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WELCOME BACK TO LEAFS LATE NIGHT! Presented by Inside The Rink
Roscoe / Biehner
- How Did We Get Here
- Where Are We Headed
- Who's Gonna Get Us There
Roscoe / Biehner
- How Did We Get Here
- Where Are We Headed
- Who's Gonna Get Us There
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Fanatics
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Creators & Guests
Host
What is Leafs Late Night?
WELCOME to Leafs Late Night, Where It's Never Too Late For The Leafs!
Presented by Inside The Rink
www.insidetherink.com
Join us after EVERY GAME for a breakdown of each period, Leafs and NHL news, wild stories, and hot take games. Hosted by Roscoe with The Fanalyst, Suthy, Biehner, and Darty Brodeur
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Opinions are our own!
Yeah it is.
ooooh babyyyy
We're still here.
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
All that blowing is me blowing the dust
off of all of this gear that we haven't
touched in a bit.
Sorry for the wait, everybody.
It's been a busy time for all of us and,
you know, same old excuse as usual.
We're back here.
We're going to talk about what's been
going on.
There's no possible way we can catch up on
everything because as much as I want to
talk about the Arizona Coyotes that are
now the Utah whatevers.
We're gonna save that for another time
because it's Leafs in the playoffs and
once this is done, we'll talk about Utah
and what's going on there.
But apologies because I know everybody's
been waiting to hear about my opinion on
that because I've been screaming about the
Coyotes for the entirety of this podcast.
So when it finally happens, I wanted to
talk about it, but we were not around.
So yeah, sorry about that.
But don't worry, I have much to say at a
latter day.
I cracked myself up.
You get it?
Latter -day Saints, Mormons.
Come on, that was good.
Fuck you.
That was funny.
Also, I don't have to try to be quiet
because I don't have downstairs neighbors
anymore for the next couple of days
because they moved out and the new ones
are moving in.
So yeah, that's fun.
Woohoo.
And I don't have to hear doors slamming
every 30 seconds and people that are
somehow up until five in the morning and
also up at eight in the morning.
I don't.
Anyway, moving on.
This is what happens.
It's been a while.
I haven't been able to air my frustrations
to people that have no idea who I'm
talking about.
So I can just it's like my my diary, you
know, if you're watching on video, you can
see I've got my little Playmobil Bruin and
Leaf guys here.
Only the Bruin one shoots because if
you're a new listener of this pod, I just
I will get to the all this in a sec.
I just want to explain where these came
from.
I went into a antique store kind of like
like an antique toy shop, I guess it was
less like furniture and more like trinkets
and things, you know, one of those antique
stores.
And the guy was a Leafs fan here in
Ottawa, but like a very, very, very
troubled, like old like he's been a Leaf
fan for like, long enough that everything
was cynical.
Like he had all of it because he's a Leaf
fan, but it was all that like cynical Leaf
fan shit.
So he had this in a case with a little
card that says, Nazam Kadri gets suspended
again.
And it's
So that's why the stick on the leaf player
is like zip tied up because he had this
setup that he is high sticking the other
guy and there's a ref one too between
them.
So I was like, okay, that's hilarious.
How much for that?
And he's like free to a good home.
Take it.
So I now have it.
And I thought when would be more
appropriate to pull up my Leaves and
Bruins little Playmobil set than tonight.
So here it is on top of
What is actually a Mitch Marner, what do
you call it?
Pop, dude, Funko Pop.
Yeah.
I just needed something to get the height
and then, you know.
I broke out the brick wall school of
goaltending shirt for tonight and I've
conveniently situated the camera so that
my Tavares jersey is over my shoulder
after driving that play.
Hell yeah, actually, you know what?
I was gonna start with it, but I'm just
gonna for the sake of it.
Yeah, I was going to play that intro
instead, but you know, since you brought
it up.
So we can get into the game quick, but I
messaged it in our group.
I had a chance to talk about it over the
podcast.
A good omen before the playoffs happened
to me as I was driving down the highway.
I pass on the highway, one of my all -time
favorite players, and leave it to me to
recognize someone as we're doing 110 down
the highway in a vehicle beside me.
Someone who...
details of this, by the way, so I'm glad
you brought this up.
Because when I read this, I was like,
cool.
And then I thought about it, because I
went back to work, and I was like, wait a
second, how the fuck did you recognize
somebody on the highway?
Were you driving?
I was driving.
So any frequent listener of our podcast
knows I'm all over the place all the time.
I was somewhat local this day.
I was just in Mississauga.
So driving down the 401 heading towards
Woodstock.
And there's this Audi like riding my ass.
And it's a nice like S series little SUV,
like a very nice vehicle.
All blacked out.
and I had an opening so I got over and it
came up past me while the vehicle in front
of me was going slow hence why I was going
slower so he couldn't really go very far
and I glance over and it's like wait a
second I know who that is I was like no
there's no way like Google show me Gary
Roberts in Toronto and my phone pops up
with all these images and the one there's
one of them he's got like blood down his
face almost like the Gilmore photo right
and I zoom in on it and I grab my phone
and I slap it against my side window.
And I'm just driving and I glance over and
I'm, I would have around someone if they
touched her brakes, like it would have
been a bad scene.
But I'm staring at him.
I'm staring at him and he's on the phone,
he's talking.
Hands -free, of course, unlike me.
And he glances over and he does like a
double take and the biggest shit -eating
grin goes across his face like you could
ever imagine.
and he gives me a big thumbs up and starts
nodding and I'm like, oh my God, yes, what
are the freaking chances?
Oh, that's so sick.
Yeah, I was wondering, like, how did you
manage to get a glimpse of somebody on the
highway beside you and put together who it
is while driving?
But dangerously, that's how.
Got it.
You
Oh man.
So welcome back to Leafs Late Night.
I'm your host Roscoe joined by Beener.
We are expecting Sully later at some
point.
We are presented by Inside the Rink, where
it's never too late for the Leafs ever,
ever as we are now forcing game six.
Not gonna lie.
