Maple Leafs Full Media Availability | Practice | December 12, 2025

Maple Leafs Full Media Availability | Practice | December 12, 2025

Joseph, first of all, just how are you feeling and uh could you be in that lineup tomorrow night? Uh I don’t think I’m expecting to play tomorrow, but um been feeling great. Uh every day feeling a little better and better. So I’m happy to back on the ice and yeah, doing well. What threw your mind when you did sustain what you sustained in Carolina? Uh that’s a tough one. Ow. Yeah. No, I I hear you. I’m just messing with you. Um yeah, it was disappointing um to, you know, not be able to to continue playing, but um I think the really positive is that, you know, Beast has been playing great for us and um I think the team’s been playing well and again really really tight games that are going either way and um yeah, so I’m just looking forward to being back. Do you feel it was function, Joe, of of playing as many games as you did in a short stretch of eight and nine or is it just one of those freak things that Yeah, I mean to be honest with you, my body felt great. Um so just just something that happens you know stuff stuff happens and um I felt confident I was doing everything you know from my my part and um seems like each each time something happens you learn a little bit about maybe something add something to subtract so um you know it’s a little learning experience and just happy it’s uh you know nothing too major and um yeah again feeling good and uh making progress every day. What have you made of the way uh Dennis has played in your absence? Excuse me. Dennis in your absence. What have you made of the way he’s played? Yeah, like I said, he’s been he’s been awesome. Um, you know, you guys asked me, I think in in Washington before he started in Pittsburgh and said I was pumped to see him play cuz, you know, I see him every day in practice and, you know, he works hard and, um, he’s a hell of a goalie. So, uh, you guys have seen that, too. So, it’s it’s been pretty awesome to see and he’s carrying the load for us right now, which is great. And, um, he’s doing a great job. challenging is it uh balancing the workload when you came back from a layoff and then playing a lot but also knowing what you’ve been through before to kind of just have that competitive desire you want to play a lot but also kind of being in tune with the body to know what works yeah I mean I’ve I’ve had experience now and um I understand kind of what my body needs and again it’s it’s always fine tuning I think you know your entire time you’re playing you’re you’re fine-tuning things and and learning and growing and um it feels like for me it’s it’s always a mix what can I take away? What can I add in? And um again, like I said, I was feeling great in in terms of my body. So, um was happy with with how I was and um happy with how I’m feeling now. What have you seen from Artrack Jup and how his game maybe progressed uh you know, he hasn’t played in NHL yet, but what have you seen in practice and being around him with the team? Yeah, from the first time I saw him, I thought he was sick. He’s a good goalie man. You watch him out there. Um, yeah, he’s uh like I don’t know, the Russians are feeding their guys something different, but he’s uh he’s he’s great. Um, so it’s been fun out there with him and super laid-back guy and you always smiling. What do you mean of how the team’s played, not only when you were in there and kind of the upward trajectory there, but then while you were kind of watching? Yeah, I mean, it’s it’s the same thing I’ve hammered home, I think, every time you guys ask me is that, you know, I feel like Oh, sorry. um our team, you know, understands the way we want to play and and when we play to our our process and play to our systems, you know, it allows guys to, you know, come alive and let their skills show, but we also, you know, are tight defensively. And I think that, you know, since I’ve been back, from what I’ve seen is, you know, a lot of these games are really, really tight. And, you know, you go to OT, win some, you lose some, right? But I think the the positive is that, you know, we’re trending in the right direction and we’ve been very consistent lately. So, you know, from from my perspective, it’s results take care of themselves. Um, and and you just keep keep with it, keep with it, keep with it. And, um, I think we’ve done a, you know, an excellent job of faced a ton of adversity with lots of injuries. We’ve had lots of guys out, lots of our defensemen are out and guys keep stepping up and and we’re still playing that consistent