The Steve Dangle Podcast - 3J | August 21, 2018

Episode Date: August 22, 2018

On this episode, BEST FRIEND of the show Chris Johnston (@ReporterChris) joins us (00:00), Chris and Steve play our new favourite game: Guess What Happened in that Leafs Game from February 2018 !! (07:00), the new era in Toronto and the many non-Tavares changes to the Leafs (17:00), the Leafs captaincy situation (27:30), Leaf line deployment and ice time (32:30), Gardiner and the dreaded defence (40:00), Nylander doesn't have a contract... OH NOOOO (1:08:00), drunk hockey player stories (1:18:00), Ottawa is still a mess lol (1:27:00), pro sports contracts and taking hometown discounts (1:38:00), and ranking the Canadian fanbases that hate Toronto the most (1:54:00). Originally aired: August 21, 2018 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/hxVX-ck5FNg Merch: https://teespring.com/en-GB/stores/fancydangleshirts Follow us on Twitter: @Steve_Dangle, @AdamWylde, & @JesseBlake Follow us on Instagram: @SteveDangle, @AdamWylde, & @Jesse.Blake Subscribe to us on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/steve-dangle-podcast/id669828195?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Panago Pizza presents S.T. The Steve Dangle Podcast with your hosts, Steve Dangle and Adam Wilde. Well, Steve made it. I did. Jesse was already here. Yes, I was. I drove for five hours today and I don't want to call him friend of the show. I feel like that's not fair to him.

I want to call him best friend of the show. Recorder Chris Johnson There you go Is also here We're so excited BFF Yeah absolutely Podcast pal

The only guy I might have traveled The longest distance To get here Yeah where did you Come from Summer vacation Deep deep down

The hole of not working So Just the notion Of like setting a time To meet someone Somewhere that isn't Like in my living room And getting there

On that time Felt like a real victory What do you watch During the summer I find myself like Putzing around my new place like putting stuff away

and like I put on like Paramount Network and watch Bar Rescue because it's just constantly on and I love that show what do you what do you put on

I'm a giant sports nerd so you're a sports all the time I'm watching sports like 95% of the time so I'm watching so Tour de France I watch Tour de France

I watch all the golf tournaments since the open the tennis since the open no I'm watching tennis you know the Jays games at night

and we've started watching actually my wife and i killing eve yep yep we've been watching that too it's awesome no it's not on netflix fx fx yeah and uh we've only seen five episodes but it's been awesome it's one of those shows that like i wish i could binge watch it but i can't so it's it's the the episodes are coming out like one at a time every sunday night like a normal tv show i got two of those shows on the go right now it's killing eve and uh castle rock a castle rock's really good you gotta you have to watch Castle Rock

Stephen King oh yeah it's basically some of the same the main creepy guy is the Swedish guy I forget his name who played Pennywise

in It okay yeah it's really good you'll really like it now I've been hearing The Americans is worth getting into

I've heard that too I haven't a lot of FX shows are good The Americans I've heard is good I can tell you Amazon Prime

is worth investing in as well you have all of them I have all of them I have all the streaming services I have Fanatic what do I do

Chris talks about not having a few weeks off. I've been off for two months, man. You don't put together your barbecue? That's true. I did buy a barbecue and had the store put it together. And you paid someone to put it together. Even though you have all of the time to figure it out. I can spend four hours doing it and screwing it up the way I screwed up my master bedroom,

which I did. We had an ottoman bed and I screwed it up and I had to reorder parts for it. Do you mean like a Murphy bed? Well, a Murphy bed is the full way. Ottoman bed's half. Okay. I got a Murphy bed. and that's like it's left scars putting that thing together thank you it was like thank you

it took 10 hours with four functional adults it was insane it was insane and we saved like a thousand dollars which is a lot of money in a way but it was not worth that 10 hours like it was if i could go back i would pay a hundred dollars an hour to not have done that so so like here's what here's what i would ask you if you were if you bought a nice barbecue and this is a good barbecue i was like i want this barbecue to last it's a weber i'm very proud of this purchase and they said we'll put it together for free

and we'll deliver it to your house you didn't say it was free free and the warranty no you literally said you paid someone oh but no

Jesse said I paid someone because you never mentioned that it was free well yeah of course it was free okay that's not usually the case usually it's you pay someone

exactly hey extra $50 fee we'll put this together for you blah blah blah I think that was free of course you'd take that yeah yeah that's not

that's dumb to not take it thank you would you rather be Adam Who had a responsible adult Put together his barbecue Or me Who tried to put a donut

On my car the other day Got the car up on the jack Car rolled off the jack Oh Freaking if I was under it I'd be dead Wow Yeah

Damn Have you guys made plans Like if you die Does it become the Adam Wilde podcast? No Jesse for sure No It's the Steve Dangle Memorial podcast Yeah

Okay Yeah We keep the name going I didn't know if you guys Yeah it's a touchy subject We don't have a We don't have a really Is there like a will

for the program Adam and Jesse are allowed to profit off my death it's okay t-shirts all proceeds go to us

our hearts are broken there's no proceeds there's profits I think Mrs. Dangle should get a few of the proceeds she gets a free one she doesn't even

have to go a free one but like a few sizes too big so she can like wear it to bed and stuff like a Jays game t-shirt

you know where it doesn't really fit you know when Jesse and I would turn it into like a Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless when they were together

and they were at their hype their hype that would be it would be our no I will argue this point and get louder and then he will argue a point

and get louder than me and it would just be an hour of that I have the show you take points that I had previously made and try to defend them Jesse has to tear them down

as he usually would Advantage Jesse I like that because that's just what he does actually we call the show Advantage Jesse there you go there it is

it's also a tennis show now yes we only talk about tennis So, Chris, you've had a good off-season. Yeah, it's been really good. Before we go on, we should have your SDP listeners to send me on Twitter

any suggestions for shows. They do still have a couple weeks of semi-freedom here. You're about to get inundated. There's a lot of them. Anyone who just wastes my time with something stupid, I'll probably just flip by it. I'm not going to block anyone, but

try to keep it shows I might actually want to watch. You might like Seinfeld. Have you heard of it? Simpsons, give that a shot. It might be great. The Leaf Blueprints. Have you heard of it? Man, other than those two shows that I mentioned,

I've been watching hockey highlights. I've honestly been watching hockey highlights. Does that make you nauseous that I've been doing that? No, I'm trying not to judge. Don't try not to. Don't try not to judge. It makes you a sick something there. A little sick puppy.

Mostly just Leaf overtime winners from last year. And shootout winners. That's weird. No, it's not. It is super great It's a little weird man No it's the best Matthews versus Chicago

Oh be still my beating heart I don't even remember that Wasn't it Nylander? There were No there was one at home And there was one on the road On the road was Nylander Peltney shot wasn't it?

Yes it was Which tied an NHL record For fastest overtime goal I'm sorry I'm sick I'm sick and demented I'm sorry I've spent the last six weeks

Trying to forget that stuff And you're like I want to cement this in there Only the If I'm If I'm on a highlight pack And I know they lost that game I'm like, ah, nah, skip over that one.

You know? I only want to see the wins. Do you remember which games they won and lost? A shocking amount of them, yes. We're not going to do this, but if we went through the schedule, what percentage? I think I'd do pretty decent.

Even if we included overtime win or overtime loss, could you? That might be rough. That might be rough. We'll see. Let's pick a random month. All right. Let's pick a random month.

We're going to figure out the record? Well, no. What Jesse will do is he'll say on November whatever, We should do like February. February, yes. Because like even the most locked in hockey fan in February is like, all right, when's the playoffs starting? What's going on here?

So take the Leafs schedule from February and we'll just go through each game and Steve will tell you what the result was. I was probably at 90% of these games and you would outdo me on this. You guys want to go head to head? Head to head. All right. Yes. You don't get a choice.

Let's go. How do we maintain the, like if he just yells out win? No, you, that's. Do we have to write it down or something? His guess, your guess. tie break is score yeah tie break is score I'm not going to know any scores

you got to keep score I will keep score Leafs played the New York Rangers on February 1st you have to say where it happened they were in New York road game Rangers

Leafs I want to say I want to say that was a Pavlik game and I I think the Leafs won 4-2. Don't even try with the score. Just say they won. But he's showing off.

Yeah, exactly. No, I might be totally wrong, and then I look like a dick. So what do I have to say here? Just say win or loss. Win or loss. And then Jesse says if it's a tie, then you guys have to guess the score. You're going with win? And you go with win?

I go with win. It's a tie. Okay. Score. So what was the score? I think it was 4-2. 4-1. 4-0.

4-0. Oh! So you guys are even. You're even. Okay. Oh, wait, so how are you... No, then that's just a non-point. No, but Chris was closer.

Oh, okay, fine. Yeah, that works, right? Yeah, sure. Okay, fine. Okay, that works. I totally cheated there, though. I basically took the $1. I actually should have went for nothing.

All right, that's Saturday. They play Boston in Boston. February 3rd. Oh. In Boston. In Boston. That was a loss. I believe the gray ones are road games.

So Chris says loss. I think that was... You know what? That's the second half of a back-to-back, right? No, it's not. It's not? No, that was a day in between that Rangers game. This is going to be a terrible podcast.

So it was a loss then. I'm going to go with a loss. I'm going to go with a loss because there was that crazy game where McElhinney robbed them. It couldn't be that game. Okay. Chris, what do you say? Are we tied?

What did you... I said loss first. It was a loss? And so what was the score? The Leafs lost 4-1. I think it was 4-1 as well. Are we allowed to guess the same one? Yeah, it was 4-1.

Yeah. Saturday, February 3rd. Wow. Okay, we give both a point. It was 4-1. They both get a point for that. We need some sound effects for this. We need a bell.

Oh, damn. I used to have a bell. You did. Sorry, we didn't prepare this ahead of time. Can you tell? Monday, they're at home. They're playing Anaheim. Oh, that was a crazy game.

They won. Leafs won. Only because he sounds like he remembers I'm going to say they won They did win I want to say it was like 7-4 2-1 It was 7-4

Oh my god I don't remember how to long divide guys That was Monday February 5th Did you forget your anniversary? Dude I don't know anything We're tied up at 2 Wednesday February 7th They play Nashville at home

we were at that game yes we were that's unfair just say it Leafs won except I was supposed to go first

oh sorry so that was a Leafs win score 4-2 it was 3-2 in the shootout it was 3-2 in the shootout

that is so wow I was there I don't remember that I love this game so much I'm enjoying this alright let's keep going

Saturday February 10th they play Ottawa at home Chris Since Steve stole your turn Yes sir There was a couple Ottawa games In that period

Yeah There was a lot of Ottawa And Buffalo to end the season Hockey Night in Canada They won that game There was the one where Marner went off But there was also the one

Where Like Kadri scored off Someone's face The Leafs kept tying it up Remembering random Audible games I think they lost I think they lost

I said win Leafs won Oh Yes Tied up 6-3 Tied up at 3 Alright the next Monday

They play Tampa At home Oh I remember this game The lightning got stuck here Because of a snowstorm Oh I don't remember that So who won?

Tampa It was Tampa Oh Ty You're both incorrect Whoa It was a 4-3 victory For the Leafs

That's a non-point. That was the one where the Leafs got a 3-0 lead. Tampa came all the way back. Leafs ended up winning it. That doesn't get bonus points. No, I know. But I'm saying what happened. I'm showing off.

3-0. 3-0. All right. This whole game is showing off. That Wednesday, Leafs play Columbus at home. At home. In February. February.

This is Valentine's Day. Steve goes first. Leafs won. Leafs lost. The Leafs won. 6-3. I was there. You were there.

You went to a lot of games this year. I did. It was the most games I've ever been to. Was Mrs. Dangle with you? Yes. Okay. So Steve is up 4-3. She had a crazy record this year.

She won like, they won like six or seven straight games. That she was there. Until the playoffs. Until the playoffs. Saturday, February 17th, Leafs play Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh. Stangles. No, no, your turn. Loss.

I say loss it was a loss suppose the score that was the one that went right down to the end 5-4, Pittsburgh 5-3, Pittsburgh 5-3, Pittsburgh Strangely enough the score is now 5-3 Steve. Oh wow just throwing that out there you back-to-back games They go to the Vegas was handicapping this I would have got points for sure. Dangle would have been like, it's like

if we're playing golf, I'm giving him a few strokes, you usually have to give me strokes. What's your handicap? We're going to have

to play this game again. He's a scratch leaper. That's awesome. All right, back-to-back games. The Sunday, they

played Detroit in Detroit. So wait, the Saturday was the Pittsburgh game? Saturday's Pittsburgh on the road, Detroit on the road, the

Sunday. I think the Leafs won. Loss. Leafs won 3-2. Geez. Wow. All right.

All right. Tuesday. 6-3. Now it's a rally and it was like unbeatable. Yeah. Sorry. Chris, Tuesday they play Florida in Florida. No, at home.

February what? 20th. Leafs win. Leafs win. What's the score? 4-2. There was a barn burner and a close one. I think this was the close one.

I'm going to say 2-1. It was 1-0. That's a point for... That's still Steve. Steve, because he's closer. Yeah, yeah. Wow. I'm already dead.

There's four more games left. All right, do it, do it. Let's do it. All right, four more games. Thursday, February 22nd, they play the Islanders at home. What happens? Steve first.

Leafs win. John Tavares still played for the Islanders then. Yes. Leafs win. They did win. What was the score? I got to go first? 5-0.

3-0. It was 4-3. That goes to Chris. Yep, that does go to Chris. 4-3 in the shootout. Wow. I had the wrong game. This was in Toronto?

This was in Toronto, yeah. I had the wrong game. Thought of a different one. I love that he's never wrong. He only has the wrong game. No, I was thinking of the game where Dermot and Paul scored their first goal, which was 5-0. I thought that's when I was in high school. I just wrote the wrong test.

I knew the other answer. You just gave me the wrong questions. I was letting you guys have one. I was letting you guys have one. Alright, let's do it. Saturday, February 24th, Hockey Night in Canada. Leafs play Boston at home. Chris is first.

Lost. Leafs lost. No, Leafs won that one. Chris would have been on headlines that night, too. I had other things to do other than watch the game. What was your answer? Leafs won. You're both correct.

Leafs did win. What was the score? 3-2. I think it was 3-2 as well. It was 4-3. So it's not even a point. But very close. No point?

I actually remember that game. Or both point. Both point, yeah, no point. Monday, February 26th, Leafs go to Tampa, play Tampa. What's the score? Leafs lose. Leafs lose. Leafs do lose.