It's been a painful series, starting
without Nylander and then we find out
Matthews has been battling something and
then...
they start battling each other on the
bench and now we're without Matthews and
it's just Sammy not up to the same
confidence level that he was over the last
couple weeks before the playoffs.
Like things have not felt as rock solid
for these first couple of games and
rightfully so Leafs Nation's been a little
angry and a little frustrated and kind of
feels like things are on repeat but maybe
this is even worse than last year.
But tonight, sure enough, like you said,
Tavera's driving the play and Maddie Nye's
burying the OT winner.
So keeping the life support on, but I
don't know.
Are you as glum about this as I am?
Cause I'm like, I'm really struggling to
feel like there's a light at the end of
this series.
So, throughout the course of this podcast,
I've felt, and I could be completely
wrong, but I've felt that I've been more
of the steady, reserved one out of all of
us.
You, Dardee, Sothe, Steph, we love you
Steph.
But, I have felt literally every emotion,
including the newest emotion of Numb.
Like that game on Saturday was probably
the lowest I've felt with regards to a
Leaf game.
God, um, since the Kessel era.
Like it, it, it, it was bad.
I don't, I don't recall ever truly feeling
that, that low.
The effort was just, it was not there.
Like,
To me, the best part of that whole game
was seeing the emotion on the bench from
the boys.
Because that's something we hadn't seen.
Like, we come out game one and
understandably you could pretty much write
an ink that Dolmy was gonna do what he
did.
All the pressure on him, his dad playing
for the team, coming out, he wanted to
make an impact, show like he's the type of
player, like he's gonna come out playing
hard like that to the point that he's
gonna take some stupid penalties.
And that happened.
We should have expected that and I wasn't
overly concerned after game one.
But with how game two was obviously
significantly better.
But like with how everything's gone since
then, it's...
It's really interesting and to see all the
the negative the negativity and the things
going on online like I was with everybody
we called for it what January for Keith to
lose his job like I was to the point I
think I even messaged in her group like
fire Keith Keith shouldn't be coaching for
game five.
Well, yeah, and it's like I've said in the
past two on the show, the the minor
decisions and the minor impact that he
does have, like on what happens on the
ice, he still manages to screw up.
Like when they brought Nylander in and
took Dewar out, it was like what you could
have taken any number of people like Ryan
Reeves could have come out of that lineup.
who has since the first game been kind of
non -existent and almost a liability has
probably cost more goals than he's created
scoring chances.
Like putting out PP1, putting out like
even tonight when Domi is dominating on
the faceoff dot and in these crucial
positions, you're not putting him in that
position instead of you're putting
Taveras.
Like he just, like the power play has been
atrocious for a month now.
And I don't know, it's when you have this
lineup on paper,
And these issues are still happening year
after year in the playoffs.
Like I said, the one who chokes the most
is Sheldon Keefe.
Like he gets out coached year after year
in the playoffs because he just can't
settle on something.
He has 82 games to figure out what his
lines are supposed to be.
And the week leading up to and all through
the playoffs, he just forgets everything,
throws it all in a blender and says, let's
start from scratch and just start putting
random guys together.
Like I get the whole, if it's, if it's
December and you want to throw William
Nylander with Yarncroak,
and Holmberg for the Swedish line.
That's fun.
Sorry, but not in the playoffs in game
four.
What the fuck are you thinking?
Like this is just, that line makes no
sense as like a playoff line.
That's a novelty line.
And I mean, look, he scratched TJ Brody
for the first game and then brings him
back and his play has been mediocre still.
Like we have a cycle of, a massive cycle
of defensemen you can go through when he's
still.
not playing the right people and playing
the right people together in the right
positions.
Like I just, I can't, if this is it, if
they go down in either game six or seven,
like it can't be Keith again next year.
I don't care what the record is through
the regular season as everybody screams
after like, it's like through May to
August, everyone says the regular season
doesn't matter.
Then it starts and everybody forgets that
they said the regular season doesn't
matter.
But then.
you can try to shit on Keef and it's like,
oh, but look at his regular season record.
That's fine.
His playoff record is horrible.
Like he does not have whatever it is.
Like the same thing that's been running
through the rest of this team, there's
like a stage fright when it comes to the
playoffs that they just crack under the
pressure.
And I don't know where it starts, but
having the head coach be part of that
problem is not a good thing.
Like if it's coming from him down and you
know, there's another thing to that, which
is a,
The fact that Matthews is the pseudo
captain and not quite the captain yet, but
like then he goes down and it's,
everyone's a little confused as to like
who's in charge because Tavares has
definitely taken a step back from that
role and like Nylander's back, is he
calling the shots tonight?
Like this committee is definitely shaken.
There's a rift there as we saw on the
bench.
Like they're not, they're not all
listening to the same message anymore.
Like it's getting hard to watch.
Like again, tonight and game two,
both looked fine, but it's not the games
when they look good that are the problem,
it's the games when they look bad that's
like, holy shit, what happened to the team
from two nights ago?
Like that last goal, sorry, last thing,
that last goal in game four, the third one
where it just bounced past the defense and
went in, like that kind of effort, you see
Nylander just kind of gave up on the play,
it bounced through everybody and they're
just like, whatever, we're done here.
Like if that's the effort.
pack it in.
It gives us nothing to watch.
And it was at home too, guys.
Come on.
People are paying a lot of money to...
Well, and this is one of the few takes I
don't think I, or I think I've ever
disagreed with Joe Bowen on.
Like I love Bowen.
I even said for, what was it, Game Two?
I was messaging that I synced up the feeds
and it was so refreshing to watch the
video and have the audio Bowen rather than
Cuthbert.
But like he was getting on the fans.
If I'm paying a thousand dollars a seat to
go see a playoff game,
and I see some of the shit that was going
down with some of the players in those two
home games, 100 % I'm gonna boo.
Why am I gonna stand up and scream my
heart out and give everything when that's
the effort they give?
Yeah, exactly.
Right?
Like, it...
I get what he's saying.