game. When you look at the standings, do you see a lot of runway there still for you guys to Yeah, it’s a tight division, right? Like a few points within every team. So, um, yeah, it’s it’s from my perspective again pretty open and, um, that’s why I love how we’re playing. We just got to keep at it and, um, you know, hopefully that the results take care of themselves. As a goalie, what do you think of Phil Meyer’s shot that apparently can go through the glass? Did he rip one through the glass? Literally through the glass. Oh jeez. As if it wasn’t even there. Yeah, he’s that guy shredded. So, he can rip the puck pretty good. Um, yeah. Not Not a fun one to stand behind. Yeah. up there with Yanni Hawkenpaw if you remember him. He can rip the buck too. Yeah. Couple hard shooters. Yeah. Way through your mind like going through the hearing. Uh yeah, just don’t want to um obviously don’t want to miss miss any hockey, miss any games. Um you just got to trust that the league’s going to make the the right decision at a time. It’s um emotional game. things happen. There’s scrums that happen. Um guys are uh you make uh quick decisions, emotional decisions, and then you just got to trust that the league uh handles it the right way. Greg defended you kind of saying like it didn’t look like it was your intent even though the rule is the rule by the book. Like it looked like you didn’t kind of intend to it uh all heard that way. Is that is that your assessment when you spoke to them as well? Yeah. Yeah. Obviously like I was never trying to there’s nothing malicious about it. I was never trying to obviously injure anybody or or anything. Um and luckily nobody was hurt. Um I think it was just you get in in those battles where the hands get high and and things kind of just um escalate sometimes and that’s kind of all it was. There was no intent to do anything really. Speaking of emotion, I mean you did lose a player on the play that fed into it a little bit that temperature was a little high in that scrum. Yeah, I think if you you look at kind of why where that all started. Um and and you just kind of you think that you want to be there for a teammate. Um and then emotions are are kind of running high and that’s that’s kind of the biggest thing is where the attention um maybe should be looked at is is where uh where it all started. With the way the refs called that, it seemed like you weren’t going to get a penalty and then you did get a penalty. Were you surprised? Yeah, I was surprised. Uh, I did not think that’s I think I hung around on the ice for a while cuz I couldn’t wasn’t really sure that that would be me. I didn’t see anything that really um came from from what happened there. So, um I I didn’t hear my name or my number called in the beginning. So, yeah, I didn’t didn’t think anything was coming of it. Did you get any explanation for how they kind of thought like a minute later that you should get a penalty? Uh yeah, I’m not sure. I think they somehow uh were able to review it and then went back and looked at it somehow. What’ you take away from the one game watching? Uh, I think we’re uh we’re trending in the right direction. Um, I think the the guys are playing well. They’re playing hard. Um, I think we got a lot of chances. We had enough opportunities to score and win that game. And then it’s just continuing to work uh in our Dzone and making sure that we’re solid there so we can close games out. Uh, yeah, I didn’t really I didn’t really see it on the schedule, honestly. So, or else I might have been um sweating a little bit more. But I think every game’s just as important. I think it’s just you don’t want to miss any games at all. Um and if you’re missing one, yeah, hopefully it’s it’s not this one a Saturday, too. Yeah. How big of people at home will be watching, obviously? Yeah. I think a lot of people watch the Oilers um from home in Alberta, whether whether they’re playing us, maybe a few more eyeballs on it. Um if if they’re playing the Leafs, I think, well, we don’t know where you’ll factor in when everything kind of goes back tomorrow, but what did you notice from William Knander in that spot having played with Joshua? Yeah, I think he’s uh I mean he’s such a dynamic player. He controls the puck so well um and controls the play. So I think those guys were were feeding off it well. Uh they do a good job of pushing the pace, driving things back, creating space, too. And I feel like Will made some good plays and then they capitalized on the one goal there. That was nice. You know, when you see a guy like go down, what goes through your mind? Just hope it’s