McGuire Monday: Fixing Leafs’ Defensive Struggles

McGuire Monday: Fixing Leafs’ Defensive Struggles

You’re watching Toronto Sports Rush on the Bet Rivers Network. Welcome to the Toronto Sports Rush channel brought to you by the Bet Rivers Network. It is Monday, that means I am joined by Pierre Maguire. Of course, I’m Kyle. Before we get started, please like this video. Subscribe to the channel. That’s the big one, folks. And leave us a comment cuz we want to hear your feedback cuz I’m sure you’re going to have feedback on what we have to say today. Pierre, this Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, they are a mixed bag. Every now and again, we see a sign of life, but there are still problems. There are first of all transition defense isn’t nearly good enough. I’m glad to see that Craig Brewery actually acknowledged that and said we’re not picking up on the backside. We’re not doing a good enough job through the neutral zone. That’s really apparent when you watch the last two games against Buffalo, especially in Buffalo. The backside’s wide open. That means that the forwards aren’t communicating with the defense. The forwards are cheating offensively to get points rather than to defend. So that’s something that definitely and that’s one of those things you can definitely practice and I guarantee you they will be practicing that. But there’s also some good things and one of the good things I saw was on the Dakota Joshua goal in Buffalo in the 5-3 loss. It’s the way they cycle the puck down low. It’s Eastston Cow and it’s Nikki Dwa dominating board play, dominating cycle play, making big bodies a presence in the in the offensive zone. And then you look at the Nick Robertson goal in the 4-3 overtime win. It’s Austin Matthews. It’s Eastston Cowan. There’s that guy named Eastston Cowan again grinding, being hard on the puck, making skillful plays. Those are positive things. If this team can manufacture more like that, Kyle, they’re going to be in good shape cuz they’ll have enough bodies to do that kind of stuff. Yeah. And Pier, I have in my notes about that goal um where East Robert East Cowan fed Robertson in front of the net. Kudos to Eastan Cowan because he only had a moment to make that decision and he had to make the perfect pass because Robertson was about to get stick checked by two guys at the same time. He put it right on the tape. That is a great play by a young player and here we are now pointing out the positives. Let’s point out another one. Saturday night in Buffalo, they played a tougher brand of hockey and it worked to their uh their benefit. Bubby said himself, “I thought we were a physical, hard for checking team last year. We have to get back to it.” But then he made notes of the fact that they did in fact do a little bit of that Saturday night which we saw but there were still mistakes. Yeah. The mistakes are really and it’s really glaring is that weak side coverage in transition. And so just to put in perspective try to envision this. It’s Buffalo attacking. I’ll just use Buffalo as an example because it was the last two opponents attacking the left defense of Toronto pulling up inside the line the blue line and then moving the puck from right to left. And that left the right side of Toronto, the left side for Buffalo is wide open. And that’s why those guys are coming down Main Street, whether it’s Stage Thompson, Alex Tuck, you go watch the tape. There’s no presence on the back side. They’re going to have to develop that. And that’s coachable. That’s unbelievably coachable and must drive Buby nuts cuz his 2019 St. Louis team that won the Stanley Cup, Kyle, they were letter perfect when it came to that stuff. Like they couldn’t have been better when it came to that stuff. It’s those little types of intangible things. And listen, they’re playing 500. They’re not that far back. There’s We’ll get to some other teams in their division that have set an incredible pace. And unfortunately, they’ve lost to some of these teams already this year, which could hurt them down the road. But that’s not the problem right now. The problem seems to be a lot of these little tiny things that they’re not doing right. And I pointed something out to you yesterday and you agreed on the goal that was called back, which inexplicable goalender interference. You do not need to interfere with the goalie on that one. So, the Leafs catch a break there. If you watch that play after that giveaway in their own end, I believe it was who who gave that puck away. I have it here. Um, whatever the turnover in the end and their own end, there was three Leafs bunched down very low going towards