What's the final score? That was ugly. 4-1. My honest answer is 3-2. It was 4-3, Tampa. So, Steve's a little closer, right? I think the Leafs were down big in that game and came back. Yeah, they lost in the shootout, actually.

Final one? Oh, no, they were head big and blew it. Oh, is that the one? Yes. I remember they blew two three-goal leads. Because then they went to Florida, right? The next day? Next day, back-to-back, they're in Florida.

On the Tuesday, February 27th, last question. Who wins? Florida. Florida. And what was the score? 3-2 in the shootout? 3-2. 3-2 in overtime.

Oh! You both get a point. Wow 8-4 8-4 8-4 Steve over Chris And Chris was at

A lot of those games I was at a couple Yeah Yeah You were man Man I did not plan on that That was fun

That was a lot of fun I bet that there are Listeners that could've That are just out there They could've They knew them all 100% Yes

Because there was a time In my life I would've remembered Every game The listeners are Without a doubt Smarter than us And they're younger

They got less junk Yeah Up in the head mortgages and things or even just like past seasons yeah that's true i met i met a kid i was at a sports that golf tournament last week and nice guy came up and introduced himself big fan all this stuff he's like i was born in 99 like i don't even remember playoff runs and i was like oh my god wow and he looks like he looks old now like this is yeah you can buy alcohol yeah for sure nearly a 20 year old person i know that's insane like he would have been like five when

Eddie Belfort left town. That's how crazy. Left town. Like, we realize we've started to have to do that when we talk about, like, vintage Sundin. Like, there's a fair chunk of our listeners who don't remember. Who weren't alive.

2006 feels like yesterday. 2007 feels like yesterday. Even 2002. Yeah. Not that far. Man. That's what a great playoff run will do, though. And that's what the younger people, I think,

are going to get here soon, is that when you go through, like, a 99 or a 2002 or 93 for those old enough with the Leafs. 94 wasn't bad either. It never gets any love. It's because 93 was just like a glorious... It's like the Jays. 2015 was way better than 2016.

That's true. That's true. But like... There's just more like... They're like that close against Vancouver. Like they were close. Yeah, they lost in five though. You have a nasty enough playoff series against anyone in the second or third round?

They nearly lost to San Jose in that playoffs. Did they? In game seven, they had a shock off the crossbar. Whoa. And San Jose back then was beating nobody. Yeah, they were. the Arcturus Urbe San Jose Sharks

I think was Jeff Friesen playing at that point oh no I think it's pre-Friesen it's probably unfair but the way the hockey would have

viewed that as like an indignity if you had lost to San Jose at that point and that was when the Leafs were in the West right

yes yeah that's why they were playing San Jose such a wild time they could have played in consecutive years Montreal and then New York

that would like original six matchups two years in a row that would have been pretty cool but they would have lost to both of them I think

honestly the point I was going to make is A nasty enough Playoff series Like in the second Third Maybe even

Stanley Cup final You'll hate that team For the rest of your life Like as a fan Like That's why Like the Sens Like I'm sorry

Like I know it's Leafs-Habs That's the big rivalry I'll never hate the Habs As much as I hate the Sens Like I The Habs and Bruins Are as a bigger rivalry

For Montreal Way bigger Way bigger Like even Montreal Like it's like historical But it's not really Today Yeah

It's If they played now That would be cool Totally Totally But it's just The recent history Is just not there

You know for Leafs Habs As a Leafs fan Who do you hate most Probably Flyers And Devils Really Not Boston

Oh and Boston Sorry If we're talking Childhood Flyers And Devils Now it's

I can't even Hate the Bruins Because They just They won those Damn things They won them Cleanly

You know what I mean Like it's There was something So so depressing About this year's loss I really thought They were going to avenge it And they lost it

In the exact same damn way Killed me Killed me I think you're just more Like beaten down By The Leafs No I'm not

You're beaten down Yeah I'm pretty depressed After that After that playoff series And there's been A lot of change So I kind of want to

Get your reaction To a lot of stuff That's happened In the offseason But do you think That there was a A coming together Of minds

With Leafs brass about the way players were deployed, about the style of hockey that they were playing. Obviously, I don't think you can pin that on Jake Gardner, right? Yeah, he had a bad game, fine. Okay, fine. But the style of play that they were playing was going to lead to an issue one way or another.

Maybe, but when I look back, I think it's hard to say they learned something from the playoffs. I mean, I think the players individually might have, but just because when you get a new GM, I mean, Kyle's going to make different decisions than Lou would have. We can all understand that without having to expand on it too much here. You know, they've watched four or five guys leave right away that they didn't basically even try to resign.

And so just by virtue of those two things, they're going to be different this year anyway. I mean, even leaving Tavares aside just for a moment. Oh, that guy. But even if they didn't get him, they weren't resigning Bozak, JVR, Komarov, Polak. I mean, all those guys were gone. and they were all playing game seven, right? So I guess Komarov was scratched for game seven.

But still, so I don't know if there has been a meeting of the minds. It was such a strange series. I mean, the way the Leafs started it. Like they started dead. They didn't lose. Steve would know this, but they didn't lose one game all year by four goals and then they lost game one and game two by four goals to Boston. I mean, they totally fell on their face.

They scraped back in it. they had a chance to win in game 7 and fell apart so you know I think it's a disappointing

I think individually like Auston Matthews clearly will take that to heart the way the season ended I'm sure it's been on his mind

all summer long you know Mitch Marner probably feels good I mean not but the way the team season ended

but how he played you know I think it was good to see Patrick Marleau play so well in the playoffs he was so good the cadre suspension

he's gotta be thinking about that what a huge hit that was the good thing about Nazem I always maintain is that stuff just rolls off

his back so I'm not he might be the one exception who just like walked away and was like well it's hockey

because I don't mean that in a bad way I think it's actually it's mostly a positive quality I think that it allows him to play in Toronto

and especially in his younger years he was you know so much the focus of all this controversy and they called him fat

when he was like the best prospect in the organization that was a long time ago but like my point is most players would have been

totally destroyed by some of what he dealt with. It basically took him three years of going up and down between the Marlies and the Leafs before he was a full-time player. I mean, that's ancient history. But, you know, for him, I just think that that attitude has helped carry him to this point. But you have to live with it occasionally maybe.

You know, I think in areas like that, the coaching staff might want him to have a little bit more self-reflection. I just don't think it's in his nature. You know, he believes in himself, and he should. He's a great player. And, you know, he's the one guy, though, I'm guessing, honestly, like you watch when he's asked about it by one of the reporters. They'll just be like, well, you know, it's hockey.

Well, you know. When I remember there was a bit of a, there was some shade from Freddie kind of mid-season sort of right after the bye week or whatever. And it was basically at the old guard. And I want to say Naz was involved in that. I can't remember exactly. Do you think that gets taxing like on his teammates at all? is kind of

I don't know I don't want to say he's aloof or anything but you know three game suspension in a playoff series

not a big deal you know what I mean I think he's liked by the guys honestly I mean he's a he's a damn good player and I don't

you know I don't want to focus on that that one sort of observation on his personality and extrapolate it too far here

because to have back to back 30 goal seasons and to play the competition he did I mean he to me is an interesting character

in what's to come this year, though, because clearly being the third center now is going to change what his world looks like. I mean, he's probably off power play one, I'm guessing, although that's purely a blind stab. It's not based on any information. I don't think anyone knows quite how they're going to do that. But, you know, he's been part of that really successful

top power play unit. He's going to play fewer minutes. He's probably not playing with Mitch Marner much, I wouldn't think, at five on five, assuming everyone's healthy and all that sort of stuff. So, you know, he's going to have to take a little bit lesser of a role. And I think it's one thing to say, yeah, I want to win and this is great. And we know he's got a history of John Tavares.

But the reality might be a little bit tough to swallow the pride, I think. But, you know, my sense is he's really well-liked. I mean, even looking at the videos that surfaced of his wedding this summer. I mean, the whole team's in there, you know, doing the dance. And, you know, he's a really easy guy to love. I think, you know, even as a media guy, he's one of, if I had to do a power rankings of favorite interviews, he's easily in the top three and I haven't done this so I don't have my list

thought totally through but he's without question you know one of the go-to guys and you know I think that he has that personality in the dressing room too so you know the changing of the guard it was very clear what the guard change was right obviously you've got guys left over from the almost

Brian Burke era right I mean that JVR is a Brian Burke trade we finally moved on from the John Ferguson era because Komarov was the last holdover from that he was drafted by John Ferguson. Jake Gardner's still tied to Brian Burke. Yep, that's right. That's right. Okay, fair enough.

What do you think this does for team chemistry? Forget, again, Tavares. Forget Tavares in this. With those guys out of the room, is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Is it time? Do they kind of look at it and go, well, A, we can't afford them, but B, it's time.

Well, it's opportunity, right? I think that's the biggest thing. If you're a younger winger on this team and, you know, there's only one way to look at that. I mean, JVR, you know, he played a few minutes last year than he has, but was still getting that prime spot on the power play and still getting some of those minutes. You know, Bozak was on PP1.

You know, I think that for the younger guys on the team, that, you know, clearly this is their team now. You know, it's a chance to play more and be more important. You know, it might not go smoothly initially. I mean, I think I'm very high on the Leafs' chances in general, but there could be some growing pains out of the gate because you've had a lot of stability there in those guys. We've had that theory.

We think that they're going to struggle in October. Well, it'd be hard not to. I mean, okay, well, aside from Freddie. Except that they can just win on their talent. Or that, which is what they did last year. Yeah. Oh, we blew a four-goal lead in our home opener. Ah, never mind.

We'll just score another, what was it, three goals. We went 8-5. Ridiculous. I don't remember where I was going with that. You know, I wonder with, you know, because we have heard a lot about leadership and Austin Matthews obviously had the interview with Jonas Siegel that just came out yesterday or today where, you know, they were talking about, he said, you know, if they asked me, I'd be ready. And I don't think the captaincy is really all that important to the overall team, but it has to be important to the players, no matter how much they shrug it off. And is this going to be a season where we see Tavares and Matthews both wear A's and there's no there's no captain? But I could definitely see no captain.

I think that there's not a compelling reason to have to do it. I mean, it's certainly only the media that's talking about this, right? You know, I don't think that it's hard to make an argument that it's really impacted the team not having a captain the last couple years. We even saw Vegas, you know, get through to the cup final and not have a captain and have to say, hey, Derek Englund, by the way, when we win the Western Conference, you got to go take that trophy.

But it's a real thing for specifically Tavares and Matthews. I mean, you know, what you're talking about here is that the Leafs win the Stanley Cup. You're the guy who goes and gets it. And I realize there's a whole lot of other things that go with being a captain. But, you know, you're on this team that's starting to look like it could be a super team. You're trying to end a 50-plus year Stanley Cup drought. I mean, there's some value in being the guy who is, you know, going to get some credit and going to get called over potentially by Gary Bettman if the Leafs do manage to get it done at some point

in the next couple of years. I mean, that's what those guys, that's what you're thinking, though. Dying, Chris. you're John Tavares you've just signed a seven year deal you're Austin Matthews you're probably going to

sign an eight year deal you know at some point in the near future you're thinking in the course of those contracts you have a team that should win the cup

at some point that's what those guys are thinking and yeah I think come on I mean these guys are competitive mofos

I mean you don't get as good at this one thing as they are both top ten players in the world in my opinion without having a drive

to want to be the best all the way along and they took remarkably different routes to get there, but I think that they both would want it with True Serum. I don't see it though as a friction issue. Okay, so it won't be something that when one gets it

inevitably and the other doesn't, they're not going to be upset about it? I don't think so. I mean, we're guessing a little bit on that. I mean, I think it's probably, to me, it's probably more important to Austin because... John's done it. Well, John's done it.

I think, I don't know. It's still Austin's team in my opinion. I mean, he he's the guy lots has changed around toronto that made the leafs better but drafting austin matthews is number one on the list i think winning that lottery for changing the outlook of the organization i think even forgetting a john taveras i mean this is not in any way to throw shade at nylander and marner but if you have those guys but not matthews i think it's way harder to get taveras to come but he came because he doesn't have to do everything and i think that's why it's great for austin too that you have two

absolutely elite centermen you know in the prime of their careers presumably so I think it still would probably mean a bit more to Austin

he's younger he hasn't done it he's never been a captain in his life he didn't play on teams when he was a kid wow right I mean he did mostly

skills work and would go for a tournament here and there with different teams you know really until he got to the US development program he wore an A there

and he was in you know Switzerland for a year and two years with the Leafs I mean this guy has barely been on teams compared to you know like John Tavares

would have been on teams when he was four years old and right through and has been a captain numerous times, I think that it probably means more to him deep down. I wonder if, just because Austin is the guy they drafted, I wonder if it's where they say, you know what, at the end of the day,

it is, as you said, it's Austin's team. This is a guy that's come up through the Leafs, and that's not John Tavares' fault, but you might say, all right, listen, John, you understand where we're coming from here. He's been here longer. This is his team, and you're a leader in this drafting room.

But, I mean, to me, it has to be Austin. But the flip side of that is, if you're the Leafs, and this is based on how they've done everything in the last couple years, they're trying to minimize the expectations on the younger players. Right. And to me, if you look at it, you go, we could give it to John Tavares tomorrow and it's not going to change much about him.

I mean, he's been through it. He's been the face of a franchise. Yeah, it's a little different with the Leafs, but the media thing's no big deal to him. you know you know that's part of the job honestly is you're basically to speak every day and and you know austin has lost patience with reporters a little bit you know i haven't had any personal issues with him at all but you know he's he's still a young fiery guy i mean i don't blame him whatsoever but part of the job sometimes is to be like the your pr diplomatic leader of the

dressing room at times and and so there's there's probably let there's certainly less of a known if you give the john taveras i think that's probably why they won't give it to either of them to be honest this season and see how things play out see how everyone falls in line you know I I think Austin's gonna be the

number one center myself I mean I guess we'll have that debate all year long but yeah which line is the first one 1a 1b right that'll be like the

hot take at some point you know that's how we'll start Austin Matthews a leaf second line center you know I'm gonna say Kadri's first line

oh wow yeah because they well Babcock does like to throw him out there to shut line down right that's a great idea I think we're

We're going to put them up against Jay Beagle. 30 minutes. Oh, God. It's going to be fascinating, though. How do they distribute the minutes? Well, when you do... I know it's a great problem to have. I'm not raising it like, how can they do this?