not too serious, I guess. You know, he’s a big part of our group. Uh, we want him on the ice obviously and it’s one of those like weird uh accident that you just hope it’s not too bad. Make a game like yesterday. I’m sorry. I mean, uh, no, I I think, uh, we s we had some up, we had some little bit of downs. Uh, we gave them a little bit of opportunity to come back and that’s what happened. Uh but uh I think uh we’ve showed that we’ve been building on the on the right path here lately and we just have to stay positive and keep uh chipping away. What you make of playing with Henry? Yeah. No, he’s a he’s a good puck mover, you know, like I mean I saw him a little bit the preseason. I’ve played against him uh a little bit when he was in San Jose and stuff. So uh no, he’s a good puck moving. Obviously, we were learning to play with each other. It was only our first game together. So uh but I’ve been pleased. You know, I’ve been pleased so far. He’s he’s a good player, big body who’s a puck well, and hopefully we’ll keep it going. How much do you relish the challenge of facing some of those? So, no, it’s always fun. It’s always fun. Like, best player in the league right there. So, it’s always a challenge, especially for a DM. Uh, you know, you’re trying to do the best as you can to just uh contain him and uh it’s just it’s just fun. That’s why you play hockey. Or how do you keep how’s it keep going when you see so many quality players? I suffer injuries. It’s it’s part of the game. It’s a it’s a contact sport. Injuries happen. Uh we can’t start uh crying every every time a player gets hurt, right? So, it’s just part of the game. Uh and then we just stick together and the guys that play that that night just got to do the job. Leon Dres has an uncanny ability, Simon, to score from basically the goal line. How cognizant do you have to be as a defenseman that even when you think he might be able to play, he’s still a factor? I mean, they’re the best player in the league for for those reasons, right? Like, you just have to be always careful. I just try to get them uh the least chances possible with the the furthest away from the net and that’s it. The Oilers just made a uh big trade. What’s it like to play a team that’s made a uh It happens every year. Trade deadline. No, no different. Um what do you make of uh Marshall Thai? Looks like he’s getting closer and closer and like that’s kind of like a positive sign even though this one guy kind of goes down. There’s some Yeah. Yeah. I mean Marshall was unfortunate unfortunate for him. He got hurt there in in preseason. Um it’s good for him that he’s he’s close to come back. It’s good for him too. Yeah. Yeah. No, obviously like he’s been around, you know, he’s working hard out there and couple more guys in practice stuff, you That’s good. At the end of the session today, Phipe took a shot, run right through the glass behind the net. Yeah. Um, girl, I’m surprised and impressed by it. What do you think? Flee took a shot. Look at my Yeah. to take a shot. Well, he has a pretty hard shot, so uh Yeah. No, I’m not surprised. What’s the word on on Oliver? Um, not bad. like, you know, it’s uh I think tomorrow we’ll know if um hopefully he can get on the ice and see how it feels. You know, that’s what we’re hoping and um you know, we’ll go from there. We talked to Joe Walls. Obviously, he’s sort of back in your Yeah. almost ready to play. Yeah. Almost. He won’t play tomorrow, but um you know, if he keeps progressing the right way here like he has been, I would think he possibility could be ready. How about uh Tanniff? Like yeah, Tanny got uh his imaging and all that and he’s getting a second opinion which we’ll get here soon hopefully and then we’ll go from there what the decision will be. Good news that Rafi not wearing the non-cont I know it’s an optional escape. Yeah, I know he’s he’s getting Yes. very he’s going he’s doing well. Um playing when he get ready to play I don’t know yet. when he was at that training camp. What kind of where was he in the mix in your eyes? Uh Rafi, he’s always in the mix since I’ve been here like as a guy that uh you know can give you games and be ready to play and you know the guy like him, he gets in there and plays some games and gains confidence. You know, who knows? He’s got a lot of ability, can skate, and you know, he’s a physical player and um but um yeah, I mean, you look at all the injuries we got on the back end right now. Agree. I mean, you know, you those guys are important, right? We all know that. We we see that now how important these guys are because they happen and you know, he could