It's almost weird when we see some of
these other buildings and how loud it is,
like you can't hear the announcers.
But at the same time, give us something to
cheer for.
Look at when Reeves was leveling guys.
When, you know, when we had a chance to
win one of the other games.
And like, big hits.
And I want to say it was second period.
And we were right there.
Everything was looking good.
Those hits, the crowd was electric.
Look at when my dad and I were there in
the regular season when Matthew scored his
60th.
Like the whole arena was vibrating with
chants of MVP.
Like that arena will get loud, give us
something to cheer for.
Yeah, it's like they talk about the fact
that Toronto's, or like, elite fans in
general are a smart hockey market.
Like they pay more attention than any
other.
Like I'd say most other fans, like top
five of most hockey educated fans.
Like we know what we're watching.
So you can't flip that around and say,
hey, you should just cheer for whatever
happens.
It's like, no, like we know that we're
watching a team that should be far better
than this.
Give a bullshit effort for the like 20th
time in a row.
This is getting so annoying and people
like you said are paying so much money to
sit in these seats to watch an effort that
should be from November, not April.
Like, oh my God.
Okay, hard right turn.
Let's talk about what has been working so
far and then we'll come back to what's not
because we got to do this as like a
sandwich.
What has been decent?
Um, Eddie.
Eddie's been what we wanted him to be.
Like he's been this year's version of Shen
basically.
Like a steady senior defenseman who's come
in, he's played a little bit physical,
hasn't done anything, you know, absolutely
amazing, but he also hasn't done anything
crazy out there that's going to cost a lot
of...
A lot of problems and a lot of goals
against the first game He had that oopsie
where him and Reeves both went after the
same guy Initially in my head it was
Eddie's fault.
He shouldn't have pinched at the same time
With where the players were when he
started to go in Reeves was out of the
blue line Reeves should have stayed out
there He was trying to be a little over
aggressive and overzealous.
So you could kind of pin that on Reeves if
you wanted to single out anybody
I mean, that is how he plays.
It's like, he's always gonna chase the
body, chase the puck.
If he makes a mistake, he's going after
the guy.
He doesn't really play positionally.
But to me, Eddie's been good.
Really, Benoit, I've been singing his
praises for a while, saying he's probably
the next Jersey Abbey.
I've been really happy with him.
And then just probably the fact that
clearly Marner still isn't 100%.
Like, I'm not trying to give him a pass,
because some of the effort isn't exactly
there, but people saying that he's
shying away from contact.
I wouldn't necessarily say he's shying
away from contact.
You're seeing a player that is used to
being able to skate at 100 miles an hour
and dangle at the same time, but because
his ankle still isn't where it should be
coming back from a high ankle sprain, he's
trying to do everything at 100 miles an
hour, but he can only go 70.
So he doesn't have the confidence, not the
ability.
Yeah, it's definitely a negative, sorry.
I went right to the negative again there.
I was just...
Like, ooh, Forsberg just took a puck in
the back, sorry.
Yeah, it's just clear that that's there.
And then obviously tonight with Wall, like
no offense to Sammy, but the team plays
completely different when Wall's out
there.
And he settled everything down.
You saw right from when he jumped in to
take over the third period for Sammy, his
first shot was a ridiculous cross crease
pass and a great pad save.
And that's typically not the type of save
you get from Sammy.
Yet again, nothing against him.
He's the...
You know, the way he babbled back this
year was absolutely incredible from what
he went through, but different goaltending
creates different plays in front of you.
And a lot of tonight stems from how calm
he is back there and the confidence that
he gives everybody.
Yeah, and it's funny because that's
shifted back and forth this season, right?
Like, Walls had a couple runs where he's
fallen out of favor and the team starts to
not play as confident in front of him.
And then they put Sammy in and it's the
same effect.
So, you know, it's just about having your
pulse on the team.
And it's unfortunate, kind of like what
happened with Boston last year, where they
ran Swamen all the way up until like the
last game and then they decided to put Al
Mark in and blew it.
Like, I feel like we kind of...
pulled that this time where Wall should
have come in much sooner in the series and
played back and forth with Sammy or at
least figure out earlier on in the series
if you play better or worse with him if
you have a shot.
Like that was the whole point of having
both goalies.
You weren't waiting for Sammy to get
injured.
Like this is a one A and one B.
Yeah, and like, aside from the goal
tenant, if you look at the players that
everybody was excited to see, you look at
Domi, you look at Rutoosie, they've been
factors, but it hasn't necessarily been
like amazingly positive.
Like Domi's first game, tonight he was
incredible.
Like filling in top line center, his face
-offs, everything.
I give him...
full props for how we played tonight.
But the first game, the stupid penalty,
and I get people are on key for calling
him out, he's the only player that played
with her, blah blah blah, whatever the
hell you want to say.
But you can't be taking penalties like
that.
And then with Burt, like, Burt's been
doing a really good job of getting under
Marshawn's skin, but same thing, a couple
ill -advised penalties, and it's one thing
to get under his skin, but you need to be
able to do what Holmberg did tonight.
get under his skin to the point that, you
know, if you're taking penalties, he's
coming with you, but also you being under
his skin so much, he can't even play his
game.
Because previous to this, he was still
playing his game.
He was still getting chances, getting
looks.
And, you know, that is something that we
need to prevent as much as I hate the guy.
You can't just give him open shots all the
time, isn't it?
Yeah, and I mean, just to add to that,
aside from all of the calls that have been
like just bad discipline on the Leaf side,
there's been, I feel way less frustrated
with the officiating this series than I
have in years in the past, as far as like
things going uncalled or things seeming
one -sided.
Like, yeah, there's some things that have
been uncalled like in game four, where
Marshawn took Matthews down behind the
net, took somebody else down too.
There was like, like,
These WWE takedowns seem to be the Bruins
thing where they just grab onto you and
fall down.
But other than those, there hasn't been a
lot that's been a blatant missed call or
people getting violent and it just being
whatever, that's playoff hockey.