They'll never find an answer, but I do think that there's... When you do 20, 20, 15, 5, it's sort of... Yeah, that's the fascinating thing. So Ian Tollick was on a good show. But don't you want Taveras and Matthews out there more than that? Matthews was playing... You can basically not have a fourth line center, I think. Yeah, you don't need to play...

That was suggested. Essentially, have someone who kills penalties or something. Yeah, I think that's what they think Part Lindholm can do. Hopefully, I mean, I don't know too much about Josh Joris, but that seems to be his only competition going into camp.

And it's Lindholm. I mean, unless... It's Lindholm unless he loses it right now. But as we're sitting here now, three weeks before camp, it's Lindholm. I mean, Babcock's been clear about that. Now, why... Okay, why do they believe in this guy?

Well, he played at the Olympics for Sweden. He's one of the best players in Sweden last year. I mean, and he's... So were Andres Borgman and Callie Rosen. But this guy's older. He's 25, 26. Look, no one knows for sure, but first of all, fourth-line center, you're not asking that much out of them.

I know that they get a disproportionate amount of attention and passionate fan bases. Second-round picks thrown their way, by the way. Oh, my God, yeah. Right. But when you have these three centers in front of them, I don't think the job is as much heavy lifting as elsewhere. And he's an adult.

He's fully formed. I mean, look, Borgman played most of the year for the Leafs. I know he got sent down later on. But, I mean, those guys weren't not NHLers. They just didn't necessarily move the needle too greatly. They still might be in play this year, though. We'll see. The blue line's got all kinds of disparate pieces.

I'm sure it's coming. I just don't think the fourth line is going to affect whether or not the team is successful. No, I mean, you could just run the three lines. It could just be another X factor for them. But, no, you're right. The big boys are going to— They're a top-heavy team. Sure can't wait to see how Parlin Holm and Tyler Ennis do.

Like, it's really... There's no risk with Lindholm, though, we should say. I mean, he signed a one-year deal. Yeah. If it doesn't work, literally, I'm sure by November, they can be like, hey, agent, do you want to go back to Sweden and terminate the contract? Goodbye.

Like Petri Conciola. Remember that name? No, you don't. And it's a great thing. Or, you know, Altonen last year, and he's gone back to the KHL after one year. But to me, those are zero-risk signings. Even Ozaganov now comes over on a one-year deal on the blue line.

And, like, I think the Leafs are smart to sign as many of these guys as they can, get them here, and see if they have something. And if you do, extend them and keep them. And if not... But, well, ice time was an issue. And I wanted to... The reason I want to bring up ice time is because last year they talked about how... And by they, I mean us.

We all talked about how the distribution of minutes were... The flashing they. Yeah, they. The they was the three of us in this room. Some people said. The media, and I hate using that term, but people in media circles were talking about how... I am the media, be careful. One guy, it's just one guy.

They were talking about how they tried to keep Matthews and Kadri and a few of these other guys fresh for the playoffs, so they weren't killing them every night. Now, obviously, that rubbed some players the wrong way, and especially come playoff time, when the minutes didn't go proportionally in austin matthews favor uh that created an issue um and i mean mike babcock flew down arizona we all know that story what's your sense of how that that meeting went because we've heard from mike himself and he said it went fine and we've heard from austin he said it went fine and it was blown out of proportion but john shannon of sportsnet says didn't go well not from what he heard call john shannon a liar well that's basically how

you teed me up yeah i know these are the stories we've heard i'm not trying to like but i mean like this is what we've heard so what is it so he is a liar see now thanks harvey loving i don't like to be an alarmist media member and so my understanding what happened here is that it's probably not the worst thing that some of this came out in the open and and yeah it leads to us discussing it it leads to them answering questions about it and and you know all things considered i'm sure both Mike and Austin would rather not have this be a topic but I do think that there was some real talk that happened after the year and and look when you come through seasons like that with the expectations the Leafs had with the way it ended with the way it ended for Austin

the injuries he dealt with it was a hard year it was an emotional year he wants to be the best player in the world and and you know he showed a lot of great things when he was healthy last year but you probably don't look at it like he took a step that or the step that he was hoping to take and so some of that gets directed to Babcock and you know I just don't see it as being that big of an issue like the one thing that everyone forgets is half the players in the league at minimum hate their coach

or don't like their coach or have a disagreement with their coach I mean we can get into sort of splitting the hair on what it means but the nature of So it's not a lingering thing? Well we'll see Oh no! Something to be anxious about

No but I don't look at how many players This is like a loosely guarded secret, if at all, that Mike Babcock, by the time he was done in Detroit, that the best players on that team were more than happy to see him go. Now, those players' best years of their career were when he was their coach. They're needling them, being a pain in the ass, pushing them to be better than they think they can be. And I'm sure if you're Austin Matthews, and he's an awesome kid. I don't want to say anything negative about him, but he's still young. and he probably feels

like he's made it some days and Mike doesn't want to see him getting comfortable so I think that there's a natural tension built into that relationship no matter what

that Babcock is always going to have to push him a little bit more than he wants to be pushed and I think he pushed back here honestly

and look a lot of it has to do with power play time and it's a tricky one because the Leafs had one of the best if not the best power plays in the league

and it was their second unit that was great their first unit well the second unit became the first unit the non-Matthews unit carried them to those stats

which is technically the second unit right to start yeah to start yeah right and so

you know I think Austin would like to play more on the power play and certainly there's the opportunity to do that now and that's why to me one of the

I mean I always I've started to do this checklist because I'm getting a little itchy at home all these days when I'm not watching Killing Eve

or I'm reading Tiger Woods' biography right now but when I'm not doing those sorts of things I'm starting to think like about camp and to me

one of the first few days if not second day maybe on the ice when they start showing the power plays that's going to get my attention because

that's the potential for a story if they end up you know dividing it up Matthews Tavares on the same power play well I mean

they could load up they could have Nylander, Marner, Riley with Matthews Tavares or something like that oh my god do you think they'd ever go

no defense on the power play they've never shown it before but why not I mean here's the way I'll put that someone's going to start

doing the NHL yeah because you know the 1-4 thing didn't it happened slowly and then every team all of a sudden did it

with one defenseman I just think it takes you know look at what you're worried about there is that the guy manning the point isn't used to that

and under pressure he's going to give up shorthanded rushes against right that's the only concern about having 5 forwards that you don't have someone as comfortable

but enough about Jake yeah we're not we're not dumping on Jake Gardner we're just talking about what the power play might accomplish this year. Listen, with guys like Riley and Gardner, pretty hard to make an argument that the Leafs shouldn't have them on their power play

because they are that good, especially in an offensive situation. I mean, Riley on defense is a completely different story, and I don't think Jake Gardner is as bad as he's painted. No, he's not. It's just fun to make fun of things he does. Of course. Of course. It's the Brian McCabe syndrome.

He's going to be even more in the spotlight this year unless he signs an extension. Do you think they will? they've tried but they're you know he's in a tough spot because let's face it his next contract is likely going to be his last big one chance to take a swing uh with where the Leafs are cap wise we all know especially not this coming season but the year after is going to be a squeeze and that would be the first year of his new deal and I don't sense he's that willing at the moment to take a big discount it's not because he wants out of Toronto I think he look at it he's looking out for his future and his family's future.

Is that a player you look at dealing now because you can potentially recoup assets or do you just go for it with the team that you have and watch him walk? I don't know Kyle well enough to know what he would do, how he's going to view that. What a mystery, eh? He keeps his cards pretty close.

I mean, he's very, he's awesome when you see him in his scrums. But he's not, even though Lou is gone, some of what Lou instituted with his media policy still exists even under Kyle just in terms of information flow and things like that so you know I don't being if I'm being truthful I don't have a sense how he's likely to view that but I think that there's a chance he's traded honestly you know not necessarily before the season but during the season if if they don't go I mean look I do know for sure they've had talks with his agent this summer so they've at least got a seal a sense

of where things stand and they want Jake Gardner on a deal like a bargain and if he's willing to take a little less than he's worth they could sign it today, I know that but if you're Jake it's probably gnawing at him, because it's the same thing with James Van Riemsdyk

I mean, it's actually a little different but JBR, I believe, even going back to last summer, would have signed a one year extension with the Leafs, then like he didn't want to go into his contract here he loved Toronto, but he also recognized that it was going to be his chance to get a contract. And look, he got $35 million on a five-year

deal from Philadelphia. I mean, there's no chance the Leafs could entertain that. And I think players, it's tricky, especially for guys that have been in a city for a while. They see what's happening with the team. You know, it's tough to leave money out there. I think a lot of fans say, oh yeah, don't worry about it. It's a lot of money either way, but

these guys have to... When you're talking about tens of millions of dollars, it's a consideration. You've got to go take it, because you're not going to get the chance again. What Ryan Ellis just got, I think, would be a discount for Jake Gardner. 6-2-5? Discount for Ryan Ellis.

Yes. But if you look at it, it's interesting. I don't know how much more Jake would get in free agency, though. Maybe 7? He's got to be a $7 million guy. I mean, it depends on the season. Look, he's coming off two 50-point seasons. If he does a third one in a row. And the cap's going up.

He probably gets that somewhere. It's not unrealistic. He could get 50 on this team. But, you know, At the same time, and we haven't got there yet, the defense still has some question marks. Well, let's go there. Let's get there. The coach likes Gardner.

I think that's important here, too. And, you know, Mike Babcock has more faith in him than most fans do, or a big segment of the fan base, anyway. I shouldn't say most. And so, you know, I don't think they're going to be trying to run him out of time either. It's just going to be about managing the asset if he doesn't want to sign a deal that they find amenable.

Gardner's that friend I apologize for but keep bringing to parties. you know what I mean just cause you don't know what he's gonna do guys trust me he's gonna be yeah trust me he's great

just wait till like 11 o'clock see he's gonna do something nuts you know he had so many he had so many games where

like even his biggest detractors like you just pointed them and go look 90% of the players in the league can't do that is he the only

player that can skate he had like 500 foot passes that led directly to a goal it was like ridiculous like off a face off just kinda looking around like wham yeah

or the fact that he could skate the puck backwards from behind the Leafs net all the way to the red line untouched. He'd be skating backwards. Oh, did you see that Nylander goal? Yeah, did you see who got him the puck? It was Jake, man. Yeah.

So, I mean, on the Leafs defense, Kyle— So Kyle values that. Well, of course. How could you not? But, I mean, as fans, we—it's the Brian McCabe thing. You see the screw-up. But Kyle's not going to focus, I don't think, as much on some of the glaring errors because he'll look at the broader numbers, what they suggest,

in terms of how the Leafs control the puck when Jake's on the ice. So this is the interesting thing. Having Tavares come on board, you know, takes away responsibilities for Matthews. Maybe takes away responsibilities from Kadri as well. What is that for Gardner? Like, it can't be pummeling Ron Hainsey into the earth's crust again, right? I hope not. I don't know what the deep pairs are going to look like.

I have no idea. If they come back with Riley and Hainsey, I'll be surprised. and that was basically that was the plan from training camp last year and so when they were both healthy

because I know Morgan missed some time but when they were both healthy they basically played together a huge percentage of the season and started off okay

oh yeah it's just the second half was tough on Ron Hansy yeah and he had that illness right he had the illness and so did Zaitsev

and that kind of knocked him out but yeah like I mean with those pairings do you think Mike Babcock

is the kind of guy who's open and just seeing what the heck sticks like cause you know Morgan Riley and Jake Gardner L1 L2 and then you probably have

or do you or do you or yeah maybe you can move one of them to the right side which has happened before well could you put Riley and Gardner together

would they do that I don't know they've played together before numbers suggest that they should I brought it up earlier but Ian Tulloch was on

I think it was Good Show a few weeks ago and he brought up a few things one was potentially icing seven defense

because you basically don't need your fourth line. I saw that. I was smart. But I don't know if their defense is good enough to ice it. Well, let's get Martin Marincin some minutes. What he suggested, well, you have Martin Marincin as a utility guy who can maybe kill penalties.

That was my first thought, but why not also, another one of his suggestions was why not try Riley Gardner? Because over the years or whatever that they've played together in the sample size, they're like a top 10 pairing in the league, just based on, I don't know what metrics he used.

We can all fight over metrics and stuff like that, but it's a dang good pairing. And then, do you think from, and we're going to, like, I want to deep dive into defense here because that's the biggest question mark. The Travis Dermott 37 game sample size, is that big enough for you to say

he can play top four minutes? Top four. It's big enough to try it, I think. I mean, he was really good. This is assuming Riley and Gardner become a pair. Context is always important, right? And so when you look at the minutes Travis Dermott played in those 37 games, it was a lot of third pairing, sheltered type of situations.

