2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs season

2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division	5th Northeast
Conference	12th Eastern
2008–09 record	34–35–13
Home record	16–16–9
Road record	18–19–4
Goals for	219
Goals against	257
Team information
General manager	Cliff Fletcher (Sept–Nov) interim Brian Burke (Nov–Apr)
Coach	Ron Wilson
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Nik Antropov (Oct.–Mar.) Tomas Kaberle Pavel Kubina Brad May (Mar.–Apr.) Jamal Mayers Dominic Moore (Oct.–Mar.)
Arena	Air Canada Centre
Average attendance	19,243 (102%)
Team leaders
Goals	Jason Blake (25)
Assists	Matt Stajan (35)
Points	Jason Blake (57)
Penalty minutes	Pavel Kubina (79)
Plus/minus	Alexei Ponikarovsky (+6)
Wins	Vesa Toskala (22)
Goals against average	Vesa Toskala (3.26)

The 2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the franchise's 92nd, and their 82nd as the Maple Leafs. The Leafs did not qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

Offseason

The Leafs faced an off-season challenge to hire a general manager. Brian Burke was a favourite for the position held by interim general manager Cliff Fletcher, but Burke opted to stay with the Anaheim Ducks. He was not given permission to talk to the Leafs about their vacancy by Ducks owner Henry Samueli. Burke had one more year left on his contract as the general manager of the Ducks, and those close to him say he was interested in the Maple Leafs' job.

On May 7, the Leafs fired head coach Paul Maurice, along with two assistant coaches, after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. On May 8, the Leafs asked the Vancouver Canucks permission to speak to Dave Nonis about hiring him for a position with the club.

In mid-May, there were rumours that Wayne Gretzky was in the running for a position with the Maple Leafs. Gretzky responded to the rumours linking him to the Toronto Maple Leafs by stating that his focus was on the Phoenix Coyotes and developing their young talent.

On June 10, Ron Wilson was hired as the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wilson was fired in May by the San Jose Sharks after the Sharks lost to the Dallas Stars in the second round of the NHL playoffs. Wilson has also coached the Anaheim Ducks and the Washington Capitals. The former U.S. college player spent parts of three NHL seasons with the Leafs in the 1970s.

The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Al Coates as their player-personnel director on June 16. Coates comes to Toronto after spending the previous six seasons with Anaheim. Coates has spent more than 30 years in pro hockey and has been part of two Stanley Cup-winning teams (2007 with the Anaheim Ducks and 1989 with the Calgary Flames).

The move perpetuated speculation that Anaheim general manager Brian Burke would become the Maple Leafs' GM once his deal with the Ducks expired in 2009. The fact that new head coach Ron Wilson played hockey with Burke at the Providence College sparked further rumors about Burke potentially joining the club.

Former NHL star Joe Nieuwendyk was named as general manager Cliff Fletcher's special assistant on July 8. While playing for the Florida Panthers, Nieuwendyk gained experience as a special consultant to GM Jacques Martin.

Throughout the off-season, the Maple Leafs have been involved in numerous transactions. On June 24, the Toronto Maple Leafs put goaltender Andrew Raycroft and forward Kyle Wellwood on waivers. Moreover, interim GM Cliff Fletcher informed Darcy Tucker that he is to be bought out of his three-year contract; however, this decision was not made official until June 25.

The Maple Leafs bought out goaltender Andrew Raycroft on June 28, making him eligible for free agency on July 1. When the free agent signing period began on July 1, Toronto signed defenceman Jeff Finger, goaltender Curtis Joseph and former Dallas Stars forward Niklas Hagman. Another transaction was made on July 3 when Toronto traded for former Montreal Canadiens forward Mikhail Grabovski in exchange for the rights to Greg Pateryn and a second-round draft pick in 2010. The Leafs also re-signed forwards Dominic Moore, John Mitchell and Greg Scott. On July 14, the Maple Leafs acquired forward Ryan Hollweg in a trade with the New York Rangers for a fifth-round draft pick in 2009.

Regular season

With a young roster, the Maple Leafs were expected to have a lacklustre season. This proved to be correct, as they fell out of the playoff race relatively early and showed little sign of recovery. However, they showed signs of improvement in February and March 2009, during which they had a stretch of seven consecutive games that went into overtime. The Leafs lost the first two in shootouts, then won four in a row with two overtime wins and two shootout wins, followed by an overtime loss.

