Leafs Humbled By Oilers, Berube Sounds Alarm on Leaders

Leafs Humbled By Oilers, Berube Sounds Alarm on Leaders

You’re watching Leaf’s Morning Tape with host Nick Alber and former NHL Jay Rose. The show starts now. Double whammy on a Monday morning. Rosie. The Toronto Maple Leafs get embarrassed by the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday nights and they’re officially out of the Quinn Hughes sweep stakes. Leafs morning take Zack Phillips Jay Rose Hill Monday December 15th and Rosie uh it feels like this season has been the biggest roller coaster ride that we could have possibly imagined when it comes to this Leaf’s team. You know, it was last week I think at some point we were talking about this team might have something. We’re on a run. were on a stretch and then Saturday night you and myself jumped on Leaf Nation after dark and it was a completely different story. I know. And I people rip on Leafs fans in general and just me personally for being like, “Weren’t you just saying like how you’re how you’re impressed with how they’re playing and you see the light and you believe and then like and I totally get it. I I get the heat. I understand why people say that, but to follow this team as close as we do and and talk about them for an hour minimum every day and think about it all the time and go over notes and sheets and stats, it’s uh it’s so funny how they suck in. And what pisses me off is that yeah, along that roller coaster, when you’re high on that roller coaster, they’re doing what they’re capable of. It’s not like this team’s like an overachiever and like sometimes you like believe in them. No, it’s like that’s when they play well, it’s like that’s the template. That’s what they should play. Like that’s what they’re capable of. And then their low is so gross and so unnecessary and so avoidable that that you lose your marbles. And I think that’s what the kicker is. And that’s why it’s easy to flip-flop. And that’s I guess I need to try not to do that. But I mean, I’m just riding the wave, man. I’m just I’m just reporting on what I see. And I don’t think there’s many teams out there that give you what the Leafs do. They they they give you hope and say, “All right, well, we’ll show you what we got tonight.” And then they’ll do it for a, you know, a considerable amount of time. And you’re like, “Okay, they’ve got it. That’s what it is. They can access it all the time. They finally found the formula.” And then it’s just like these mindmeltingly disgusting efforts where you’re like, you didn’t even bother to [ __ ] do what you were supposed to do. And that’s what that’s what drives us. And yes, a roller coaster for sure. And I get blamed and I feel like I’m a victim of the roller coaster because of what they show you and what they present you and how different it can be from night to night. Look, I’ll I’ll just say uh I think part of why this show is what it is and this channel is what it is and you and Albera started this before I even got here and I think it was one of the reasons I was so enticed to jump on and join with you boys and be a part of this is because we’re allowed to do that. Like we are we are people who watch and feel these emotions and are fans of the team and want them to succeed and are frustrated when they don’t. And I think that that kind of is what resonates with people who watch and it resonated with me as somebody who used to do that on my own and got the opportunity to come here. So yeah, sometimes we’re really really high and sometimes we’re really really low. But I think that that’s kind of what’s the good part about this show and this channel. So yeah, it’s ups and downs and there’s plenty of to get into from this weekend and looking ahead to this week, Rosie. But uh today’s show is presentation of Bet 365 as always. We’ll continue to dig into it. Greg here on this channel, Leaf Nation 401 on YouTube as well. You can find us wherever you get your podcast, Leafs Morning Take. But let’s get into the Quinn Hughes stuff first and foremost because I kind of was jokingly suggesting the Maple Leafs uh they miss out on Quinn Hughes. I don’t think anybody was expecting that was a possibility knowing Brad Tree Living, he probably picked up the phone or you hope he at least picked up the phone and made a call out there to Vancouver. But what did you make of that news on Friday? Uh all of a sudden we’re sitting there and we’re talking about Quinn Hughes off to the Minnesota Wild for Liam Ogrren, uh Zeve Boyam, um Marco Rossy and a 2026 first round pick that just hits the timeline when nobody expected it. Yeah, it’s funny when things go down. Um my biggest thing is, you know, you watch Billy G and and make the moves he’s made and Garen sometimes make me chuggle. when when they uh signed Capri oven and he was just like and I was just like is this guy like reluctantly making all these moves but um I don’t know when you think about you know I I was in the background I was making dinner or something some show was on in the background they were crunching the numbers and the stretch passes and the this and the that and I feel like it sounds like by all means he can compliment their team quite a bit. My one thing is just like like yesesh are you just do you just have them for a few months? Like that’s kind of scary, right? To give up um some of those players in a pick and the first round picks you’re always like what is that guy going to be for the next 20 years? It’s it’s risky. Um but I just wonder like if it was a sign and trade fine but it’s just I I I for some reason and again I’m just kind of a body language facial expression kind of guy. I’m kind of like seeing him say the right things. he’s a pro and all the rest. Scores his first game. But I’m just like, I feel like he’s not going to resign with you guys. And that that’s the risk. But