So, yeah, his Corsi numbers were great. But I think that there was a little more going on there, too. I mean, this guy exceeded even some of the internal expectations. People were high on him, obviously. He got that promotion. He got to play. But he really took that and ran with it, I thought. And had a rough game or two in the playoffs,

which I think you can give him a pass on. I mean, to me, he's earned a look there. But there's so many ways they can go with this. I mean, what are we going to have? Nikita Zaitsev has had two sort of very different seasons as an NHL player. So you could argue that he's one of the most important guys on the team just because he eats up a fair bit of cap space and he's got a long contract. I mean, figuring out what he is and where you can play him

is going to be interesting. And then when we get to the third pair, we just got all these other guys. Who's going to play? that's a great way of putting it all these other guys Ron Hainsey's still a serviceable player

it's just you can't run him out there 20 minutes a night it's too much and I don't mean that they're all bad I just don't know what it's going to look like

it feels like a bit of a soup which two meatballs are coming out with the next scoop but could you see I don't know Riley Gardner Dermot

Zaitsev and we're hoping to get 85-90% of Nikita Zaitsev back assuming he doesn't get hurt and he doesn't get ill

probably not to start for being realistic I don't know though I mean look Mike Babcock is literally sitting at his fire writing down that's his big thing

he sits at his fire up in Saskatchewan and writes down this stuff of course he does of course he freaking does he's probably got plaid shorts on too

yeah I felt like a nerd until a second ago thank you for that that's great that's amazing and you know scratches all this down

and debates it and you know what's interesting last year is he called Morgan Riley at the start of July basically after they signed hainsey and said hainsey's your partner and apparently that was like the discussion like it was basically like run hainsey's your partner just so you know okay bye basically that there

wasn't a lot of this is what we expect or this is why we think it'll work there wasn't a lot of rationale provided but you know i have to suspect maybe some of these guys have a feeling where they're going to be i i don't know there's there's a lot of mystery here at least have a lot of pieces and there's still a possibility for a trade i think that you really even even this late yeah I would say so I mean you can't rule

it's not going to be the trade though that stops the presses it's not the TSN trade Nylander for every right handed defenseman trade

no yes man someone I shouldn't say this but whatever someone who is in the industry

sent me a screen grab of all the TSN trade Nylander headlines oh my god and it's actually comical like there's like I'm not joking there's like 40

and you know I get it a lot of their talent get radioed like they go on one of the stations and just muse about something and it becomes a story

but it's almost like a campaign and I know it's not actually a campaign it's just a prevailing thought that's been in the wind perplexingly for

my favorite thing was people keep going like how are they going to afford them look around the league at how many teams have like a 10, 10, and 8 kind of situation there's actually a fair bit

CapFriendly is a website like just go there that's how look at all the space they're fine it's just that we have too many toys we don't know what to do

with them right now and I think the with regards to like the thing the first thing that I remember seeing about this trade Nylander stuff was

if the Leafs had gotten VC Nylander would have been traded by now oh that was and I remember who said it Drager no I don't even think

it was a Drager okay well I actually thought it was someone else but it doesn't matter regardless that one didn't age well no

it sure didn't that's like an orange that we stuck in Steve's backpack back in October like wait what happened to this did you go to my

elementary school someone did that to me I actually once did that to James Myrtle no way really true story he came to my house

years ago and we were drinking a bit and he was being kind of like he's he's a funny guy but he was being a bit of a pain in the ass

and so I grabbed an orange and stuck it in his backpack and he found it like months later I have the picture somewhere that is awesome yeah that's amazing

so that was we'll have to ask him about that it sounds like I just Pulled a hypothetical out there That was a real world example Well done That's amazing So that was the

VC Kneelander take In Myrtle's backpack Just getting carried around For months See that's dangerous now Because like What's the revenge Is it coming

It's years later man He's had two kids since then So like he's probably forgotten He's got like Baby brain It's the long con Yeah it's the long Maybe it's happening right now

And you don't even know it Long like his limbs You haven't figured it out yet The problem is I've said it here So he's gonna be reminded of it it's coming no one will tweet them

don't worry I'll dig up the picture and share it oh yes that's amazing yeah I gotta see that please do that's amazing

yeah like okay so if there is a trade because of course this is gonna be the part that Sportsnet pulls out Chris Johnson says at least so many

make a trade this is gonna be the thing that makes the headlines on Sportsnet.ca but in context here if we're talking about a trade we're not talking

about anything big right? no I don't think so. I mean, look, the only big trade at this moment is if Eric Carlson became a Leaf. I mean, of players that, and obviously that would be gargantuan, but I don't see that many guys that I would classify as a big trade that are available at this point.

Like move-the-needle trade. Like a right-shooting defenseman, yeah. I just don't really see it. And so, and I don't see Ottawa ever trading Eric Carlson of the Leafs. No, I don't think so. Like, yeah, fold the team. Like, if you do that, man. over Eugene's

you know what there's no chance you're giving the heart and soul you're giving the best player the Senators have ever had to their

number one rival I'm led to believe one of the things that's held that trade up in general is moving Carlson is that Eugene won't approve

some of the deals that have been out there so and I get it look if you're going to do this you've got to be sure as an organization

and it seems like they're going to do it I still believe that's going to happen at some point so let's take him out of the conversation because I really don't

think there's much reality there then is there like is Chris Tannev a needle mover he's a top four right-handed guy he plays about 40 games a year

other than the fact he plays in Vancouver I don't think he's a needle mover like if you found out Leafs trade for Chris Tannev would you freak out Steve or I'd be

pretty excited you're my barometer so I mean would it be all caps in your Twitter feed or uh well if they give up Nylander yes um because I saw all caps yesterday for

that Reichel uh mission character yeah because I was It's just, I'm bored, man. Because you're watching Leafs highlights from February, and you're like, wow! Now that the basement's done, like, I just, I got nothing else dragging my focus,

and I'm just, I'm amped for the season, man. So I'm like, Reichelferschenkirch, that's crazy. Like, hell yeah. So it would just be sort of, like, I mean, is it going to be a player that can differentiate themselves from a Marincin, Justin Holl, Ron Hainsey? Like, is it going to be a player above that level? I could see them giving themselves more depth.

Because you can't give off the roster, right? At this point. I think you can give off the roster. You know, the Leafs still have some prospects. There's probably a trade out there that could be made. But again, I just don't think it's going to blow everyone out of the water. But there's still three weeks to training camp. I'm sure someone's getting invited on a PTO that's a center.

Or that can play center. Do you think Nick Shore? If he wants to come, you know, I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, you have to just bring some depth to a training camp, right? Sure. And so, and I also think, I'm actually kind of coming around to Mike Babcock's thinking on this, that the Leafs, the focus on their defense is a little bit overstated. Why do you say that?

Because they finished sixth overall last year with, objectively, a worse defense than they're going to have now and a worse team than they're going to have now. and that's not to say it's clearly the weakest part of specifically right-hand shot defenseman is if we're gonna like pick apart the super team that's that's where the string comes undone but let's imagine a world where timothy lilligren turns into the player the leafs think he can be in a year or two all of a sudden that problem isn't as bad as it used to be because you're gonna have him playing here for 925 000 and we so and i do think there's some useful guys in organization that can get

you through and I've just seen enough you know Nate Schmidt was really good for Vegas but they had a lot of guys after that and they were in the cup final yeah and I'm not trying to like run down Colin Miller or you

know but they're not angling like nice guys I mean is that but oh yeah there no one was looking at their blue line projections and going like wow how do we get through this and they beat Winnipeg yeah yeah they

beat him in five that was team that won the cup two years ago yeah nobody left Ron Hainsey Ron Hainsey was one of them yeah so I do think that because everyone wants

everything perfect in sports sure perfect doesn't exist and I think the Leafs can find ways to use what they have and just be a machine still

my thing is always just that the mobility and the ability to get the puck out of the zone like you can't have another situation where

Boston's dumping Polak isn't going to be out there and that's a huge like I don't care what anyone says I will debate them to death Polak was a huge problem

in the playoffs last year every single time Boston dumped it in and it was on his side and he had to flip it over to Dermot to try to get it out. He played better than him later in the year though. He did. For sure. Oh, March Polak? Great. If you can't if you don't have that mobility and that was the thing that he lacked. It's not that he wasn't

useful. It's just that the mobility that he lacked really was glaring in those and they really took advantage of it. Bruce Cassidy really, I thought, had a very strong strategic series against the Leafs. Yep. Despite the fact that he almost lost it and I think

The best line in the NHL Just turned through Oh my god Scary Scary line I mean they had a couple dips You know Bergeron missed the one game

But they were ridiculous Same Bergeron missed the one game And they won Yeah I know Oh my god Don't remind me of game four

Don't remind me Were you at that one? You bet Was that the one Where you met the Matthews's? No that was three Which was the best night Of my life

Yeah That was great Not the night You got married No No He forgot what day that was anyway Man, I had to pay for that

Like, no, the game three was free It was awesome I think you're going to remember your anniversary Of meeting the Matthews parents More than you're going to remember the actual anniversary Yeah, I mean, maybe There's going to be like a video That next year on that day

Like all the pictures, flashbacks I will remember Yeah, like all the music and everything It's going to be great Sorry, I'm getting us wildly off topic No, it's okay On this show, never Never, not at all

It's August, my brain's like Dude, the first 20 minutes of the show It's like the C&E in my head I guess my question is If it's not that bad Is it just mobility How do we get the puck out of our zone As quickly as possible to get to the forwards

Is that sort of the And is it more the forwards need to start Playing some defense too Because there was a little bit of lackadaisical Yes, I think that that's That's got to be part of it I mean, and I think the guys get that. The hard part, I think, is going to be keeping everyone engaged.

Because if they're as good as it looks like they should be, they're going to have that playoff spot wrapped up pretty early. January, maybe. Maybe not have the official X, but, you know, maybe be comfortably ahead of it. You know, guys are going to be chasing some individual things. I mean, they could have some big point seasons. You know, Matthews is still in a year where he can get the big bonuses. So when it gets to January, February, March, he's only human.

Sure. if you could do something for two million dollars you'd be probably keeping an eye on what it might be even with the promise of riches to come

you know what I mean yeah yeah for sure absolutely back of the mind kind of thing yeah well he missed that

because he was injured he missed the two million dollar bonus this year so he also said he wanted to have more assists than goals I found that fascinating

and that was I like that fascinating yeah I like that and he went out and he scored 40 plus goals and now you want to top that with assists

and Nylander's like sure it's kind of like the reverse Crosby because early in his career the first year he had 106 points something like that

yeah you're looking to Steve for confirmation it was 100 I think Ovechkin had 106 and Sid had I think 36 goals and whatever

64 assists does that math work come on and then he decided he wanted to be a scorer and he ended up having 50 goal seasons

and stuff and won a couple rocket Richards I'm not saying he copied Crosby but it just reminds you of the brain of someone who's exceptional

is that he's looking for a small weakness in his game and looking to to add a different element but I don't see it happening really

no? I mean like how? I mean Nylander he's just such a good shooter I mean to me and Marlowe's Marlowe's not

getting Marlowe's racking up double the goals the power play is where it could happen yeah he didn't have very many power play points

in his second season Austin that's probably part of the issue right? I remember towards the end of the season that unit particularly Nylander

and Austin got hot but Matthews scored a goal one night and he was freaking out and they said on the broadcast it was like his second power play goal of the season or something bizarre like that. In 81 games apiece in their rookie seasons, Crosby had 102 points, Ovechkin had 106. There you go.

But he had 30-something goals, Crosby, right? I think so. 39. 39. There it is. That's incredible. But then he set about trying to score more and he had a 50-goal season after that.

Because that's what you have to do. I mean, you have to, no one, you can always be better, right? So I find it interesting that Austin said that to Jonas Siegel. I just don't see how it works. I mean, I guess, you know, he's, look, it looks like he's going to start with Patrick Marleau now. So Zach Hyman, who doesn't have the best hands, he's got a lot of good intentions, but, you know,

maybe there's more opportunities at five on five, but to me he just shoots so well and he's shot with a fair amount of volume that I'm not saying he can't get more assists, but, you know, well, how about scoring 50 goals? Like, why limit yourself? Yeah, it seemed like last season the line was set up so everybody just gets Matthews the puck so he can shoot it.

And I don't know why you would change that this year when it seems so successful. Maybe score off rebounds more. Yeah, and I wonder, with Patrick Marleau on that line, like, Patrick Marleau's getting 29 goals and 15 assists every year. I think Patrick Marleau's a big finisher. So that, you know, that gets Matthews,

say he gets 15 assists. But father time is coming due there. I don't know when, but it hangs over things a little bit. Well I mean listen If Zach Hyman can get 40 points With Austin I gotta feel

I feel like Patrick Marleau Still can Right? Like he still can His final season in San Jose And his first season in Toronto The points Almost identical

Same amount of goals I think he had one more assist He had a few empty net goals Last year He did Yes he did Yes he did He had a few

You're right You're right I'm not trying to dog him No but you're right You're absolutely right Marleau Island coming soon Sportsnet Sportsnet

On Twitter Well the trick is The third year of his contract is the year they're going to have a contract squeeze. He makes 6.25 against the cap. The actual money is low, much like Matt Martin's deal. So there's a potential, he has a full no move, but there's a potential that this could be his last season in Toronto if they convinced him that he had to go.

Or, you know, that he suddenly developed an allergy to his own equipment. Hypothetically speaking. Hypothetically speaking. Do you know what, though? He's an iron man. He ain't doing that. No, absolutely not. But, you know, if it's like, hey, Patrick, do you want to go back to San Jose?

That's the only play that I can see. Yeah, and I think he would probably do that. Leafs need some money, maybe. It's a hard conversation to have, though, because you signed him. Well, and if the Leafs are on the cusp, how do you tell them, all right, scram? That's hard, man. Hey, thanks for getting us here.

Now beat it. Beat it, Mr. Full Moon. I'm just saying, it will be something to watch if he underperforms. Interesting. Just because they have a squeeze. I mean, they love the guy, but of course. Yeah, absolutely. This is a dollar and cents

Cap league What's the Ryan Whitney saying You're meat Yeah If you're a player You're just meat Calvin Pickard's being shopped

Does that surprise you That it's happening now No Cause like It's like Wouldn't they want to see If there's a thing Between Sparks and Pickard

Come camp Or is Sparks now The backup goalie And that's what it is I think Sportsnet's Got a better chance Of trading me Than the Leafs have

Trading Pickard right now Okay Myself I mean, how many third goalies around the league are getting moved in August? Yeah. I think it's the fact that that get waived out there in August makes it, you know, people are focused on it

or talking about it. But, you know, the Leafs have an issue where they have, what, four goalies on one-way contracts now? Yes. That's rough. I mean, it's not that the Leafs care so much about the money, but those guys are all going to have to go through, whoever goes down has to go through waivers.

Curtis McElhinney has to make it through waivers, right? Okay, but one of Pickard or Sparks, or maybe both of them are going to be on waivers, probably just Pickard. And so if you could theoretically trade him now, why not try? Because there's a few teams still looking for goaltenders. We saw Dustin Tokarski sign with the Rangers this week. Steve Mason still doesn't have a job.

Kari Letton doesn't have one. I don't know that Kari's going to be back in the NHL. It might be it for him. But my point is there are probably a few teams sniffing around the bargain bin, and I don't think it's the worst idea to try to get something for him. they traded what a six round pick I believe for Pickard

sixth in Lindbergh yeah which was just a contract slot yeah and I know he's got Oshawa connections but hey

World Cup champion Tobias Lindbergh exactly wow but yeah but so if you get that back

I'm sure they would trade him but I don't think it's a huge story you know I don't see him being in the mix he just he sparks just that much better he just had such a great year

last year and he's at that age where you have to do it or not you gotta figure out what he is or not or give him a chance to go somewhere else

you know now that Lou's gone one thing I think is gone is like keeping Frankie Corrado around or Josh Levo around as non-player players

do you think Josh Levo will be gone too? I think he likely will if there's no role for him I mean you can't rule out

a chance for him on the fourth line but given what we've seen in the past Mike Babcock doesn't seem to like him there unless there's an injury I do think that this

they will try to find a spot for him I worry for him though I mean look the guy's made good money to be a practice player but he he hasn't played

two years I mean other teams I know teams for a fact two years ago had huge interest in him that are just like now

the world passes you by pretty quickly in pro sports so is he like the world's biggest Leafs fan like he just wants to be a Leaf that bad

like surely they could have found a place for him if he wanted it yeah but it's it was Lou too right like Lou doesn't give away

anything like i know of one team in particular that was just going crazy with lou and the talk about trying to trade for josh levo because like he was acting like he had you know a real asset there and at that point i mean look it's like a car that doesn't work you know you don't even know if the car runs at this point we haven't seen it on the highway in years or you could get the mystery box yeah right second round pick so i do think some of it is lou i mean the the biggest question is why did he sign his extension last year when he did? To me, it was just about taking the guaranteed

money the Leafs were offering because he might have got to this summer or not. There's a lot of guys out there signing two-way deals right now. It's hard to... I mean, to me, Josh Levo probably was getting a two-way deal if he didn't sign somewhere else. So he got a guaranteed one-year deal with the Leafs, and that might be

the end of him unless he can find a way to make some hay this season. More importantly... And he's a big Leafs fan, I think. Yeah, yeah. He's buddies with all the guys on the team. He's in all the photos. I pay attention.

