Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Taking On McDavid + The Matthews Mystery

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look ahead to the Leafs' matchup against the Oilers on Saturday and discuss Auston Matthews's status as he is ruled out again. They get into the secrecy around Matthews, the Leafs needing more from Max Domi, the idea of William Nylander or Mitch Marner moving to centre and how they defend Connor McDavid. Later, Sportsnet's Luke Fox (34:45) weighs in on the Leafs' recent play, the vibes in the locker room, the lack of depth up the middle, the effectiveness of Berube's low-event philosophy and Anthony Stolarz building a case for a spot on Team USA.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

is it friday friday sometimes i'm not sure i've been hitting the head a few times you made it over my lifetime as jb had just mentioned off the rails friday which means one thing doug mclean top of the hour. Track him down in Florida. In about 35 minutes, we'll welcome in Luke Fox, and we'll get his thoughts of the week that it was for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In the meantime, Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, and Jake the Snake Schultz with you for the next two hours as we kick it off in our Leaf Edition Hour, live on Sportsnet 590, The Fan, Sportsnet 360,

and Sportsnet Plus. Leafs awfully busy. Now it kind of cools off a little bit, JB, as they'll get another good night's rest before taking on the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night. And a little bit of breathing room with the following game not happening till next wednesday against vegas so with that it sounds like they're taking the opportunity to tell austin matthews get right you know you miss one more game and it allows you another decent uh breath of days so

no matthews on saturday night versus connor mcdavid which is too bad that sucks it sucks tell tell jb how disappointed we are what and what that matthews isn't playing yeah i mean is the answer a lot what's yeah of course really really oh now i get it now really really sad sad sad no really sad. He only did one really. Of all the things to get stuck in your craw. And he was right. And he was right. Born he was right.

The, yeah, the Matthews situation has become sort of, I don't understand why we, the general public, or anyone, or the team, why it's so secretive. Has anyone's injuries ever been as secretive as Matthews? I don't understand why we're we the general public or anyone or the team why it's so secretive has anyone's injuries ever been as secretive as matthews like what's the deal if you're like ah he's back so we give him a minute if there's a chance that you just uh don't give away uh you know details you generally don't if If people want to speculate, you speculate. And then there's sometimes when people just know and say it. When there is a information void,

people fill it with whatever they want. And in turn, Sam McKee gets text messages from people who see Matthews on a walk and diagnosing his condition based on how he's walking his dog. You got some scoopage for us? Yeah. I got people, I got multiple DMs. Oh, I saw Matthews.

He had reflective sunglasses on. Maybe it's a concussion. Like, what are we doing here? Just tell people what's wrong with the second best player in the league. Tell people what's wrong. Edmonton Oilers put out a thing saying, ankle, two and a half weeks. Why has it been day to day for 10 days? player in the league tell people what's wrong edmonton oilers put out a thing saying ankle two and a half weeks why has it been day to day for 10 days it's absurd yeah and he hasn't skated

since sunday so is there like an underlying worry in your world with your friends and your buddies that this is could be more serious is that what you're getting to? Yeah, 100%. I think the more it goes on like this, the more it's like, ugh, you know, like, is it one of those things that's just going to drag on? Then it's like, actually, you need surgery on this. What's the last game you played? I think this will be November 3rd. Against the Wild? Five.

Yes, he played back-to-backs. He played 42 minutes over two games against St. Louis, Minnesota. So this will be his sixth game he's missing? Yes. The most he's missed since surgery, the Uriah shoulder surgery. Tough phrase to say, and I nailed it. I'm just, you know, this has been a complaint of ours for a long time. Let's wildly speculate, shall we?

Well, last year in the playoffs, I was like, oh, maybe maybe it's a knee maybe it's his head like no no willie's got a headache i think like it's just they're so vague and i i get it they don't want people it's not 1994 people aren't gonna be like running to slash them across the back like at the end of the day though even if you revealed it and people are going to just speculate anyways. What do you think it is? It's not his wrists. Not his shoulder. Not his knee.

What if I told you he's... He's in his knees and toes? Would it make you feel better if I said he's out with a sore back? No. Yeah, I mean, no. His injuries go, but he's had a back thing before, has he not? Like kind of a... I got news for you.

We've all had backs. Yeah. Old McKee over here. Yeah, I got a back. Gumby has some back issues coming, let me tell you. I already did. I need a back yet. I already did for no reason.

What happened? Nothing. We assume if it was game one in the playoffs, he'd be playing. I don't know. I would have until last year. Oh, good point. He disappeared then, too, with no explanation. But he was throwing up.

He couldn't. He was like he just was. Wait, is it a ghost? Yeah, he apparently was very sad. He was not in any position to play, apparently. Okay. Same with Willie. Okay. Apparently. I'm just. Can we just get. No, he apparently was very sick. He was not in any position to play, apparently. Okay. Same with Willie. Okay.

Apparently. I'm just... Can we just get Berube? No, it's... You make a valid point. I mean, at some point, you got to... Yeah. What's going on?