their goalie and the puck carrier and the Buffalo four skaters were immediately spread into a perfect box all ready to attack. And that stuff has to stop happening because they’re all over each other on the ice. Yeah, they are. The biggest problem right now though is is that Toronto does a lot of puck watching. They don’t do a lot of aerial coverage and that’s got to change and that’s what we were talking about with that transition or weak side coverage that you can’t watch the puck. You got to be aware of your area and eventually they’ll get to that. I think that’s important. Let’s talk about another positive. John Tvaris 499. You talk about a guy that’s been consistent. You don’t hear anybody complaining about John Tvaris. He’s been great. Consistent, strong in the puck, key plays, wants the puck at key times, makes a difference at key times. He makes the players around him better. I think there’s a reason why they’ve taken Matthew N away from Austin Matthews and put him with John Tiveres cuz Matthew Nice hadn’t been doing anything. But you go out to’s line, all of a sudden you can get stuff done. I think there’s a reason why Matias Machelli is starting to show a little bit more offensively. He’s playing with John Tiveres. Yeah, John Taris is right now the most consistent Toronto Maple Leaf forward that they have. Doesn’t mean he’s their best guy, but he’s their most consistent guy. Yeah. And going back to the Matthews and the top line, that’s been a problem this year, and it doesn’t seem to matter what the makeup of that top line is. And what that says, I’m not entirely sure. We’ve been fairly critical of Matthews at times this year. Robertson gave them a little bit of a spark of life, but it’s not enough right now that you have to have a top line with one of the best players in the NHL producing more than they have. And if you look, Matthews has had several empty- net goals, which are, you know, they don’t they fill the stat sheet, but if you further anal go a little deeper on them, they don’t quite hit the mark for this team. What’s wrong with this top line was it because they’re being keyed on so much by the opposition. What’s going on here? I think that’s part of it. I do. I think another part of it is Matthew N has had a very pedestrian start to the year and so that if you think back to last year especially when Austin was hurtner and N were really driving that line and it’s not usual that a winger or two wingers in this case really drive a line. Um but they they got away with it last year and a big part of it was N had a career year when it came to goals and and obviously Mner had a huge year with 102 points. Yeah. Um, so that’s an adjustment for Austin, too. With all due respect to everybody else playing with him, I don’t think Bobby McMahon is a first line player. I think Bobby McMahon is a really good third line player. I I don’t think Nick Robertson’s a first line player. I think he’s more of a bottom six forward that can produce supplemental offense. So, I think they got to figure this out. Uh, internally, not having, let’s be totally fair here, Willie Knanders had some problems defensively. Yes. But offensively, Willie Knander is still an amazing game breaker. Not having him around, it hurts this team. It does. It hurts their team. It It really does because he forces the defense to spread out differently and stuff. He’s one of the top scorers in the NHL right now. He has had defensive lapses this year for sure. I believe those are correctable. I wouldn’t, you know, it’s too early in the season to dwell on something like that. But, as you say, not having him in the lineup, although I think they figure he’ll be back tomorrow night against Calgary. another Leafs game which has been moved up in time to accommodate the Toronto Blue Jays which we talk about they are providing excellent cover for this hockey team right now but they got exactly one week left of that before they shape up. What did you think of Nick Raw being given the assignment to start the threeon-ree in overtime over some of the other choices the Leafs could have made there. Is that a statement? Because it’s trying to create a presence that Craig Ruby wants. He wants hard hockey. He wants guys that do the little things well. He wants guys that really pay attention to every detail. He’s rewarding the earlier efforts for Nicaragua, especially when it comes to faceoff play and grinding. And that’s why I talked about I think with Dakota Joshua, East and Cowan, and Nicawa, you got a really good, formidable third line. And I’m not trying to put too much pressure on everybody, but I like where’s game is right now. I like