nonetheless, if they’re trying to make a move and go now and they’re in that really tough division, my god. Um, but quietly playing really good hockey and and look like a really good team, but I don’t think they’re making the noise on the front page the way other teams are with Dallas and Colorado doing kind of more special things. But it’s going to be interesting. He’s a hell of a player, one of the best Dman in the league, and I think he’s going to help them. I just wonder if like in a short few months if uh things don’t go really well, is he just going to say Sanara? Well, so he’s got two years left on the deal. Um you get you get two out of him. Well, cuz like I I think the sentiment of what you’re saying still stands. Like he could go through one year and say this isn’t it or do it at the end. But the only thing I think for that I appreciated and it was kind of the same thing of what I appreciated about what Tolski did last year in Carolina was you’re trying something like you’re getting creative and you’re trying. You’re moving players out. You’re moving young guys out because you’re going and saying, “Hey, we’re going to do this thing to put our team over the top.” Doesn’t work out with Rantin in Carolina. He’s not going to resign. They end up trading them and they get good pieces back anyways. Uh, it could be and Vic little horny couple of hiccups today on both sides. She’s a Monday voice. Uh, the thing too here with uh with Minnesota and it’s like this is why I didn’t cut you off because it still stands other than you saying a couple months. It’s still this right. It’s still the same idea. It’s like he could say I’m not going to resign here and then they’ve got to move on. Maybe they just get one playoff run out of them. But I just appreciate that they’ve tried, you know, because how many times did we sit here with this Leafs team? And I mean, you’re just looking at like uh you’re looking at picks and prospects that we’re talking about trading because everybody’s so scared to move people on this roster and move guys from this team to go out and make some type of trade or make some type of splash and get your team to that next level. And then you look at like Carolina, you look at uh teams like Colorado and Dallas and and here you go the Minnesota Wild throwing their names in the hat and saying, “Fuck it. We’ll do it. We’ll make that trade. We’ll give that team that player an opportunity.” Like that was one thing I appreciated. Um but I do understand what you’re saying where it’s like he could look at them and be like, “It’s really [ __ ] cold here in Minnesota. I don’t want to play here.” or I don’t think that this team gives me the best chance. I don’t want to play here. Brock Faber maybe is going to step up and become an amazing player. Not necessarily to surpass Quinn Hughes, but maybe he looks over and it’s just like this doesn’t work for me. I could leave. It’s all very fair criticism or skepticism about the trade. I just looked at it from the perspective of like here’s a guy willing to take a swing and Billy G basically put his dick on the table and said, “I’m here to play. Let’s [ __ ] go. we’re going to get and couldn’t use. Yeah, and I respect that. Um, yeah, my mistake. Uh, screw that up. For some reason, I thought, um, I was thinking he was less, but when you make a deal like that for a player like that, it’s usually, you know, six, five, six, seven, eightyear deal or signing trade and it’s like, we made this move because we’re building around him. You don’t know if you can do that with Quinn Hughes, especially when so much buzz about his brothers and them wanting to play together and his agent was vocal about saying just so you know like we’re not we’re not saying we’re like kind of made it clear like we’re not no don’t be don’t be thinking it’s a guarantee we’re going to sign with someone if we do this trade. Um, so that’s kind of the hesitation, but like you say, even with that, we want to take a swing here. And I can imagine being a GM for certain teams at certain points in their, you know, there’s ups and downs and there’s trajectories and there’s rebuilds and there’s win nows and there’s windows and during some windows, I imagine GMs are like, what are we even doing? Like, are we just are we just floating by? Are we making moves? Are we do we believe in what we’re doing? are we excited about what’s happening? And I imagine some guys don’t like living in that zone and they’re like, “Let’s take a swing and let’s let’s tear it down to the studs and rebuild.” And that’s very risky because you might not even be there when that rebuild comes to fruition. Or you could say, “Let’s take a huge swing and then you could lose the player, not like lose all the assets and the picks and the trades and then lose the player you got because he doesn’t sign there and then you’re standing there and then everyone turns on you.” Like it’s very risky. So again, hats off to to Billy G for having the balls to do it, but I love it too. Um and and you mentioned those other teams that have had the balls to make the swing and make the trade with, you know, the Yahoos or the Rantins or the whatever you want to take it. And yeah, it’s I mean all the guys on the Leafs, it’s been all this speculation and people just like forget the fact that there’s no trade clauses. And it’s not very often you go up to especially a high-end player and be like, “Hey, you feel like waving your no trade clause even though you thought you’d be here for eight years and you totally in your the ball’s in your court as far as whether we can do that or not.” So that’s preventing a lot and just being in that market of Toronto like lots of noise. Breaking news. It would be such a huge deal to move one of the stars on this team. Jerseys have been sold and people it’s just it’s just makes a lot of noise compared to, you