Let's listen to Craig Berube on Austin Matthews. Normal. I mean, no setbacks. Just we're doing what we can. But, you know, we got one game or two games and, you know, a long stretch here of time. So we're just letting them recover. Okay, earlier in the week he said it's not progressing as fast

as they'd want to really, and that's when we started kind of. I feel bad for Berube to have to go out there and be like, answer these questions every day because you're like... He's fine with it. He couldn't care less. But if they've asked him to not say anything, then you have to go out and not say anything. It's like... It's a general rule. You don't say anything anyways. When was the last time the Leafs said,

oh, it's this specifically? Maybe they did and I don't remember. I don't know. Not much. Not much. It's usually kind of secretive. Yeah. Alright. but they're overcooking them whatever it is they want to overcook them i think you can see they played on a wednesday and then there's one game between next wednesday so you say you miss one more game you get a whole another week i'm fine with that i i do think though that it's serious enough that you know you mentioned

game one of the three weeks playing here game one of the playoffs clearly is not important as a game in november against the edmonton oilers but this is a meaningful game this is always a meaningful game connor and matthews have a rivalry this is this is a thing that people care about this is a thing that both of them care about i would say that this is a game that if you're going to miss this, you are more hurt than you're letting on. Like, I'm surprised. Like, I think this game matters to the Leafs big time. I think it matters to Matthews.

It matters to McDavid. Sportsnet. Wow. Yeah, what about us? My beloved Sportsnet. The fans. Doodaloodaloot. Like, I get it, but it's just, he's missing this one.

This is a bigger one than normal. I expected him to be back for this one. One thing I'm coming to learn a little bit more is these guys who get drafted high up do feel competition with the guys who also got drafted high or around them in particular. You know, like... Jordan and Magic or Bird and Jordan.

But, you know, like, I think McDavid and Eichel, I still think that there's some, like, you know, whatever. Matthews and Laine had their thing in the early going before Laine kind of stepped back from that race. But, like, you know, Mishkov decked Celebrini in the face the other night. You know, there is this sort of, like, you know, desire to prove yourself against the other best guys.

You wouldn't mind hitting another 50 goals? Sure. Right? Take another rocket. There is one thing about this that kind of makes me feel good in a way is that they're really not caring about singular records or whatever. Like, if they're not pushing him to get back here and they're being all extra cautious, this and that,

like, he's going to have a really hard time missing three weeks of a season getting to 50 goals you're getting to any personal record think they learned their lesson at the end of last year i hope they did i really hope they did oh i think 100 they learned their lesson i think they learned their lesson but i don't think that he's healthy right now and they're holding him out to avoid a record chase at the end of the year no not specifically that but to send that message that sammy just alluded to that we are not in this for numbers so don't worry about your numbers whatever that may be at the end of it let's listen to bruby on a surprise how long it's taken for him to get back

or taking am i surprised yeah well everybody's different and you know all in all you know injuries and things are different right i mean i i don't have an answer for you with that uh would i like them back yeah for sure but it is what it is so uh we just got to keep moving on and uh without them right now chipper brube hey that's nice that's what a really enjoyed back half of the washington capital game could do for you truly i actually the more i think about that game that's massive in particular like you don't have to rush matthews you feel like you're still getting your points at least you know think about how you would felt if they would have quietly gone away at 3-1 or 4-1 in washington

and then not having matthew saturday night yeah all of a sudden you're like you know so they're 10 and 6 they lose that game they would have been one of a sudden you're like, you know, so they're 10-6. They lose that game. They would have been one of them making 9-7. You know, it gets a little tighter. Tough test on Saturday night, obviously, with them coming in off that big game on the last night. So what did we learn about the lines, Sammy? Well, Domi wasn't there today.

So if you'll look at the lines I put in the lineup here, William Nylander centering the second line of practice feels like domi is banged up he's banged up he's not healthy he's not healthy no now how long of this 11 game slump has he not been healthy for do we think i probably think he's been battling something for i don't know a, week and a half. Why don't we check in and see what Coach Berube has to say? Well, obviously, yeah, for sure a player like him and players like that, they're going to struggle mentally a little bit with it. But, you know, he had some opportunities last game and didn't go in.

And, you know, he's just got to keep fighting through it. You know, he'll be fine. But, you know, obviously, you know he's just got to keep fighting through it you know he'll be fine but you know obviously you know we he feels it and you know i feel it for him so you know we talked to him about it and he's got to just fight through it and he is right now we talked to him about it's interesting call him into the office have a chchat? What do you think that sounds like? I think it would be just finding ways to help him. He played close to 20 minutes against Washington, if I'm not mistaken.

Over 20, I think. Over 20? Really? I think he played 21, maybe. That's an important player for any coach. When you're dealing with those type of numbers, so I would think that talk had some positive vibes to it let's help you what are you seeing what are you thinking the breakaway against washington was

20 50 80 played big minutes yeah what yeah it's overtime too yeah but even without overtime plays yeah big large minutes like the the breakaway told you everything you need to know about where his confidence level was at that is not a move that's he's pretty killer one-on-one i like him i like him on breakaway he is and he's got some nice mitts we've seen it in the past but that was not um feeling it move no not to make excuses for max but that was the most classic he catches with the wrong hand move of all time. Halfway through it, and you're like, oh, God. His glove is shooting this into his glove.