where Dakota Joshua’s game is right now. Eastston Cowan, you got to commend the kid. He didn’t pout at all when he was a healthy scratch. He’s gone in there. He’s not used to being a third line player. He’s used to being a go-to first line player. Um, but when they get Scott Lton back, I really believe this and I know people Scott Lton, are you kidding me? Did you watch him in the playoffs last year? Yeah, I know. He didn’t play well. I get it. But I also know what how good a player he can be and I believe he had an amazing training camp. When he comes back, it changes all the slotting for this team. It does. You know, whether Lton’s playing in the three hole or the four hole, whether playing in the three hole or four hole, we know where Matthew’s going to play. We know where Tavarus is going to play. And then you can move Domi around because Max needs to get going too. I mean, yeah, you know, we talk about Matthew Ny and we talk about Matteas Machelli. Max Doi’s got to get going too. So there there’s a bunch of guy I think when Lton comes back it changes all the slotting. It makes his team a little bit better and I think that’s something they’re looking forward to. But that’s why I think he started Nick W in overtime. Yeah. He’s saying this is the standard and this is the way we’re going to play and you’re all going to adhere to it. I mean, I thought there were so many signs of Barubi style hockey being played on Saturday night from the one punch KO just after the UFC ended, they continued it to I mean that was I don’t know how much of that was a balance issue, but the whole play itself from the hard check and then they end up with the power play because of the instigator penalty, right? Well, first of all, I think you would agree the check was elite by McCabe that was elite. It was incredible. Yeah. Unblowing Byron. That’s number one. Number two, I I give McCabe knew that somebody was going to come after him. Yeah, he knew. He knew it was. So, it’s Tuck and Tuck’s a big strong kid. A big I’ve known him a long time. And uh he wasn’t ready for Jake and Jake, you see what a I know fighting is fighting. You see, Jake McCabe could have hurt that guy bad. As soon as he got him with the right, he said enough. And he went he knew he was going to box. He’s commendable. He know. But that’s what you want. Like he’s a tough kid that knows how to play. Jake’s great. the And again, I’m not trying to make excuses for the Leafs. When Tanv’s in the lineup, it changes their slotting as well. Yes. You know, right now, right now, Jake doesn’t have Tanv. He’s playing with Brandon Carlo. Morgan Riley’s not playing with Brandon Carlo. He’s he’s playing with Oliver Ecman Larson. Like, all the slotting for this team is a little bit disjointed right now because of a couple injuries. Um, well, maybe kneelander, Lton, and obviously um not having tanups. Those three injuries change the slotting of this team a lot. And not having Joseph Wall, of course, too, who’s now back with the team’s roster, but there’s a point at which he can start playing. And that’s a big deal, too, cuz he was the strongest regular season goalender last year, but maybe we’ll come back to him. You know, the to the point that you just made, there’s all these little things we’re pointing out. We’re going to hear it in the comments. People go, “Well, this guy doesn’t matter that much, and this guy doesn’t matter that much.” But I’m trying to put some perspective on all of this. And what I’m seeing with this Leaf team right now is this isn’t a forest fire. This is a whole bunch of little fires and when they put one out, another one pops up. And when they put one up, another one pops up. And then the other old one pops back up when they fix the other one. It’s a bunch of smaller problems they’re trying to correct. And it’s hard to correct six at once. But that’s exactly what we’re seeing. I love what you just said, Kyle. I really do. I really admire that because you know the truth of the regular season in hockey is overcoming adversity and it’s kind of a line out of the Marine Corps adapt and overcome and that’s kind of gets you ready for what the playoffs are because every single playoff series you’re going to have to slay the dragon. The more prepared you are in the regular season to adapt and overcome to all these different scenarios, it makes it easier to do in the playoffs because you actually have practical work experience to do that. I’m not saying it’s the perfect scenario cuz it’s not. But I really admire the way some of these guys dug deep, especially on Saturday night. They could have folded the tent. There were times when they could