Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets LIVE Post Game Reaction | Leafs Talk

Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets LIVE Post Game Reaction | Leafs Talk

Leaves talk JD Bunkis Justin Bourne. Something that we uh don’t get to say too often. Actually, we do get to say it in overtime, though. Yeah, they’ve been doing that lately. Uh the Leafs win. They beat the Columbus Blue Jackets in overtime. Uh spectacular performance by Joseph Wall. A massive goal by Eastn Cowan, but I just want to start with this, man. There was a weight to that win. Like, and I’m curious if you felt it, too, because that goal by Eastston Cowan, his reaction, and I think the feeling of Leaf Nation after that one tonight is a massive sigh of relief based on the way that I felt when Zack Winsky made it one- nothing with six minutes to play. You know, we did a lot of that on our show today where it was like this could be the big reset, you know, like it was a sort of discombobulated start to the year and then injuries, then should they fire the coach? But it’s like, okay, they got all three forwards back in the same game. They’re playing a, you know, a Columbus team that’s down a couple key pieces. This could be the win that launches them on a successful road trip and turns things around. And had they gone into Columbus and just got beat one- nothing, it would have been really hard to hold your head up and be like, “No, the next game it’s time.” So yeah, it’s a big big win for them. You need momentum. They need good things to happen starting immediately. Yeah. So again, um I think their goalender bought them time. Like that’s that’s what he did tonight. Yeah, like he bought last year. But okay, didn’t this the third period aside because I think that that was their worst period of the hockey game. This is the way that I would kind of break it down in the Cole’s notes version. All right, like okay, first period, some really horrible calls by the officials. Like two that are just completely nonsensical. Leafs end up having three penalty kills. Penalty kill does a great job, but very hard for you to have like any footing in the game. So like kind of a throwaway period. They survive it. Great. Second period, um, kind of back and forth like Columbus dominates the first half, they get the goal, it gets taken off the board, and then Toronto, I think, responds fairly nicely and gives a little bit of push back after what they what seemed to me being like their life flashing before their eyes. Third period, they kind of get bodybu shots at one point 10 to three. I don’t know what they finished at, but when Columbus scored that goal, it was 10 to three. And I looked at that and went, “This is pretty unacceptable.” They started to fall apart. But overall, this kind of felt closer to a last year’s Leafs game to me where they did a decent job of keeping Columbus to the outside. Their goalender made some spectacular saves and their big-time playmakers came up when it counted the most and provided them with a win. And now maybe Eastston Cowan is in that category. Yeah, 100%. Uh, you know, to your point about the first period, uh, I get the Sport Logic stats or whatever. The the Leafs had, uh, ozone possession time of 47 seconds at even strength and Columbus was like a minute 10. Like sick, great game, guys. Yeah, it was a horrible start. Yeah. And and like absurd officiating too, to your point. But yeah, this did look more like last year in a lot of ways. And I don’t know that that’s a massive compliment. I don’t think we said that the process was what we wanted it to be. even when the results were good a lot of the time last year. But, you know, looking at the numbers from the game, they did do a little bit better in terms of protecting, you know, the front of the net at five on five. However, the goalie makes massive saves, like no bones about it. If that’s not Joseph Wool, if that’s Hill to be, if that’s Primo, even if it’s Stallars this year, that’s a loss. That’s a Joseph W and he buys you time to sort out your problems. That’s that’s the biggest takeaway of this game for me is like do I love the process tonight? No. Like I’m not an idiot. I mean I am but yeah reasons. Yeah. But I I have at least I can look at a game like this and say Toronto did not outplay Columbus. There are some things I liked. I thought that they came out with a little bit more intensity. Yep. I think that it’s kind of damning that they’re missing $7 million worth of players in healthy scratches and I didn’t think for one second like they could use that guy right now. Like not even close. That’s what I mean is that’s not great. Uh Columbus isn’t exactly a great Shakes hockey team and they are missing guys and Wool had to make 35 saves of which what would you say were pretty spectacular? Like seven