Oh, you're such a jerk. I pay attention to Instagram. You put yourself in the photos. I mean, I would absolutely Photoshop myself into all the photos. William Nylander's contract will get done. We know that. It gets done. But a lot of times what happens, it's like what Pastor Knack,

it was kind of close to the wire. when you Pasternak for context missed a day at camp last year before signing his deal and that's not I mean that's happened

many times before but in a contract situation like this you know that you're heading to a certain point right the team knows the player knows

we know it's going to be between it has to be between Dylan Larkin and David Pasternak in terms of money depending on years if they went eight years

it would be more more money and which might make more sense but on a five or six year deal yeah what's your sense of where this is at and what holds these things up like why can't they just

get on the phone and go all right you in okay cool like what's what's what is it because you're waiting for the other side to blink and there's no deadline right now i mean the deadline and it's an artificial deadline is september 13th when the players are due to arrive and take their medicals and so to me i wouldn't be surprised given that it's what are we at august 21st i wouldn't be surprised if it goes till like 10th 11th 12th 13th of September where you have that looming okay is he actually going to miss camp you know I'm I'm assuming he'd stay in Sweden to kind of underline his point like I'm not caving here well that's what Pasternak did he stayed in the Czech Republic and then flew over and went straight like from the airport to Bruin second day of camp wow after

you know to sign his deal and all that I mean that that's the game and so I think it's very likely that uh this goes down to that kind of wire and maybe he misses a day or two i'd be surprised if it if it gets to like missing games in the regular season um but he's a strong-minded kid william you know he's not because you know agents can only do so much in these situations i mean if their client is like i gotta play he's getting crazy his his teammates are texting him he's just like just take the deal i mean that that happens a lot i mean you're trying to exert pressure as a team that's unstated but that's what you're trying to do you're trying to get him to cave and take less than his value and you know but let's not forget he he's the son of an

NHL or his dad is heavily involved his dad is basically his agent but he's not certified by the NHLPA so he has an agent obviously but but his dad is very in the mix on this behind the scenes and and I think so both sides kind of know where each other are at they know probably where the number is deep down but no one's making that first move on the dance floor you know like to to really try to get it done and you know it probably gets done

in middle of September would be my guess okay so you might miss a couple days yeah but I still wouldn't freak out about that if I was a fan

I mean I think it will largely be forgotten and remember one of Kadri's contracts he had a few as an RFA so I get mixed up but one of them happened I believe

the day before camp or like it's a normal thing and if you look out there other teams you know Noah Hannafin doesn't have a deal Darnell Nurse doesn't have a deal

Sam Reinhardt doesn't have a deal with Buffalo I mean there's a lot of guys in the exact same situation coming off their entry level contract and just put yourself in William Nylander's shoes just for this minute and forget any deeper concerns with the Leafs you're just trying to squeeze out what you can and I can't really blame him for that

no no not at all I wouldn't blame him for that well remember that the players in this league and now we're going way off the record here but the players were sold down the river by the previous players and so they have this entry level system where William Nylander just scored back-to-back 60-point seasons and got paid like a fourth liner

because that's the system that they're in. So, I mean, you only have such a small window as a player. I mean, it'll feel like William Nylander's going to be around forever, but some careers are ending at 31, 32, and he's, what, 22? I mean, he's got 10 years to make hay here, and that goes quick. So it's a big financial decision for him, especially because I would expect this deal to be in the five-, six-year range myself. There's a chance to go two or three,

which we've seen other players do on their second deal, but more than likely it's going longer. So half a million dollars is worth fighting over. Yeah, that was interesting to me because at Smashfest, Nylander made a couple headlines by saying he wanted to sign long-term, and I think everyone, myself included, just automatically went, oh, he means eight. But five or six is pretty long.

It is long. So that could be long-term. Well, because you're giving up. if it's a five-year deal you're giving up one potential ufa year and if it's six you're giving up two and those cost more yeah in the equation too and so you know this is what it boils down to if you're the leafs and they've definitely run all these projections over and over and over again there's a benefit to getting him for eight years because you've basically locked up his entire prime as an nhl player but the actual cap it's going to be higher because you're buying more

the ufa years on it right and so there's a competitive advantage to have him on a lower cap number for these next number of years because they can fit other players in around them when they have a chance to win and i'm sure that that's kind of the fine line the leafs are looking to walk and you know players in hockey want security because they could blow up their knee or yeah absolutely have three concussions in a season and you know i know lots of guys like i find the nba offseason more interesting too when you have you know star players signing short-term deals and moving around and you know that's people talk about that more in the games in the nba I just don't see a world where we're going to get that in hockey

because of the risks involved in the sport. Do you see a situation or a scenario arising where, and I don't see this for Mitch Marner, but where Austin Matthews signs his extension this year rather than next summer? Yeah, because, I mean, to me, that number is there. Like, the number is the number, right? Well.

And what is the number? So this is how this argument is going so far. there's two contracts signed last summer that directly impact both him and Patrick Lyon in his next deal you have Eichel

at 10 million on an 8 year deal and you have Conor McDavid at 12 and a half on an 8 year deal so to me if you're Austin Matthews

you run the numbers and say hey look I'm better than Eichel so far as an entry level player but I'm you know you can't

it's hard to make the Conor McDavid argument because he'd won a heart trophy and a scoring title as an entry level player when he signed that deal so to me

and you got you just happen to have this superstar that just joined your team at 11 million that's kind of right in the middle and eight times 11 to me makes a ton of sense for austin you know it's up to his agents to fight for a bit more and the way they would do that is say you know i don't have the number in front of me but when conor mcdavid signed at 12 and a half

let's pull out an arbitrary number that's somewhere in the correct it's about 17 percent of the cap they'll they would argue the cap's gone up austin should be 17 of the cap and that might be a way for an agent to try to argue so it's not so much about mcdavid it's more saying hey in today's dollars he's actually it should be higher and so i'm sure that's there but to me that one just makes a lot of sense i mean they're still fighting about you would fight or debate about how the the signing bonus money worked about what you do with the lockout years which if i'm him i i would just do what taveras did i want all the i want i want all bonus don't don't you want to go all bonus he doesn't have taveras's leverage though yeah i guess taveras

was a U of A. I have the number here, by the way. It was 16.7% of the cap when McDavid signed. And Crosby's was 17.3%. When he signed. But that's 8.7 million. Amazing how much the cap's going up. But still more percentage of the cap. Totally.

And that's the thing I think Leaf fans have to keep this in mind. All fans have to keep this in mind. Especially with the new expansion money. Assuming they don't go to a lockout, the money that Seattle is going to inject into this league, that cap is going up the cap is going up and and it's going to go up i mean if we look at where was it three

years ago 72 and now we're at almost 80 i think it was less so think about think about where it'll be in the next three years and i mean obviously yes we have a lockout potentially but i you know we'll we can talk about that a little bit later in the show if we get time for it i feel like we're looking at a 90 million dollar cap here in about three years if all goes well it should happen and you know that was the thinking when Chicago signed Taves and Kane to the big deals is

that ten and a half for them looked huge at the time or 21 million for two players but you know Stan Bowman was saying look over the length of that deal it's not going to be you know you almost

have to adjust your thinking to it's not 21 million in yesterday's dollars it's tomorrow's dollars and those contracts aren't killing them it's Brent Seabrook's contract that's killing

them among other things and Corey Crawford not being just healthy and they're older and they traded Panarin for Saad so yeah well that's That's a few things that are up. That's a few things.

The, I guess, I mean, come on, that's a few things. But my point remains is those contracts are not the ones killing the hawks. Well, so you've got a lot of heat for that. Well, there's no heat to be had. It's not a debate. You called it the worst trade in the history of the NHL. No, I said it's the worst trade since the one for one day. Since the Subban for Weber and the Hall for Larson.

Looking back. It is the worst trade since that day. I think that can be a little bit hyperbole. and also a lot of the criticism of what you said is also hyperbole. They were trying to convince me that it was great. And I'm like, look what happened to you. Look what happened to your team.

No, it wasn't. A career 55-point guy for a career 80-point guy. I would say it was bad to move on. But the reason they did it is that they would have the same problem Columbus has right now with Artemi Panarin. He was going to be a year out from UFA this summer and they knew they couldn't afford him

in their cap structure. Sure, but in that case, wouldn't you take two years of Artemi Panarin over six years of Brandon Saad? I would. I would, yes, but you could see it's an important piece of context of why they made that deal.

They were dealing for certainty from a position knowing they probably couldn't keep Panarin at what he was going to be worth. Right. My text is dumb. It's a little much to call it the worst trade in the history of pro sports.

It is the worst trade since those trades. I never called it the history of pro sports. What's amazing, though, What's amazing is that Panarin could go back There as a UFA Yeah That wouldn't really

Surprise anybody at this point No His agent already Leaking that out Oh Panarin would consider Going back Of course he would consider Sign the check

Sign the check I would consider that too From what I understand He would consider New York, LA Anywhere that's really good to live That's crazy Yeah

With no knocks on Columbus But it's more of a family Kind of vibe Than a city city Yeah Right I got you Which is why

Sneaky good restaurant town though Yeah Is it? and the Columbus All-Star game was an all-timer it was a lot of fun I had a lot of fun fun was had

that is the drunkest I've ever been with NHL players it is alright at least you can come out and say it no but it was insane

I was that that was the Scott year right the John Scott year no that was Nashville 2016 right

oh my god of course that happened in Nashville no there was someone I was with who just looked down at the ice and was just like

wow he's here and I'm like who Kessel Kessel had a banger of a night the night before the Columbus All-Star game

I didn't see him he wasn't part of my the people I saw out late it was well it was all of them like people watch the All-Star game

and think oh they're just not trying they don't care about this no dude they're hung over I wouldn't be surprised and they should be because all their teammates

are hung over in Cabo like exactly they have to go to Columbus on their week off I'd love to know how many of those guys when they hit the ice

like for the for like warm up would pass a breathalyzer test I'm willing to bet half would fail wow that's aggressive that's aggressive man

I don't think so well it is an afternoon start usually yeah still man still I'm here in 5-6am oh yeah

for sure oh yeah I didn't make it that late but it was still going when I left late yeah like late late there was like

it was all on recorded by the way I know yeah that's fine that's why I'm not naming names because it's not fair to them yeah but like there was

an NHL player dancing with a broom that's amazing there was a player that I don't even know like I actually know him better now but I didn't know

him personally and I was at another table with one other journalist like standing up and he kept ordering beers to our table till it was like

overflowing and just like cackling and laughing like and I still I still don't really know why he was doing it like he probably clearly recognized that we were media guys

but I don't know why he just filled our table and like just just trying to overflow you guys that's amazing You know those reporters can't refuse a drink And tomorrow is going to be really difficult for you

Right, but I don't know why Again, if it's someone you know Or it's like a joke It was a generous joke But it was, anyway, bonkers I don't know why I'm talking about this, it's the summer That was definitely a funny It was a more under the radar player

Okay, fair enough Columbus was the last time they did the draft Right? Because all the guys were hammered All the guys were hammered there Oh, that's funny. That's true. That's the last time they did the draft.

That makes sense. And then they switched to three on three. It didn't stop the whole weekend based on what I saw. Really? And I also know there's... That's when Ovechkin was super weird, right? Like behind the scenes at the draft? Maybe.

Was it? He kept saying, don't pick me. I don't want to be picked. He wanted to be last because he wanted the car. Yes, I believe that was. And then when he got picked, he was mad. He was like, oh, yeah. As though he couldn't afford the GNC they were going to give him.

Since you remember everything, that was Team Nick Foligno versus what team? Oh, my God. Oh, wow. Team Nick Foligno against. Actually, was it Team Foligno? Yeah, I think it was Team Foligno. I want to say, oh, man. I'm glad you're looking this up, Jesse, because I remember it was the worst game

in the history of All-Star Games. It was worse than anything. That's why they changed it in Nashville the next year. It's like, oh, man. I don't remember. Remember they had, like, the white and green uniforms? Yes. Oh, I have one.

I have the black and green one, Stamkos, because I wanted to lure him to Toronto. Do you have a guess? It was Team Foligno, by the way, and there's another team. Was that Team Lidstrom? It was not, no. Team someone from Nashville. Tree Spurgeon. Team Ryan Johansson?

Team Taves. Oh. Taves. Ryan Johansson, that was when he put on the football jersey. Right. Right. Yes. And Ryan Johansson, I think he was the MVP of the All-Star game.

Yeah, well, he was great because we all left that building deaf because they blasted the damn cannon. Every goal, and it set a record for goals in an All-Star game. And do you remember at the end when they traded Sagan for Kessel? That was amazing. That was brilliant. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. And then they raced each other, and Kessel won.

Toronto Maple Leaf, Phil Kessel won. Do you have any bold predictions for this season? Do you have anything that in your gut, it doesn't have to be Leafs, but in your gut that you're like, I think this is going to happen, and I don't think anyone's talking about it. Oh, man. Josh Leeville, Conn Smythe? What are you showing me, Jesse?

I have to think about that. What do you see? No, I was just showing that to you. Pictures of me in that barn closet. No, the meme didn't have to say it out loud. They're disrupting the show. We're extremely distracting right now. We always have each other on this show.

