OverDrive - Bowen on Matthews' goal scoring accolade, the career in Toronto and the injury spotlight of the team

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

Maple Leafs Broadcaster Joe Bowen joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the Maple Leafs and Panthers' matchup, Auston Matthews' goal scoring record and the career in Toronto, playing through the injury bug, the depth of the roster and more.

Here he is, the voice of the Leafs, part of ownership with the Packers, Joe Bowen. How you doing, Bonesy? Majority owner, I control five shares, including my four sons. So I consider myself the majority owner, and in fact, when we made the Parsons deal, I had to talk to Jerry. As you should. Oh, of course. As you should. You feel good about your pack on Saturday night, or what?

I'd feel a lot better if we were a little bit healthier, and we had Mr. Parsons, but I think we might have a B.J. Raji interception available. I like that reference. Yeah, I remember that. I like that. That was pretty special when the big man lumbered into the end zone against the Bears the last time we played them in the playoffs. That's right. It will be interesting.

I am glad we're playing the Bears, though. Me too. I didn't want Philly. I want nothing to do with Philly. No, no, absolutely. I just think this will be just, it'll be a great game. And thank you NFL for putting it on Saturday night. Yeah, I know, that one stings a little bit for you.

You think as an owner I could make things happen, but, uh, no. Send in the suggestion. Goodell will listen. He'll get back to you, so. No one listens to me anyway. What else is the difference? Yeah, Saturday night, we've obviously got the lease in Vancouver in town, and you'll be down at the ring calling that.

You're down there now for the Panthers in town tonight, and this is a big one, Bonesy, as you know. I mean, and I'm curious if you have any intel on the pregame ceremonies, because Austin, I'm sure they'll be celebrating him setting the new team record. And as you've been stating, and everyone's well aware of, you've called every single one of his goals. Is that true or not? Am I saying something? Go ahead.

A Bowen. A Bowen has called. That's right. Because he has, okay, that's important detail. I was about eight deep into the Crown Royal when Austin scored in the third period. And David called that one. But I've got the other ones. Okay, good.

Struddy, it's old-time hockey here. You know what I mean? Oh, I hear you. I'm glad you mentioned that detail. I did not pick up on that. I thought you would call them, but a bowen is called every single one. And I was there with you in Ottawa when he started his career scoring four. And I remember.

And you know what the best part about that night was, Brian? We went back to the hotel. Lou had kicked us off the charter, so we were flying commercial. Right. And we got into the, you know, into the bar at uh the brook street and mr and mrs matthews were there i had not met his parents we got to having a couple of cocktails at the bar i called the radio station they sent down the uh the goals uh and i played them for them at the bar and uh i think all of us were weeping i know

they were um and we've been very good friends ever since and that was a very special moment And the older you get, you kind of associate and maybe understand the parents more than you do the kids, because we're closer in age, I guess. And it's always been fun. I love the parents' trips, the father's trips, when you would get to go out with the dads, and you found out what kind of a hockey parent they were and realized they weren't the ones on the glass banging and everything. They were the ones that made sure. that everybody got to where they had to go

and made sure that if they wanted to play, they got every opportunity to play. It was really a revealing thing. Yeah, that's a cool story. And it was awesome. They were there, and I remember the cameras were on them and his mom's reaction in particular. Because everyone was in shock.

You know, four goals as a rookie, his first game ever, it was insane. Absolutely. For him, absolutely. You know, and obviously he hasn't slowed down and it seemed inevitable almost from that night onward that he was probably going to catch Sundeen, but I'm guessing you called every one of Matt's goals

as a Maple Leaf as well or real close. I don't think your oldest son would have been calling games. No, no, I think I missed. I may have missed three or four, I believe, because of illness and various other things during that time. But, yeah, I mean, these two guys have been the cornerstones of this franchise back to back. And, you know, you think of all of the guys whose banners are hung in the rafters here

and how many of them were the leading scores in the history of this franchise over the course of their careers and Connickers and Baileys and Kellys and Aps and Kennedys. I mean, all of them at one point held that crown. And now we have this, and I hate to use it the term, he's not a kid anymore, But he sure seems like it. He's done it in such a record fashion that he's going to put a milestone number up at the end of his career that is going to be almost insurmountable and may in fact be insurmountable in the future. So we're living in a very special time to watch this young man play.

He hasn't had the best first half, but he's heating up. And like every good gold score that I've ever seen, they get hot and they get rolling. and then you can't stop it. Yeah. You know, it's amazing. Being the franchise for any franchise, but especially the Leafs, is a really special moment.