of them. I was going to say a dozen. I mean, the one he makes there in the dying minutes is like, my lord, how did that chance happen? Well, I would say that the third period was when he like did his best work. Yeah. Like, he just he was not going to give up those points tonight. He he battled, man. He used his athleticism. I I bet you when if he steps on the scale before tonight’s game and then he steps on the scale after the game, what do you think the pounds lost are in sweat? It’s like cutting weight for a fight in boxing. Yes, he’s down. Here’s a question for you. How much better would Anthony Stoolars been at the start of the year if Joseph Wall were there playing every other night and providing some insulation and less pressure on his games? Based on what we have, which is the last season’s track record, I would have to say materially better. And based on also the track record of when Stlars has been a backup and he’s been in backup minutes, he’s one of the better goalenders in the league. And like nobody doubts Stallars’s ability, right? He’s a huge goalie who’s athletic that plays his angles very well. Big, calm, athletic in the net. But I think at this point it’s become fairly clear he’s not that guy pal when it comes to playing this kind of a workload. I am a little interested in seeing like how Wool stands up to this. Yeah, because they’re going to need him to play a lot of games. I would guess that would you play him I would I would give him Friday off and play him Saturday after this game. I I thought the same thing. You know, my dummy take right now, just like reactionary whatever is like they should be a real tandem team in playoffs. I, you know, like I just feel like it’s the best thing for both of them. Neither of them seem super well equipped to to to be a number one full-time guy, so maybe they need to be a tandem. But but yeah, um here’s the thing. When you squeak by Columbus in overtime and your goalie needs 35 saves, let’s not worry about playoffs just yet. Okay, I actually like forgot where we are in the season that I was just like, “Yeah, in playoffs, you know, the thing we do every year, maybe not.” Listen, man. I just here’s the thing. Goalending, if we’re doing like Leaf’s identity, right? And and we’ve had this conversation a million times, like what is the Leaf’s identity? What is the Leaf’s identity? What is the Leaf’s identity? And really, when you think about last season, their goalending was a large piece of the group’s identity. And I think it gets a little bit overlooked that position at times because they don’t have a traditional guy like a Vaselvki, right? They had two guys that played at a tandem that shared stretches of dominance. And if you look back at last year, we had multiple conversations like, “Hey, do the Leafs have the best goalending tandem in the NHL? Hey, where do the Leafs rank in terms of what you would want to have in the all-time rankings of goalenders outside of like the Hella Bucks of the world, right? who, you know, regular season hella buck, not the playoff guy that just completely disappears. But I think for a game like tonight, if there’s one thing that is encouraging to me, it’s just that Joseph Wool is supposed to be an identity player for this team. He’s developed by this organization to be a 1A goalie. The plan was always for him to be the 1A over Stlars, and that’s why Stars’ contract looked the way that it did. And yeah, there’s going to be questions about how much of a workload he can handle. I think it’s fair for anybody to wonder. I don’t think he’s going to be able to do this every single night. I don’t think anybody can do this any every single night. No, you’re in the Hall of Fame. But if you’re looking at a game tonight saying, “Hey, you need your best players to be your best players.” And I think Joseph Wool is in that category for this team. And so, like, I’m not trying to sugarcoat again some of the process tonight, which was not great, but yeah, he just he was incredible. And I don’t think that it’s like a massive aberration that Wol can have a game like this for you. And and not to make this a podcast that isn’t an immediate, you know, reaction to the game, but it does make me look at where they’re at and going forward and all that kind of stuff where it’s like, you know, their whole stick was going to be this protect the the front of the net, make the game easier on the goalies. So Chris Tanv was really important, right? Like we talked about last year’s process, a big thing was that they would get out possession timed out shot out out whatever, but they wouldn’t get out high danger chanced. Um, you know, they they did protect the front of the net. Brandon Carlo was another guy. They’re like, “All right, we’re going to protect the front of the net.” Carlos looked weak. Tanv’s