know, doing it in Carolina for example. So interesting to say, but I mean the more and they were on like a six plus game point streak and they were playing some good hockey and maybe they get back to playing that this week, but um the more I mean they’re teetering around not being in a playoff spot and looking at some rough numbers and the power, whatever you want to say about it, I think the more people are going to start to say, “What is the future of this team?” And is there any way you could make a move as a general manager to try to to try to make things better? Yeah, I know. That’s the one thing that I keep thinking about right now. Like, okay, Quinn Hughes is available. Now, I’m not saying the Maple Leafs have the assets to go out and get Quinn Hughes, but you know, if you’re Brad living right now, is it even worthwhile with what you have as on with the guys on this roster? Is it worthwhile with what you’re looking at? Uh, and in Austin Matthews who looks like a shell of himself and now you’re basically down to 35year-old John Tiveres and William Knander being your one superstar. Like I mean I’m not saying that Matthews can never get back to that place, but there was an expectation at least from myself that he would get a lot closer to the guy he was when he was scoring 55 60 goals a season when he was in the Rocket Trophy uh or Rocket Rashard conversation every year when he won the heart trophy. You know, not to say he puts up 69. Again, that’s probably the career year, but he was a 55 to 60 goal scorer each year. He looks like he’s dropped off. You look at those guys, you look at what you have in this team. Do you even bother right now going and trying to, you know, swing assets and young kids and picks to try to improve this team and to bolster your lineup? Like, does it even come across your table like this is something that should be salvageable or we should be trying to fix this season, Rosie, or do you kind of just say we got to let this one play out as it is? H like it just there’s too many unknowns, right? Like what is going on with Austin Matthews? We we just played the Edmonton Oilers with the Conor McDavids of the world, right? And it wasn’t that long ago that Austin Matthews is winning a heart trophy while Conor McDavid is in the league. Like that doesn’t that says so much. and like people I don’t think it was right but people would compare them against each other and you watch now and it’s like you know the the people that are super supporters and would never do anything but praise Austin Matthews are like are like pointing towards like some good Dzone effort and it’s like we’re talking about the best in the [ __ ] world with making the max in the league at a certain point in time and winning these serious trophies and having conversations about him and the greatest players of of a generation and it’s like it’s not even close and if that’s contributing to the fact that this team’s not where they want to be. I mean you look at that guy like Morgan Riley has more points than him and he’s like an aging struggling shell of himself Dman. He’s got more points than Austin Matthews and you could say game like he’s played like four more games. It’s not a considerable amount. Like Matthews is a shell of himself and they know why in that room. They know why. I don’t know if like again the sky’s is the limit for what the problem is. And we know he went to Germany. Why do you go and do that? Like something’s up with him. Obviously he it was like clockwork after that 69 goal season. They were trying to get him to 70. It kind of was like what’s going on? And then after that playoff loss, he just picked up and was just never the same. And so if something’s wrong with him, like some chronic back injury they just can’t operate on or some who knows what’s going on, like do you go to the guy and say, “Hey, we’re going to deal you.” And then if you’re going to deal him and go through all that [ __ ] and it’s going to be such big news and everyone’s going to talk and speculate about it. It’s going to be all over the front of all the sports pages, especially in Canada like it is with the Maple Leafs. Who’s going to say, “Yeah, we’ll pay you 13 million bucks and come on over here because there’s obviously some massive problem with you where this team is willing to go through all this [ __ ] to move on from you and what do you get in return?” Like, I don’t think and you got to ask him to do it’s just it’s too mucky and I don’t think they will. I really don’t. um and uh miss the playoffs this year and kind of quietly while the season’s not running, could you start to try to make something happened? Tree living, I could see that being as a bigger potential. But through this season, I I just don’t think anyone’s coming to save the day. And I think it it’s going to be in that room. And like we talked about on the Afterdark show when we’re kind of hot under the collar just watching that third period against the Oilers. It’s like I do have some questions about the way this team stars operate and how they can lead and how they’re able to take a team and blaze the trail through a season, especially when there’s adversity and they’re they’re sitting in the position they are right now. you see flashes of it, but I mean a lot of that good play was on the back of goalenders and bottom sixers. Like I just I don’t know what this leadership group is. Um Johnny T, I I love the guy and respect him and I see him doing everything within his power, but like he’s not the guy to put an entire franchise on his back anymore. He’s a really good facilitator, a 2C um and and and he’s getting paid where he could become a 3C next year and it would be totally understandable and still extremely serviceable. But it’s got to be Matthews and Knander at this point in time and I just I have so many questions on