That's a low blocker move. He's fighting it. He's not thinking. He's like, I'm going to go low blocker where every guy goes, and then he's shooting into a big mitt. So I'll give him a little bit of a break on that one. Yeah, give him a little bit of a break, but I'll lean on him a little bit here. Right now, it feels like I don't know the game state.

Remember I say this about Lilligren, like where you want him out? Like if you're not getting points and we're talking a lot of games in a row and you're not a defensive guy and it's like, what's the situation? A special teams guy, 21 minutes, a lot of minutes for him.

You know, they need more from him. I understand that they see value in him or whatever, but it's not been enough so far. What did he camp hit for for minutes i didn't see 17 or something he was up there he was up there too um i had it a moment ago i got it right here he played 14 21 just 14 was the game before he played yeah he's played for uh 14 21 14-22, the last three. Not sure what I was thinking of. And then Tavares was probably as high. That's probably it. He was 17-51.

No, no, no, no, no, no. He was over 20 as well. What game do I have in my head? No, no. Tavares Wednesday night against Washington probably hit. 20-56. 21 minutes. Jeez, Murphy.

So. Lock it up. Those are big minutes. But you can't argue that they didn't carry their freight. They didn't carry the team's heavy lifting Wednesday night, which was, again, a good sign without your horse in there, Austin. Steve Lawrence played 834. And Reeves played 622. I was trying to figure out who didn't play if all these guys play

is there a world that maybe max does not play either saturday night and you go with willie he said that he was gonna play he's gonna play okay he's gonna play but you want to do is willie gonna play center would you like to see willie well the coach the coach seemed the coach seemed pretty interested by it if i do say so myself. Let's hear the clip. Play him instead. God. Well, yeah, Max is out. You know, Willie, like we talked about center at camp and all that. But what I like about it, he still takes draws. He's still in there, you know, which is good.

And that's what he's got to keep doing. And he's really good in the face-off, Todd. He's like 55% on the year, which is good. He was fine in the middle today. He looked good to me. First off, I am super into excitable Ruby. Yeah, he was really. He sounded like he was in a good mood today. Love the energy today.

You know, Willie's thing, and we talked about this going into this year, the reason that coaches wanted to keep him a wing is because he's gone. He's getting breakaways and odd man rushes. Which we haven't seen all year. Not at all. I don't know if he has one registered breakaway this year. And he's still finding a way to put the puck in the net. He is.

But if he's not going to get those rush chances, just play him at center. Play him at center. He's a big, strong dude. Good edges. Halfway committed to defense. But if know for the life of me why they've never considered mitch marner at center why no why he is i'm fine trying he is trying both at center. At the same time. He is their best playmaker. Yeah. Why not even a mere mention?

Because. Does he want to do it? Maybe they've asked him. He's like, I want no part of that. Oh, that's the way it works in the NHL. You suggest something to a player, and a player tells you how to coach. Well, you're telling me they pick their own ice time every time we do the damn show, Kip. Well, that's because then you start getting into your job insecurity. I imagine they would have a conversation.

Is this something that would interest you? There's no way they haven't had the conversation. I can't believe for one second Mitch Marner would go, no, I'm not interested in center. I don't believe that for one second. Do you know this or not, that they have approached him to play center ever? No, I do not know. I would imagine at some point over his eight years here that they would have been like,

hey, Mitch, what about center? He is the most. Yeah, we know all the reasons. He's the most looking centerman when he's out there for a winger I've ever seen. He's always in the middle of the ice. He's always deep. He's always behind the net helping. he's always in the middle of the ice he's always deep he's always behind the net helping he's always the high man guy yeah he's you know buddy i i there's a great andrew

brewer article this year about uh how that could look definitely worth a try there's all the scrambling what can we do did he play center and junior at all? Yeah, he did. I think he was, I think, well, I think probably Hunter moved him at some point from center to where. But, yeah. I mean, you're scrambling to find guys who can play center on this team. You have all this money tied up in certain names. Willie has definitely played center much more recently than. Yeah, he played it in the American League.

Yeah, that's what I mean. He played it there. So I think that's more why the conversation's there. Marner's literally never done it at the pro level, right? So that's probably why. I also think it's like a physicality thing. Would it be the thought of Sheldon even years prior and even Craig's is like,

I can't take him off Matthews or Tavares. I mean, one of them needs him. No. I don't think that's the case. No? I think what it is is you're looking at another team and you're saying, okay, they're down the middle. They're Barkov and whoever.

And you feel like maybe Marner is not physically able to contain people down low in the playoffs when you play against the best teams and it's top guys for Braden Point or Sorelli or whoever. I would say size is probably why he hasn't typically been looked at as a center. I would agree with that. And I think also some of the struggles that have happened

in the playoffs with him focusing on defense and all this stuff, I don't think you want to put that on him even more as like the center where it's just like that's even more stuff but if you started now by the time you get to play off you could be comfortable i totally you should do it for a few games and just see just never have so i don't like i just i don't think they ever will yeah i don't think there's well let's uh's listen to Bruby, talk about Willie. Oh, we did. Oh, we did. We did. We did. We did.