They've definitely reigned that in because
I think the fan base and the general
managers and coaches and players,
everybody was getting frustrated with the
fact that it was basically two different
games and it didn't matter how your team
was built for the regular season.
And if you were built to be good in the
playoffs, you would basically barely make
the playoffs.
So I'm glad that they've fixed that a bit.
Yeah, so I'm glad you brought that up
because this is the first time I can
actually remember since the lockout that I
haven't been annoyed at the officiating.
And I'm not trying to blame the past Leaf
loss was on officiating because at the
same time, like even with the Carrie
Frazier thing against Gilmore, Toronto
still had a chance to win game seven and
they didn't do it.
Like.
officiating is what it is and it's always
going to be an issue, it's never going to
be perfect.
But, okay, there's been a little over
-embellishing on the Boston side of
things, but at the same time there's been
a lot of stupid penalties from Toronto.
Like, a lot of stupid penalties.
And there's been calls missed on both
sides.
Too many men calls for Toronto's that have
been actually missed, which is baffling.
Yeah, like it's...
it...
There is not a single time that I can look
at this series, like even the McEvoy
takedown of Matthews behind the net.
Okay, yeah, I don't like that, but that's
the type of thing that kind of gets let go
in the playoffs that wasn't, you know,
egregious, that wasn't ridiculous.
The Burt and Marshawn stuff before that
one goal in that game, both of them should
have been called.
I'm not saying that should have been
Marshawn, the least of the power play, but
both of them should have been called.
And then if you want to go even further,
play Devil's Advocate, the Leafs should
have scored a penalty or a power play goal
at some point.
Like, you touched on the power play, but.
think what it's come down to is if the
league wants the game to be more
entertaining in the playoffs, like when
there's a situation where two guys are
both engaged in something and you could
send them both off for two minutes, it's
the playoffs.
Let them both get up and keep playing.
Like unless it's egregious, like again,
with Holmberg and Marshawn when it was
nonstop and it was three separate
incidents and they were finally like, OK,
guys, break it up.
You're both going to the box.
But like you said, with McAvoy and
same as the Burt and the Marchand thing.
Just take Bertusia and put Hohenberg in.
Those two plays are the exact same.
They both should have been called out.
I got my little thumbs up bubble again.
But like I'm saying with the McEvoy and
Matthews thing, like there's some times
where you can tell that both players were
kind of getting at each other and you
could call two and it's like, fuck it, I'm
not pulling these two guys off the ice.
You guys can keep, you can work it out and
keep playing.
I know you're fine.
It is definitely refreshing to see that
they're trying.
Like aside from, like you said, missed
calls, you can tell what the, I don't know
how to put it, like the overall, like what
they're trying to.
call seems to be on track.
there actually seems to be a standard in
this series.
Yeah.
way to put it.
They've set the bass level.
Not to mention I really loved the fact
that the linesmen absolutely took out
Marshawn after that home bird thing.
That was awesome.
everywhere immediately.
People were sending me memes of that and I
was like, this just happened like two
minutes ago.
How is this all over Instagram already?
But Sportsnet was like, oh, we're hopping
on this one.
We're getting those likes.
So another thing that I think has been
working well, Labushkin and McCabe, like
the defense for once, I'm like, you know
what?
I'm not yelling at glaring.
turnovers and pucks that are bouncing over
your stick and not being able to hold a
blue line and like like in their own zone
and in in the offensive zone all of them
for the most part have been pretty good
like I'm not putting a lot of this lack of
scoring on the defense because I mean look
they they showed the stat in the game the
Leafs were at about 50 % of what they were
scoring during the regular season I think
it was 3 .65 a game another at 1 .75 a
game so it's on
It's on the forward groups.
Like the power play hasn't put anything
together.
The fourth line has been basically non
-existent, but they get, you know, way too
much ice time.
And you've had an injured Matthews and a
Nylander that's out.
And I don't know, all these other guys
that are trying, but it's, it just feels
like we got the short end of the stick
again.
So the defense isn't the glaring hole that
everybody said it was going to be.
Like they've been serviceable, they've
been steady.
The Brody gaffe last game, that was
definitely a gaffe, yeah.
But there hasn't been anything absolutely
crazy.
They haven't defended like we know they
can as a unit.
Like look at when Riley went out.
to put it.
When Riley went out, the way the team
defended as a five man group on the ice
was absolutely incredible.
You defend like that, you can beat
Colorado, even how they're playing right
now.
Like that is the way you should be playing
and they're still not doing that, but it
hasn't been ridiculous.
Like.
Matthews and Nylander have been leading
that charge this year as much as people
like to say Nylander doesn't.
This year he really has.
And with them both out and not at 100%,
that kind of all falls on Marner who's, I
don't know, like you said, still dealing
with his ankle or whatever it is.
And he's been trying.
Like there's a couple of plays where he's
pinched back and even tonight, like on
that three on two, he managed to get back
in time.
But I mean, really there's nobody else on
the team that's been doing that well.
And unless you want to put the fourth line
out there and it's like, they haven't been
doing it well in this series.
So you're without an option.
Well, Dewar's been really good, in my
opinion anyways, and ever since Dewar came
over, the penalty kill got better, because
they put him on there right away, like
that's his specialty, that's why you go
and get a guy like that.
And then Keef goes and ruins it by
scratching Dewar when Nylander comes back.
But, like, even Lubushkin, who at this
point, with the defense that are playing
right now, is
probably the weak link.
He hasn't been bad.
Like he's kind of a black hole.
Nothing happens offensively or defensively
when he's out there, which you know what?
Hey, if I'd rather that than have goals
scored against me all the time, but it's,
it's been good.
Mo hasn't been what he was last year in
the playoffs because last year he was just
a weapon in the playoffs.
It was awesome.
But.
even he's been a little better than he was
for probably most of the season.
Yeah, I think the best way that I can put
what I'm seeing is the defense and the
forwards are two separate units that are
not operating together.
Like they have not been able to convert
from getting the puck away from the Bruins
to getting it back out of their zone.