hurt. Uh, their decor just hasn’t been as good as that. And that, you know, as much as I hate that as an identity for your team as a fan, I don’t love watching a team who’s like, “Let’s let them have it.” um you know it is kind of what their build was last year. So maybe today is a step towards what that was. I’m looking here uh ozone possession time. The Leafs were ahead uh in the game. You know, maybe they’re they’re moving towards what they wanted to be this year. I I think that that is the case. Yeah. Like if you’re someone that was deeply unhappy with this game, I got bad news for you. Like they are who we thought they were. That’s I think this is who they are. But there’s still lots to sort out. Let’s be real. Sure. There’s lots to sort out. And I would say that one another real positive is the lines looked as though they had a real balance to them tonight. Just in terms of Okay, this makes a little bit more sense to me. Again, it says something pretty damning about your general manager that you removed $7 million worth of players that you brought in. Recently added players. Yeah. uh just now added players. Just now like just now added players and you didn’t look at the lineup once and go, “Huh, this feels like remotely incomplete.” And part of the reason for that is the rookie Easton Cowan who you came on my show uh was it it was last week, right, when we were talking about East Cowan and honestly no idea. Yeah, you’re right. The time right now it’s dark all the time. The Leafs are terrible. Watching sports every night, sleeping six hours. doing a two-hour show. Both my guests canled today. I’m like, come on. Really? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Right. And one right before Chris Pronger last minute and Zack Harper last minute during the show. So, like my brain is basically fried. Like, it’s a potato. It’s just a potato that you forgot in the microwave. That’s all it is. Just sitting in there rotting away. But you spoke about how he’s really changing his impression of what you thought he could be. And for me, I I just look at it and go, man, he’s changing my impression of what he could be for them this season. Like, I do think that he wears down, just like Joseph Wool probably wears down if it’s this kind of a workload, but man, what a huge goal for Eston Cowan in this game. Massive. Isn’t it crazy how he’s got a couple things and I’ll say it like he’s got some of the elevant elements that Marner had another London guy where it’s like the he keeps going going going you know Kipper call it a motor or whatever but also just the hockey sense like he’s a thinker he plays within the game and the traffic and gets to spots and you know and I will say even more so than than Martin obviously is very premature I’m not saying he’s going to be that good but he has got uh some fire, some push back, some whatever. I just He’s a really effective guy and on a team where guys sleepwalk through the the night sometimes. Not a sleepwalker. He is someone you’re happy to see on the ice, happy to see have the puck, um you feel pretty good about things. So, yeah, this season he’s going to matter for this team. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know. But the concern when he was going to be up was always, would he play enough to develop? Uh yeah, they’re going to not just play him, they’re going to need him. So, two thing, well, three things I guess because the shot is really nice, too, right? Like, it’s it’s a it’s a very good shot, but he makes contact with a Blue Jackets player a couple of times during that shift. One of which where he just gets like full-blown shoved. And to your point about the motor, he just doesn’t stop. He keeps going and he goes right back to his spot. In fact, like he wins a battle or collects a puck along the wall to kind of initiate that play. The battery is unbelievably impressive. Like again, it’s very early in a rookie season. There’s it’s called a rookie wall for a reason, but he played 18 minutes tonight, including they put him out there for Matthews’ first shift of overtime. And to me, that didn’t feel out of place. Like, I’ve made comments on this show about how I’m a little leery about the idea of throwing him up on power play one right away, asking too much of him, kind of handing him stuff before he’s earning it. But at this point, like he is kind of earning it. like when he was out there with Matthews. I felt as though he belonged on the ice in that moment. I felt better than having Max Doi out there with Matthews or N who I I I want to circle back on at some point. Yeah. But so it’s it’s the confidence with that shot because he’s been a little snake bit this season. So it’s nice for him to see one go in the net. It’s the motor on the play where it’s like he’s setting the pe the pick play. He’s