The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Jay Rosehill

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

Jay Rosehill joins Jeff Marek to discuss the Leafs recent slump, Craig Berube's coaching style, and John Tavares' injury.Shout out to our sponsors!👍🏼Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/Stream the full conversation with Adam Copeland on Up Close with Stephen Brunt belowApple Podcast: https://apple.co/41DCXleSpotify:https://spoti.fi/3DrZs2cWatch: https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

from Leafs Morning Take with Nick Albarga, the one and only Jay Rosehill. Tonight the Toronto Maple Leafs face off against the New Jersey Devils, the return of Sheldon Keefe. Rosie, how are you today? I was told by someone at our company to ask you this question to kick things off. Here we go. Why didn't you play in the Western Hockey League? Why did you go the college route? Ha, good question. Yeah, I get that once in a while. I was kind of a late bloomer, Jeff.

Really? You know, it was, I'd played forward and D up until midget triple A, so about when I was 16 years old and started to get used to that position at 16. Then after my 17 year old year, well after that 16 year old year, it's time to make a decision and Seattle Thunderbirds and the Dub got my rights.

And to be honest with you, I was just coming into my own, I was kind of a small town kid, mama's boy almost, and I didn't wanna go down to the States and live in Seattle and I was terrified of that. And I was just hitting my stride and it was the want to go down to the States and live in Seattle. And I was terrified of that. And I was just hitting my stride. And, you know, it was the option of going down there and playing in the dub and seeing what happened there or taking my time playing at home tier two, going NCAA route, seeing how good I could make myself before I presented myself to pro hockey.

And, you know, a couple of local kids around my area had gone to the dub big defensemen played physical and I remember sitting there the year I had to decide and I was looking out the window and this one individual who was from the area who had gone to the dub and glitz and glamour and lights and he was kind of working for for the the power line company and this was just a few years later and he had one wrist injury and didn't want to fight as much as they wanted him to fight and that was it and he was done and I was I was terrified of becoming that so I guess I just took the safe route if I had to sum it up. So he became a cautionary tale for you then he was the most influential people in hockey for you

because uh because of how he hung him up. Okay, so snapshot right now. Like tonight's a big game, like the return of Shelton Keefe, the New Jersey Devils, like Seamon Nemich should probably be playing on this blue line. He just, there's no spot for him. Like it's a wonderful blue line they're getting. Great goaltending from Jacob Markstrom. Up front they can score in bunches.

They've got a Selkie Trophy candidate in Nico Hescher. Like when you look at this matchup tonight, I wanna get to Tavares here in Nico Heescher. Like when you look at this matchup tonight, I want to get to Tavares here in a couple of seconds, but when you look at this matchup tonight, like where are the interesting lines for you between New Jersey and Toronto? Ah, like you say, they've all got their strong suits and their, I don't know what New Jersey's weak point would be. And I'm kind of of the ilk where don't worry about who you're playing and don't focus on them too much.

Like are they gonna change their game or their attitude towards it based on who their stud D man is or who's putting up all their points. Like you're aware of who you're playing for, but to me, I always went back to take care of our own business and everything else will take care of itself. So I don't really feel like the Leafs

have been getting beat by teams or anything specific that has been taken advantage. It's all within themselves. And when they're playing their best, it's because of what they do. And when they're not playing their best, it's because of a lack of X, Y, and Z. So I mean, they've beat this team before.

They have a pretty good record. Over time, they've squeaked some things out against the Devils and you could throw in that extra little bit of Toronto feel where teams come into Toronto and play a little extra hard and give the best effort because it's kind of the hockey hub, but also the return of Sheldon Keefe as well. So, there'll be money on the board

and guys giving them clicks and whatnot. It'll be a reason to get up for But at the end of the day the Leafs need to take care of business of the way They know how to and everything else should fall in place. How do you look at this team? I mean last year with with with Sheldon Keefe and this year with with Craig Barube. Is there something? because you know, I think a lot of us look at coaches and You know try to you know figure out, you know This coach is the right fit for this team,

this coach wasn't the right fit for that team, et cetera, and what the main differences are. And sometimes it just comes down to stereotypes, like Craig Borubi, meat and potatoes kind of guy, everything's got to be like table hockey and straight lines, and that's it, et cetera. Nine times out of ten, that's not even true. Everybody evolves as the game evolves as well.