Like their transition has been horrible.
Like it seems like the forwards are trying
to score and they'll grab it if they can
off a turnover and get in.
And if it's in their zone, the defense
handle it and one of the forwards goes
back and...
That's kind of it.
Like there's no transition whatsoever.
And it's, it's why the Bruins have been
able to keep them in.
Like, as soon as it comes into the Leaf
Zone, I'm like, fuck, they're going to get
like six shots.
They did a good job in the first period
of, of keeping the Bruins away from the
net.
And they've actually done a pretty good
job the whole series of keeping the shots
down for the most part.
But like, as soon as they get in there,
it's like, well, we're screwed now.
There's, I don't know what it is about the
communication.
Like there's some leadership element
missing.
And I think it's because...
of a combination of you don't have Whitley
for the first three games and Matthews is
dealing with something.
There's just a whole of somebody to lead
this charge and keeps not putting the
pieces together to fill that gap.
Yeah, and it's really weird that he can't
get them to buy into, like I said, what
happened when Riley was down.
If they play like that for the rest of
this series, they went hands down.
But you need your other core guys to be
able to step up to cover for that and
bring everyone together.
And they're just not there.
I don't know what's going on.
Tavares is the only one that's healthy.
And he's been showing it because, my god,
the guy with that slap shot goal he took
and all the plays he set up and tonight,
he's the only one that seems like he's
healthy for the first time in years in the
playoffs.
And now we lose the other guys.
It's like...
Everyone else gets to LTIR their players
until the playoffs and all of ours get
hurt as soon as we get here.
So it's so hard to get a read on what
should be happening if everything was
going right.
You know, like it's everyone's talking
about trade martyr and blow this up,
rebuild around Matthews and Nylander, get
rid of everything else.
Like it's just so hard to to figure out
what this should have been had everything
gone right.
But it's also sports and that's never
going to happen.
So.
But like that's when you got to, that's
where the, the leadership leadership slash
coaching needs to come into question
because look at what's going on in
Vancouver.
They've got three wins in this series, all
with three different goaltenders and
they're, they're buying in as a unit and
they're getting it done.
They're having the commitment to do.
Everybody does what they have to do.
Like.
I don't care if it's Matthews going down,
Nylander going down, whoever going down.
Do what you have to do.
If you don't have that game breaker 60
goal score in your lineup right now, yeah,
that's going to change things.
But you know what you do have?
You do have 12 forwards and six defensemen
who are getting paid millions of dollars
to play the sport they love because
they've been playing it their entire
lives.
So one player not being on that team isn't
going to change how they know they should
be playing.
to play properly.
And skill will never beat hard work when
hard work, like when, what's the saying?
I've had a couple beers tonight.
Hard work beats skill when skill doesn't
work hard, that's it.
So it doesn't matter how much skill you
have, if you're not working, you can still
get your asses handed to you.
So if you lose some of that skill,
Go back to the old school, work hard, get
the shit you have to do done and go from
there.
That's like this team in a nutshell is too
much skill and not enough effort.
I don't know where along the lines they
figured that like they're good enough that
they don't need to give 100 % because
they're 90 % is better than most people's
110.
But like that catches up to you when you
stop giving that effort all the time.
And I don't know where it's stemming from,
but like it doesn't matter who we bring
into this organization.
It just...
sucks the effort out of people.
Like, I don't know what it is.
Like, it lasts only so long.
I mean, even Bertuzzi and Domi still have
a bit of it left, but if they stick around
next year, like, I don't know if it's
gonna be the same effort out of them.
Like, that's why I love seeing players
like Matthew Nyes.
Like when he was trying to go at
Pasternak, after Pasternak and Riley were
getting into it, and then Nyes tapped on
his chest and said, no, go me.
And Pasternak didn't say anything and he's
just like, yeah, that's what I thought.
That's what I thought.
Like that edge, that fire, like the kid
just doesn't stop.
He has a bad giveaway and he's still in
there the next shift doing the exact same
thing because he knows that's what got him
to where he is.
and he knows that's what's gonna make him
successful.
Like he is our junior Gary Robert.
Yeah, and like I said, I mean, even
tonight, like we were saying, Domi was
fantastic in doing that there's individual
efforts every night, but it's getting that
cohesive team effort together that seems
to come and go inconsistently.
kind of efforts are what drags a team
through though.
Like 2002, the Leafs were without Sandeen
for the majority of their playoff run.
And they made the conference finals
against Carolina.
Like, you can get there.
You just, you have to, you have to buy in.
So when you have your best player at the
time, Sundin was undisputed their best
player and he was out and you have Alan
McCauley stepping up.
Like no offense to McCauley, I loved the
guy, but he wasn't Matt Sundin.
No.
Like, it doesn't matter if you are hurt,
sick, whatever.
If you're good enough to play and you play
and then you have players going out like
Domi, and do, excuse me, doing what he did
tonight.
It doesn't matter if he's your captain.
It doesn't matter if he's been on your
team for 400 games or for two games.
That's going to drive you to want to make
your shift that much better.
Like, Jesus Christ, look at what this
guy's doing out there.
I need to pull my socks up.
And...
At the end of the day, that's what this
team needs more of.
And we've been seeing it so much from
Matthews and then this year as well from
Nylander, like all year he's been doing
it, just getting it done, going out there
and both ends of the ice.
He's been proving everybody wrong that he
can do it and showing that.
And it's a little refreshing that we got
it from a couple of different guys
tonight, because that's not typically the
case.
Typically, if we don't get it from the big
boys, we're not getting it at all.
Well, that's kind of what I mean is like,
for some reason, this team lives and dies
by, I mean, not for some reason, that's
the way it's built, but this team lives
and dies by the core and they're not
together right now.
Like, I mean, we saw the rift on the bench
and hopefully that is a fire like when,
when Nylander jumped Ridley Grieg, that
it's like, it brings everyone together and
the, or at least they can channel it into
like something on the ice, but.
My God, if this gets worse, like I don't
know what this team does in the off
season.