taking a shove and he’s still getting to the front of the net into a dangerous area. But also it’s the emotion that he shows in scoring the goal. This is a team that has a lot of guys that I would describe as a little bit more stoic in nature. Um, other people would use more derogatory terms when it comes to how they would describe the energy of the team. And having like a young guy who plays with that level of enthusiasm, I I hope can be somewhat infectious. Yeah. No, totally, man. Uh, you know, looking at how he played, I’m looking at their forward group tonight and sorry to just revert back, but like No, it’s great. Who whose spot would Joshua and Michelli take? you like, you know, uh I’d like to say none. I I don’t see it. I don’t see Well, you don’t change a winning lineup and so they’re not playing Friday night, right? Really tough to see a spot for those guys. But yeah, Cowan um to your point about the the doy thing in in overtime. Well earned from his play tonight. Um yeah, he just keeps getting better and getting better fast. Yeah. Um okay, so you want to do a little line talk? Yeah. What uh what’s on your mind? Well, I have DOI works. You like that on the top line, don’t you? Okay, here’s my this is my take with DOI because we were texting a little bit about it throughout the game and I told you that I had something and I wonder if we’re of a similar mindset here. Um, I talked to Versteig this week about Doi and I’ve spoken to a bunch of guys about him. And listen, Max Max has like a place in Toronto sports royalty where he’s not as touched by former players and by like the media market, I think, as much as he is by the the nerds and the people that are on the outside of the hockey world who look at Tomy’s game a lot of the times and are like, “What is it that you’re doing here?” Like, what what is the positive? Because you can’t play center. Yeah. You can’t play center. You’re throwing hope passes every single night. You don’t really seem to fit with a lot of different players and you seem like a man without country where it doesn’t matter what line they put you on. All of a sudden that line seems worse. Yeah. I’m letting him play with Austin Matthews and Matthew Ny and I’m giving it a little bit of a runway because my take is if Max Doi doesn’t work with those guys then it just doesn’t work on the roster. This is the only way. Like he is originally was supposed to be a bit of a potential Marner buffer even when he got the contract. Like his best he’s ever looked in a Maple Leaf uniform was playing with Austin Matthews. He is a guy who is pass first and they are trying to get Matthews to be I would say way more of a shooter, way more engaged in the offensive end. give him somebody that he’s comfortable with, that he’s had chemistry with, but also like find out what you actually have because if DOI doesn’t work there consistently, then you’ve already tried the other things multiple times. You know, he’s not a centerman for you other than an emergency and it’s not great. You know, he’s not a great winger playing on opposite side of Bobby McMahon or uh playing beside a Scott Lton because he doesn’t really fit any of those jobs. So, if I’m Bubé, I’m trying to get this guy playing with confidence and hoping that he finds his game and does it with Austin Matthews because I think that if he can’t do it with Matthews, he can’t do it with anyone on this team. And you know that you got to get him off the roster. Yeah. I I think there’s a couple things for me. One is that I think if Austin Matthews, and I’m sure he does talk to the coach, he’s the captain. They said, “Who do you want, you know, playing with you, Nick Robertson or Max Doi?” It’s not even close. Like Nick Robertson is auto shoot. He touches his stick and it’s off his stick. Um, Max Doi is a pass first guy. I think you want Matthews going getting touches. You’re good with a pass first guy with him. And yeah, they’ve had success in the past. So, nobrainer 34 would prefer Max Doi to Nick Robertson on his wing. The other thing is, you know, one of the things I’m most critical about DOI for is the blind passes, right? He just he gets a touch and he just whips it in front and hopes someone there. He throws it through and hopes someone there. he tries to sus it over three sticks and hopes it lands. That’s something I think I’m fairly critical of. However, if he’s playing with uh you know, Yarn Croc and Lorent or whatever and one of those passes gets through, so what? It doesn’t get you anything. If it lands on 34s tape, you’re scoring. you know, if he’s able to thread some great needle, you might as well, if he’s going to take the risks anyway, I might as well get value out of the times that he actually pulls it off. And so, with all the other factors involved with the way you’re building this roster, it