be playing. Do you admire his tenacity in terms of waiting for this? Oh yeah, he’s he’s he’s one of the best I’ve been around with um in terms of uh dedication to the game and work ethic and uh preparation and stuff like that. He’s he’s right up there. It’s been a month since uh Anthony Star played. Is there any plan to see him get back on the ice in in the near future? Um right now, no. Is is there serious concern the season could be in jeopardy? Uh I wouldn’t go there. Um, but you know, he’s not going to be on the ice anytime soon. Brandon Carlo foot surgery heard. So, what does that do for him to get up to speed? Because I guess you can’t skate on fast. Yeah, that’s a good question. I mean, you know, at some point he’ll be able to get on the ice and skate. Um, I don’t know that timeline right now. It depends on the healing process, right? In Oliver’s case, that’s probably better than you expected given the weight, right? Yeah, for sure. But again, he’s got to get on the ice. That’s, you know, I don’t can’t I can’t give you an answer until he gets on the ice tomorrow. You’ve got decisions to make up front like Bobby McMahon is eligible, but do you stick with what you saw from the Lander with Joshua? Uh, that’s, yeah, I don’t know yet. Um, we’re, you know, that’s something because that line with McMahon on it was very good for us. um they bring a real identity to our team, but um you know those are decisions we got to talk about and make. Ooilers, what’s the challenge they present tomorrow? 97. Um couple other guys. No, they’re a good team. I mean um you know they you know had a had a big win last night. Uh um they’re they’re always a challenge with Dry Sidle and McDavid what they’re what they’re capable of doing obviously. And um Heyman’s back, you know. Um it’s a good team over there. You know, their power play is dangerous. OB, we know that. Um we got to, you know, we got to check those guys. You you you can’t give them time and space. You got to try to take it away as much as you can and limit their speed and their opportunities and um discipline’s going to be a big factor. You know, you can’t go to the box all night and they’re eventually going to capitalize on it. They’ve also just made a big trade. got wary of them being fired up in that respect. Um, yeah, for sure. And no, for sure. I mean, like Skinner’s, you know, he’s been a big part of their team and, um, you you’re losing a guy that was there for a while and they like, you know, obviously he’s wellliked and he’s done a good job for him, but that’s part of the game. Trades happen and um, you know, so I I don’t know where their emotions are at. That’s, you know, I’m not in that locker room. Have you ever seen a a guy with the ability to score from the corner as proficiently as Leon Dryidle can? I think it’s just bizarre how he’s Yeah, he’s um he’s very good at it, that’s for sure. Um he’s a hell of a player. I mean, talk about puck possession and hanging on to pucks and it’s tough to get it off him. like he’s, you know, you got to do a good job of containing him um when he’s got the puck and you got to make sure you get guys marked up around him because he, you know, he’ll make plays. He’s very good playmaker as much as he is a scorer. Um so he’s hard to handle. No, no doubt about it. They’re a good team and you know they got some great players. Yesterday you were talking about late in the third period if you guys kind of get that out get the result. William kind of took a different focus kind of talking about if they would have scored more that would have helped as well. Well, no doubt. We had some great opportunities um in the game to make it a different score, but that’s not always the case and that’s not always going to be the case. And in my opinion, in that third period, we didn’t um play the north south game enough. I thought that we like I talked about last night, we turned too many pucks over in the third period. um put ourselves in a tough spot and we didn’t need to. What was your view on the overtime winner? Was it a breakdown or just one of those plays that you try something? Well, I thought, you know, Austin was trying to beat the guy, you know, and I I get it. Those guys are talented players and they’re going to challenge people one-on-one. I got and it got stripped. Um could have been a penalty maybe. I mean it they call it sometimes, sometimes they don’t, but and turned into a twoon-one.

Players and Coach address the media following Friday’s practice.

00:00 Joseph Woll
04:33 Bobby McMann
07:55 Simon Benoit
11:05 Craig Berube

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