LFR19 – Game 32 – Holy MackiNAW – Blackhawks 2, Maple Leafs 3

LFR19 – Game 32 – Holy MackiNAW – Blackhawks 2, Maple Leafs 3

HAT GUY: Now, that was an AWESOME 
hard-fought character win! STEVE: That was what?
HAT GUY: What? I only watched the highlights, but they 
were awesome highlights! LET’S GO – It starts with an A and ends 
with nxiety! – VARIOUS SCREAMS – Off the charts levels of PASSION! – MAXIMUM DOMI 
– THIS IS A NIGHTMARE! – Every year! – GO TO THE NET! – I AM GOING TO BECOME THE JOKER! – 
With you wherever you are. Welcome to LFR! I’ve never been more resentful to do this – Leafs 
win! 3-2 over the Rockford Icehogs, man. Oh, and victory puppies. Hooray. Because I’m every 
win I donate 50 bucks to to the Humane Society of Durham region. What was that?! Okay, first 
intermission of this game, I tweeted something. The game changed in a hilarious way and I’m 
doing it anyway. At first intermission when the Leafs were down two nothing on home ice 
on Joe Bowen night after getting called out by their head coach and a pregame speech from Joe 
Bowen and their GENERAL MANAGER. I said, “Yeah, I don’t care if they come back and win 5-2. 
You can’t come out this flat on a night like this after the performance you just had.” Listen, 
the Leafs won and I’m happy the Leafs won. I am always happy – Look at me I’m happy! – when the 
Leafs win. But that win that they pulled out of their buttocks at the end of the third period 
does not change my opinion about this team one iota. because we’re forgetting like a week ago 
this team was doing all right. Then they have a two nothing lead over the visiting San Jose Sharks 
and they blow it and they lose in overtime. And we all thought the same thing. “Ooh, good that 
they got a point, but that’s a bad loss.” How are they going to follow it up? How are 
they going to follow it up? Saturday night, you get Connor McDavid and the Oilers in town. 
It’s a big game. And for 40 minutes, it was straight up one of the most entertaining hockey 
games of the season for the Leafs. Even though they were losing, you are allowed to be losing. 
You’re allowed, but context is kind of important! And then in the third period, the Oilers hair 
amazingly going bleach blonde with blue aura all around them, grabbed the Leafs by the collar, 
zoomed up to the upper atmosphere, came back down, and crashed the Leafs through a crater at 
center ice like Goku! All right. All right. So, that’s bad. All right. So, that’s bad. But here 
we go. Here’s what you got. You get two days off. Not one, but two days off! Fix whatever’s ailing 
you. Rest up. Rest down. Whatever you got to do. You’ve been called out by your head coach. The 
head coach specifically calls out the leadership group. Reminder that John Taavresr and Auston 
Matthews did not speak after the game on Saturday, anyway. And it’s announced that the Blackhawks 
don’t have Connor Bedard. Connor Bedard?! That guy is involved in 49% of the goals that the 
Blackhawks score. That is not taking out a Jenga piece and watching the tower fall down. That is 
replacing each and every Jenga piece with moldy orange peels. And on top of that, the Blackhawks 
announced a gift, a pre Christmas gift. You know what? Maybe this one was for Hanukkah. It’s 
that early. This one can’t be for Christmas. It’s for Hanukkah! Because Arnum Levshunov, 
second overall pick. The last time the Leafs played Chicago, it was in Chicago when Levshunov 
was incredible, he missed a team meeting. Naughty, naughty. And he’s scratchy scratchy! Oh, and 
it’s Joe Bowen night. If you’re not a Leafs fan, you might not understand how important this 
night was. Joe Bowen is the voice of the Leafs. He is what most Leaf fans, especially of a 
certain vintage, hear, especially when you think about cherished playoff calls from the 
early 2000s because there haven’t been a ton of cherished playoff calls in recent memory.
With his signature phrase, holy mackinaw! And they make a big fuss about him because he’s 
retiring. He’s retiring at the end of this year, end of the season. So they bring him into the 
dressing room with all the boys there and he does the lineup card and holy mackinaw can you feel 
the adrenaline in the building?! And as part of the video that the Leafs released of Joe Bowen in 
the Leafs dressing room. Craig Berube is there. Oh yeah. A bunch of other guys are there. Obviously 
all of Joe Bowen’s family are there. Of course. And so is Brad Treliving, the general manager! 
If you’re a player, that’s your boss’s boss! He spoke to the team with a very heavy undertone 
that basically seemed to suggest, “You better win this game.” And they bring Joe out. We’re not 
done. They bring Joe out to center. And they play some of his greatest moments. And he’s crying and 
people in the building are crying and everyone’s pumped! Come on, Joe! We’re going to win this 
thing for Joe! They got one shot in the first 11 minutes. One shot on goal. Dakota Joshua hit a 
goal post. They had one shot. THEY HAD ONE SHOT ON GOAL!. They had one shot on goal on home ice when 
the Blackhawks who don’t have Bedard and Levshunov left in the lineup made it one- nothing and it was 
Wyatt Kaiser who scored which isn’t even fun. We all thought it was Dominic Toninato which at least 
would have been kind of funny and right now you’re like because of the name. No, not every Italian 
name is funny. How dare you?! It’s because Dominic Toninato was a lease draft pick in 2012. Dominic 
Toninato was drafted by President and GM Brian Burke. Do you understand?! He did get an assist 
on this goal. So, close enough! That was his first NHL point since January 16th, 2024!