We did. We did. We did. We did. We did. We did. Ignore me then. We'll throw our clips.

Then let's move it over to the greatest hockey player in the world. And how do you shut him down now, Saturday night, without Austin going head-to-head? It's a good question. He's been unbelievable lately. That overtime pass to Darnell. Yeah. Quite nice. Yeah. Quite nice. Okay, let overtime pass to Darnell. Yeah. Quite nice. Yeah.

Quite nice. Okay, let's go to Craig Berube on facing one of the fastest players in NHL history to get to 1,000 points. McDavid. What's that? You happy he got 1,000 points out of the way before he could? Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

But he'll be tough to handle. I mean, he's a great player. We know that, and we're going to have to do a real good job. But, you know, when he's on the ice, everybody's got to pay attention, and you've got to take time and space away from him the best you can and deny him the puck as much as you can, and that's really it.

This matchup scares me. This is where, when you don't have Austin Matthews, to go head-to-head with him, where it's like... I got a little bit more faith in that blue line now. Well, no, I just meant forward-wise. I think, you know, no Tavares up against him as your number one center is not the ideal scenario in terms of a foot-speed matchup, I wouldn't say, but...

I actually think if you're Edmonton, not a bad time to split up Leon and Connor and say, one of you will get Domi as a center, one of you get Tavares. Yeah. Should be able to win those matchups. Mm-hmm. But, yeah, Connor, interesting last night listening to him postgame for this milestone, a pretty stoic, I would say boring guy most of the time.

This seemed to actually mean something to him, this 1,000 points. We have. I mean, you're surprised at that? Yeah. That it actually mean something to him, this 1,000 points. We have. I mean, you're surprised at that, that it actually meant something to him? I am, 100%. Or that he showed the emotion that it meant something. That he showed it. You know, I expected him to say, you know, we're on to Cincinnati, you know, and not focus on his.

Derek, there's a McDavid clip in there. Do you want to play it? This jumped out to me, too, if you want to play it. Yeah, you know what? Like, some of these things have kind of hit me a little bit more emotionally than I would have thought. You spend your whole life playing hockey and loving the game and just wanting to play and make the NHL.

A thousand points later, I've been doing it for 10 years now. It's pretty special. You take it for granted sometimes. As I said, these moments give you a chance to look back and be grateful. This whole, I listen to all the posts going through the stuff. It's usually an incredibly grumpy locker room, even in wins, even whatever it is. This is by far the most jovial i've seen all like leon's scrum he was joking around like he was laughing with the media david was laughing

with the media which is extremely rare i you know it meant something to him like a thousand points and what 653 is absurd yeah like i think even him being like oh my god i'm really good it's crazy how long he's been in the league now i think the thing that stands out for me is like there must be some relief when you're an exceptional player in junior exceptional status and you're the next one and you're all you're the first overall pick you're all this pressure there must be some relief that comes with getting to a milestone like this and saying they can't take that away from me like i'm the fourth fastest to a milestone like this and saying, they can't take that away from me. Like, I'm the fourth fastest to 1,000 points. I saw that emotion for sure, and it's a great milestone,

but that guy will not get relief anywhere until he's lifting the Stanley Cup. Yeah. Okay? Absolutely. You are Marcel Dion. You are Gilbert Perrault. you could be talked about as one of the most talented players in the history but you want to get on that other side with stanley

cup champions it's not a thousand it's not 1200 it won't be 1500 points people are talking about 2000 being very realistic and there's no doubt about it it is but if this guy gets to 2000 points and he's not a stanley cup champion this guy will be miserable the rest of his life so i agree that he will be i don't know unfulfilled for sure for sure for sure but i do think that the amount of teams in the league now changes the math where we're going to see more and more players that's fine but the way we talk about these guys you look at the recent hall of fame inductees you see less and less hall of fame inductees with cups as long as long as that's going to be a trend because there's so many teams and less and less

respect for them than if they would have won for sure yes it's great to win cups it's preferred to win cups yeah but i do think that it used to be like there's only 20 teams you were in the league for 15 years and you didn't win one that part of the conversation amongst guys having beers or anybody else nobody cares about how many teams there were compared and that's that should be taken into account and that should be you know more realistic that's a lack of thoughtfulness on that beer conversation then it's totally different there's less cups to go around if you but with with 18 20 teams that never had a chance to win that cup to begin with either like we're we're eliminating teams now that 15 games in so where is again 32 teams

coming into the equation of of a less of a chance once the playoffs start it's like you know right i mean no it's not not a good point if you have 100 teams in the league or four you're more likely to win the cup when there's four like it's just there's more teams that can be good and you can be on the wrong team but there aren't many teams that could be good. They're not. We watched this league and it's like, oh my God, they stink. Oh, they stink too. I mean, it's a cup or bust. He said it last year.