does make the most sense. It’s funny, he’s a guy for me who’s either topline or healthy scratch right now. Um, and I actually thought even though tonight, you know, maybe doesn’t make a great play on the goal against, but otherwise, I thought he was good tonight. He looked better tonight, looked engaged, made a couple nice plays to Matthews. Yeah, I thought that he same thing made a couple of nice plays and just looked like a guy who was a little bit more confident trying to make some of those plays because of what you’re saying, which is he’s trying to make those plays for a guy that can actually do something with it and who he probably feels is a good teammate, which we know that he is that is trying to get Matthews going. Um, do you have a Matthews impression from tonight? Because I have more of an eyes impression. Yeah, I do have a Matthews impression and I I think that these injuries or whatever is nagging at him, I don’t think he’s in good shape. Like I don’t think he’s in game shape. You know, I think the Euros call it match fit. You know, he just when could he have been working at this stuff? Cuz if you look at like all those NHL edge numbers about his speed bursts, this year he’s below 50th percentile and everything and he’s never been a guy like that. He just doesn’t get up to pace very often. Even when he gets it in the neutral zone, he’s just kind of sauntering, you know, and and I think he’s got to get up to pace a little bit more often. I still think there’s lots of good there. He did a lot of good things. I was fine at this game tonight. Didn’t think he was bad by any stretch. 2435 is a lot, but um but yeah, I just think he’s not not match fit right now. Yeah, it’s going to be interesting to see how he holds up through the next couple of days because you get one day off and then it’s a backtoback after playing 24 in your return game against Columbus and having to go to overtime and skate and open ice and yeah, we’ll like we’ll see a little bit with the legs. I will say that like he is a notoriously hard worker during off seasons with his fitness and he’s still like 28 or 29. Is he 29? Either way, he’s 28. 28. Okay. Well, either way, it’s just like these guys do get their legs a lot faster than a normal human being, right? Like they are No, I think he’ll be fine. He needs to play some hockey though. Yes. But I but I so I agree with the take. Like I think it’s an astute observation. What I’m saying is that I if that’s the case for him, I’m not as concerned. What I did like about his game is that he did seem tenacious at times. He seemed very hungry to get the puck. And also there was just a couple of moments like he’s bitching out that official. And I actually liked I I was watching I caught a bit of that intermission because I was mostly flipping back between the Raptors game and the Leafs because I wanted to watch my raps. Um I liked seeing him out a ref and be mad. And I went be engaged. That’s good. Yeah, be mad. Be engaged. Understand the moment because they’re going to need you if they’re going to pull out of this. Like I think we all agree that Matthews before the injury looked like a good hockey player, right? He had seven goals against a goalender in I think 17 games, uh, two empty netters, but it never really felt overly dominant. And I think at some point he’s going to have to have a dominant stretch this season if this team is going to be back in the mix. And certainly if like if listen man, if they want to be a playoff team, I don’t think that they need Austin Matthews, the heart trophy winner. But if they want to be a Stanley Cup contender, they do. And so at some point this year, he’s going to have to find his game. And I just thought tonight was a a decent step forward. What I will say is I didn’t feel as good about N. He looks like a guy who came back from an injury too early. Like he got caught up in the moment of like Matthews is coming back and Raw is coming back and and he was like and me too. And I just didn’t I just What would you like would you agree that one of NY’s signature elements to his game is that like he’s got a burst to him as a big guy that I think confuses defenders and throws them off because all of a sudden like he’s on your hip very quickly. And I see him trying to make those plays at times and that’s what stuck out to me about him tonight. And he wasn’t closing that gap as quickly and he just didn’t look as explosive. you put him in front of the net and he’s battling, of course he can do that because he’s strong as an ox. But in terms of the actual skating and the short burst movements, maybe it’s to your point like a little conditioning thing that you can lose it pretty quickly, especially when you’re 6′ three carrying around that kind of weight. But to me, it looked like if he’s got a lower body