have folded the tent and they didn’t. And I I admire that. And you know, look, do I think Primo’s a starting goal in the NHL? I don’t. But anytime you get a win with him in goal, especially with the way they had to play on that game in that game, that says a lot about his willingness to compete, too. That’s right. He was very solid. I want to walk us through the last week in Toronto Sports Rush, Toronto Maple Leaf coverage because it’s a roller coaster just like the season’s been because you came on here last week with our friend Julie Stewart Banks and you guys talked about some things with the lease and one thing that you had said was, you know, if they can just win three straight right here, the whole conversation stops. They go out the next night and they get humbled by the New Jersey Devils. You and I went live to discuss that postgame and we were not kind to them, but we were fair because they were not good. Then they lose to the Buffalo Sabres, something we had predicted during that postgame show saying, “Hey, don’t sleep on this Buffalo team.” They are mega mega improved year-over-year right now. But then they end this whole three-game stretch with this gritty win Saturday night. And if you’re going to have a bad stretch, like, you know, shut down the losing streak quick. Now they’ve got Calgary coming into town. Things could turn quickly, but if they don’t fix these micro problems, things won’t turn quickly, will they? No, they won’t. And Calgary, you know, is coming off a 5-1 win against the New York Rangers on Sunday night and they throttled the Rangers. The Rangers weren’t even in the game. Um, I’ve watched Calgary a lot this week because they played Montreal and and they’ve done they did some good things in that game, too. And and I know people are looking at their one loss record, it’s not particularly good, but that win against the Rangers was really strong. Can’t sleep on them. And then it’s a quick turnaround. You go to Columbus, and it’s a Columbus team that I would tell you a little bit like Toronto is underachieving. I think the expectation in Columbus was a lot bigger than what they’ve had so far, Kyle. Um I would expect at some point they’re going to get better. I also expect at some point Toronto is going to get much better. Yes. So, we’re going to see. But that’s a quick turnaround. You you nailed this too. By the way, you win those two games back to back. That’s serious mold going into the weekend. And that’s kind of what they need to get to right now. They do. I want to read another quote from Craig Barubi talking about something. And we talked about this right before we went on the air. And listen, Toronto Police are 500 right now. They’ve managed to grab nine points in nine games. It’s not great, but it’s not like they’re falling off the pace so badly that a quick four game win streak can’t put them right up near the top again. But something we said was, and I’ll read the quote after, they’ve lost divisional games and those start to pile up very quickly and they matter later in the year. And Buby said, “It’s a tough division. We saw Montreal and the Senators take a step last year.” To me, Buffalo has taken Buffalo’s clearly taken a step. Detroit has taken a step. Florida’s Florida and Tampa is Tampa. This is a much tougher division than it was last year and they can’t keep losing divisional games. This is the toughest division in the National Hockey League by a mile. If you compare it to where the Metro is right now and you compare it to where the Pacific is right now, it’s not even it’s not even close. Um, and I haven’t even touched on the Central because I think the Central is a bit disjointed, too. Look where Utah is right now in the Central division. Uh, look where Winnipeg is right now in the Central division. You know, Dallas really hasn’t had a great start. Minnesota’s really struggling right now. Chicago’s up and coming, but they’re they’re still that division’s a work in progress. My point is the Atlantic is amazingly difficult. And imagine if the Bruins ever got their mojo going, which I don’t think will happen this year. That Atlantic division is crazy. It’s crazy. Montreal top four teams, Montreal, Detroit, Florida, who you expect, and Buffalo. you could have realistically expected only Florida would have been in that top four going into the season. Now we’ve got these young, fast, exciting hockey teams dominating the top of this division. Is this a shift in the NHL right now? Is it Did the Leafs go tough when other teams are going What are we What are we looking at here? Or is it just I think I think you can’t uh misconstrue regular season success for playoff success. Agreed. Because in the playoffs the rules change. I know the league doesn’t like to hear that, but the rules do change. and smashmouth component hockey matters a lot. Florida’s won two years in a row because of that and they’ve also been to the final the year before that too. If you look at the teams that are win and Vegas wasn’t exactly a shrinking violet that beat Florida when they won the Stanley Cup. They have a certain identity in terms of how they played the game too. So you look at it, you need to be built the way the Leafs are. Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s going to always be beautiful and a Rambrandt every single night in the regular season, cuz it’s not. But this is helping them. I really think the injury situation is helping them uh significantly because it’s getting guys to become more acclimated to adversity, which is a good thing, not a bad thing. I would just say this. I know Austin Matthews feels pressure. I hope somebody can help him deal with that pressure. Matthew N. I think he feels pressure. Matthew N has not been the same player and he’s got to get back to that. What’s, you know, if you’re a coach, and I’ve been through this before with different players, you go to Matthew N in a meeting, you say, “What’s your strength?” Hopefully, he says his size. What’s your second strength? My speed. What’s your third strength? I can force a lot of turnovers. Okay, you’re not using this your speed. You’re not using your size, and you’re not forcing a lot of turnovers. So, those are three things we can all fix together. So, let’s do that. Now, that’s kind of how you have to pursue with this player because without him, I I don’t think Matthews is going to be as good because Martner is clearly not there. And I know people don’t want to hear that. Martyr made a big difference on this team. He made a big difference. He’s now part of the number one line in the NHL in Las Vegas. You can’t take away from him his contribution, but I think it’s not it’s also quite fair to say that the Leafs have personnel that can step in for that. They just simply have not. N is supposed to be the guy that takes some of the pressure off Austin Matthews in a different way than it was taken off by Mner. Marner was such an elite offensive playmaker and talent. Nise brings a little bit more rounded of a game, but he’s a physical presence which should work better beside Austin Matthews as well. Knander’s doing his part offensively with the defensive lapses, but we knew Nelander was going to do that. John Dvaris is the true leader of this hockey team. Nice doi. There’s guys who have not stepped up this year. And how long can this continue before this team does get to panic? I don’t think it’s panic time now, but how much longer? No, but I remember we talked about it right after the Jersey game, which was a very disappointing game because of the way Jack Hughes ran that game. You know, if you go back and look at the tape of that game, Jack Hughes ran that game uh with Yes, um dropped. I mean, it was Leafs were totally in turmoil. They couldn’t keep up. Um and I said, “It might be time to shake the tree.” And if they had lost both games to Buffalo and they went 0 for the week, which it looked like they might have after Friday night, I I think we would see some bodies being moved. Not now. I don’t think that will happen now. No, cuz I do think to your point, which I thought was a really good one, they’re little forest fires. So when you have little forest fires, you don’t want to have one huge fire, too, cuz then you got a problem. So I think the Calgary game’s important and I think they’ll take care of business in that one. and you go into Columbus, you should be able to deal with that even though it’s a back to back. But I I would say if they lose these next two games, I do think you’ll see some proactive movement from management. I do. And I think you have to at that point because you know, we can keep saying it’s not panic time. It’s not panic time until it’s panic time. So, you know, I don’t think it’s panic. I think you just say, you know what, and I’ve been through this before, too, and I know it’s a long time ago, but in 1990, we were in Pittsburgh and our team got off to a bad start, and Craig Patrick wasn’t panicking, but he says, we got to change some stuff up here. So, we moved we moved a bunch of defense. In fact, the defense that we started the season with was a totally different defense at the end of the year. We had six guys to start the year. We had five of the six that were moved out. It was it was amazing to see. And it ended up being a Stanley Cup