I know for him that that is his sole focus. But I know that the Cubs won a lot of cups when they were six. He better move to a tax-free state so he's got a chance. Well, that's fair enough. Simon Florida, he might have a chance to win a Cup. We are seeing a more emotional guy. And I'll tell you, for the life of me, I know, and we've had this conversation about cameras in the dressing room,

but his rant in the playoffs where he's screaming, I just hated it. You hated that we saw it. Yes. I hated that I found him a little weak and desperate there, and I don't want to see see Connor McDavid weak and desperate. It's okay he is. And I'm not even saying that a Mark Messier

or some of our greatest leaders didn't have a weak moment or had a temper tantrum. And at the end of the day, that's what I saw. Him in that dressing room with the cameras rolling, screaming at everybody. I didn't like it. I didn't like it for him and i hate it that they use it in promos right now yeah if i was him if i was his agent i say get that crap off okay don't that's not a it's not a good promo me screaming like that one of my darkest moments in

my life is like how you're promoting your league sick but we all agree but we all but every that's what everybody talked about and they use it oh yeah if i may part of the reason was there wasn't much else there to grab in that series yeah i mean like i said boys went out for dinner they got some meatballs it was really you know it's it's there was there's there's it's just a raw emotion for him, and that's okay. But, like, as a leader, that's not what the team needs to be yelled at like that. Right? Yeah, there's almost this, like, undertone of, like, entitlement.

Like, why are you not giving me what I need? Why aren't you me? Yeah. Right? Why don't you want it as bad as I do right now? Don't you recognize that everything hinges on this for me? Ultimately, everybody in that locker room, you know, Leon Dreisaitl is an unbelievable player.

Nugent Hopkins, Nurse, like Ekholm, Bouchard, all these guys have great players, Zach Hyman. But like when you look back on it, it's the most important to him, to McDavid, to his legacy. It's like defines him, right? If he doesn't have that then it defines him did you guys see the stat up oh go ahead we should also play the leon clip yeah play the leon clip yeah so let's hear what dry saddle had to say weighing in on that yeah it's a special

moment i mean this is again i said it the other day but this is legendary stuff right so um to witness that to be a part of it and um you know and to have seen him grow up from when he was 18, when we first met him, it's pretty cool, pretty amazing to be a part of. Legendary stuff. And the clip we heard from McDavid was not him on the ice, was it? No, no, it was him. Because he was very emotional, and he spoke of that, right? That, you know, we've...

Grew up on the ice together. Yeah, in front he spoke of that, right? That, you know, we've... Grew up on the ice together. Yeah, in front of everyone's eyes, right? And, yeah, it gives you a sense of... I'm flies, and it feels like the sands of the hourglass are halfway through. And more importantly for Oiler fans, he ain't going anywhere. No. No, that's true. Right?

I mean, the Leon contract to me... I'll sign in July, and whatever the number is, the number is, but I'm an oiler. Yeah. Yeah. I was waiting for you to be like. No, no, listen. Are you okay with that, that he's not going to be a Toronto Maple Leaf?

No, it breaks every part of my heart, and the league should have rigged it so he would be a Leaf. It's absurd they didn't. Some days I'm really glad you're on the show. It's like historic floundering franchise with a kid that all he's ever wanted to do was play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and they rigged it for Sid. Rig it for Toronto Maple Leafs. Rig it. Just rig it.

The league desperately wanted the Penguins to have another star. They were about to go under. They should have frozen an envelope for the Leafs. No question they should have rigged it. It breaks my heart every day they didn't. It's just like... I don't know where to go with should have rigged it. It breaks my heart every day they didn't. It's just like, anyways. I don't know where to go with that. I love it.

This has been one of my takes by the way. And then next year they rigged it for the Leafs, so they got Matthews. But they got Matthews instead of McDavid. Matthews is great, but he's not McDavid. Anyways, games between Connor McDavid point milestones. Did you see that stat I put on the lineup? I love that. This is from Sportsnet Stats on Twitter.

So give them a follow. They're an unbelievable follow. This blows my mind. From 701 to 800, it was 58 games. From 801 to 900 points, it was 58 games. From 901 points to 1,000 points, it's 58 games.

58 games at a time, he just bites off 100 points. That's insane. Like, how can you not say he's going to get two? And it's funny watching it tick down. You know, early in his career, 92, 82, 67. Now we're down to 58. 58 is insane.

Can I just show a little love to the late Mike Bossy? Yes. Who beat Connor McDavid to that mark? 1,000 points. Like, I'm looking at him going, Gretzky, Lemieux, okay, and then McDavid. And so, no, Mike Bossy. And I'm like, I remember Mike Bossy scoring 50 goals a year.

But to get to 1,000 points even faster than this guy, are we giving as much love to Mike Bossy as he deserved when he retired? He's a great example of a, you know, we said if McDavid's career ends today, he's a Hall of Famer. But it's funny because that kind of happened to Bossy's career with the back injuries. And we don't talk about him the same way as if he had played five more years. Not even close. No.

