Phaneuf has spent part of the past seven season with the Leafs, putting up 45 goals and 196 points in 423 games.
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At least one person in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization is a victor this season.
“Who knows?” Granlund said.
For Tuesday’s game in Calgary, the Leafs paired defenceman Morgan Rielly with Matt Hunwick, Roman Polak with Dion Phaneuf’s regular partner, Jake Gardiner, and had a third pairing of the sporadically used Martin Marincin and Frankie Corrado. He previously sported No. 3 with the Calgary Flames and Toronto, but that number is now held by Senators defenceman Marc Methot.
Ottawa hopes that adding Phaneuf, who has three goals and 21 assists this season, helps its playoff push. The Senators defence features four players with less than 300 games of National Hockey League experience, notably a 22-year-old Cody Ceci and 25-year-old Patrick Wiercoch. “We established team rules at the start of the season. This brings it to the forefront, prove to management you can play”. They’re proud of representing this community.
“We have guys in this room that can take on leadership roles on and off the ice”.
It was the first multipoint game of the season for Granlund.
“I’m not prone to hyperbole, but I can state that Colin Greening and Jared Cowen being traded to the Leafs is the greatest moment of my life”, added Twitter user Luke Peristy.
“I was pretty happy with our overall effort with a depleted lineup”, Holland said. Calgary has won three of their past four games.
The Flames are seven points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Wins here and there are nice, but they’re not necessarily the point.
Peter Holland, Josh Leivo, with his first of the season, and Jake Gardiner scored for Toronto.
Up next, the Flames will embark on a two game Pacific Division road trip.
The Maple Leafs have traded their captain, defenseman Dion Phaneuf, to the Senators as part of a nine-player trade.
“As soon as I got over the initial feelings, I’m really excited to be here”, Phaneuf told reporters in Ottawa following his first skate with his new team Wednesday.
Toronto was also missing recently injured Joffrey Lupul, Tyler Bozak and Shawn Matthias. He gave it his best efforts, and while those efforts may not have been recognized by all who watched him play, they were appreciated by those whose opinion matters most. Perhaps they can get back in the hunt after all. Phaneuf was no longer matched up against top lines, killing fewer penalties and getting more looks in the offensive zone. The pressure on Dion was enormous, he was the player who was supposed to turn it around, everything rose or fell with him.
“I heard about the reaction but I didn’t see it so I can’t comment on this but it was a good, old-time hit”. “We’re going to have a 5-year plan that’s going to change every single day”. From a Senators perspective, I heard murmurs that they were debating the merits of Phaneuf internally but found it hard to believe they could stomach that contract. “I just tried to shoot five-hole and it went in. It was an emotional reaction and that’s about it”, he said.
Jonas Hiller made a second straight appearance in between the pipes.
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–Arizona recalled forward Tyler Gaudet from the Coyotes’ AHL Springfield affiliate.