year. And then the next year was a Stanley Cup year too. But it just shows you that you’ve got to read the room well. Yeah. And I think Trey Living understands it and I think Buby understands where the room is right now. Well, and speaking of the Pittsburgh Penguins, let’s take a quick lap around the rest of the Eastern Conference to talk about some of these front running teams right now playing great hockey. Pittsburgh being one of them. New Jersey, Montreal, the Buffalo Sabres have been pretty good. Like there’s a lot of old faces and new faces on this list right now. What are you seeing from the rest of the Eastern Conference? Well, let’s start with Pittsburgh first. Dan Muse is a firsttime head coach in the NHL and he surrounded himself with some really good people on his staff and they’ve done a magnificent job, Kyle, uh, in terms of creating game plans, energy. They went on a West Coast trip, they went two and one, and they probably should have gone 3 and 0 on the trip. They had a tough break in Anaheim in their first game of that trip. Um they’re coming up with big wins and the biggest thing I see is if Genny Malcin looks like if Genny Malin of four years ago he’s on this pointless lead. I love it. I love it. You know and and he’s playing with Justin Brazo who’s made a big impact. A former Leaf player signed by Kyle Dubis out of North Bay and then Anthony Mantis. So that line’s been really good. Really it’s made a huge difference. And Sydney Crosby’s responded to that too. Now they’re going to they had a major injury the other night. Ricard Raquel’s gone for about two months, which is pretty significant because he was playing online with Crosby and Brian Rust. So, we’ll see how they deal with that. So, Pittsburgh a work in progress, but way ahead of where most experts had them. Montreal Canadians are about where I thought they would be. They’re fast. They’re dynamic. Cole Cfield, Nick Suzuki, and your Kausski is one of the best lines in the league. Five on five. They’re amazing. This Ivan Demi off on the power play. They took Zachary Bulldook off. They put Demi Doof on. All they do is light you up. Every time you take a penalty, you’re doomed against that power play. This kid is a playmaking magician. He’s phenomenal. Phenomenal player. Um I was trying to do a comparable on him with a a media person that asked me and I said there’s some Peter Forsber and the way he protects the puck down low and there’s some Paul Korea. So Korea and Forsber, two totally different players. This guy’s got characteristics of both those guys. And I mean, they’re both Hall of Famer. I’m not saying Demi Dos’s going there anytime soon because I think he’s got a long career, but he’s special. Lane Hudson after signing his contract’s been really good for Montreal. Really, really good. And one of the things they found out without Kaden Gulie, they have Mike Mat playing as well as he’s ever played. He played almost 28 minutes the other night in Vancouver. He doesn’t play on the power play, so he can now handle all these big defensive minutes. They’re getting goalending from Dobish, which is phenomenal. He’s passed Montbo on the depth chart. Montreal’s for real. I love what you said about Buffalo. Lindy Ruff deserves a lot of credit. All the doom and gloomers out there. They were wrong. Buffalo is a much improved team and now they got Ukapan in back or Lukan, excuse me. He’s back. That’s going to make a difference for them in goal. I I Buffalo’s going to be a problem if they stay healthy. Buffalo is going to be a problem. Yeah. And New Jersey sitting at the top of the conference. The Leafs saw the wrath of them. They’re they’re they’re an excellent hockey team. Carolina’s good again. It’s a You know what you back to the Pittsburgh Pittsburgh this year reminds me of Montreal last year playing ahead of schedule on this team development except they still have the old workh horses in town with Crosby and Malcin. But I just love the Malcolin story this year that he’s emerged back at the top of the point scoring list. It’s just fun. The Eastern Conference is wild. The Leafs division is wild pier. Like this is a tough one to get out of and I think as much as anything else they have to stop losing to teams in their own division. It’ll cost them later. Yeah. You know, I’ll give you an example of what you’re talking about because they’re not in the division, but they’re going to be battling for a wild card. The New York Rangers, I know we’re not to the 10ame point for a lot of these teams. The New York Rangers have lost six of their last seven games. They’re terrible. Can’t score. Think about Think about that for one