I'm so sorry. We, as in you. Jesse's like, here, I'm going to pass you a note. Steve's like, what is that? What is that? Do you like me? Yes, no, maybe. You guys do that all the time.

whatever continue how many people are still listening this deep into the show you'd be surprised too many frankly

like they should not but they just keep coming back I love whoever's listening right now like that is some dedication you know how many people are listening right now when it's 2.30 in the morning

yeah it's ridiculous as soon as I put it up at like 1am there's a flood of messages that are like no sleep squad and they're my favorite

and they're like oh no I have to listen to it all the way through no you don't no no you don't YouTube is even smart enough That like

You can listen to a little bit Next morning Click the link again It'll pick right back up Where you were You can't do it It's the craziest thing Like on KISS

I feel like we're like The vampire squad right now But you still gotta like Package this Put it up And people are gonna still Listen later tonight And they'll finish it tonight

And they have to Because that's their thing Yeah They're part of a squad now And they're my favorite people There's someone in Newfoundland I admire that commitment Who's like behind

Or ahead I guess in time And they're gonna listen To the whole thing They're gonna go to bed at 4 When Jesse and I were at KISS On a Tuesday You should invite some of your most hardcore fans to listen in real time, like, in the room.

Yeah, but I don't want to be corrected on all the things I'm wrong on that quickly. Yeah, it's better later. I just was thinking, because they're so insistent on, like, up to the minute. They could be truly up to the minute. Yeah, up to the now. Yeah. And then somehow put them in the future. Okay.

No, no, I like it. Be cool. We're working. Be cool. People have asked us for live streams, too, and I'm like, man, no thanks. Just because live stream. Yeah. Like where, you know, cause first off the comments, well, it could be fun.

Uh, especially if we were doing like a live press conference, like if we had you in, people could like write in their questions, but a, the comment section usually gets out of control. B, I don't want to read things about what I'm saying as I'm saying it. I just, you know what I mean? You'd rather go 10 minutes down a conversation where you're totally wrong. Totally. Yeah. I'd rather be wrong.

And get steered out of the ditch by one of the great SDP listeners. Actually, actually, actually, all the usernames are just actually in a number that follows I was like, actually one, actually two, actually six, nine, actually four, twenty. Oh, yeah. We basically, when Jesse and I were at Kiss, the average listening time was less than ten minutes. And that was at our very, very, very best, right? And that was big. And you're like a top-rated show.

Because there's people in the car, you turn on your car, you drive five minutes, you turn us off. Right. That's what happens, right? You go on a commercial break, whatever. You play a crappy song, and I'm like, ah. Exactly. Literally. That's like my day.

Totally. Here, it's 45 minutes. that's average. That's one listen. And that's not, that doesn't mean they don't come back. It means that every time people listen, they listen on average for 45 minutes.

So if you listen for 45 minutes and then come back, the chances are you're listening for 45 more minutes. Like it's just, it's wild. We get to, we have literally the best listeners in the world. And then the perspective coming from the radio side is like, wow,

it's crazy. Cause everybody that actually, it's funny. This is completely off track, but everybody that I talked to, everybody that I talked to is like, I feel like I'm responsible for all the off-tracks. I'm like, hey, what about this thing?

You're super not. No, it's the Steve Dangle podcast. What? Blue card? What? Well, do you guys have a lineup anywhere, or do you just wait? Yeah, I got it right here. Oh, he's got a lineup.

Yeah, I just kind of. Adam's the professional. I was going to ask you. Jesse's a professional. I'm me. I was going to ask you about the. Oh, for a wild prediction. The Kessler.

Yeah, I did ask you for that, but like. Which we got to get to. Yeah, I do want to. Do you have a wild prediction? Do you have a gut feeling about something you think is going to happen? And by the way, we won't hold you to this. I want to give you a good answer, though. I don't want to just make something up.

You can think about it. I will give you one before the end of the show, but I want to give you something I really think could happen. Okay, so here's what I'm going to ask. We've got half an hour left here in our studio. So for you people listening at 3.30 a.m., get another coffee going. Did we put up a questions thing for Chris? Not specifically for Chris, but there's some from the press conference.

How long do you think those questions will take? Because I've got some things here. We can talk about, I don't know what we can say about Randy Lee resigning in Ottawa other than the fact that it's one less distraction and a team full of distractions. What I did want to get- When did that happen? It just happened about 10 minutes before the show. Oh, okay.

Well done. I didn't know that. Because, you know, it was funny because at the beginning of the summer, I got Eugene's lawyer. Eugene called and he's going to defend. And Eugene was like, yeah. And now he's being made to resign six weeks later very quietly. I thought that was interesting.

But this was more interesting. At 6 p.m. on a Tuesday night. Yeah. Classic news dump. seriously yeah Johnny Oduya on his time with the Sens all the stuff between Hoffman and Carlson happened when I'd already left for Philadelphia

no doubt I don't know how to describe it but an organization like that doesn't have the same sort of traditions and stability if minor stuff happens the house of cards falls apart pretty fast it was a big difference compared to other clubs I've played for where the tradition

runs deeper and there's more structure and that is from a sorry a media outlet in Sweden I saw that quote saw that quote what'd you think of that? a lot of good stuff breaks out of Sweden well Swedes are really honest

yeah so are the Russians crazy Russians just got a weird I don't let's not go there let's not lump cause like Sweden actually

has a very specific media culture where even though Swedes are so polite in person they're pretty edgy with how they cover stories and for some reason and I don't know how they do it I'd love to take their magic

Like the players all just talk to them for like an insane amount of time by the North American standards. And hence you get interviews like this, where just more part of the culture there to be honest about stuff. You know, I'm not surprised to hear that Ottawa doesn't have anyone working for them. That's the biggest issue the senators have. You know,

I don't, we just mean management. Yeah. Can we get the front office pull up here? Like it's, it's honestly, it's almost laughable. And I'm not,

I'm actually not making fun of them. Like it's crazy. Right. This is part of what he's talking about, though. I think everybody there has to do twice the normal job of what their role is with other teams. For probably less than the going rate. Yes, and we all know that the owner is an issue

that hovers above everything. So the page hasn't been updated because Randy Lee is still on it. That doesn't surprise me. The web person is probably also doing ticket sales and probably also stocking the vending machine. What's interesting, they have a lot of good people there. Of course, yeah, absolutely. But they got rid of their big business

guy, Tom Anselmi, earlier this year, which was surprising to me because that's a guy that helped build you can say what you want about how the Leafs were while he was here. He's a business guy. They made money. They made piles and piles of money, and that's why Eugene brought Tom Anselmi in. The fact that they

let him go, that was a big, big, big red flag, which kind of went, for me at least, unnoticed, but it was like, that's a big money guy. He's a big business guy. Wasn't there some sort a strange thing where like they laid off a bunch of I want to say like arena workers or concessions people or something

like that. Just nothing's going well there, man. No. So they're in a cash crunch and it's imploding. Is he going to sell his damn team? Is Eugene going to just say, listen, get out. Get out. Nobody's saying he is, but just common sense suggests

to me at some point it could get to that. I mean, I think one of the interesting storylines for them is how many people are coming to their games. I mean, I could see a true fan revolt there and it's not because people in auto don't care about the senators or hockey it's they're tired of the owner they're you know this team is in a jackpot right now like their three best players are on one year deals with ufa coming next summer they don't own their first round pick and they're coming off a season where they finish what 30th uh one of the

last place teams yeah i mean i just i don't think they're going to be probably as bad they'll probably have a few more things go their way this year i think some of it was bad luck last year but they're you know they got it they got it everything that isn't bolted down they have to do a rebuild i think and you know so i i'm sure what he said is true i mean there was dressing room issues you know it's at some point we talked about on headlines this year uh pierre dorian went in the room and like turned off the music and blasted the players billy bean style you know which i think happens more in the movies than in reality like the fact that happened was notable and you That's what losing sounds like.

You know, the threat of being gone has hung over this team. So they come out of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. Kyle Turris doesn't get his contract extension last summer. Everyone knows by this time last year that he's going to likely be traded.

He gets traded. His wife comes out and says the owner wouldn't approve his contract extension. Which is probably true. I don't know why she'd lie about that. Yeah, exactly. Really. I don't know what would incentivize her

to throw a bomb at the... I think they were doing it on behalf of other players. They've promptly, what, stripped a bunch of other players away, even guys like Dion Phaneuf. So they make a bunch of trades last year. Now you have Stone, Hoffman. Sorry, Hoffman's gone now, of course. Stone, Carlson, and Duchesne all on the last year of their deals.

And Marion Gabrick with four more years. Yeah, I was going to say a couple more years for Marion. I mean, I think that they have a chance to turn it around. They just have to rebuild. They just have to do it the old-fashioned way. Like strip it right on back. And I do think, I think they're going to try to do that, but it's, it's challenging times there.

So it must've been awful to be someone like Johnny Oduya joining a team that had a good season and just be there as like everything, you know, implodes. It was a house of cards. It was a lucky run too. Like, and I don't mean that luck's part of the sport. It's a bouncing piece of rubber on ice, but you know, a lot of things went right for them to get all the way to the conference final too. And they don't have to apologize for that, but they probably weren't as good as that

suggested if you were just going by the results right or they weren't why am i putting probably in there as a qualifier definitely we're not they weren't a top two team in the eastern conference and so last year was a disaster so anyway they're gonna you know they're doing interviews right away uh they're gonna get a new assistant gm i think that they will probably look to some younger people for that job which is interesting you know it's it's about injecting a team like that has to find a way because it doesn't have the budget of other teams because it doesn't have the front office size they have to find creative ways young is cheap and so i wouldn't be surprised you know and they haven't decided on their guy as far as i know but i wouldn't be surprised to see them

hire someone a little younger who might come at this problem with a different angle than what they've done and and i could see them turning around honestly they also have some nice young players it's just they need a lot of them they need to do what the leafs did and they need some stars like some star young players they've got good young pieces but do they have a Mitch Marner and I bring it back to the Leafs because we are a Leafs podcast first and foremost do they have a

Mitch Marner in their system do they have a William Nylander in their system Elias Pettersson like in Vancouver like Vancouver's kind of bleak but damn they got some players or even a Brock Besser that's why it hurts so much that they don't have their first round pick next year I was going to ask you that because do you think that that was

obviously picking fourth is fantastic but if you know you're going to be worse next year, you have to think they're going to be I think they're going to be worse. I've always argued you bet on yourself and if you finish fourth last, you bet that you're not going to finish worse than fourth last.

But you're betting that knowing that Carlson Duchesne and Stone probably all have to go. But then you're just throwing in the towel at that point. You're being like, okay, we're going to finish worse than fourth last. You never want to do that to your fan base. You're like, hey, we're going to finish worse. The problem is though is it hurts your leverage now

when you're trying to potentially trade guys like Carlson or maybe, I'm not sure they're going to trade Stone or Duchesne, but you might get close to the deadline. You're moving those guys, and everyone knows. I don't know. I just feel like you weaken yourself, too. It was a no-win situation, frankly. Speaking of not the best position to trade from,

what the heck happened with the Hoffman trade, with the Sharks basically completely stabbing the Sens in the back? Is it exactly what we think it is? Ottawa didn't know Ottawa had no idea huh they didn't know he was about to be flipped

was Eugene ticked when he went like it was obviously it was obviously Pierre Dorian that said we're not trading him

within the conference which is a stupid idea this has happened before though Martin Jones right he got traded to Boston from LA because LA didn't want to

deal with him in the division and Boston promptly sent him to San Jose in that case San Jose was on the other end of it but each time San Jose benefits

Doug Wilson's a maniac Well, Doug Wilson's known for being a guy who works the phones maybe as much or more than any GM in the league. He's kind of in on everything. He likes to know what's going on, and he looks for opportunities. So Pierre Dorian never picks up his phone again from Doug Wilson, right? Like, never. If it says Doug Wilson, I'm hanging up.

I don't know specifically that there's bad blood there, but I'm sure he wasn't happy in the moment. I do think kind of as a GM, though, you've got to move on a little bit. How do you get— Because San Jose could be a landing spot for Carlson, potentially. Like it's Yeah They have room

Take Michael Bodker's Contract back please And then we'll give you Not only are you giving me More than you think You're giving me every Specifically Every one of those picks

You got from Florida You bastards If you get Carlson Right And I'm not saying it's likely But I mean You still have to You have to

Sometimes situations Bring you back together again Yeah Like if you're It's a funny crew When you see the GMs together Like you kind of wonder Because you know

First of all again Competitive guys there's probably some bad blood over things that have happened they must hate each other like a few of them yeah and some are like best friends yeah because you see it if I go to the GM's meeting there'll be like three random GM's that you wouldn't necessarily know are tight like drinking a beer together looking like you know us guys you know I mean like like oddly because you know hockey world is really small a lot of these guys have worked together and knew each other since they were kids I think Jarmo Kekalainen and Ray Shero were the best man in each other's weddings

wow wow I believe they went to St. Lawrence University together as players like way back in the day. How is that fair when you're trying to make a deal? Well, they also are Pittsburgh and Columbus, or they were at one point Pittsburgh and Columbus, so they were direct rivals. Now New Jersey, I don't know if they've made many trades. I can't think of... Yeah, I don't think

they have. Right, so it doesn't mean you always trade with your buddy. No. Because you're probably trying to pull one over on the other guy. It's harder to... How much of a punch in the gut was the Tavares situation for the Islanders, and specifically Lou Emeril?

Did Lou really believe he could hang on to him? For sure. I mean, everyone close to this thought that's where it was going. I mean, we were at the draft, which is a week before July 1st, and just the general attitude in the air. I felt like I was the only one thinking, like, guys, this isn't a done deal. I mean, he's going to L.A. the next day to start meeting with teams. As soon as you open your brain to that, I don't know.

But anyway, it was an industry-prevailing thought. I mean, Lou had some advantages here. I think he's got a great relationship with Pat Bresson who's the agent for John Tavares and they had a dinner together in New York City in mid-May before he was even hired by the Islanders with Pat, John, and Lou

while Lou was still wearing a Leafs badge which is not tampering somehow but it's Lou so who cares well it becomes less tampering when he didn't sign with Lou yeah that's true I guess it's still technically maybe tampering but it didn't change history um maybe push them away who knows but no i i definitely the islanders thought they were

going to get them i mean even lou went to california and hung around they got the first meeting but hung around for three more days tried to get a second try to get a second meeting but also kind of wanted last word and wanted to be there just in case which i again i don't think it's the wrong thing to do but they they hockey players don't leave like the hockey players with this kind of stature so yeah that's a gut punch i mean the the reaction we saw some some of the media guys there was unbelievable it's like they've never seen well it's because new york no one ever leaves new york right well and to be fair it's i'm not taking a shot here veiled at arthur staple or anyone who's you know covering that team every day i really respect

arthur's wire too no but it's just more you know some of the shock jocks and oh yeah you know i mean like i don't know are you calling out boomer i don't know and uh boomer go at him I don't know if people went at him. No, there was a shock jock there, though, who just was like, this is treasonous and whatever. Oh, God. Well, that's what they were supposed to do, right? Right, but some of the reaction, I was going to say,

was over the top, but that's a gut punch. I mean, I've seen him in the Leafs PJs. Well, exciting to Leaf fans. I think the Islanders are like, we would have liked to have known that was a factor. Well, I wonder, too, like, you know. How don't they know? I've gotten over Cadry's Canadians PJs.