injury that he’s not pushing off the same way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I I mean I got to believe a bunch of people guessing, but whether it’s knee or groin or whatever, that sort of stuff is tough to be explosive with when you’re tentative and particularly like it’s not like he had surgery and something healed. It’s like we’re just resting this until we push it again. So yeah, you do worry a little bit about what that means because I I have felt for a lot of this year that he didn’t quite have that same pop. Um you know, first game back in a little while. Hopefully it’s it looks different in a couple games, but these guys played a lot of minutes for guys who who just got thrust back into it. Yeah, I I just um I watched his interview with Ryan Lesley before the game and Lesie was asking him like it’s a very, you know, Leafs production way of pushing him about the answer obviously, but even N’s answer, he was like, “We’re going to be diligent with it.” And I’m like, what you really want to hear in a situation like that is I’m It’s better. It’s fixed. Yeah. Like what I dealt with. Yeah. And when he said that, it was like a slight little to me slip of what’s actually happening, which is like it could be an injury that they are managing. Um like this is Yeah, this is like an offseason thing. We’re going to have to deal with it. We’re just going to have to manage for the year. God, a lot of stuff’s really lining up. Not awesome. No, the Leafs. Uh, do you want to do you want to do 88 talk? We can. So, I feel the same way I have of like the last whole stretch of games. But it’s insane. This guy is insane that it’s just another day where you openly see his coach, you know, giving it to him publicly, yelling at him. He’s not looking at the coach. They’re fighting. And then he goes up there, primary assist on the game tying goal, game-winning goal. Not sure he played good. Goal an assist. Can’t win without him. Absolutely. He’s what? He’s a roar shock test. Whatever you think he is, he is, buddy. You can find it. If you want me to clip it, I’ll put together the good, bad, and ugly. He’s all of it. There’s no better way of saying I I I have nothing else to say because saying the roar shack test thing is perfect. Like I think if you are a William Knander Stan, Yeah. you’re like, “That’s what it’s all about, baby. Willie ends it in overtime.” Yeah. He’s the guy. And if you’re a knander hater, then you see a lot of the other stuff that was going on in this game and you’re like, “Okay, it’s like Roar Shack test is such a funny thing for hockey player. He looks like my parents divorced, doesn’t he?” Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I just I’ll say this, man. Yeah. Is he supremely skilled? And is there one guy that you’re picking? Like I I texted this to McKe even the other night. I called it when he had his last overtime winner, which I thought was a pretty putrid game for Knander. Like I thought it was one of his worst games of the season and not tonight. Tonight was more of like whatever, you know, it was fine. Um up that shot. So funny. Yeah. But the other night it was I thought pretty bad and I texted McKe. I was like guaranteed this game goes to overtime, he will score the winner. And he did and that became kind of the narrative. And like what what I would say is if I had to guess, if I just had to guess based on guys body language and the way that they play as to who would be the least upset if they made a coaching change, it would be 88. I had that exact same thought watching Ruby be like, “You look at me when I’m talking to you.” And he’s like, “Oh, yeah. I don’t like you. This is so hard for me.” But can I say a piece of advice to Knander? Yeah. If you play like this, then it doesn’t matter what NHL coach they bring in, they’ll have similar thoughts and all of them will be like, “God, I got to put him on the ice. We’re down a goal. I got to do it. I just got to put him out.” And then I’ll go score again. They’re like, “Oh.” Yeah. Just like you said, you cannot win without him. No. like so, uh, yeah, you’re just it’s it’s it is what it is. But yeah, I would say that overall just I I don’t think that the Yeah, I don’t know, man. I’ve just you get the flashes where he’s like fully engaged for an entire hockey game. And when you see it, he genuinely looks like one of the best what, five, six guys on earth. Yeah. The the Alexi Kovalev stuff is way too on the nose right now. Yeah. And but it’s just like Yeah. some of the body language stuff to me personally and I’m looking for it again like and maybe my eyes are not perfect but I don’t see I don’t see a guy who’s like loving the situation or or playing with the same level of confidence that I’ve seen him play with uh before and by the way we got a note someone says you want