In November 2008, Brian Burke obtained his release from the Anaheim Ducks and joined the Maple Leafs as president and general manager.

The Maple Leafs were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs on March 31, 2009, with six games remaining in the season.

The Maple Leafs finished the season with 286 goals allowed (excluding seven shootout goals), the most out of all 30 teams. The Maple Leafs also struggled on the penalty kill, finishing 30th overall in penalty-kill percentage, at 74.68%.

Divisional standings

Northeast Division

		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Boston Bruins	82	53	19	10	274	196	116
2	Montreal Canadiens	82	41	30	11	249	247	93
3	Buffalo Sabres	82	41	32	9	250	234	91
4	Ottawa Senators	82	36	35	11	217	237	83
5	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	34	35	13	250	293	81

Conference standings

Eastern Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Boston Bruins	NE	82	53	19	10	274	196	116
2	y – Washington Capitals	SE	82	50	24	8	272	245	108
3	y – New Jersey Devils	AT	82	51	27	4	244	209	106
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	45	28	9	264	239	99
5	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	44	27	11	264	238	99
6	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	45	30	7	239	226	97
7	New York Rangers	AT	82	43	30	9	210	218	95
8	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	11	249	247	93
8.5
9	Florida Panthers	SE	82	41	30	11	234	231	93
10	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	41	32	9	250	234	91
11	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	36	35	11	217	237	83
12	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	34	35	13	250	293	81
13	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	35	41	6	257	280	76
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	24	40	18	210	279	66
15	New York Islanders	AT	82	26	47	9	201	279	61