I just, I don't like how things are
looking through this.
Like, yes, everyone through the whole
regular season improved.
Like Matthews and Neelander both took
massive steps this year, but like, if
they're the only ones that this team was
going to live or die by, like here we are,
they're both not here really.
And this is what happens.
Like the series seems kind of lost.
Not lost yet.
Not yet.
I know.
I know, I know.
It's tough.
Okay.
Another thing that's been looking good
this series.
Well, the Bruins goaltending, which is
something I was afraid of before we came
into this.
Like, I know we've got some crazy goals
scoring on this team, but my God, they've
been all year.
It's not even just this series.
They have not been able to score on
Swainman and Allmark and...
It's not gotten any better.
Even the power play is not helping.
So...
What, uh...
because we have done the same drop pass
for the entire eight years of Matthew's
tenor, like tenure here.
Like that stupid drop pass zone entry is
absolutely baffling.
Joe Bowen and Jim Ralph, I was the first
period I was listening to as I was cutting
the grass because I just, I couldn't watch
the first period.
So I was listening to it on the radio as I
was cutting the grass and they were
laughing at it.
Like at this point,
just start declining the penalties.
You're having better zone entrances five
on five than you are penalty killing
because you cannot do anything other than
the drop pass.
Yeah, they need to get rid of Gibouche
too.
Like, I don't know what happened here.
Somehow from January to now, the powerplay
went from 50 % to like 8%.
This is...
it's shocking how bad they are.
Well, they've also been doing the same
drop paths for eight years though.
Well, but yes, you could run one play, but
like one play isn't the entire two
minutes, right?
Like the guys are on the ice to try to
figure things out longer than that.
You know, turnovers happen.
They have to be creative and do other
things.
Like, yeah, trying to set that play up is
screwing them over, but it's not like they
weren't good all year.
Like I said, in January, they were
literally at 50 % on the power play.
They were in first place.
and it just from there continuously
dropped.
Mm -hmm.
So I don't know if it just works sometimes
where the guys tell the assistant coaches
to fuck off sometimes and just do whatever
they want, but it's not working anymore.
And if they want a chance in game six and
seven, they got to put in more than one
power play goal in four games here.
Five.
They just, they need to play more like
they did tonight.
They need to continue playing as a team
and drive and battle for every inch.
It's the playoffs, right?
Completely different game and you can't,
you can't just get by on skill alone.
No, and they've done a good job of staying
in the fights.
Like, I mean, we've seen all the stats and
the puck battles they're winning and
staying physical and standing up to
everybody.
Like, they have an answer to the Bruins
this year physically, which they haven't
had any other time we've seen the Leafs
play them.
Like, you know, obviously that's what all
these guys were brought in for, but
actually seeing it work, you know,
especially the addition of Edmondson,
Lapouchkin and McCabe, everybody's been...
and Benoit, everyone's getting laid out in
the corners.
And offensively, you've got people that
are willing to...
go in and battle and successfully come out
with the puck.
So it's something that, again, we haven't
seen this team be able to stand up to.
So at least there's that.
It's just, again, converting that into
goals has been the problem between the
Bruins' crazy defense and crazy
goaltending, but that's where they are.
Regardless of who retires or who changes
around or who's playing first line center,
the Bruins still have that solid backend
and crazy culture.
So.
It's never easy.
No it's not, but they don't have...
Like they don't have Norris Caliber
defensemen back there.
It's not like we're going up against, you
know, Headman and McDonough.
No, I'd say that they're better
defensively though.
Like I'm not as worried about, you know,
shots from the point from Boston defense
or like, you know, like there's no Kale
McCarr there.
There's no Eric Carlson, somebody that's
going to, you know, carry the puck all the
way to the other end.
But they do make it really hard to get to
the net.
And even if you can get to the net,
Swainman stops 94 % of whatever comes at
him.
So that's, they just have at least a
system down for keeping pucks out.
Do do.
Nice as wrap around almost snuck in.
Ugh.
There were a lot of wraparound attempts
tonight.
Like, like a lot on both sides.
Yeah, like this is, you get to this point
in the series and you're used to
everybody's tendencies, so it becomes even
that much more difficult.
So it's nice to see that, like, okay, yes,
Keefe's hand was forced with injuries, but
the fact that the leafs could change it up
a little bit.
Now they've had to, because everything
they were doing wasn't working, but...
But it's nice to know that if you run
something else, it can also work, right?
You're not up shit creek.
fancy trying that, Keith.
Like, fuck.
Well, and that's what the weeks leading up
to this were all for, like, from, and even
months, like starting in February he was
playing around with lines, and I thought
the whole point of that was like, you
know, okay, backpocketing this one for the
playoffs, no, that works.
But then he gets here and it's like, hmm,
I don't know what to do.
What do you mean?
What do you mean?
Ugh, it's so frustrating.
But yeah, gotta give him credit where it's
due.
Played the right people in the right
positions tonight, and...
Man, if only the first period they came
out of that one like two nothing.
It's wild that the first or second shot
has gone in for the Bruins like almost
every game.
Like it's baffling.
They can keep them away for 10 minutes and
it's like, oh, they finally got a shot off
and it went in.
It might be better off letting their
goalies see some shots, you know, for the
first half of the first period, but.
Well, well maybe.
The Frederick Gull and Samsonov killed my
confidence in them for this series.
I don't know what's up with Sammy, man.
Like, it's so hot and cold the last month,
but before that it was so solid.
Damn.
Do you think they run wall back for the
next game?
Absolutely, they have to.
Hmm.
I know they should.
Do you think they will?
Yeah, like, Keith's gotta know his job's
on the line here.
He can't be going and doing that.
Not that Sammy was the reason we lost,
because you can still overcome goals, but
with the way everything shifted with that
Frederick goal.
Yeah, as soon as you let a bad one in, you
can see the shift in the team.
Like they just they're afraid to let
anything get close.
They start playing anxious and it's just
bad from there.
So if like if the confidence comes from
the goalie outwards, put ball back in.