I've gotten over it. Well, I'm sure Stamkos had Leafs PJs, and it didn't mean a thing to him, though. Half the league. Half the league. They're from Ontario. Come on. I wonder what they were thinking, though, going out and signing Leo Komarov to that term and that money. And Filippola.

Well, Filippola, I understand. It's one day. Or it's one year. Like, Filippola's fine. It's $2.5 million for one year. Fine. You flip them at the deadline. Yeah, you need a center.

Yeah. But, like, Komarov for that long? Well, the four-year term. So I had heard the week before when they had that interview period that he was asking for four years. And I was thinking like, yeah, because we all ask for more than we're going to get. He got it. He literally got his price. I'm stunned by that.

But I know what he's thinking. Like, look, you're going to need a transition period dressing room wise. You lose your captain. And I think Leo Komarov culturally for the Leafs was great in their terrible seasons. Like, I think he set a good tone. And so I can understand on some level you want Leo Komarov, the guy, around, but having to play around for four years, I mean, that's got bio written all over it at some point.

Yeah. And Matt Martin, is he going to be another guy that's a dressing room guy? Yeah. I mean, obviously he'll play. He's only got two years on his deal, and the actual money is really low on it. So I could see he's coming back somewhere. The fans like him. I mean, part of this is entertainment.

They've got to put people in the seats. They've got to try to be somewhat competitive. but when you're buying in a free agency generally you're in trouble and that's where the Islanders were this year they were spending

a lot of money on just random guys trying to fill holes you know you want to be buying the way the Leafs bought you want to be buying the really shiny car

off the lot and walk away from the rest of it yeah because they didn't you know they didn't over commit anywhere else right and the Canucks

with Beagle and Juan Ruf feels the same way I mean like they have to have a team out there they're trying to not rush some of the kids along

like they want to have some of those guys in Utica but those scream buyout to me too Well, if I'm not mistaken, every contract you just brought up, Komarov, Roussel, Beagle, four years, three. And it's funny. Patrick Maroon actually mentioned this because he couldn't believe he couldn't get a better contract than the one he signed.

And if you look at his numbers, he had way better numbers. I don't know what they were off the top of my head, but he was like, I'm seeing guys get four times three, and he's getting one-year deals for like $2 million. Is that what he signed for? Yeah. 2.5 maybe? No way. Yes. He'll have a great year

And it's his hometown team But he even admitted Like he's happy to play For his hometown team But he can't believe He couldn't Because he saw all the money On July 1st

And then it just goes away Patrick Maroon is right He is right He's absolutely right And I like that he admitted it Because most guys Don't say that Yeah

No they wouldn't No they wouldn't Oh no I'm happy to be With the team They toe the line He was on Spittin' Chicklets The podcast And he was pretty honest

About Did you hear what Milan Lucic Said on that show About DeMar DeRozan Yes. What did you think of that? Is that just Mullen?

Is that he's just that guy? Well, yeah. I think that a lot of people are saying that to their buddies all over North America right now. I think it's what you say over a beer to your buddy when you're talking about it. And people aren't accustomed, especially to a hockey player, coming out and making that kind of statement. In a way, it was refreshing. Was he also on a barstool podcast? Yeah, that's been jittery.

That's the audience they're going for. And if you say something like that, it's going to take off. That particular podcast, of which I do listen, really revels in it's not liking basketball. So any, like, no, they make a thing out of it. So they don't miss a turn to try to, like. Which is sort of hilarious because, like, it's the biggest sport. It's a bit. And so they, if I remember correctly, because I don't remember exactly what Milan said.

I know the basic tone of what he was saying. But they were, like, riling him up, like, you know, basketball, like, bunch of wimps in basketball kind of thing. Because they're being literally stereotypical hockey guys. I believe he said stop being a bitch I believe that was the exact word I think those were his exact words and he basically said you're talking about Ryan Whitney

he's one of the co-hosts of that podcast players are meat that was Bissonnette too you know what Jim Devolano said essentially the same thing in the lockout and got fined for it by the NHL that they're cattle I think he called them

it's not untrue it's just unpleasant yeah well I mean we don't want to especially those of us as close to it as we are but even fans I mean I don't think anyone really wants to think of the truth but you know like Artemi Panarin

he was a free agent everyone in the league wanted to sign him he signs in Chicago he loves it there he more than lives up to his end of the billing and he gets traded to Columbus against his will like no offense again to Columbus I don't think that he should sign with them if he doesn't want to be there I mean

well I don't think Columbus would think that either I think they'd probably be like well I don't understand why they're disappointed but you know everything that he had to like scratch and claw just to make a career so now that he's about to hit a home run like he should go where he wants to live and all that stuff and you know but like i feel like loyalty isn't always two ways in sports right we expect it from players but not always from teams uh jesse looked it up and i guess in the salary cap era there are 10 exact matches for four-year contracts

three million per nice how many did the leaf sign well so a couple um there were the three this past summer. That's Komarov, Roussel, and Beagle. There was a 2014 one that was Andrew Cogliano. That was actually quite a nice deal. Joel Ward. Thomas Kopetsky. Victor Stahlberg from Nashville.

Chris Kelly with Boston. And the two Leaf ones were Nicholas Hagman, which didn't work out all that great. He had the one really good season. And Darcy Tucker, and he was bought out. I believe Stahlberg was bought out by Nashville on that deal, too. I think you're right. So, there's a couple

buyouts there already I mean look at out of the seven if you look at the league basically the middle class is where you get in trouble when you're paying guys four and five million

ish we say that yeah we say that all the time pay your stars everybody else kind of fill it in and that'll be the issue for the Leafs really

like and it's not an issue today but you know if Andreas Janssen has the kind of season he could have and then you're he's worth three or four million like you give it to him

but it might be hard to keep that there I mean one of the smart things I think Connor Brown did is take less money that could work against him too because another team

might go hey he's only making two million that's super valuable but that's what Justin Bourne was actually saying on Twitter

the other day was you know maybe everyone stopped trying to trade Connor Brown because you need players like that to win Stanley Cups

you need guys not making a whole lot of money two's not quite you know league minimum but it's for what he does

I think it's pretty cheap and he admitted to me second day camp last year because he signed that last August that he did take a bit less like he basically ended because he was in a similar kind of standoff that Nylander is different platform years you know they weren't talking the same money and obviously in his case

not that long a deal but he was just like I knew I could fight for a bit more but yeah I like it here it's it's enough money that and it's great for my family yeah it's eight and eight million dollars is still a million dollars but he said he wants everyone to have a little piece of it you know that's what Ryan Ellis said in Nashville too like I saw a bunch of Twitter you know people saying this is a bargain and on some level yes he could have definitely got more in the open market but he loves it there he thinks they're going to have a chance

to win a Stanley Cup and no state tax also in Tennessee yeah that helps but you know and if you're him you're like if I do this

and the next guy does this and there's been a past there's a history of that in Nashville lots of guys not going for the top dollar that's what the Leafs are hoping for

Brent Shannon said as much he actually told Bob McAllen that one of his more candid moments that that's one of the successes they had in Detroit is that he never made he never made top dollar

of what he could have made at those years But in Toronto you can You can still go and make it on the secondary market You can still go do endorsements You can do one Campbell Soup ad You can do Don Tavares doing Vita Coca Yeah, Don Tavares

The Islander player Had a coconut water deal In Toronto I don't even know what Vita Coca is It's coconut water It's him with a hockey stick and a beach ball And a generic jersey No, and like a golf shirt

In Raba for some reason in a grocery store where you can get I'm not sure that would pay them that much though I mean well yeah

you have to do a lot of Vitacoco ads to make up for the kind of money we're talking about I mean Austin Matthews has to be doing quite well with that Scotiabank

sponsorship I would think he is it's six figures a year for sure well there you go right a couple of those with that insurance company

and if you know you get these guys they sign a big deal with Reebok or whatever Adidas or whatever it is now I mean I think

I think you can make some of that money back especially the Stars for sure like Tavares if he wants to make more than 11 can easily yeah like you start doing stuff with Canadian Tire some of the really big legacy companies that can pay big money which is Canadian Tire was involved with Stamkos trying to

make this exact pitch that didn't go so well a few years ago but that's you know the other guys I think have to go out and like really hustle they gotta go to card signings and you know and make like 5,000 bucks a signing which again in their world it's not that much money

I would do that if anyone wants me to do that I'm available do you want to try to do that we should try to do that yeah we should yes

hi I can't really skate but if I could it would be this and here's my here's me basically reenacting Connor Brown's commercial

but the other thing too let's face it you go to a game at Scotiabank Arena and look at all the random leafs from your

the darkest memories of your mind that like will appear to do things there because if you play for the Leafs and I think especially if you play for a good Leafs team

people remember you forever and there's opportunities I mean Darcy Tucker looks like he's still working to me he is he's got tons of stuff

going on you know and so full of fire and energy I love no me too when we worked we went with him

to Boston with MasterCard for that extraordinarily unfortunate game too and he was fired up after that and we've been trying to get him on the show

for a while and I gotta tell you man that guy he still wants it like he still wants to jump back on the ice and crush people he was thinking about

this Bruins fan that was chirping him like he was reenacting the story and he's like playing with a pencil in his hand and like you could just tell

he was pretending the pencil was the guy's neck yeah he's laughing but not laughing oh yeah he's cackling yeah well remember

he played in Tampa before he got traded to Toronto if he was the exact same player he was with the Leafs in Tampa the opportunities to work there just wouldn't be the same

right you know part of And I think Darcy recognized that he still lives in the city, and he said that those were the best years of his career. But being a Leaf has value beyond just the moment. And that would be the sales pitch to me if you're the Leafs. What they're saying privately is this is a team that could win a Stanley Cup. People are going to remember this team forever if that happens.

So you want to be a part of it. You might have to leave a little bit of money on the table, but here's the cap number. They got their big wall at the MasterCard Center. Everyone's salary doesn't add up. Go to CapFriendly. and so I think they're going to try to do that

I don't know if they'll be successful, I really don't it starts with Nylander and I'm not saying it's all on his shoulders but that's probably the first one we're going to see I think it'd be really interesting if Austin left some money on the table if he does the 8x11 because then I think if he's doing it

that sets an example he's in a great spot because he could take 8x11 you could still kind of spit it that he took less but he's not really taking less that out of entry level that would be the second largest contract ever signed out of entry level. Besides Connor McDavid.

Besides Connor McDavid. So, I mean, that's probably about right. What are the odds we see Matthew signed before Willie? Sorry if your agent's listening, Austin. What are the odds we see Austin signed before Willie? I hope my agent's listening. Forget his agent. Jesus.

Anyway, sorry. Well, part of me, this is more just, I've had a lot of summer to cook up, like, theories. At your fire in Saskatchewan? Well, no. Staring into it and thinking. I did go out to BC though and had a fire in Fernie

with my oldest friend who built a house on the side of a mountain it was awesome of course you did so maybe as one does maybe it took hold

somewhere in the mountains of Fernie but because 8x11 is so obvious that even we can see it I sort of wonder if there's a wink wink done there

a little bit and or I don't know maybe just it would be less maybe not as urgent to cement that

even though both sides kind of know where the deal is so that they can get Nylander done first just because you don't want to throw that out. Avoid the dry sidle thing? I mean, and look, if you're Nylander and his agent, you know that's probably around where Austin's going to end up,

but it's not cemented then. And so you don't have the dry sidle effect. You know, part of me wonders if that might be going, because there really is no compelling reason to do the Matthews deal today. I mean, Jack Eichel's sign is, I think, October 3rd, before last season. But, like, it's not going to stress Austin out.

I mean, I'll tell you this much. Austin is probably not one bit scared if he doesn't have a contract this year because the odds of him potentially, say, winning a Rocket Richard trophy or becoming the assist king, whichever. But, like, you know, maybe winning a major award or something that can get him into a different stratosphere, you know, I'm sure he would take that bet on himself. So I do sort of wonder if I think Nylander will get done first.

I'd be surprised because they don't have to do one with Austin. And my sense is they're not really anywhere with Marner. I think that's a next summer project. Right, right. That'll be the next thing we can talk about all night. Oh, everyone's going to fixate. I mean, he's going to play at Tavares, right? Yeah, 90 points.

He's going to be like player of the week in week one. He's going to have like 12 assists in three games. And everyone's just going to be freaking out. Well, let's get on to the press conference before we actually run out of time here because we are running out of time. JXXAM wants to know, can you rank the other Canadian franchises

by how strongly their fans think the Toronto media is biased against their team? That's an awesome question That's a good one I like that Listen Which cities do you hate? No I don't

No I don't No Let's take the average I don't know I don't know if you So my impression of fans That think that The media is biased

Against their team I'm gonna put Winnipeg 7 So least Least Okay Because I just sense a lot of love

In Winnipeg And I think even The national media Kinda likes the Jets Like as a second favorite kind of team I'm not speaking

even just for myself but you know when they went on their playoff run I didn't sense any cynicism about what they were doing I don't think

they're tired of Toronto they're also an unbelievable team like they're so I'm supposed to not like Laine but I'm like damn it they're fun

for chaos I'm just I'm hoping we see a Jet Sleeves Cup one day just for pure chaos like NBC's ratings will be non-existent

SportsNets will just destroy the universe and it will be a memorable series no matter what happens That'd be like 10 million people. In Canada. Two people in the United States.

Next, I would put Calgary at six. Yeah. I feel like there's just a lot of ambivalence from the Flames fan base. I feel that. Okay. I might even put them seven. They don't kick up as much fuss as their neighbors. Right.

Edmonton ain't fifth. Ah. Ooh. That would get tough. It does, because, I mean, first I'm choosing between Edmonton, Vancouver, and Montreal, basically. And Ottawa. I think Ottawa is, like, in maybe the next tier, you know? A little higher.