And his last year in the league, he scored 40 goals in 60 games. That was Bossy's last year in the league. 38 and 63 in 60 games that was bossy's last year in the league uh 38 and 63 to be exact his goal totals from the all of the years in his career 53 69 51 68 64 60 51 58 61 38 god just goofy that's absurd that is underappreciated it's a great call it is totally underappreciated it's so great call it is totally underappreciated it's so funny four straight cups next time he scored less than 50 goals in a season he's like ah i'm back you're so good and you know what getting to play with trotchy and gillies uh you know a little bit of room out there for the for the guy helped trots was unbelievable yeah

those other two guys were okay they made a little space out there for him awesome all right we'll take a quick break we return we'll bring in sportsnet.ca's luke fox that and more when we return to real kipper and born teeing up the biggest games of the night it's the fan pre-game with alish forfar and justin cuthbert weekdays at 6 p.m on sportsnet sportsnet 590 the fan and wherever you get your podcast teeing up the biggest games of the night. It's the Fan Pre-Game with Ailish Forfar and Justin Cuthbert. Weekdays at 6 p.m. on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590, The Fan, and wherever you get your podcasts. We're back. Sammy, you okay?

Did I startle you? Uh, no. I was just cutting some audio, as I am a producer, after all. I wasn't listening. I didn't know the show was back. All right, in a couple minutes, or maybe, like, in five seconds,

I don't know, Luke Fox? Yeah. What are you going to ask him? Oh, we don't have him yet. I'm going to ask him about which vertebrae is. No. Oh, no. Matthews is suffering.

Oh, my God. Is it his head? Is it his back? Is it his leg? Yeah. Concussion would make sense to me. One thing that I did want to. That's a scary word.

But it would make sense. Like he's been on the ice. He tried to push it. it i know but he hasn't been on the ice listen i'm not saying i'm just saying it would make sense if that was it upper body right uh our boy cloak had a article on simone benoit and i wanted to take a victory lap oh yeah on the tired thing oh yeah remember saying that benoit has not been great he's kind of a fringy guy who has not been great. And I said he had a new kid. And Benoit, the whole conversation is about how, you know, Benoit saying, would you run a marathon without sleep?

I don't think so. You know, when asked about the impacts of sleep, your body would feel like crap. Your brain would be foggy. His voice trails off as he reflects on merging an exhaustive day job with the emotional and physical toll that comes with your first job. Oh, my God. It's a whole article of him just being like, I'm dying.

I'm tired, man. I'm tired. But they put in the, I don't know if you guys ever watched Lord of the Rings, the big trees, the Ent. Yeah. They put him in to replace Benoit Hockenpah. Really, he is an Ent.

Have a baby in the summer. I mean, you've got to think this through. Like, plan. And it even mentions in that article, don't forget. When the feeling hits, in the summer. I mean, you've got to think this through. Like, plan. And it even mentions in that article, don't forget. When the feeling hits, can't be tired. That's funny. It's kind of spontaneous. Morgan Riley had his first child a month before training camp this year, too.

That explains everything. Well, hey, I don't think it explains nothing. Are you saying that for sure that this guy is changing diapers and he's on hoop? Benoit or Riley? Both of them. Yes. I genuinely think it has an impact.

Tavares has some comments in the article about his, not worst season, but he had a tough stretch where his kids were born. One call from Sammy away from having him come over and change a diaper. I actually wish I got the quote from Tavares, but one of his quotes is, you need to, we're a professional athlete,

you need to get a night nurse. Like you need to hire someone to be at your house to like deal with the baby while you sleep. Those are expensive though. Can they afford it? Well, Tavares can. Benoit might be a little tighter, might be a little bit different for him but i do think that there is home impacts that

we often don't consider and now is it going to be hard for benoit to get back in it's hawk and maybe not till the kid goes to grade two five years from now or something six years from now be ready to go wasn't great math probably um so we're just having some zoom issues with luke we're gonna get him on facetime here sorry no problem no problem at all so yeah the hawk and paw thing i am curious to see if if he gets in on saturday night or if it's benoit particularly given that hawk and paw is a right shot guy timmons is a guy that you don't want to take out. How about Myers? No.

I'd go back to Benoit, I think. I mean, he's been not great, but it's the lefty-righty thing. I guess they had it on all three pairs when they put Hockenpah in there. They shuffled things around, so maybe he'd stick with it. But I don't think Benoit's been sit a bunch of games in a row bad do you no he's cringy enough that if it's not going great okay so if they're this careful with austin matthews and why wouldn't they treat hot compost the same and and why would you want to play him two consecutive games for you?

I guess there's enough gay days between, right? Words are hard. But for him, the only goal with him is to get him over the finish line where he's available. That's the number one goal. A big body like that, I'd like him to play enough that he's comfortable out there not looking like the tin man okay let's go to a guy who still doesn't understand how zoom works let's bring in luke i know luke i gotta do it i'm sorry you can write all these amazing articles but

you don't know where the power button is is that true okay Have you ever changed computers, Nick? Oh, a new computer. Oh, so apparently Zoom is not a legitimate approved app in the Rogers family. Oh, I didn't know that. You need special authorization to get it. Apparently I'm working on that. Tyrone. Tyrone's yourrone all right okay so we're doing face we're doing facetime today yeah good to know okay so how important was that comeback in washington for them to face the edmonton oiler saturday night for you

it was pretty big yeah it was huge um and less about the two points that they got in a game that seemed to be gone, right? With five minutes to go, two goal lead for Washington. More about the morale of the group. You know, it was absolute stinker against Ottawa. You're missing your captain. You're not playing particularly well. You can't score five on five and then all of a sudden in a game where you seem down and out in a season where most of

these games you haven't had the miraculous comebacks of seasons past the guys find a way despite some goals that looked like good goals at first blush and then got taken off the board. They stuck with it. They grinded it out. And especially for John Tavares, I think that was huge for him. And you could tell how big it was for the guys after the game. So in Washington, the visitors' quarters is pretty small. So the guys have to do their stretches outside the room, kind of in front of the reporters after the game and the vibes were

through the roof lots of laughing and screaming and high fives and everyone was so excited i think because you know it was oel's 1000th game um because of you know dramatic comeback win i think it was a really big morale booster and it came against against what is a really good Washington team this season. Yeah, we've said that a few times in this show. Like, that felt like a massive turning point for them. So as they head into the weekend against a Oilers team that's won three in a row, just had some milestones of their own, practice today included a couple of guys at center.

