TORONTO,ONT- The Toronto Marlies got their 2008-09 AHL season underway this week with a new look roster that included six new players to the Marlies. Joining them behind the bench for the first time was former Maple Leaf legend Doug Gilmour who made his first appearance as Assistant-coach. Despite the new look roster it was opponents Binghampton Senators that came away with the shoot-out win in the Marlies home opener. New boy 
Tim Stapleton recently signed from Finnish league giants Jokerit Helsinki tallied his first goal as a Marlie levelling the score in the third period after Senator Josh Hennesey put the visitors in front with a first period goal. The great performance from Justin Pogge (Saving 31 of 30 shots) in net for the Marlies wasn’t enough to secure the remaining point as the Senators rallied for a 2-1 shoot-out win after a lack luster overtime period failed to seperate the teams. The final goal by former Philadelphia Flyer Denis Hamel took the point for the visitors. The first road trip of the season saw the Marlies travel to Cleveland, Ohio to face the Lake Erie Monsters. Goals from Bates Battaglia, Richard Petiot and Daryl Boyce wasn’t enough to lift the Leafs past the Monsters despite coming back from a 3-1 slump. Heavily out-shooting the Monsters the Marlies could not find a way through an inform Tyler Weiman who stopped 40 shots for the second win of the season compared to just 27 shots on Pogge. A final strike from Nathan Smith with less than a minute remaining took the two points for the Monsters handing the Marlies their second loss of the season. Next up for the Marlies is a five game home stint starting with Atlantic division Hartford Wolfpack. Contact the author at Kevin.oconnor@prohockeynews.com
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