And you see the way he's kind of finding his game. What have you seen recently that you've, did you've seen, okay, now he's maybe find another gear or find more opportunities? Linemates, why is he all of a sudden kind of seemingly becoming the guy that we know we've seen him be good so many times before? I think we're seeing two linemates in Domi and McMahon

that are complimenting him. uh, McMahon's foot speed, straightaway foot speed on the forecheck has been impressive. Max has found, uh, another gear. And the other thing is, if you're a goal scorer, you have to be selfish. You've got to shoot the puck when it comes to you. And enough of this trying to be the good teammate and the centerman to, to pass off and stuff. I think we're seeing that that lesson is getting through again and he's shooting the puck more. And we all know what kind of a shot he has, and it's been very special to watch.

So I think that that's all part and parcel of it, and I think that at this point, the coach is leaving those three to be together, and the power play, obviously, is heating up. And for good reason, they're being selfish again. They're shooting the puck at the net, which is the whole idea of the exercise, and, you know, he's going to get his goals off the power play throughout the course, and right now they've got the hottest power play in the league over a short period of time, but at least it's moving in the right direction. With Joe Bowen ahead of the game tonight, Leaves Panthers right here on TSN Radio.

Navigating the injury list has been quite something this year, Bonesy, and I'm curious how you've handled it personally showing up at the rank. I feel okay. I'm okay. I did fall down the stairs a little bit this morning when I was coming, coming down and my cat got in the way, but I'm okay. I'm going to be fine. I'm still here. I'm in the chair.

Okay, good. Because it's a challenge, man. Now, Carlo's coming back tonight, and it's amazing how an injury can change the whole perception of a player because he struggled early in the year, and a lot of people are getting on him, and now he's coming back, and it's like, bring out the red carpet. Thank God he's here. Yeah, and they'll miss Jake McCabe. I mean, his plus minus is among the best in the league, and he's played acceptable.

exceptionally well. And Chris Tanov, I've said this many times, I thought was this team's most valuable player a year ago. And that's saying something. And to have both of them out now, they are going to have to patch things together. They made a lot of moves last year to add depth defensemen, and we're seeing that it's at least paying off now that they have people to plug in. And adding Brandon Carlo at the trade deadline looked like it was going to be.

be a solid move in that department to start the season he's struggled but you're right he's coming back and he's going to be asked to play some decent minutes tonight because mccabe's not available so um every team is going through it i i mean you can't uh you can't cry big crocodile tears for the leaps because every team is going through this because of the compacted schedule and everything else but um it would be nice if for a small stretch of this season they have had the team that they actually had on the Bolton board at the beginning of the season to think that this was the team that they were going to put out in the ice. Yeah, pretty amazing.

I mean, so many teams are dealing with injuries. But, you know, now that Matthews and his lines seem to have something going on, is it more of attention now on the bottom six and maybe finding, you know, some stability there, even with the injuries that you've just talked about? I would think so, strutty. But, I mean, until they get Neelander back, you don't know who's really with the bottom six. I think the Scotty Lawton line has played really, really well. You wish they had a better feel around the net because they have four checked extraordinarily well.

They play in important minutes. I don't know if you want to tag them as the fourth line or the third line. But the way Craig Barubi plays them, he has a great deal of confidence in them. They kill penalties. The penalty kill has been the league's best since the 1st of December. and among the league leaders throughout the course of the year, it's been really the only thing they're going to hang their hat on and say, hey, this is working really well,

don't screw this up, and they haven't. And so I think that that group has played very, very well. I think he and Lorenz and whoever they've had on the wing with them has added that kind of stability. They've played in the opponent's zone most of the time. You wish they had a little bitter feel for putting the puck in the net because they seem to generate some chances every night. But, you know, that is one of the areas, I'm sure, that they would like to have some production from.

But, my gosh, you take a look at some of the other teams and how top-heavy they are. The Winnipeg Jets the other night were so top-heavy going forward on what they have to have and nothing coming from the bottom end that it was really glaring. But I guess every team goes through that. You're hoping they're having some stability in the lineup and some spreading out of the wealth. but you're paying the big guys to score and the big guys better score. Yeah, well, we've got stability in the booth. You and Ralphie, no one can take you out.

No one can take you too hard. No one could afford to take us. That's right, exactly. In the old days, that was a hefty bill. Absolutely. I had a nice long chat with Cliff Fletcher about that the other day. I phoned him on the anniversary of the Doug Gilmore trade. He's doing really well down in Arizona and celebrated his 90th birthday.

So we wish him all of the best down there. Absolutely. Have a great one tonight, and we'll do it again soon. Thank you, Bonesy. You bet, guys. There he is, Joe Bowen. I'm Dylan Playfair. And I'm Tyler Smith.

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