And my God, please get a win at home.
People pay a lot of money to watch you
guys in Toronto.
To send people home two games without a
win is like torturous.
Isn't it like five or six in a row we've
lost at home too?
Yeah.
Yeah.
my dear lord those poor fans.
I couldn't do it just knowing that like I
couldn't drop the 1200 or whatever it is
on tickets.
That's wild.
Yeah, the only way I'm going to a playoff
game is either winning tickets or if they
play in Toronto on my actual birthday,
then I would go.
Fair.
Okay, so do we think Matthews is back next
game?
Hopefully from this illness.
Um, to be completely honest, I don't think
so.
If he was only good to skate for eight
minutes this morning.
And then with what O 'Neill was saying on
overdrive, how he saw him whisper that to
the trainer that, you know, I can't
fucking skate.
Like.
What is this?
Like...
I'm wondering if it's when he got taken
down behind the net to be completely
honest.
If it's some sort of groin or knee or
ankle.
Cause that was an awkward, as silly as
that sounds, cause it didn't look like
much, but it was awkward.
And that's when shit happens, right?
Like you can go and get absolutely rocked
like McNabb got by Jamie Vann last night
in the Dallas Vegas game and be perfectly
fine.
But you fall down a little funny cause
you're not expecting to be pulled down and
you get injured.
If he's done, I don't know, man.
Like this is why it's so hard to keep
expectations and confidence up when
everything just seems to be going wrong.
It just feels like the Montreal series
again, where it's like, oh, and JT is
down.
Like, it's just knowing that we got all
the way here and protected everyone for
this point.
And they all get hurt like as soon as we
get to the playoffs.
It's just, it's really annoying.
Anyway, so keys to success next game are
please, please for the love of God, try
something different on the power play.
Try something different to get around
Swamen.
Like you figured it out with some quick
shots.
Don't, when you've got a two on one, take
the shot, don't pass.
He's gonna expect to pass, my God.
Like stay out of the penalty box.
Don't take dumb calls.
I don't know.
I'm assuming you're talking about the Domi
-Bertuzzi 2 -on -1.
Like, if Domi took another couple strides,
yeah.
Take a couple more strides to get a little
bit more speed and then it adds that much
more pressure on both the goalie and the
defenseman.
And I think that would have made the world
of difference, even if he did still just
look at Bertuzzi the whole time.
can't make that pass without looking at
Bert?
Like, he's probably done it a thousand
times.
To be completely honest, looking at him
the whole time, I probably would have just
shot it at the net.
Well, that's what I mean is like, if, if
did he try to do like a galaxy brain, like
he, yeah, like I'm gonna make him think
I'm doing the pass, but he's gonna say
like, there's no way he's gonna make this
pass.
He's been staring at him.
He must be shooting it.
Like, oh, mind games, like too hard of
mind games, bro.
Just take the shot.
That was a page out of Mitch Marner's book
there.
For me they need to do a lot of what they
did tonight.
They need to just steady it down, don't do
anything too crazy with regards to
retaliation when it comes to the rat.
And then, yeah, lots of shots, lots of
attempts.
What did I say it was after the first?
Like 31 to seven or something shot
attempts for the Leafs?
Yeah, they got to get a rebound, a weird
bounce.
Like, look what happened with Nia's goal.
Like, you get something that pops off of
his pad, off a skate and into the right
spot because he's always going to be, most
of the time, in the right position.
So you got to get a lucky bounce or a
rebound or something.
So get like Bertuzzi's been doing, have
someone parked in front of him like Boston
does with every fucking line.
Soon as the puck goes behind the net,
there's somebody directly in front of Wall
or Sammy or whoever it is.
So they just they got to be better about.
creating secondary and tertiary chances.
Well, when you when you when goal scoring
is at a premium in the playoffs, that's
what you need to do.
You need to get to those areas.
Right.
Like we just we need to play as a unit and
make sure everybody's on the same page.
So that we don't have defense been doing
stupid passes when there's no forwards
there.
Like we need to make sure that we do
pretty much what we did tonight.
Like.
good on the face -offs, lots of fore
-checking, lots of shots.
Don't give them anything.
When we're in RN, stay on them.
Okay, yeah, lay the body and make sure you
make it tough on them, but don't go out of
your way to lay the body, if that makes
sense.
Yeah, exactly, because we've seen too many
times where somebody gets tied up after
they lay a hit because, you know, Boston's
good about, they know after they get up,
if they start talking shit, you're now
stuck with them instead of going back to
the play that's going the other way.
And you should be there and they'll catch
you on that.
So, yeah, just get in, get out when you
need to.
It's gonna be a rough couple games, but
hopefully a couple and not just one.
I was like fully prepared for tonight to
be it.
We'll be back at it on Saturday after game
seven.
Oh man, we'll see.
Okay.
How are the other series doing?
I literally have not checked.
NHL playoff bracket.
What's going on?
Well, Carolina's advanced, so they play
New York round two.
So it'll be the Rangers and Hurricanes.
Florida beat Tampa for one.
They await the winner of our series.
Colorado, yes, Colorado, Winnipeg.
The game itself was tied 2 -2 last I saw.
I've got the Predators -Conucks game on in
front of me right now.
A lot of like uneven series.
You know, last year we saw everything like
almost every game was going to over,
pardon me, over time.
And so many games went, or series went
seven games.
And these are like, I'm seeing a lot of
potential for one and for nothing series
here.
Before Dallas won last night, this was
looking like it was going to be the first
year since they went to the seven game
format where there was no 2 -2 series in
the first round.
Yeah, this is pretty wild to look at.
Like all of the East, I thought the Leafs
were getting a rough go, but like the
Rangers went 4 -0, Carolina 4 -1, Florida
4 -1, Colorado's up 3 -1, Vancouver's up 3
-1, and Edmonton's up 3 -1.
Like this is crazy.
Colorado just scored 4 -3 right now.
Well, who's your pick for coming out of
the West at this rate?