Well, one guy at center there in Willie Nylander that we haven't seen in in the past how likely is it that we actually get to see him play center saturday night yeah i think it's 50 50 i think it was kind of interesting uh you know max told me this is the second straight practice that he's missed due to what they're calling maintenance he's obviously battling something right and whether that's the fact that he skipped some morning skates and some practices or just that he hasn't been on his game mentally this has got to be taking a toll on him i think it's like a dozen games now without a point he's a minus player over that span even though the team's been playing well uh so you know we might see william kneeler to take more shifts at center

um you know domi should be good to go it looks like nick robertson was probably the placeholder there uh but yeah it's uh it's kind of an interesting situation i think what this matthews injury has done is just not exposed because i think a lot of us knew it was there to begin with, but reinforced just how thin they are up the middle. You know, you throw in Yali Kalyan-Krok, he's not coming back anytime soon, and it's like, oh my goodness, this team is screaming for a centerman. And I'm sure it's something they're going to address before the deadline. You just wonder, hope if they keep winning they don't aren't rushed to make any rash

judgments but you look at the team they played the the other night washington they already went out and got larzeller do they have to make a move sooner than later uh because i think ultimately they don't want domi playing a 2c role they don't want nylander at center in a perfect world they've shown that to us so it's an area that they need to address we're talking to luke fox leaf and nhl writer for sportsnet.ca uh all this talk stems from the fact that we will not see austin matthews again saturday night uh just the scuttle amongst you and maybe some of your colleagues uh that follow the team waiting, wondering. Sammy would rather the Leafs come out and definitively say what's wrong.

That's not going to happen. But where on the radar is this for you? Yeah, I've been poking around, and I'm sure I'm not the only one trying to get more info here. It is curious. I think, you know, they're saying he's improving craig bruvais said today that there hasn't been a setback and yet the normal signs of a guy that's improving and you know progressing towards playing again aren't staying off the ice aren't staying home and not

getting on the plane ride with teams so it's a little bit curious i my sense is they're exercising extreme caution they love the fact that the schedule is laid out this way so they play saturday but they they don't play again till wednesday and then they don't play again until next a week sunday so it's like they probably looked at this block of games and say well if we can keep our head above water for a couple more games, that'll give them a full extra week to rest whatever is ailing them. And I think you zoom out, big picture, they know what it's like to go through a playoff series

without this guy fully healthy. They don't want to do it again. So might as well miss some regular season games. Luke, you have been here uh right alongside us following this team for years and watching the ebbs and flows of their strengths and weaknesses what are your thoughts i i wrote an article last week on their uh low event the shape of their team is just their low event team right they don't create nearly as much as they used to don't give up as much what are your thoughts on what that does for them?

Is that a positive development? I think it's them trying something new with the same people. Because they didn't make changes to the core. So their big move in the offseason was trying a different coach who viewed the game vastly different than I think Sheldon Keefe views the game. So they said, okay, we, instead of going out and getting scoring help,

we might've lost a little bit of scoring. In fact, in Tyler Gertuzzi taking his 20 goals out the door and they crossed their fingers and hope that guys like McMahon and Robertson and maybe Holmberg could put a few in the net. That really hasn't happened, but they're hoping for that. And then they're like, let's become a defense first team. And they have been.

They've been one of the best defensive teams five on five. And Anthony Stoller deserves a lot of credit for that, but so does their system. And so does the additions of defensemen like Ekman Larson and Chris Tanev. And they are trying to change their identity. They're trying to win more 2-1 games, 3-2 games, instead of blowing the doors off people. Unfortunately, it's come at the expense of their 5-on-5 scoring,

and they got lucky. Not lucky. They earned it, but they got a rush of some scoring late last game. But if you look over the course of the last couple weeks, they're pretty mediocre in that regard, and they never were that way. They were always top two, top five in the whole NHL in scoring, and especially even strike scoring. And now it's something they have to figure out.

They're still trying to figure out what the balance is. Yeah, you want to be better defensively, but it can't be at this drastic of an expense of giving up offense when you have the puck. But the look is a more playoff type than

we've ever seen before. And like you said, they've only given up 2.2 goals in their last 10 games per game. 2.2. So if you're winning from the net on out, 2-1 scores, 3-2 scores, we see a lot of that in the playoffs. And for Stolarz, nothing changes from here on in.