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

Schedule and results

2008–09 Game Log
October 4–3–3 (Home 1–2–2, Road 3–1–1) Game Date Opponent Score Location Attendance Record Points 1 October 9, 2008 @ Detroit Red Wings 3–2 Joe Louis Arena 20,066 1–0–0 2 2 October 11, 2008 Montreal Canadiens 1–6 Air Canada Centre 19,370 1–1–0 2 3 October 13, 2008 St. Louis Blues 4–5 (SO) Air Canada Centre 19,045 1–1–1 3 4 October 17, 2008 @ New York Rangers 0–1 (SO) Madison Square Garden 18,200 1–1–2 4 5 October 18, 2008 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 1–4 Mellon Arena 17,033 1–2–2 4 6 October 21, 2008 Anaheim Ducks 2–3 (SO) Air Canada Centre 19,222 1–2–3 5 7 October 23, 2008 @ Boston Bruins 4–2 TD Banknorth Garden 12,274 2–2–3 7 8 October 25, 2008 Ottawa Senators 3–2 Air Canada Centre 19,232 3–2–3 9 9 October 28, 2008 Tampa Bay Lightning 2–3 Air Canada Centre 19,348 3–3–3 9 10 October 29, 2008 @ New Jersey Devils 6–5 (SO) Prudential Center 14,119 4–3–3 11
November 4–6–3 (Home 3–2–2, Road 1–4–1) Game Date Opponent Score Location Attendance Record Points 11 November 1, 2008 New York Rangers 5–2 Air Canada Centre 19,179 5–3–3 13 12 November 2, 2008 @ Carolina Hurricanes 4–6 RBC Center 15,635 5–4–3 13 13 November 4, 2008 Carolina Hurricanes 4–5 (OT) Air Canada Centre 19,266 5–4–4 14 14 November 6, 2008 @ Boston Bruins 2–5 TD Banknorth Garden 15,391 5–5–4 14 15 November 8, 2008 † Montreal Canadiens 6–3 Air Canada Centre 19,512 6–5–4 16 16 November 11, 2008 @ Calgary Flames 3–4 Pengrowth Saddledome 19,289 6–6–4 16 17 November 13, 2008 @ Edmonton Oilers 5–2 Rexall Place 16,839 7–6–4 18 18 November 15, 2008 @ Vancouver Canucks 2–4 General Motors Place 18,630 7–7–4 18 19 November 17, 2008 Boston Bruins 2–3 Air Canada Centre 19,410 7–8–4 18 20 November 22, 2008 Chicago Blackhawks 4–5 (OT) Air Canada Centre 19,474 7–8–5 19 21 November 25, 2008 Atlanta Thrashers 3–6 Air Canada Centre 19,297 7–9–5 19 22 November 27, 2008 @ Ottawa Senators 1–2 (SO) Scotiabank Place 19,703 7–9–6 20 23 November 29, 2008 Philadelphia Flyers 4–2 Air Canada Centre 19,387 8–9–6 22
December 7–7–0 (Home 3–2–0, Road 4–5–0) Game Date Opponent Score Location Attendance Record Points 24 December 1, 2008 @ Los Angeles Kings 3–1 Staples Center 15,052 9–9–6 24 25 December 2, 2008 @ San Jose Sharks 2–5 HP Pavilion at San Jose 17,496 9–10–6 24 26 December 4, 2008 @ Phoenix Coyotes 3–6 Jobing.com Arena 13,777 9–11–6 24 27 December 6, 2008 Washington Capitals 1–2 Air Canada Centre 19,416 9–12–6 24 28 December 8, 2008 New York Islanders 4–2 Air Canada Centre 19,309 10–12–6 26 29 December 12, 2008 @ Buffalo Sabres 2–1 HSBC Arena 18,211 11–12–6 28 30 December 16, 2008 New Jersey Devils 3–2 (SO) Air Canada Centre 19,315 12–12–6 30 31 December 18, 2008 @ Boston Bruins 5–8 TD Banknorth Garden 17,565 12–13–6 30 32 December 20, 2008 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 7–3 Mellon Arena 17,053 13–13–6 32 33 December 22, 2008 @ Atlanta Thrashers 6–2 Philips Arena 16,413 14–13–6 34 34 December 23, 2008 Dallas Stars 2–8 Air Canada Centre 19,269 14–14–6 34 35 December 26, 2008 @ New York Islanders 1–4 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 15,173 14–15–6 34 36 December 28, 2008 @ Washington Capitals 1–4 Verizon Center 18,277 14–16–6 34 37 December 30, 2008 Atlanta Thrashers 4–3 (OT) Air Canada Centre 19,260 15–16–6 36
January 4–7–2 (Home 2–4–1, Road 2–3–1) Game Date Opponent Score Location Attendance Record Points 38 January 1, 2009 Buffalo Sabres 1–4 Air Canada Centre 19,176 15–17–6 36 39 January 3, 2009 Ottawa Senators 3–1 Air Canada Centre 19,406 16–17–6 38 40 January 6, 2009 Florida Panthers 2–4 Air Canada Centre 19,197 16–18–6 38 41 January 8, 2009 @ Montreal Canadiens 2–6 Bell Centre 21,273 16–19–6 38 42 January 10, 2009 @ Philadelphia Flyers 1–4 Wachovia Center 19,787 16–20–6 38 43 January 13, 2009 Nashville Predators 0–2 Air Canada Centre 19,223 16–21–6 38 44 January 15, 2009 @ Carolina Hurricanes 6–4 RBC Center 18,037 17–21–6 40 45 January 16, 2009 @ Atlanta Thrashers 3–4 (OT) Philips Arena 15,619 17–21–7 41 46 January 19, 2009 Carolina Hurricanes 0–2 Air Canada Centre 19,018 17–22–7 41 47 January 21, 2009 Boston Bruins 3–4 (SO) Air Canada Centre 19,258 17–22–8 42 48 January 27, 2009 @ Minnesota Wild 1–6 Xcel Energy Center 18,568 17–23–8 42 49 January 29, 2009 @ Colorado Avalanche 7–4 Pepsi Center 15,216 18–23–8 44 50 January 31, 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins 5–4 Air Canada Centre 19,570 19–23–8 46
February 6–3–4 (Home 2–1–3, Road 4–2–1) Game Date Opponent Score Location Attendance Record Points 51 February 3, 2009 Florida Panthers 3–4 (OT) Air Canada Centre 19,095 19–23–9 47 52 February 4, 2009 @ Buffalo Sabres 0–5 HSBC Arena 17,355 19–24–9 47 53 February 7, 2009 @ Montreal Canadiens 5–2 Bell Centre 21,273 20–24–9 49 54 February 10, 2009 @ Florida Panthers 4–5 (OT) BankAtlantic Center 13,764 20–24–10 50 55 February 12, 2009 @ Tampa Bay 4–6 St. Pete Times Forum 16,526 20–25–10 50 56 February 14, 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins 6–2 Air Canada Centre 19,365 21–25–10 52 57 February 17, 2009 Buffalo Sabres 1–4 Air Canada Centre 19,287 21–26–10 52 58 February 19, 2009 Columbus Blue Jackets 3–4 (SO) Air Canada Centre 19,179 21–26–11 53 59 February 21, 2009 Vancouver Canucks 2–3 (SO) Air Canada Centre 19,504 21–26–12 54 60 February 22, 2009 @ New York Rangers 3–2 (OT) Madison Square Garden 18,200 22–26–12 56 61 February 25, 2009 New York Rangers 2–1 (SO) Air Canada Centre 19,383 23–26–12 58 62 February 26, 2009 @ New York Islanders 5–4 (SO) Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,201 24–26–12 60 63 February 28, 2009 @ Ottawa Senators 4–3 (OT) Scotiabank Place 20,050 25–26–12 62
March 6–6–1 (Home 3–3–1, Road 3–3–0) Game Date Opponent Score Location Attendance Record Points 64 March 3, 2009 New Jersey Devils 2–3 (OT) Air Canada Centre 19,389 25–26–13 63 65 March 5, 2009 @ Washington Capitals 2–1 Verizon Center 18,277 26–26–13 65 66 March 7, 2009 Edmonton Oilers 1–4 Air Canada Centre 19,364 26–27–13 65 67 March 9, 2009 @ Ottawa Senators 1–2 Scotiabank Place 18,898 26–28–13 65 68 March 10, 2009 New York Islanders 3–2 (OT) Air Canada Centre 19,041 27–28–13 67 69 March 12, 2009 Tampa Bay Lightning 1–4 Air Canada Centre 19,209 27–29–13 67 70 March 14, 2009 Calgary Flames 8–6 Air Canada Centre 19,356 28–29–13 69 71 March 17, 2009 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 4–3 (SO) St. Pete Times Forum 18,793 29–29–13 71 72 March 19, 2009 @ Florida Panthers 1–3 BankAtlantic Center 15,467 29–30–13 71 73 March 21, 2009 @ Montreal Canadiens 5–2 Bell Centre 21,273 30–30–13 73 74 March 24, 2009 Washington Capitals 3–2 (SO) Air Canada Centre 19,362 31–30–13 75 75 March 27, 2009 @ Buffalo Sabres 3–5 HSBC Arena 18,620 31–31–13 75 76 March 28, 2009 Boston Bruins 5–7 Air Canada Centre 19,360 31–32–13 75
April 3–3–0 (Home 2–2–0, Road 1–1–0) Game Date Opponent Score Location Attendance Record Points 77 April 1, 2009 Philadelphia Flyers 3–2 Air Canada Centre 19,340 32–32–13 77 78 April 3, 2009 @ Philadelphia Flyers 5–8 Wachovia Center 19,727 32–33–13 77 79 April 4, 2009 Montreal Canadiens 2–6 Air Canada Centre 19,516 32–34–13 77 80 April 7, 2009 @ New Jersey Devils 4–1 Prudential Center 15,046 33–34–13 79 81 April 8, 2009 Buffalo Sabres 1–3 Air Canada Centre 19,516 33–35–13 79 82 April 11, 2009 Ottawa Senators 5–2 Air Canada Centre 19,370 34–35–13 81
† Hockey Hall of Fame Game
Schedule