Then, moments later, the Blackhawks score again. Only this time, it got challenged for goalie 
interference. And you know how much it has to be goalie interference in order for it to actually 
be called goalie interference? It was goalie interference. And the ref said, “I was right 
this time. That’s goalie interference. No goal.” So with that challenge and the no goal call, the 
Leafs keep themselves within one against Rockford! You haven’t seen Rockford this well represented 
in Scotia Bank Arena since Fred VanVleet was a Raptor. Do you understand? And the camera, the 
TSN camera cuts away from Leaf fans high-fiving about the fact that it’s no goal right to Craig 
Berube, the moment he lays into the entire Leaf’s bench. “One ****in shot on net! ONE!” That is 
zero exaggeration, zero hyperbole. I probably wasn’t yelling loudly enough. It’s just the mic 
didn’t pick him up. And the Leafs on the bench, they looked at each other and said, “You 
know what, boys? The third coach we’ve had, the guy who happens to be coach at the moment, 
he’s right. We can’t be getting outshot like this at home. We can’t be getting outscored like 
this at home. Not – Not for Joe. Not for Joe. Not after that pregame speech we got from Brett (It’s 
Brad.) Oh, Brad.” And so the leaves hiked up their pants and they rolled up their sleeves and they 
drank their Popeye spinach and it went straight to their bicep just like in the old cartoon and 
they drew a penalty and they went on the power play! And what William Nylander did on that power 
play – there’s only one way I can describe it and it’s with a really inappropriate story. Any of 
you ever have like leadership camp in school where they take the kids who are tryhards who are trying 
to be on student council and stuff and they bring it to camp for a couple days and you do a bunch of 
activities and you learn how to be a leader? Well, I did that. I was one of those kids who was 
a tryhard and I got sent to leadership camp. And guess what we did? We took leadership 
camp so seriously trying to learn how to be leaders. Just kidding. We were teenagers. We 
did the dumbest things ever and we all paid attention to curfew and went to bed on time. Just 
kidding. One of the older kids bet the rest of us that he could pee and run at the same time.
So, we all gathered outside of the cabin. Like, it was a big cabin. There were at least 20 of 
us. And he turns his back because, you know, we got to have some boundaries here. And he pulls 
his pants down just a little bit, not all the way, just a little bit. And he starts running like 
this. That’s what William Nylander looked like trying to gain the zone on the power play! He 
looked like one of my former classmates trying to run and pee at the same time! So, he gives the 
puck away because you can’t run and pee at the same time. I don’t know if it’d be easier to pee 
and skate at the same time. I don’t know. I’m not going to bite the bullet and be the one who tries 
to figure it out. And the Blackhawks go the other way short-handed because the leadership group is 
bringing out stories about leadership camp. And Jason Dickinson who I played uh table tennis with 
years ago. I we were terrible together and by that I mean I was terrible and I that’s why I think he 
has a personal vendetta against the Leafs because we lost the table tennis. He scored. He had a very 
good night. He scored and now it’s two nothing. You’ve had three goals scored on you by the grace 
of spinning the wheel of goalie interference. You’re not down three nothing. You’re only 
down two nothing after one at home, against the depleted Blackhawks roster on Joe Bowen night 
after getting called out by your head coach and getting talked to by your GM in a way that seemed 
to suggest this mundane Tuesday night game in December was a must win! But it’s okay. The Leafs 
came out firing in the second period. Kidding. They looked like they thought the puck was made of 
nitroglycerin. This was an eviscerating tweet from Anthony Petrelli. He’s one of the most underrated 
people on Leafs anything. He’s the guy who broke the Tavares trade. He said this, “Can’t break out, 
can’t cycle. Your captain is completely unengaged, and so is your best offensive player.” As that 
was a bit backhanded. That was low-key a bar. “You get outshot and outplayed every night, 
and your coach calls it being patient. The power play is an abomination. The product is 
terrible. What’s it going to take for a head to roll?” And the Leafs said, “Well, we’ll show 
you by getting as many shots short-handed in this period as we get on the power play.”
AH! They get booed off the ice, we head to the third. I’ll just spoil it here. Oliver Ekman 
Larsson breaks the shut out because halfway, halfway through the third period, nearly one 
second off from being 50 5-0 minutes into this game, the Leafs were getting outshot at home 
against the depleted Blackhawks roster on Joe Bowen night after getting called out by their 
head coach and a pregame speech from their GM. One of the line changes that Berube made heading 
into this game finally pays off. Nylander goes to the net, a thing he used to do. And Oliver Ekman 
Larsson puts it on. It deflects. Oh my goodness. His sixth of the season. The Leafs are within 
one. So now they got 10 minutes to tie it. And it felt great in the building. Like, it seemed 
to feel great in the building for like a moment, right? And then they had 9 minutes to tie it. 