So it leaves Ottawa in the next tier. Where would you rank them? We'll go to them first. I don't know. They're so beaten down in Ottawa. But they're tired. You're right. They also do think that everybody's out to get them, too.

I don't think Montreal really thinks people pick on them, do they? No, I was going to put Montreal next. Really? They pick on each other. Yeah, Montreal is their own media. I mean, they're getting a bit tired of the Leafs, I think. Like, all of the league is going to, surely. God forbid, two years of the Leafs.

We've heard Montreal for the last 25. I think they'll be okay. So then I sort of feel like the natural next one, for me, it's so hard to choose between those. I'd probably say that's tough I've got Edmonton in the one slot

oh yeah unquestionably like more so than Vancouver I'd Vancouver's gotta be number two Vancouver might be three

with Ottawa too I'm tempted to put Vancouver three yeah cause like I don't sense a lot like they hate everything about Toronto in general

and Vancouver they complain they complain about the four o'clock local starts when the Leafs are there which I just don't understand

do you know what I noticed an interesting thing that's happened in this year's schedule the Leafs Vancouver game is not the Saturday game in Western Canada for the first time

in my years covering the team wow it's the Leafs Edmonton game that is the Saturday night game when they do the Western Canada swing well and how could it not be

right McDavid Matthews so Vancouver will get its wish and they will play a 7 o'clock local game or 7.30 whatever it is and it'll be it'll be Edmonton

that has the 5 o'clock with their time Leafs McDavid yeah I know well finally okay yeah

about time well Vancouver's just so bad that you can't put them in that slot. I think they always just did because they got good support. I think they get really good TV numbers. And they were a good team. They were a really good team.

For a long time. It makes sense. The last three years, they finished in the bottom two. Yeah, they stink. They finished in the bottom two two times. They're freaking terrible. But it's interesting because the schedule

is all different this year. The Leafs kind of done... Clusters of games have been the same from year to year to year, certainly the road trips. And this year, it's all out of order and different and interesting. So let's start.

Let's see where we're at here. At number seven, it was Winnipeg, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto? Oh, wait. I guess we don't include Toronto. If we're doing seven, then we're going to start at six. We're doing seven? No, it's going to be bad. Oh, come back.

So we're not including Toronto? No. Okay. So it would be six. So six would be Winnipeg, five Calgary, four Montreal, three Vancouver, two Ottawa, one Edmonton. So you felt the Edmonton effect as well Oh dude It's from the media

No offense to the other fans listening but damn But honestly no one comes out of this with their hands clean Like Twitter is just a shit show These days honestly I'm not saying like Edmonton Is really that much worse than anywhere else It's just In my highly biased opinion is probably the worst at the moment

But like I mean everything is crazy This war stuff is just It's crazy the war stuff you know what I haven't seen a single tweet about it did you mute war

from your you should mute the word war you deleted twitter from his phone yeah I deleted it from my phone it's been off

for two or three weeks now only desktop what only desktop I needed a break and you know what it's been great man yeah but September 13th

you're like back oh I'm getting it back I know everyone's like oh you'll be back yes I know it's part of my job but it's August

and I had some shit to do and it made me feel better the blue room's done blue room's all done man come over. What's it look like? Awesome. It actually is cool. Did you rebuild it the same way or did you make it a better blue room? So the

wall underneath the shelf is now that's going to be the background for general NHL videos. So if I were to do a video on like the Rykel-Shinkaric trade for example, that would be the background. Or whether or not hockey still has a place in the game. Or whether or not, yeah, I misspoke in my video that I just did.

I was talking about, I wanted to say whether or not fighting still has a place in hockey and I said whether or not hockey still has a place in hockey. And it made this cut? I just, I missed it. I missed it.

Wow. It's a problem with editing your own shit. This is like chilled out August Steve. He doesn't even know what he's saying. I would blame it on

August if I didn't make those sorts of mistakes all the time. I got an international wall with like a Canada jersey so if like the World Juniors come on, Olympics come

on, you know, whatever, that'll be the background. And then my leaf wall is the biggest wall and it's sick. I can show you a Did you buy new things for it?

I got a few new things. I got something I accidentally won at an auction. You ever done that? Where you're like, oh, place a bid. Oh, shit, I won. Yeah. Now I have to pay that. I live in a condo, so I haven't done that.

Like, I'm under strict orders. Like, nothing comes home. It's got to be... Like, I got the sign off Team Canada's door from the Sochi Olympics. Come on! What? You come in here and you just drop that now? Come on!

And so I was allowed to bring that in. But, like, it's got to be at about that level for me to bring it home. It's got to be just a one-of-a-kind thing. Jesus, Chris, that should be in a Hall of Fame somewhere. Yeah, that should literally be in the Hall of Fame. I'm not looking to make money off it. You should be. Why wouldn't you make money off that?

You're not even wrong. That should absolutely be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. No, it's just a sign from their dressing room. Yeah, that should probably be in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, but think of all the stuff in the Hall of Fame. They brought sticks and gloves and medals and pucks. I've got the Team Canada sign. I want to see a picture.

That's one of the coolest pieces of memorabilia. That's so cool. Anyone I know has. That's really cool. I'm like, wow. I'm like blown away right now. By the way, you should be totally using that as an investment piece. You should be under arrest.

I could finally talk about this, but it's been hard. Oh, boy. Here we go. Again, because under the context of living in a small space in downtown Toronto and having a wife who doesn't like any clutter, I can only bring certain things home, right? So what I bring home has to matter. And so I was in the party with the Team Canada guys after they won in Sochi.

Like it wasn't a crazy party It was just in like This little area in the rink And I brought home A beer glass And it was my most Cherished beer glass From Sochi

With the Russian beer on it And it broke And I like Didn't put it in the dishwasher Naturally Kept it in its own Special spot To not have it break

And it would only have it Like if I was watching A big game Or something Like I remember I brought it out For like one of the World Junior Finals

But like it wasn't Like it wasn't Regular rotation Can I ask how? Knocked off the table. Damn. Smashed right on the hardwood. I mean, it's just a glass.

But that was like a glass I wanted to have forever. Just because it was so cool. Honestly, I would say of any of the privilege I've got out of my job, and obviously a lot of it's just travel and stuff. I go to the games, but usually don't. But I bumped into someone with Team Canada when I was in the hallway, and he brought me in. And I had a beer with some of the players I knew.

And it's probably my greatest memory, first of all, as a traveler anywhere in the world. Like, just being with those guys right there in Russia. They just won the gold medal. Like, it was just really cool to be a fly on the wall. And I brought that glass home, and it's gone. So, it's somehow overshadowed that I also ripped the sign off their door. Because they left, and the sign was just there.

Like, if it wasn't going to be me, it was going to be someone else. I'm glad it was you. So, did you put that in your luggage to take it home? Like, how did you get it on the plane? I put it in the carry-on. And I was, like, showing it to, like, everyone on the plane. Because, like, they just won. and first

the other thing too is like when you come home for the Olympics you've just worked for like every day for like 20 hours I mean it's like

the greatest it's the greatest going to the Olympics is my favorite thing I would go every Olympics I would cover shot putting

or I would cover any event and love it like put my whole heart into it but you're exhausted when you're coming home and so

you know the gold medal game was on the last day I think I just slept I actually worked all night and then went to the airport basically

so you're just so excited to get on that plane going home and i had to sign out and was taking pictures with like the the people on the plane and it was awesome i mean it's cool i don't feel like even sitting here right now i don't feel a ton of canadian pride but when you're like in a foreign country and you're at the olympics like you can't help but feel a little twinge you know my my dark my heart is not that cold and dark that i wasn't not happy at that point to see canada win the gold medal and to see them win too because at the women's final as well wow which was bananas which was amazing and you know what's funny that was the only night off i'd have to look at the schedule but that was the only night theoretically i didn't have to go like we had

someone else assigned to cover the game itself and that was like of the whole tournament the way the schedule worked that would be like the only night if you just want to have a night to do something normal yeah and like a huge percentage of the media did that but i was like i'm not missing a gold medal game like anything could happen and i'm so glad i went i think i wrote a sidebar something but like it was you know i worked a little bit but just to be there was like bananas you were there and i and i bet you you'll never forget that game but the guys that went out and didn't go to the game will forget that meal like it'll probably be like a non-factor right i don't want to no of course not but it's like you made my name you made the right choice i think

do you know what's funny is a group of like the the buddies i'm closest with that i would have been at dinner with they bumped into uh the canadian bobsledder kaylee humphries yeah oh yeah partner and they just won a gold medal and they sent her a bottle of champagne like across a restaurant tour and then she like came and like hung out with them and so they had a cool night too

she seems super cool but still still do you know what if Kaylee listens to this maybe they've been lying to me about that because I never fact checked that

I just heard that I just heard that they were generous Kaylee blinked twice on Twitter if you listen to this we actually did that to the Penguins once

and they actually tweeted at Steve and blinked yeah yeah the Penguins Twitter account whoever runs it's a fan yeah I think it was just

some intern but still that's amazing that's pretty cool like the Leafs could like if you you could never do that with the Leafs

ever you could never acknowledge that no Saskia used to tweet at Steve all the time the Leafs could yeah during games

she would reply to you if you're tweeting about the game I don't remember the name of the Penguins person I think I do but I'm not sure not yet they're doing interviews

I know that for a fact yeah so yeah it's a I apply no I'm kidding it's a it'd be funny if she did

I would be genuinely curious and surprised because I'm not a good candidate who can we do the blink test to right now I think the penguins still alright what do you want to do to the penguins again or do you want to do it to a different team

we can do it to Doug Sifu he was a guest once when I was on with you guys yeah yeah yeah everyone who listens ever blink at us on twitter just gonna get a bunch of eye emojis and we'll really know if you're listening

because you'll include me and I'm not I think the Panthers three hours you want to do it to the Panthers are you sure I think the Panthers you sure the Panthers

I think the Panthers hey Drancer are you listening yeah buddy how you doing okay Florida blink twice if you're listening I was climbing Arthur's Seat

it's this like mountain hill yeah in Scotland in Scotland halfway up I ran into Drancer he just turns the corner and goes Dangle really

yeah man the world is small it is a teeny tiny little pea in the middle of the universe I once was in Croatia traveling and I bumped into a guy like I'd known forever and we had no notion

that either of us was there that's unbelievable man I just want to throw this out there we're running out of time but I do want to end on Chris's bold prediction that we are not going to hold you to we promise okay maybe a little alright

Chris gets arrested for having that time I know there's something there's got to be something behind this by the way whatever he says No, I can't say that. Joe Bowen already said it. Yeah. That quote is so funny, too.

What did he say? I was on the fan morning show the next day. He's like, they'll win the cup next year. This year. 2018. Well, no, 2018 cup's already been awarded. But, you know, like this coming, like he couldn't spit it out. But, yeah, he was like, McCowan's like, what do you mean?

Like, what are you talking about? Wasn't he on there because he signed a five-year deal? Joe? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. So my point is he could have hedged his bet and be like, they're going to win the cup in my deal. Yeah, there you go.

Right? No, but he said it was this year. And a lot of people would be like, yeah, totally, that's not even bold. This year, now, damn it. Right this minute. Yeah. Well, I don't think the Leafs are winning the Cup this year, so. I don't either.

But, well, it could happen. But that cannot be your big, bold prediction, though. Yeah, no. There's just too many factors. I have not thought about hockey nearly enough to give you a good answer to this. So, like, what would be bold if I could predict either one team's terrible that you don't expect to be terrible. it doesn't have to be a team it could be a player

it could be a storyline it could be anything Mike Augello last year called that the Blackhawks would miss the playoffs no it was Gus Katsaros it was Gus and he was absolutely right

so that was a good bold prediction there was that was bold at the time funny that you bring up noted Jake Gardner hater Mike Augello who was single handedly

trying to get him traded out of town is he? Mike? yeah Mike I can't stand the way that he plays and he'd tell you that

Mike blink twice Mike would be listening I don't know this is deep at this point I assume it's only people who fell asleep who might wake up

question for Mike Augello you're alone on a desert island with Jake Gardner armed only with a shovel how do you kill Martin Marincin you know what we should

we should do although I can't I guess the season's coming quick we should come back and do like an over under or something like a Leafs over under

game or something like that yeah yeah like Matthew's 40 goals you want to do that All right, go ahead and invite yourself back on the show. Come on back. Why do I have to do the whole time?

I can just do that? Yeah, come back and do whatever you want. Or you can come in for 20 minutes of a show, and we'll do that. We'll do a segment with you. I mean, I feel like I don't even have a job right now, so I'll do whatever you guys need. I know I don't have a job right now, so yeah. We are two-fourths unemployed right now. Yeah.

And Steve's contract is firing. No extension offered yet. I'm a YouTuber. That's not a job. Only Jesse's keeping this thing legit. And I run social media accounts, which isn't, that's a phony job anyways. I think Jess is the only one with benefits. Yeah.

No, no, Adam. Adam's got, like, leftover benefits. He's got negotiated benefits. I'm on the fumes. Yeah. I most certainly don't have benefits. Bold prediction. Do I?

I don't have one. You know what? Okay, Chris, here's the deal. All right. Okay. Next time. Okay, we're going to do this show within the next month. Wait, before training camp?

I feel like I want to say something that I can come back a year ago and say, I told you. Yeah. That's what we want. But I don't have it right now. When will you have that, do you think? Can we give you a month? Yeah, you can give me days. It's just like,

I literally, like, honestly, my life is just like, wake up and be like, oh, look at this endless nothing. All right, all right. My point is, I'm not like looking at

like hockey highlights these days. It's August 20th. Steve. Okay, so here's what we're going to do. Right before training camp, we'll have you back on. Is that cool? Yes.

All right. And then we will, this is the tease, bold prediction then, as well as some other stuff too. Good. And I'll come with, like, maybe I'll come with

like three bold predictions or something. Like something. Chris Johnston's top three I don't know Any number 3J I'm going to give you 91

Every one for each of John Tavares' numbers There you go And nobody will get it Unless they listen this long Chris Johnston, our favorite person Best friend of the show Alright, I love that voice You don't love that? Come on

I thought about that when we were here Best friend of the show I'm going to say that Thanks so much for coming on, man. We really appreciate it. Did you drive here? I did. Yeah, well, I don't live there anymore.

Oh. Is it commuter? Five minutes. Follow the guys on Twitter at Steve underscore Dangle, at Adam W-Y-L-D-E, and at Jesse Blake. The Steve Dangle Podcast. Brought to you by Panago Pizza.

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