Overtime statistics

	Games	Won	Lost	Goal scorers
Overtime	10	4	6	Pavel Kubina (2), Niklas Hagman, Mikhail Grabovski
Shootout	13	6	7
	23	10	13

Playoffs

The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to qualify for the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Player statistics

Final stats

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Jason Blake	78	25	38	63	−2	40
Alexei Ponikarovsky	82	23	38	61	+6	38
Matt Stajan	76	15	40	55	−4	54
Mikhail Grabovski	78	20	28	48	−8	92
Nik Antropov‡	63	21	25	46	−13	24
Niklas Hagman	65	22	20	42	−5	4
Dominic Moore‡	63	12	29	41	−1	69
Pavel Kubina	82	14	26	40	−15	94
Tomas Kaberle	57	4	27	31	−8	8
Nikolai Kulemin	73	15	16	31	−8	18
Lee Stempniak†	61	11	20	31	−9	31
John Mitchell	76	12	17	29	−16	33
Ian White	71	10	16	26	+6	57
Jeff Finger	66	6	17	23	−7	43
Jamal Mayers	71	7	9	16	−7	82
Luke Schenn	70	2	12	14	−12	71
Anton Stralman	38	1	12	13	−2	20
Boyd Devereaux	23	6	5	11	+3	2
Mike Van Ryn	27	3	8	11	+2	14
Jeremy Williams	11	5	2	7	+2	2
Jonas Frogren	41	1	6	7	0	28
Jeff Hamilton	15	3	3	6	+2	4
Alexander Steen‡	20	2	2	4	−4	6
Jiri Tlusty	14	0	4	4	0	0
Brad May†	38	1	1	2	−5	61
Ryan Hollweg	25	0	2	2	−7	38
Phil Oreskovic	10	1	1	2	−2	21
Jaime Sifers	23	0	2	2	−4	18
Christian Hanson	5	1	1	2	−1	2
Carlo Colaiacovo‡	10	0	1	1	−2	6
Andre Deveaux	21	0	1	1	−3	75
Jay Harrison	7	0	1	1	−2	10
Tim Stapleton	4	1	0	1	−3	0
Ben Ondrus	11	0	0	0	−4	34
Kris Newbury	1	0	0	0	0	2