But as you look at the Maple Leafs from last season to this season, from a coaching point of view, you're uniquely qualified. You've been there in the NHL. I haven't, obviously, you're Al Berga. Like what do you notice right away with this team? Yeah, you know, you mentioned Craig Brubay and some of the preconceived notions

of him. Like I was coached by him when I was in Philly and he's not a hard ass and he's not rough and gruff and he's not really stern. I think just the way he played the game and just sometimes his facial expression kind of comes off that way. And when he tells you what his philosophy on hockey was, it is, it does seem like meat and potatoes, but he's a pretty cordial guy, he's very fair, he loves to laugh and joke and like, I've seen him laugh till he cries many times. He's not a real stern, rough and gruff guy,

but his philosophy on hockey is very simple. Like he lays it out there like you say, north-south hockey, getting it deep and paying attention to the details and all those things that coaches say. But I really feel like under Sheldon Keefe, it was kind of a, you guys are so talented, go out there and make it happen.

And I'm sorry, but you give Willie and Mitch Marner and these guys that kind of rope, they're probably gonna abuse it a little bit, right? Just like most skill players would. I'm not even knocking them. But the drop passes and the no-lookers and the waist-high cross-ice sauces, it's just, you know, coaches call that, you know, low percentage plays and when you look at years past, there was turnovers galore, there was odd man rushes like crazy,

and it just, it wasn't conducive to winning, especially in the playoffs, trying to win six five every single night. This year, I feel like they've shored that up a little bit there, pay attention to those details. They are getting it kind of deep when there's a 50-50, you know, medium to low percentage play, they'll make the safe one,

and they live to fight another day, and I think when they've played that kind of patient hockey, less risky hockey, they've been rewarded for it a lot this season. But in the last couple of weeks, it's almost like they've started to stray from that and their power play compounds that for sure. But it's almost like they're getting away

from that Craig Brubay philosophy that I think he tried to instill. And I'm kind of waiting for Chief to kind of bite down on the guys, which he's been hesitant to do. So there's a lot there. I want to pull a couple of things out there. And as I'm hearing you talk about Nylander and Marner and go out there and the drop passes

and look how skilled we are, that used to be Tampa. Like Tampa was always the team that made that one extra pass just because they could, like you would see it like every single game. It's like, look how skilled we are and we can do this and look at this scene, you didn't see that was there. And what, like this was, and would drive everybody would drive John Cooper crazy. We drive the fans, like everybody drive everybody crazy. But somehow, John Cooper, you had to get buy-in from the players, obviously, they were able to calm that down, right?

And, you know, Andrew Raycroft, last week was on Morning Cup of Hockey, former NHL netminder, as we all know, an analyst for the Boston Bruins. And he was talking about not being able to simplify things like the power of play when you have such highly skilled players out there because they're not wired that way.

Like highly skilled players aren't wired to simplify things. I know it from a fan's point of view, I watch it and be like, oh, just like play a more simple game, it'll work. And we don't take into account the point that Raycroft was making, which is that's not how elite level players are wired.

Like they don't want to, and I would even make the argument too, they can't simplify things the way that we want them simplified. I guess what I'm getting at is, is it possible to be too skilled out there? Like make no mistake about it, like the names you're firing out at us here,

these are amongst the elite skilled players in the NHL. How hard is it to get them even just to turn it down a notch and simplify the game a little bit knowing that at the end of it, they're not wired to play that way? Yeah, and I know what you're saying. And highly skilled players, oftentimes they wanna be free, they wanna be creative, they wanna find room and

create space and make plays. You know what, if that one didn't work, that's okay. I think one out of three or four times I can make that play work. Wearing a coach's mind and a team's mind, that's not acceptable. You can't turn the puck over 50% of the time just because it works half the time. That's not good enough. I've seen players ruin their careers over being unable to adapt.