kneelander engaged play at center that is literally the dead last thing that I would be doing right now like if you asked me hey put knander the wing on the fourth line or play him at center I’d be like wing fourth line please like you’ll find let’s get the clip going of Willie on the they go to a fiveman power play tonight. Willie is one of the last guys back recognizing pressure coming the other way and he’s like maybe if I stop and attack in a straight line at an NHL player. Look at him at the the blue line here like you got to back off and play a rush. But not only that, you have to bust back like skating forward where it’s like you need to go back hard. And he’s just like I don’t even know what he’s really trying to do there. Well, so there’s no D on the ice. You have to be aware that like we’re defensively responsible. He’s, you know, it’s him and Matthews back there and he I think he’s like, I think I can strip this puck from a standstill in this guy and we can stay in the ozone. And it’s like he legitimately is like, ah, I’m going to get it. I’m gonna I’m gonna get it. It’s like it’s an NHL player. He’s going to pass it. It’s literally And Wool has to make what is maybe his best save of the entire night, right? And so if you play him at center, he’s he you’re asking him to play more D. He’s the one you’re counting on to come back and be your defensive guy. It’s like I I I understand why coaches were like, “Yeah, this was a bad idea. Play one.” Uh I So to to add to like a bit of rapid fire to close out the show, uh only one power play opportunity tonight, right? No, two. It feels like two. Two. Yeah. Uh but there were two power play opportunities. One of them was awful where they went to the fiveman there and it just like completely backfired and Columbus had the puck more. The one before that though when they didn’t do that I actually liked it more. They set up and this is what I wanted to ask you about is so we agree that they just don’t have enough playmakers right to just snap the puck around like some of these power plays and they don’t have a bliner that can support the puck and just blow through like they don’t have aky they don’t have Lane Hudson like they they just don’t have the personnel to have what I think is like the most ideal uh new era power play. That said, the thing that I liked tonight about the first opportunity they got was that they were just like decisive taking shots because they’ve got N and Tvaras in front of the net. And if that’s going to be your power play, right? Like they’ve got these two good players who can dig and who can tip pucks and who can bang and put their bodies in there, then give me give me that kind of a power play where like yeah, Matthew shoots it, kneelander shoots it, Cowan shoots it, and you’re hoping that you can just kind of bang one in and get one off an ass. like shoot the puck and then hope that you can go back and collect it if you know you need to. You know what? Like, and you know this better than me, like in basketball, do they they sometimes just pass it around the arc just to make the D change shape just to get a different look at all? Yeah. I mean, less so now, but that’s the San Antonio Spurs model. Okay. Yeah. Like that that’s a power play thing you can do. One touch, touch, touch, touch. Just pass it on the outside where there’s no danger and just make the weak side forward be like, “All right, am I switching over to?” You create a seam or two. You pass it back to the top. Someone should have a second to get a puck through. You get pucks through. Big strong knives down there. Tovar Tar Tavvar tips everything in. Like there’s simple ways to run a power play. It’s crazy to me that they are running the same drop as 31 other teams on the breakout. The same 131. Like no one has looked at the roster and been like, “All right, we got to try something else.” It’s just I I do like tonight that they tried five forwards just because you got to do something else. Yeah, I didn’t mind that they tried it, but it was such a cataclysmic disaster that almost cost them the game that you’re like I don’t know if you’re going back to that right away and you’re certainly not loving it if kneelander’s up high. Yeah. Like like Matthews I guess has got to be the high guy and he backed off and played the rush and that was fine. um you know if he knows he’s the last guy back I do trust him with it but yeah it’s I don’t know it’s not been pretty uh second last rapid fire thing for me the offside that Columbus had was aggressively terrible I I just like it’s a world record dumb like you’re not trying to like race ahead of someone it I’m carrying this from when I was a player and I had a guy in every team who you’re like why don’t you know the rule We’re grown people. Why can’t you do this? And watching that tonight was