2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the franchise's 91st, and their 81st as the Maple Leafs. The Leafs did not qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, and have not qualified for the postseason since the 2003–04 season.
==Offseason==
The Leafs faced an offseason challenge to hire a General Manager. Brian Burke was a favorite for the position held by interim GM Cliff Fletcher but Burke decided to stay with the Anaheim Ducks. He was not given permission to talk to the Leafs about their vacancy by Ducks owner Henry Samueli.globeandmail.com: Burke stays put, leaving Leafs in the lurch 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 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 Paul Maurice fired as Leafs head coach. On May 8, the Leafs asked the Vancouver Canucks permission to speak to Dave Nonis about hiring him for a position with the club.CANOE - SLAM! Sports - Hockey NHL - Toronto - Leafs' timing questionable
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.Gretzky's focus remains in Phoenix, not Toronto
On June 10, Ron Wilson was hired as the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wilson was fired in May by San Jose 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.CANOE - SLAM! Sports - Hockey NHL - Toronto - Wilson faces different challenge with Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Al Coates as their player-personnel director on June 16.CANOE - SLAM! Sports - Hockey NHL - Toronto - Leafs hire Al Coates 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 ('07 with Anaheim and '89 with Calgary).
The move perpetuated speculation that Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke will become the Leafs' GM once his deal with the Ducks expires in 2009, but this speculation is premature. New head coach Ron Wilson played hockey with Burke at Providence, but this is largely considered moot and mildly coincidental.
Former NHL star Joe Nieuwendyk was named as general manager Cliff Fletcher's special assistant on July 8.CANOE - SLAM! Sports - Hockey NHL - Toronto - Nieuwendyk brought in as GM's right-hand man While playing for the Florida Panthers, Nieuwendyk gained experience as a special consultant to GM Jacques Martin.
Throughout the offseason, 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.Toronto Maple Leafs - Mike Ulmer's Blog: Leafs Begin Promised Overhaul - 06/24/2008 Also, interim GM Cliff Fletcher informed Darcy Tucker that he is to be bought out of his three-year contract; however, it was not official until June 25.Toronto Maple Leafs - News: Maple Leafs To Buy Out Tucker - 06/24/2008
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-on defenceman Jeff Finger; goaltender Curtis Joseph to back up current starting goaltender Vesa Toskala, and former Dallas Stars forward Niklas Hagman. Another transaction was made on July 3, as Cliff Fletcher was busy again as he traded for former Montreal Canadiens forward Mikhail Grabovski in exchange for the rights to Greg Pateryn and a second round draft choice 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 5th round draft pick in 2009.
==Regular season==
With a young roster, the 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 remarkable stretch of seven consecutive games which went to 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 Leafs as President and General Manager.
The Leafs were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs on March 31, 2009, with six games remaining in the season.
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
===Game log===
2008–09 Game Log	2008–09 Game Log	 	 	 	 	 	
October 4-3-3 (Home 1-2-2, Road 3-1-1)
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	
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
===Overtime Statistics===
 	Games	Won	Lost	Goal Scorers
Over Time	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 NHL Playoffs. If the Leafs had qualified for the playoffs, it would have been their first qualification since the 2003–04 NHL season.