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Vesa Toskala	53	52	3056	22	17	11	166	3.26	1518	.891	1	0	0	2
Curtis Joseph	21	11	841	5	9	1	50	3.57	383	.869	0	0	0	0
Martin Gerber†	12	12	705	6	5	0	38	3.23	402	.905	0	0	0	0
Justin Pogge	7	6	372	1	4	1	27	4.36	173	.844	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Maple Leafs. Stats reflect time with Maple Leafs only.
^‡Traded mid-season.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached

Transactions

On October 6, the team placed Mark Bell on waivers.

Trades

June 19, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Jamal Mayers	To St. Louis Blues 3rd-round pick in 2008 – James Livingston
June 20, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs 1st-round (5th overall) pick in 2008 – Luke Schenn	To New York Islanders 1st-round (7th overall) pick in 2008 – Colin Wilson Two conditional picks – Shawn Lalonde and Mat Clark
July 3, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mikhail Grabovski	To Montreal Canadiens Greg Pateryn 2nd-round pick in 2010 – Jared Knight
July 14, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ryan Hollweg	To New York Rangers 5th-round pick in 2009 – Andy Bathgate
September 2, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Van Ryn	To Florida Panthers Bryan McCabe 4th-round pick in 2010 – Sam Brittain
November 24, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Lee Stempniak	To St. Louis Blues Alexander Steen Carlo Colaiacovo
January 7, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Brad May	To Anaheim Ducks Conditional 6th-round draft pick in 2010 (condition not satisfied)
January 21, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ryan Hamilton	To Minnesota Wild Robbie Earl
March 4, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs 2nd-round draft pick in 2009 – Kenny Ryan Conditional draft pick	To New York Rangers Nik Antropov
March 4, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs 2nd-round draft pick in 2009 – Jesse Blacker	To Buffalo Sabres Dominic Moore
March 4, 2009	To Toronto Maple Leafs Olaf Kolzig Jamie Heward Andy Rogers 4th-round pick in 2009	To Tampa Bay Lightning Richard Petiot

Free agents

Player Former team Contract Terms Curtis Joseph Calgary Flames 1 year, $700,000 Jeff Finger Colorado Avalanche 4 years, $14 million Niklas Hagman Dallas Stars 4 years, $12 million Christian Hanson University of Notre Dame 2 years, $1.575 million Tyler Bozak University of Denver 2 years, entry level

Player New team Darcy Tucker Colorado Avalanche Andrew Raycroft Colorado Avalanche Kyle Wellwood Vancouver Canucks Scott Clemmensen New Jersey Devils Andy Wozniewski St. Louis Blues

Claimed from waivers

Player Former team Date claimed off waivers Martin Gerber Ottawa Senators March 4, 2009 Erik Reitz New York Rangers March 4, 2009

Draft picks

Toronto's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Club Team
1	5	Luke Schenn	(D)	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
2	60 (from Pittsburgh)	Jimmy Hayes	(RW)	United States	Lincoln Stars (USHL)
4	98	Mikhail Stefanovich	(C)	Belarus	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
5	128	Greg Pateryn	(D)	United States	Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL)
5	129 (from Phoenix)	Joel Champagne	(C)	Canada	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
5	130 (from Florida)	Jerome Flaake	(LW)	Germany	Kölner Haie (DEL)
6	158	Grant Rollheiser	(G)	Canada	Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL)
7	188	Andrew MacWilliam	(D)	Canada	Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)

See also

• 2008–09 NHL season

Farm teams

• The Maple Leafs continue their affiliation with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.