If I had to say this before the playoffs
started, I was going to say Dallas, but
someone turned the Colorado Avalanche on
and it's looking like we're two years ago
when they were in the playoffs and they
were just a wagon.
Like I kind of have to go with the
Avalanche right now out of the West.
Yeah, I mean, the fact that they're making
Winnipeg look silly is definitely worth
noting.
Because I mean, like, obviously Vancouver
was going to be good and they tend to have
Nashville's number throughout the season.
Edmonton and LA, I was interested.
I thought that was going to go seven, but
it seems like Edmonton might be able to
close that one out 4 -1 -2.
I want to say Vancouver, Edmonton, just
because like we need a Canadian team to
make it, but...
I think you're right, Colorado's probably
just gonna tear their way through this,
because they're gonna play the winner of
Dallas or Vegas, which is gonna be a good
series, but I don't know, with how things
are looking there, they might just
steamroll through that, so.
Weird, quirky fact.
If you would have told me 10 years ago, 15
years ago, that we would be in the
playoffs and there would only be two
starting goalies out of the 16 teams that
are Canadian, I would have told you you
were absolutely wrong.
Whoa, really?
Can you name them?
Spencer Knight.
Nope.
Barbarofsky's starting for the Panthers.
And he's American anyways.
oh, true.
Uhhh...
Oh my god.
Is Aiden Hill Canadian?
Actually Hill I'm not sure but Thompson's
been starting for the Knights.
It's Logan Thompson.
He's Canadian and Stuart Skinner.
Sorry, I guess you could include Talbot,
but didn't they start Riddick the other
night?
Yeah, so for the Kings I'm not sure who
their starter technically would be.
Almost the entirety of all the other
goalies are American or Russian.
It's actually really weird.
Well, I mean, the Russians have definitely
taken over goaltending over the last like
two decades, but as well as the American
hockey program has gotten better.
But yeah, it's weird because Canada
dominated goaltending for so long.
Yeah, specifically the province of Quebec,
which was ridiculous.
Yeah, true.
Okay, who do you have for Rangers
Carolina?
Because Carolina's a full -grown wagon,
even though the Rangers won the
President's Trophy.
To be completely honest, aside from the
President's Trophy curse, I think the
Rangers might have had an edge, but I
cannot stand Adam Fox or Jacob Truba.
And part of me still got a soft spot for
Freddie, so I'm going Canes.
I think the Cains are gonna do it too.
They're like a full four lines and like,
you know, whatever it is, six defensemen
of terror.
Like they will just, they're so fast and
oh my God, yeah.
They're like if the devils figured their
shit out earlier.
Um, okay.
I think we can wrap it up there.
Thank you all for tuning back in.
I know it's been a while.
I appreciate all of you who stick it out
and have been asking for us to come back.
I know y 'all missed us and we miss you.
It's nice to be able to talk not about
work and not about other things and just
vent about hockey, you know.
It's good therapy.
It is.
All right.
Until next time.
Thank you all.
Oh, you know what?
Real quick, I did ask for questions and I
don't want to go away because it's been so
long without checking.
We did have some messages from people here
from Aaron at Easy Lifeguard 79.
Do you really think we can pull this off?
I mean, you just heard an hour of us say
whether we do or not.
My short answer is I'm ready to be let
down.
I'm not.
Like, they can.
I think it's possible.
But like, I'm not getting my hopes up too
high.
Uhh, Mike the Fanatic.
Who do you think you are?
I am!
Hahaha!
Go Leafs, go baby, passion!
And then he has the lyrics to Wonderwall,
which I'm pretty sure I can't sing on this
podcast.
And you don't need to hear that.
But yeah, that's it, no questions
otherwise.
I love that.
Who do you think you are?
I am!
I'm pretty sure that's 10 years old this
year too.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Yeah.
Oh, speaking of, this is what we'll close
out with.
I just read a crazy stat about the Wii
earlier today.
Did you know that the release of the Wii
is closer to the fall of the Soviet Union
than it is to today?
That's a little weird.
Oh, well.
released in 2006.
So that was, what's that?
18 years ago.
And the fall of the Soviet Union was
officially 1991, which would have been 15
years before the Wii came out.
My son's been reading a Ripley's book and
it's all these weird facts like you just
had.
And the one, he was having trouble with a
couple words so I was helping him read it.
And I did like a full double take after I
read it, like wait, what?
The year Toy Story 3 came out is the same
year as the last, the last execution by
firing squad in the United States.
What?
Wait, what?
Yep, 2010.
Holy shit.
Actually, that reminds me, I read another
one of those.
I didn't know this, but Frank Sinatra died
the night of the Seinfeld finale.
See, like in my mind, having been born in
the 90s, like I vaguely, vaguely remember
Seinfeld just ending.
Like I was, you know, I was like four or
five when Seinfeld ended.
But in my mind, Frank Sinatra died in like
the 70s.
Like he was long gone by the 90s.
Like I didn't, don't even put those two
things on the same plane.
So that was, that was a weird one.
But.
Inspired by that, I do want to find some
some leaf ones like what's closer to now
than 1967.
Oh Jesus, that's gonna be a big list.
Yeah.
No, just another one that always blew my
mind was Christopher Lee witnessed the
last guillotine execution.
What?
1977, France.
Oh my god.
Okay, so.
That's crazy.
What the fuck?
Okay, inventions of 1968.
I mean, okay, no, that's what, let's get
something fun.
What's, oh, the internet and glue sticks
were both invented in 1969.
The Soviet Union's first satellite is the
same age as bubble wrap.
What?
20 products you won't believe were created
in the same year.
Oh, gotcha.
Gotcha.
Well, that's fun.
I'm gonna look up something to have for
next time.
I'm not gonna bore you guys while I
actually Google things.
but you get the idea.
Like Post -it notes have been around for
less time than the Leafs have been waiting
for a Stanley Cup.
So, and like barcodes.
Anyway, goodnight.
So that was when I don't sign off soon
enough.
We just get bullshit.
Noooo
down down down down down
once I make my move.