I'm going to laugh my ass off when the Bruins try to get cute and offer up a bunch of slop just to watch Burke hold onto Kaberle.

Did you just call the Chara hit on Grabovski a bogus penalty? I know Grabovski was leaning into him and I know Chara is huge, but he still smashed his face into the boards with his elbow. It doesn't matter how tall you are, that's a penalty.

And wow, I thought Grabovski was about to die after that second hit from Chara... he played a hell of a game! Both Kessel's and Grabo's second goals were great!

Kessel has played 4-5 really good games now where he's actually started using the body a little and playing defense. I'm not saying he's out there throwing huge hits or anything, but even tonight he went up against Chara a couple times and didn't shy away. Tonight he put together a nice overall effort and it's nice to see him break through (against Boston, of all teams) and end the stupid streak.

Early returns on Lupul and Aulie are very good.

I've been as hard on Burke as anyone, and still think the Kessel deal was terrible, but these last two moves have been excellent asset management. Lupul looks like what Versteeg was supposed to be, and Aulie is a huge upgrade on Beauchemin. In essence, he moved out two underperforming assets - Versteeg and Beauchemin - and replaced them with two better performing assets - Lupul and Aulie. In the process, the team got younger; added picks in the first, third, and fourth rounds; added a solid prospect in Jake Gardiner; and saved about $2 million in cap room. So, today's team looks better, Burke has more assets with which to develop organizational depth and parlay a front-line forward, and he has money to play with in the summer.

Give credit where it's due: that's excellent work.

Would Leafs fans be happy with Boychuk, Wheeler, and a 3rd for Kaberle? A guy at work today was saying he heard that on the radio or something.

I'd rather Burke kept Kaberle and he walk for nothing this summer than accept that package.

I'm really happy to see Lupul doing well. Never really felt like he was given a fair shake this year.

How has Francois played?

Decent, had a rough time with Calgary but played better against Edmonton. His ice time is down to around 18 minutes a game being on the 2nd pairing with Fowler. Tonight's a big test going against an always dangerous Capitals team.

Ok, something's up. The Leafs just beat Buffalo... in Buffalo! That hasn't happened since like... 1983 or something. Very entertaining game and the Leafs played really well.

And I don't like that package in return for Kaberle at all. I don't see Wheeler as much more than a second or third line guy, which is the last thing the Leafs need right now. I don't see Boychuk helping what we've already got on D (plus he's already 27) and a third... well that's nice, but the rest isn't helping enough.

I actually don't like a deal centering around Wheeler. I've also heard rumours about Burke going after Penner, and I hate that one too. I think he needs to take a flyer on draft picks and prospects rather than going for someone like Penner or Wheeler who's in his prime right now.

Wheeler has always appeared to be on the verge of being a lot better, it just never happens.

I don't want to say he's looked useless against Toronto, but I really don't remember noticing him at all. That's not a great sign for an offensive forward.

Yeah hopefully Mackenzie is right about Blake Wheeler not being included. Ideally, Kaberle won't go to the Bruins at all. Hopefully all the Boston talk forces another team to step up to the plate. Burke mentioned today he is discussing offers with multiple teams and that he would not accept a 1 team list from Kaberle's Agent.

I don't really care where he goes, as long as the return is good. I don't see Wheeler and a pick (unless it's the Leafs' first, which isn't going to happen) as a great return. I would rather see a prospect and a pick... even if the prospect is more of a project with good upside, it's better than getting an easily replaceable roster player.

He has to say that. Kaberle very well could have given him Boston only, but he needs to at least deal from a slight position of strength. It's sounding more and more like something will get done with Boston, it just involves a lot of moving parts (Kelly having border problems requires them to keep guys on the roster for tonight, at least).

Man, I sure hope Reimer is for real.

I know. I'm so scared to get excited for it may all just crash to earth like it always seems to do for the Leafs.

It's also worth noting that Joe Colbourne has 3 goals in his first two games with the Marlies.

The numbers he's putting up over this stretch (I think that's 14 starts now) are comparable to any starter in the league. Obviously it's a small sample-size, but he's been pretty spectacular.

And of course, Phil Kessel - no goals in 14 followed by 4 in 4.

I'm nervous saying this because I can't see it lasting... but... Komisarek looked pretty good tonight.

I didn't see much of the game but what I did see he looked solid. He is a long island boy so maybe he was fired up to play the islanders but I'd sure like to see more of it.

Yeah, I didn't get to see the whole game either (the third and bits and pieces before that) so maybe I only saw his good plays last night.