second. So, let’s just say this losing streak goes another four games and it comes to 10. They lose 10 games in a row. That’s 20 points in the standings. How are they going to make that up? Yeah. They’re not going on a run of, you know, 15 and two. That’s not happening. Not in this league. No, it’s not. So, I mean, you start doing and the big the big thing, and I’ve said this to you before, and I know I’ve said it on other shows, usually when the season starts, I focus in on on the players and the coaches of all these teams. Not this year, because of the parody that you alluded to before, Kyle, especially in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. I’m focusing on ownership groups that are prepared to spend, general managers that are prepared to make moves, and pro scouting staffs that don’t make a mess and soil the sheets when they go out and make trades. Yeah. If you don’t have those three components, an aggressive owner, a smart GM, and a really aggressive and and plugged in pro scouting staff, I don’t think you have a chance to win the cup this year. I really don’t. I don’t believe you do. New York Rangers problems very simply summed up right here. I’m on NHL’s website right now. They are right near the top in goals against average from their goalending and they are at the bottom in goal scoring. They can’t put the puck in the net and until they do that with the great goalending they receive, they will sit at the bottom of the conference. I know we talked about it before the season started. I thought the Rangers were a team that had to do a lot of shopping this summer to make their team better. Last year was a bitter disappointment and I don’t think they did enough shopping. I really don’t. I know they wanted to trade Keandre Miller and they got Scott Morrow back. He’s in and out of the lineup more times. He’s down in Hartford than he is in the NHL. I think, you know, they went out and signed Gabricoff and I don’t know how much they watched Gabriov. I’m sure they watched him a little bit. He’s a nice player, but he’s not a elite stopper. He’s a competent player who’s not an elite stopper. So, you go around and look at all and then you look at Zaban Jazz’s not getting any younger. Panera needs a contract. He’s kind of befuddled. He’s not getting any younger. They moved Chris Krider. The room was disjointed last year. So they thought when they moved Trouban Crider and maybe Candre Miller they would cleanse the room. I don’t think they’ve done that. No, I the Rangers are a major disappointment. They have to be. Well, I got to tell you, Pierre, on a personal level, I know somewhere our producer Brian Monzo is watching this right now listening to this. He’s crying because his Rangers are in the toilet. Uh before we say goodbye, Pierre, you’re about to head out on the road. Do you want to talk about that and tell the audience where you’re headed right now? Yeah, I’m heading over to uh Europe today. Um, I’m speaking at a W IHF conference on uh Wednesday and Thursday. George McI, the general manager or the president I should say of hockey operations in Vegas is going to be there. It’s a gathering of all the professional leagues and teams uh their management and ownership groups uh in Belfast, Ireland, believe it or not. And that’s in recognition of the Belfast Giants and the great job they’ve done as an organization in that British league. And so everybody from all over Europe’s coming in for a 4-day conference and uh I’ll be speaking Wednesday and Thursday and then flying back on Friday. So I’m really excited about it. Um going to talk a lot about visions with George in particular of how to build a competing team at the professional level. So I’m really pumped about that. Ah that sounds really great. Pierre, thanks for sharing that with us. Folks, Toronto Sports Rush brought to you by Bet Rivers. This has been another episode of Meguire Monday. We’ll see you next week. And if you’re looking for more coverage, tune in. Dan and I and CJ Nikkowski are live after every Blue Jays game during this World Series as the Blue Jays continue to provide cover for this underachieving Toronto Maple Leafs team. We’ll see you soon, folks. Have a great day. Thanks for watching Toronto Sports Rush on the Bet Rivers Network.

Kyle Andrew and Pierre McGuire analyze the Toronto Maple Leafs’ defensive lapses, especially weak-side and transition coverage. But there are some positives that Toronto can build on right now.

00:00 The Leafs after 9 games
05:00 What’s wrong with the top line?
12:00 Can the Leafs turn it around soon?
20:05 Thoughs on Eastern Conference

#mapleleafs #mapleleafsnews #betriversnetwork