It really looks like this guy's going to end up somewhere with 50 games, 50-plus games. Like, there's no question who the number one goaltender is for the Toronto Maple Leafs moving forward here. No, he's been phenomenal. Now, he's up for quite a test on Saturday, playing his old team. And, you know, Mr. 1,000 points and Connor McDavid, he's going to be in for one.

But I agree with you, Nick. I mean, he's taken this net. He's earned it. As long as he stays healthy, he should, you know, set crush his career high in starts. And I was actually looking like the way Jeremy Swayman's been going, guys, I think Anthony Stoller should be in serious consideration for that third spot on the on the Team USA Four Nations team. Yeah, Swayman has an 888 Stoller's is is like 930 or something like uh he's been phenomenal he's been really steady and I just wonder if you know if they'd be you know going into the season no one

would have mentioned his name in those conversations but he's playing phenomenal hockey right now and I just wonder if he's starting to change the minds of the decision makers a little bit there. Luke, thanks for your time, man. Just hit the power off button and you should be good to go the rest of the weekend. Okay. Good luck.

Thanks, Luke. All right. Okay. Let me figure this out. That is Luke Fox. Leaf and NHL writer for sportsnet.ca. The one thing that stands out to me about this team being more low event, you mentioned last 10 games, not giving up a lot of goals,

built from the back end out. I love the idea of having a low event team when you have elite scorers. The guys that, you know, can break the tight games open and have those moments. When the other teams don't have those guys, it's a big advantage. And it really did play out that way Wednesday night. There was a momentum switch and then

you get a power play and within three seconds of winning a face-off, Marner ties the game up. That's what that type of talent can do for you. The guys that can make a play like Tavares and Oti. The counter to that is every game in the first round

last year was incredibly low event and they didn't break through very many times. Their guys were kind of sickened out and hurt. I'm just saying. They played low event games in the playoffs that have not gone their way. Multiple, multiple times. He's not wrong and then the focus and the shutdown and the film.

Yeah, it gets real hard for those guys. It gets real hard. And that's where you... You just need another layer. There is somewhat of a concern still on what you think that a third line can end up looking like for the Toronto Maple Leafs. It ain't Holmberg, Lorenz

and Dewar or Robertson. It's two people that aren't on the roster right now, quite frankly. By the way, I didn't mean to put Lorenz in there. or Robertson. It's two people that aren't on the roster right now, quite frankly. By the way, I didn't mean to put Lorenz in there. Two? Two, yeah. Yeah, there's one for sure. They're shopping for a centerman already, I think.

Good. They need it. I think Lorenz has a playoff goal in him. I think so, too. I like Lorenz. He'd be better than what they've been getting. He'd be better than just one. Okay, a couple.

Listen. I meant a big one. Through the first three games, we thought Steven Lorenz was Matt Sundin matt sundin so like he was scoring the backhand goal bar down against the devils were like oh my god those tense games though the least have had a lack of guys that seem to rise up in close games you notice him in those games he's not afraid of he scored a couple big goals one of them got taken away but you know off his pant leg against washington that goal in st louis to make it a 3-2 game late in the game, there's been moments where he's been contributing.

I mean, if you play in a Stanley Cup winner, you're probably not too intimidated by too many moments in the regular season. Couple quick things. If you're going downtown Saturday night, leave Soilers, you start arriving to the rink around 6.30-ish, I believe there's a certain pop star that forced me off the damn Gardner yesterday. We had Leo Messi and LeBron James in the city within the last month, but we have to go

motorcade for Taylor Swift. Anyways, it's going to be a busy one downtown. How old are you? It's going to be a busy one downtown. So if you like crowds, that's going to be your place. And Leaf Game usually gets out around 10. Concert probably getting out around 10.30. Oh my god. Have fun down there guys

is she like bring a helicopter is she like bruce does she go for like three hours three and a half guys she goes i mean if you're charging 10k for a ticket you should probably go three and a half she's not charging 10k for a ticket you're right somebody is she's seeing a couple bucks oh yeah she's probably doing all right yeah just the money must must be just sick. Oh, it's sick. Well, I think if you're her, this is like, I'll do this for a year and a half, and then I assume never work again. Also. If she starts putting out some twangy album for another 20 bucks,

stop working. Just be done. I hear great things about her. I hear the shows are fat. No, forget the shows. She's just really. Genuine person. Genuine.

Yeah, I hear that too. I don't have enough time to say it. I got a quick one. Shout out. Okay. Genuine. Yeah, I heard that too. So I don't have enough time to say it. I got a quick one. Shout out. Okay. Own sound. Yeah. Goalie goal last night for my boy Carter George, the attack.

And Curtis McDermott, Sobble Beach, Ontario native. Own sound guy. And Jonah Gajevich fought last night. Big own sound night on the ice last night, boys. Shout out my hometown. There you go. I know you guys are thrilled about that. More on the national horror

on Taylor Swift. She'll be joining us. Oh, big cat. Taylor. Taylor. We're having Zoom issues. She can't come through. If we can't get Taylor, we'll try to get Doug McClain.

Same thing. Off the rails continues after the phone. We'll try to get Doug McClain. Oh, same thing. All right. Off the Rails continues after the break. We go national. Don't you dare change this channel.