from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

The Maple Leafs are being penalized for their own popularity.

So says coach Randy Carlyle, who admits to being “flabbergasted and frustrated” by the Leafs’ schedule, especially pertaining to their appearances on Hockey Night In Canada.

What bothers Carlyle most is “they want us playing on Saturday nights because it’s good business for them. But what frustrates me is how often we’re playing on Friday night before and the team we’re playing on Saturday night is resting and waiting to play us. That’s not right.”

The Leafs play seven back-to-back Friday-Saturday games this season. In six of those games, their opponent isn’t playing the night before.

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