like, what are you doing, Johnson? Was it Kent Johnson? Yeah. What What are you doing? Yeah. Weird. Like, not even like he’s going from basically standing still to going offside. Like, drag a leg. Wait a half second. Zack Winsky is I mean, and I This guy’s unbelievable. It’s he’s up there in the news conversation for me. Yeah. Like it was wool and winsky tonight in terms of the the players of impact and the players of note. Like you I like to do the test of if you showed this game to someone who didn’t watch the sport before, right? Who would stand out? And hockeyy’s one of the harder sports to do that with. Yeah. Winsky would have 100% you would have gotten a 100% of people coming away from that game who had never seen the sport before going like well that’s the best guy. That’s the best guy. Yeah, that’s the best guy. Like all the stats is like he’s second in the league in time on ice, I think. Second in distance skated. I mean, he’s just all over the rink when he’s out there. Uh absolute menace, as you mentioned. Should have been Canadian. We got we got robbed. Should have been Canadian, but also uh again, this is not a fixable problem, but I’m watching the Montreal game, right? and they got uh they got Hudson doing this and I’m watching this game and you see these kinds of defenseman and it really makes you think about what the Leafs don’t have. Yeah. You know what? I actually think that that’s maybe one of the underdised things of the past 10 years of the Leafs is this is becoming more common where teams have this one Dman who it’s like gh he’s everywhere we can’t stop him. He’s on the ice half the game. He’s a jitterbug. It’s Hughes. It’s Hudson. It’s Schaefer. It’s Wensky. It’s jumps up in the rush and you’re terrified of him like he’s going to make a great play or he can rip the puck into the back of your net and yeah outside of the 20goal Morgan Riley season. Yeah, just hasn’t been there. No, it’s it is something that they are playing without. Um I don’t know how fixable that is, but uh yeah, boy, it’s it’s glaring some nights. Well, the Yeah, and the only way you get a lot of those guys is you pick really high. You’re hoping it doesn’t come to that, but you know, it’s it can be an option. Oh, also, yes, I see that in the chat. I did want to ask about uh the new Jay’s signing today. How you feeling? This is a perfect way for me to say um subscribe to the JD Bunkers podcast. Tomorrow I have Ben Andis and Ben Nicholson Smith on uh to break this down. I’ll give a tiny little thing. I won’t be a total dick about it, but uh I’m my first reaction is just I don’t know how you can’t be excited by the Blue Jays signing a free agent pitcher when the front office has been like that’s that’s been their their like best area. Yeah. In terms of identifying guys. This is somebody who comes with his warts but ultimately has some of the best stuff in the game. Like he is essentially a like he he he has the high he has the third highest K rate in all of baseball. Like and the two guys the two guys that strike out guys with the more consistent rate than him are Paul Skins and Tar Skubel. They’re pretty good. So if you’re in that category that means you’ve got a pretty good upside. There’s some things that I think that he’s going to need to work out, but they’ve got Pete Walker, who’s got a great track record of working things out with a guy. And he’s 29, so not even old. That’s why he got the seven-year deal. That’s why he got 210. I My guess is that listen, man, the Jay’s paid more than anybody else would. Like, they jumped the market. This is a heavy deal. There’s some deferred money, but it’s not all that much. And the big takeaway that you should have is the Jays signed this guy like a big boy organization. And if you’re somebody who wondered whether or not they were going to go out and spend the playoff money and that they were going to continue to be some of the big fish in baseball, then I think you got your answer today. But anyway, I got a lot more on this tomorrow. So, please subscribe to my podcast. Uh you can get it tomorrow again. Ben Edison, Ben Nicholson Smith to kind of break it down and what it means and everything moving forward. Uh, you can follow Justin on Twitter and Instagram, JTBorn. Uh, you can follow me at JDBunkus. If you’re watching on YouTube, please leave a thumbs up and a comment. Uh, if you’re watching on Sports Plus, thank you. And, uh, yeah, subscribe to the pod. We will see you Friday night. Uh, the return of McKe hopefully, if he’s not, uh, if he gets off the deathbed, uh, five o’clock early game against the Washington Capitals. See you then.

JD Bunkis and Justin Bourne react to tonight’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets immediately following the final horn!

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