Dion Phaneuf

As the 18th captain in Toronto Maple Leafs history, Dion Phaneuf has some pretty big skates to fill. 

He is trying to follow six players who are in the top 10 of all time in points while on the Leafs, Stanley Cup winners, hometown heroes and a guy who scored 10 points in a single game. 

Before people start getting the wrong idea about the purpose of this article, it is solely a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs system and who amongst them would be the most likely to win one of the yearly NHL awards. This is a completely hypothetical article and we have no way of determining whether any of these will win or even be nominated for an award in the future.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been steadily improving since Brian Burke took over the helm as General Manager. There are few doubters left in Leaf Land regarding his hockey acumen and prowess at the negotiation table.

Whether by draft, trade or free agency, Burke has put quality players on the roster and given them the chance to succeed.

There are again exciting prospects in the ranks—a novel concept for Leaf GMs of the past.

With the NHL season (slowly) approaching, not much has been set in stone.  Nobody really has a Stanley Cup prediction quite yet, or the slightest clue to who will emerge as the breakout star of the year.  One thing that is inevitable, however, is the often unrealistic optimism by fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, myself included.

For the seventh straight year, Toronto Maple Leafs fans will have to do without cheering their team on in the postseason. Despite a late season push, the hole they had dug themselves in November and December proved to be too much to overcome.

The Leafs started the season on fire, winning four straight games, but swiftly fell back down to earth, as the Leafs mustered just one win in their next 12. The team continued to struggle for the next few months until the All-Star break, when they turned it around.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff hopes officially crushed by a 4-3 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals Tuesday night, it is a good time to reflect on the 2010-11 season.

Heading into this season there were a plethora of varying opinions regarding where the Maple leafs would finish in the Eastern Conference.

While most Maple Leaf and NHL fans had the Blue and White missing the playoffs, where the team would ultimately end up in the standings varied from dead last to as high as eighth in the Eastern Conference.

The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their charge towards a playoff berth, defeating the always tough Boston Bruins in their own barn by a score of 4-3 in a shootout.

Before you read this, you should know that I am not an overzealous fan thinking the Leafs are going to win the Stanley Cup this year. For the record, I am unbiased, and I am merely a reporter stating fact.

The fact is, the Leafs are on an upswing.

The team from last season is unrecognizable to the team they are now. Slowly, Brian Burke has been putting the blocks together for a run at the Cup. It all started with the Phil Kessel deal—it will forever be analyzed, there is no stopping it, lets move on.

There have been many memorable moments in the last five years of hockey. Some over-the-top highlights are results of controversial players trying to maintain their reputation . Some of the more unique occasions are products of intensity in the heat of passion. Other on-ice instances—let's just say should never happen at all. Nonetheless, here are 10 of the most bizarre NHL moments on ice since the lockout. All of which are well known and truly outstanding.  

No, not that dream. We're not gonna win the Stanley Cup this year, so don't plan the parade. Of course that's a bigger problem for me than the average person as I don't know what to do with the 6000 cartons of Eggos Waffles I have bought.I mean a dream I had growing up.