillan, and Cowboy. They all played well tonight. This rink can be a pretty hostile environment and tough to play in, but I thought all three of them were very good tonight.
For whatever reason, we didn't start on time. They took it to us. We were on our heels and fortunate to get the one goal. After a wakeup call between periods, our guy responded, and I thought we got a lot of pushback.
Given the circumstances of this game, I'd venture that this was the Playing a third road game in the space of 66 hours against the team with the stingiest defense in the Eastern Conference was always going to be a tall task. The Toronto Marlies' best performance of the season to date. Marlies matched and outplayed the Bruins at times last Sunday, but decisions outside of their control ultimately robbed them of a deserved two points in a 4-3 overtime loss.
Rifai is working his way back from wrist surgery that has kept him sidelined for the entire season to date, and was placed on waivers on Sunday in order to report back to the American Hockey League. The 27-year-old defenceman has played in one game for the Marlies this season and had 13 points in 63 games for the AHL squad in 2024-25.
On the day after Christmas, the Toronto Maple Leafs have hired their replacement for the recently fired assistant coach Marc Savard and it's someone that was already in the organization. Announced by the team on Friday morning, the Maple Leafs have hired Steve Sullivan to fill the hole that Savard left on the bench. There has been no clarification if he will handle the power play like Savard did, or other assistant coach Derek LaLonde will remain in that role for the man advantage.
I have a few thank yous I want to make sure I say, mainly to the Leafs organization, starting with Brad and working all the way down, for all of the support they've given me and my family for the last little bit. I have really been blown away by how much support I've received, and with that, a big thank you to my teammates as well. I have expressed that to them, for all of the support they've given.
December 18, 2015: The Toronto Marlies find themselves trailing 3-0 after 42 minutes on the road against a rolling Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins team. A wild, highly improbable comeback unfolds as Toronto scores three shorthanded goals in 2:34 before winning the game in a shootout. Roll forward almost 10 years, and the Marlies mounted a comeback as miraculous and impressive. Funny enough, it came during the same week the big club erased a 3-0 third-period deficit against the Penguins' parent franchise.
For the opening 25 minutes of this game, the Toronto Marlies produced some of their best five-on-five hockey this season. Organized breakouts, adherence to their structure, and a relentless forecheck allowed the Marlies to dominate offensive-zone time and force the Syracuse Crunch to defend for long stretches. Two defensive breakdowns later, Toronto allowed two goals in 37 seconds. Two penalties later, the Marlies were down 4-1, and the game was basically curtains.
Niemelä, 23, was a third-round pick by the Maple Leafs in 2020 and quickly became one of the organizations most promising prospects with a strong season as a teenager in the SM-Liiga in Finland with Karpat. Niemelä became a top-ranking name in the Leafs system at the 2021 World Juniors when he was named top defenceman at the tournament with eight points in seven games as Finland went on to win the bronze medal.