Some guys, you know, minor league players with all the skill in the world who are high picks and have played world juniors and go through the list and they don't have a career in the NHL. And everyone goes, why was that? Well, a lot of times they're not willing to play the game, to simplify things, to play a system, to be more structured, to play the team game.

And it comes back and it buries them. And some players are so unwilling to adapt that their careers suffer because of it. You look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, yeah, there's $50 million on that power play. And I do think part of the problem is they've always been so good and they've always been so skilled

and they've always had success doing it their way that it is difficult to get them just to firepox at the net and funnelpox and go to the, you know, and they're like, I'm better than that. I'm not some fourth line plug like me that needs to do that in order to justify a shift They're much better than that, but I look at it and say well How stubborn are you gonna be how pigheaded are you gonna be about the situation?

Because what do you have to show for it your power plays like last in the league last year? It's like under five percent in the Stanley Cup playoffs Are you are you really gonna dig your heels in the sand and say, no, we're gonna keep doing it our way? Are you gonna be willing to be a professional and say, this isn't working, we need to get back to basics, we need to get to the blank sheet

and say, let's start from scratch here, what can we build on? And honestly, when a team's struggling like this and they're just spinning their wheels in the mud, oftentimes it is simplifying things, throwing pucks on the net, all the old cliches that they have to go back to in order to have success. And the longer they fight it, the more they're going to struggle. And I think that this PP, from what I've watched, they seem unwilling to change a whole lot.

It just seems like the same thing over and over again, which is getting pretty frustrating for fans in that market. Okay, close out question for you. What does life without John Tavares look like for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Place on IR, Frazier Minton is up. Listen, we all know that Open Ice isn't the best friend of John Tavares, but in front of the net it is. Play Along the Boards is his best friend, like there's still plenty, and we see see the evidence it's before us right now but what is life without JT look like for the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight? Well yet to be seen obviously like JT has had a season that I don't think

people expected you know the last couple years of his contract I think that people thought he was gonna struggle and not really be worth the money, but he's having almost career numbers and they rely on him heavily. He's professional, he does have leadership qualities regardless of what's on his chest. And they're going to miss him.

But just like when Austin Matthews was hurt, you know, this Maple Leafs team, we call it on our show, they do leafy things and that's unexplainable things. It's unexplainable that that power play is as bad as it is. It's unexplainable what their record is without Austin Matthews. And I think that this could be an opportunity

to have John Tavares go to the sidelines, want to heal them up as quick as possible, but it would be very leaf-like for that to break the floodgates open. Get a Matthew Nyes to step up, get a Bobby McMahon to step up, get a, you know, take your pick on some of the guys that are in that secondary role who could step up

and try to fill John Tavares' shoes. I just wouldn't be surprised if something happened with the power play tonight, if something happened with those players that normally play with John tonight to break the floodgates open. I know that doesn't make sense and they're going to miss him but this team does odd things and like I said, they've had adversity before and somehow managed to dig in

and find success. So I mean, that's my rose colored glasses thinking that they could make something of this. Like sometimes it just takes an awkward thing or a shake up in the lineup or something unexpected that gets things going and ignites a spark. Would it make sense to get going without John Tavares? No, of course not.

But someone's gonna have to step up and they're gonna have to get a different mentality going that they've had in the last three, four, you could argue five, six, seven games and try to get something done tonight against the Devils. It's it's a long-standing tradition you know the superstar goes out I can recall as you probably can as well you know Matt Sundin leaves the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup and all of a sudden it's everything you always wanted to know about Lonnie Bahanas but we're afraid to ask we all got to know a lot about Lonnie

Bahanas after Matt Sundeen was gone. You're the best. Jay, thanks as always for stopping by and taking time out of your schedule. I'm probably cutting your workout early to come and do this, so much appreciated. Not a problem. Thanks for having me.

You and Zach, you have fun. But 16 hours last night, every day this week, every day this month I can't get out my head, lost all ambitions day to day Cause you can call it a rut I went to the dark man, he tried to give me a little medicine I'm like nah man that's fine I'm not against those methods but you It's me, myself and how this gon' be fixing my mind I do wanna break it I turn down the music

I do wanna break it I turn down the music It's an early music It's an out there battle that you're sometimes losing Helping on the days that went wrong