Pre-Game: 10:00 p.m, Leafs TV
Broadcast: 10:30 p.m., Sportsnet Ontario, Leafs TV Interactive,  AM640
Post-Game: 1:00 a.m., Leafs TV
Post Video: mapleleafs.com

SBNation Opposing Coverage: Fear The Fin

Hey! Wasn't that the entire point of this season? Going in the tank? Well, in theory it was but tonight it's The Tank that will play host to the Leafs as they take on the league-leading San Jose Sharks. Seriously, take a look at them:

That, my friends, is what the Leafs are up against tonight in the second of back-to-back games against teams from California. Look at that record and marvel at it. Hopefully, in a few years the Leafs will be knocking off all comers like that on route to a Stanley Cup. Right now, it looks like the Sharks only have to hold off injuries before playing the Wings in the pseudo-Stanley Cup Final in May.

REMEMBER YOUR SPG PICKS

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Ah Governor Palin, how I love seeing you on television with your folksy charm and your fancy pageant walking. Seriously, she is pretty hot. It's like office hotness where a normally average girl gets a couple of bonus points for being the closest thing to hot in the office. Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, contests.

As I noted yesterday, there are actually more giveaways than we first announced. In addition to the super prizes announced yesterday there are two more ways to win our other two Tomas Kaberle bobblehead dolls.

Contest Two

SPG Contest: This post explains the idea behind the game and you can register here. Make sure that you set your loyalty with the Leafs. The twist will be that the "Will Not Happen" option does not count for this game. While the year-long stats continue to compile for the purposes of this contest only the 'real' points (ie when you actually choose the correct player to get the first shot, penalty, or goal) in December (starting tonight) will be counted towards the top prize so plan accordingly.

Contest Three

For the Regulars: In order to properly thank our regulars we are giving away a prize that is available only for people that joined prior to December 1, 2008. Obviously a lot of the success here thus far has been thanks to people spreading the good word. Ideally we'd send all of you a bobblehead (actually, we'd set up a battle royale but that would be expensive) but we only have one. So whoever refers the most new users that post 20 comments wins the prize. Just have them send me an e-mail with their username and yours so that I can track who referred whom.

If those new users also post two Fanposts, they'll be entered in to win bobbleheads and the jersey themselves!

So we have been a little delinquent lately in creating the game thread tables so here's a chance to get a bunch set out at once:

November 25, 2008 v. Thrashers

November 27, 2008 - at senators

November 29, 2008 - v. Flyers

December 1, 2008 - at Kings

As always, thank you to everyone that comes out to these game threads and makes them such a great place to hang out.

Here's a graphic representation of last year's trip to California courtesy of Earl Sleek. So far this year it's been much more enjoyable being on the giving end of that graphic. What else was going on last year? Well, when the Leafs last played in Los Angeles the team was in turmoil. Richard Peddie had just admitted that hiring JFJ had been a mistake and the GM joined the club on a West Coast swing that would give them a chance to show that they were playing for his survival. The result: apparently the players wanted a new GM. The performance against the Kings was bad enough to trigger an epiphany from your's truly and, according to Jim Ralph on AM 640 last night, a rant from Mats Sundin after the first period of that game.

Amazing how things change in less than a year.

The Leafs have a brand spanking new GM, the goaltending was the reason that the Leafs stayed in the game, and rather than a team on it's way down the blue and white are a team on the way up.

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As if today's announcement of a month filled with giveaways here wasn't enough, to show that the Christmas spirit is alive and well my arch-nemesis HF10 passed along an e-mail that will no doubt interest at least some of you here:

The email auction for 2 tickets to the Leafs begins today.  It's simple, just send your bid amount to ms.duchesne@sympatico.ca.  The highest bid received in by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, December 5th wins.  Bids are not limited to Beaches Co-op parents, so please solicit bids from those Leafs fans surrounding you - the ones who can't live without the opportunity to land great seats. We've been told the Leafs shoot on this end twice.  The seats are located in the second row of the Red section in a corner. .  The specific details are as follows:
 
Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Ticket Price: $195.30/ticket
Section: 111
Row: 18
Seats: 1&2
 
If you have any questions about the process or tickets, please contact genevieve.brown@sympatico.ca.  Remember Christmas is coming, and there's no better gift for a Leafs fan in your life.

All proceeds go to The Beaches Co-Operative Playschool which counts MiniHF10 as a student and BigHF10 as a proud supporter. Early Childhood Education is a wonderful cause so you get ridiculous seats at a Leafs game and a warm glow in your heart.

The game, in case you are wondering, is against the Florida Panthers which led HF10 to close with this:

Apologize to the Barilkosphere for the lousy opponent ... although it's a chance to boo McCabe again, if someone was so inclined.

Here at Pension Plan Puppets Incorporated we realize that the quality of the site depends as much on the people that contribute comments, fanposts, fanshots, and general hilarity and insight as it does on the combined awesomeness of Chemmy and I seen here:

That's why we set a 6th straight record for visits and page views in November. Chemmy and I want to continue making this the best site possible so we wanted to figure out a way to thank the current community and encourage lurkers and newcomers to join in the fun (please read this first). So we've pulled together a great batch of giveaways that'll be given out in a few ways, some still to be determined, but here are the details for the main contest:

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