Colby Armstrong

James Reimer had an off night, to say the least, against the Lightning. After being arguably the biggest reason that the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a playoff race at all for the better part of two months, "Optimus Reim" has every right to be tired.

Just don't tell him that.

Reports have been coming in via Tony Ambrogio tweets that Mike Brown and Colby Armstrong are going to be returning to the Leafs lineup from their injuries.

Both look ready, according to Ambrogio, who watched the practice during the Monday morning skate.

Brown, Darryl Boyce and Armstrong will apparently make up the third line.

Quietly, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke is righting the wrongs that he made in offseasons past.

Gone is veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin, as is speedy forward Kris Versteeg, with a real possibility of more changes to come.

The Toronto Maple Leafs visited the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia to face off against the Atlanta Thrashers on Friday, January 7.

In the second period of the game, Atlanta defenseman Ben Eager shoved Toronto right winger Colby Armstrong into the glass. With Armstrong trapped and vulnerable, Eager sucker punched him with a right hook to the face. Armstrong immediately fell to the ground.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have won three of their last five games, which is a good number for this team, considering they are recovering from that nine-game losing streak. The Leafs started out the season 4-0, and many people in Leafs nation began celebrating a berth in the postseason for the first time since the 2004-2005 NHL lockout season. Unfortunately, these celebrations were soon over as the Leafs were back into the position that they were in at the beginning of last season: a nine-game losing streak.

Colby Armstrong is far from the king of the jungle, but he won’t back down from anyone in the NHL. The 6’2", 195 lbs forward signed a $9 million deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 2010. Colby Armstrong is a "Burke type" player; he brings sandpaper/grit, something the Leafs have been needing and been lacking lately.

Over the summer, Toronto Maple Leaf fans debated the merits of general manager Brain Burke bringing in another top six forward. Some felt a winger was of the utmost importance, others (including myself) felt a centre was a bigger need, but everyone agreed more depth was needed.

Colby Armstrong got back into the lineup Saturday night for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he turned out to add a lot more than anyone (maybe even his own teammates) would have expected. 

As the Leafs struggled (to put it nicely) offensively and continued to pile up the loses in his absence, Ron Wilson decided to put Armstrong on the first line with Phil Kessel and Kris Versteeg to add some punch and tenacity. 

Multiple sources have reported, and now its confirmed that Brian Burke inquired into the availability of James van Riemsdyk. Flyers said he's not available.

This is no surprise as Burke wants to shake up his anemic offense, and Riemsdyk is a big forward. As for the Flyers refusing to deal him, I find it interesting because they are right up against the cap and unless Riemsdyk takes a huge paycut, he cannot remain on the Flyers.

They say winning is a process, a process that has no time limit and rarely comes easy—such is the case for our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs.

Thursday night the Maple Leafs took on the rebuilding Edmonton Oilers in a game that was supposed to see the Buds emerge victorious. Sadly, it didn’t turn out that way as the Maple Leafs took it on the chin by a final score of 5-0. On home ice no less!