Then they had 8 minutes to tie it. Then seven, then six, then five, then four minutes to 
tie it. Then as if the hockey gods were like, “Watch this.” They gave the Leafs a power 
play. Then as if the hockey gods were like, “Watch this.” They gave the Leafs a power 
play. Willie, I’m going to go ahead and ask you to hold it this time. And the darndest thing 
happens. Willie did hold it. The puck, that is, and he got it to Auston Matthews. Matthews goes 
in front. Matthews shot the puck for the first time in the game, I might add, and roofed it. 
And he’s going, “Get up!” And doing the ear thing. And yeah, which kind of reminded me of 
the meme of the guy getting a metal put over his head and then biting the metal and like 
winking and spraying champagne everywhere and then the camera pans out and you realize he’s 
third. You know what? No. Whatever. Whatever! You want them to win or not? You want them to win 
or not? They tied it with like 3 minutes to go. Then 8 seconds later, there was a goal and two 
assists on this play. I didn’t know that that was possible because it happened in 8 seconds. 
I didn’t know there was enough time for three people to touch the puck. McCabe to Stecher to 
Joshua to the front of the net to the back of the net! From Leaf’s latest, “His last seven games 
played. Dakota Joshua, four goals, five points, plus six, 31 hits, nine shots on goal.” And 
the Leafs held on and they won it for Joe Woll, that is the guy who was in net the whole time and 
they hung out to dry in his first game back in the first period. And I am left going, “What am I 
going to do with you?!” I’m happy they got two points. I am. It’s good that they got two points. 
But if anyone in the organization was going into this game and thought to themselves, “They better 
win this game or I’m gonna-” You should still do the or I’m gonna part. I They won. That’s great. 
You should still do the or I’m gonna thing. I am happy they won. Genuinely happy they won. Any day 
where the Leafs win is a good day to me. The day after the Leafs win is almost better 
because they have won for the whole day. They won last night. Like only part of this day 
involved the Leafs winning. But I’m going to go to bed and then I’m going to wake up tomorrow and 
the Leafs won yesterday and all day tomorrow the Leafs won yesterday. But when the Leafs came out, 
and got outshot, and got outscored, and did not look prepared, and gave up a short-handed goal to 
a depleted Chicago Blackhawks team, on home ice, after the leadership group got called out by the 
head coach, on Joe Bowen night, that featured a pregame talking to from the general manager. 
If THAT is how you are going to come out of the gate? That is everything I need to know about the 
most soulless, bloodless, no blood in their veins, no adrenaline, no love for hockey, no love for the 
city, no love for your craft, no pride or honour or courage or any of those things. That is – That 
is – It’s one of the most worthless wormy groups I’ve ever seen. What do you need?! How strong 
does your coffee need to be in the morning to get out of bed for this game? And it took you 50 
minutes of game time, two hours of real time to get there. You know how many fans got tickets to 
this game and they didn’t see a single goal? Yeah, maybe that’s their fault for leaving early. Maybe 
it is. Maybe it is. Never leave a game early. But Holy Toledo. Jesse Blake was at the game of 
SDPN. He said Auston Matthews, talking about selling to the crowd on his goal. “The Boobirds 
were coming down rightfully so.” Good. “I think after that first goal, the crowd really got into 
it, which is great. And then after the second one, the place was rocking.” I want to leave no 
confusion after this triumphant Leafs win. I am leaving this game with two emotions. Number 
one, glee and joy because the Leafs won. Hooray. Every night and every day that the Leafs 
win is a good day for me. And number two, BRAAAAAAD. Do something! Because wow. If you 
cannot get up for this game, your coach called you out after last game. He called you out 
during this game and after calling you out, you played worse. Some of you are watching this 
right now going, “Fire the coach.” If I don’t, I don’t care. I don’t, I don’t know him. Fine. Go 
for it. Even if this team doesn’t deserve to have a fourth coach come in for this core, even if this 
team doesn’t deserve it, I don’t know if it gets it going. If it gets them going, fine. Or trade 
somebody. I’m tired of hearing Mattias Maccelli trade rumors. Trade someone else. Make a waiver 
claim. Friggin’ call someone up. Do anything. get anyone because this team is going NOWHERE 
at the speed of light because win or lose, holy mackinaw is this team in trouble. That is it 
for this one. Thank you very much for watching. Click like if you like this video. Click subscribe 
if you really liked it. Tell all your friends like you’re not going to win every game. You’re not. 
At very least win the ones you’re supposed to. Oh, they did win. Oh, they did. I wish I could look 
at life like that. I really do. I really do.

Steve Dangle recaps and analyzes Game 32 of the Toronto Maple Leafs season against the Chicago Blackhawks. Why did they start so slow?

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