==Player stats==
===Skaters===
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	+/−	PIM
 	78	25	38	63 	-2 	40
 	82	23	38	61 	+6 	38
 	76	15	40	55 	-4 	54
 	78	20	28	48 	-8 	92
 	63	21	25	46 	-13	24
 	65	22	20	42 	-5 	4
 	63	12	29	41 	-1 	69
 	82	14	26	40 	-15	94
 	57	4 	27	31 	-8 	8
 	73	15	16	31 	-8 	18
 	61	11	20	31 	-9 	31
 	76	12	17	29 	-16	33
 	71	10	16	26 	+6 	57
 	66	6 	17	23 	-7 	43
 	71	7 	9 	16 	-7 	82
 	70	2 	12	14 	-12	71
 	38	1 	12	13 	-2 	20
 	23	6 	5 	11 	+3 	2
 	27	3 	8 	11 	+2 	14
 	11	5 	2 	7 	+2 	2
 	41	1 	6 	7 	0 	28
 	15	3 	3 	6 	+2 	4
 	20	2 	2 	4 	-4 	6
 	14	0 	4 	4 	0 	0
 	38	1 	1 	2 	-5 	61
 	25	0 	2 	2 	-7 	38
 	10	1 	1 	2 	-2 	21
 	23	0 	2 	2 	-4 	18
 	5 	1 	1 	2 	-1 	2
 	10	0 	1 	1 	-2 	6
 	21	0 	1 	1 	-3 	75
 	7 	0 	1 	1 	-2 	10
 	4 	1 	0 	1 	-3 	0
 	11	0 	0 	0 	-4 	34
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	2
===Goaltenders===
Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	GP	TOI 	W 	L 	OT	GA 	GAA 	SA 	SV 	Sv% 	SO
 	53	3056	22	17	11	166	3.26	1518	1352	.891	1
 	21	841 	5 	9 	1 	50 	3.57	383 	333 	.869	0
 	12	705 	6 	5 	0 	38 	3.23	402 	364 	.905	0
 	7 	372 	1 	4 	1 	27 	4.36	173 	146 	.844	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==
===Records===
===Milestones===
Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	Regular Season	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 Third-round pick in 2008
June 20, 2008 	To Toronto Maple Leafs First-round (5th overall) pick in 2008 	To New York Islanders First-round (7th overall) pick in 2008Two conditional picks
July 3, 2008 	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mikhail Grabovski 	To Montreal Canadiens Greg PaterynSecond-round pick in 2010
July 14, 2008 	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ryan Hollweg 	To New York Rangers Fifth-round pick in 2009
September 2, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mike Van Ryn 	To Florida Panthers Bryan McCabehttp://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Toronto/2008/09/03/6646861-sun.html Fourth-round pick in 2010
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 sixth-round draft pick in 2010http://slambios.canoe.ca/sportsplus/hockey/tradelog-viewtrade.cgi?trade&x_id=1318
January 21, 2009 	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ryan Hamilton 	To Minnesota Wild Robbie Earl
March 4, 2009 	To Toronto Maple Leafs Second-round draft pick in 2009 draftConditional draft pick 	To New York Rangers Nik Antropov
March 4, 2009 	To Toronto Maple Leafs Second-round draft pick in 2009 draft 	To Buffalo Sabres Dominic Moore
March 4, 2009 	To Toronto Maple Leafs Olaf KolzigJamie HewardAndy RogersFourth-round draft pick from Carolina in 2009 draft	To Tampa Bay Lightning Richard Petiot
===Free agents===
{|class="wikitable"	 	
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
===Claimed from waivers===
{|class="wikitable"	 	
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, Ontario. 
Round	Pick 	Player 	Position	Nationality	Club Team
1 	5 	Luke Schenn 	(D) 	 	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
2 	60 (from Pittsburgh)	Jimmy Hayes 	(RW) 	 	Lincoln Stars (USHL)
4 	98 	Mikhail Stefanovich	(C) 	 	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
5 	128 	Greg Pateryn 	(D) 	 	Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL)
5 	129 (from Phoenix) 	Joel Champagne 	(C) 	 	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
5 	130 (from Florida) 	Jerome Flaake 	(LW) 	 	Kölner Haie (DEL)
6 	158 	Grant Rollheiser 	(G) 	 	Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL)
7 	188 	Andrew MacWilliam 	(D) 	 	Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)
==Roster==
Updated March 30, 2009. 
|}
==See also==
*2008–09 NHL season
==Farm teams==
* The Maple Leafs continue their affiliation with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
==References==
Category:Toronto Maple Leafs seasons
Category:2008 in hockey
Category:2009 in hockey