whether they they can do that and my mind always does like you wander towards what can we do with these guys? Can we make some serious moves? But I just don’t see it happening during season. Yeah. And I think what you’re saying about the leadership is what’s like the one thing that I keep going back to myself right now. And those guys being the guys who are supposed to put you over the top. And you know, Austin Matthews, even playing the way he is right now, is still a really good player. I think that there’s like a little bit of a derangement syndrome that goes on in our heads because we saw that season where he scored 60 69 goals. We saw those seasons where he won the Rocket. like we saw all that and in our brains there’s this level that like doesn’t compute where it’s like how did he go from that to what he is now and it’s like he’s still a good player a really good player in the NHL but it kind of comes back to like that doesn’t scream captain material that doesn’t scream 13.25 25 that doesn’t scream number one C. Like all these elements that go into it just no longer match up to the production and the output that you’re getting from the guy. And that’s where the disconnect is and that’s where people in Toronto start to get frustrated is like how did you go from that to where you are now? And I mean kind of tying it all back together, Rosie, like we’re sitting here watching these trades go down and these other teams adding. I just don’t think that it’s worth it to do for this team. team. And I mean, again, back to the Quinn Hughes situation, like Dallas goes out and gets Mico Ranton in last year. They think they’re a contender. They’re going to add. They’re trying to push themselves over the top. Colorado last year goes out and gets two new goalenders. Acquires Brock Nelson, you know, couple years ago gets Manson, like they bolster the lineups because they look at the guys they have and they go, “These guys can do it.” I don’t look at the guys you have in this room right now and think that you have enough in them to be able to do it. And you know, we still open the show talking about the roller coaster ride that we go on with this team. Rosie, by the end of next week, you and I could be talking on next Saturday night before going into Christmas and being like, “Wow, really good week of hockey. Couple good games. You got it back. Saturday was a little blip in the way that they’ve played.” But I think the thing that I keep coming back to and why it’s becoming more and more pressing, and I don’t know if you agree with this, is just because we are now 10 years in. Like this is not a 31 game sample size of what these guys can do. And no matter how good the hockey is that they play through 82 games, through the next week that we may see through the past, excluding Saturday, through the past seven games, eight games, whatever it is, where we look at the entire team and the body of work, we’re always going to come back to what did the superstars do and the way that they played on that Saturday night or over this last stretch. And I think that’s where we always start to uh we we always kind of look at and be like they come up short when the ma moment matters the most. And that’s the problem where you will never ever get over the hump if your big boys are just not willing or not interested in doing it and finding that next gear and getting you there. And that’s the problem that I have coming out of this weekend. A lot of the play can be fixed. They could win the next three straight games, but the DNA of these guys coming down to coming down to it when it matters, they just don’t have it. And you know, people that I don’t know, everyone’s got different levels of faithfulness. And I mean, I I get caught up in it when they put together those five games that look pretty good, too, cuz I want to believe and I want to be positive and I want to enjoy the process of doing this job and caring about the Leafs. And having a team that you follow and it’s is it’s as exciting as as it is in Toronto with that team. It’s it’s a little bit different. It’s fun and I want it to be positive and I want to believe and I want to have reason to say exciting things are coming down the barrel. I mean, how fun was that last year after the first couple of games in round two against the big dogs and the in the Cats and the the Florida Panthers and we’re up two goals like when Willie scored that first goal like a a minute into the first game and we’re like, “Holy [ __ ] what’s this going to look like?” And and then we win that and then we win the second game and we think they’re going to be like, “All right, they’re going to show us who they are. Holy shit.” Like, how exciting was that? I want to be a part of that. But they have proven to be so unreliable and they have caught us with our pants down so many times getting caught up in exactly that believing and wanting to be positive and then when it actually kind of matters and it’s it’s time to like really put a stamp on it every single time I mean they’ve let us down right and it seems to be that pattern where people start to go okay I’ve seen enough and again it’s a decade right this isn’t two years in where it’s like well They they let us down twice in a row now. Or should we start to question the, you know, the character and the leadership and and what these guys are made of and their DNA? It’s 10 years, dude. And just too many of those flatline games where you really need them to bust through and show depth and character and and all the rest of the good stuff. And as good a players as they are and they have trophies and numbers and [ __ ] like that, when when you need that to when you need them to put a stamp on it, they’ve always let you down. So when I get tearing on them and and get in the the foul mood like I was on Saturday night, I I have trouble, you know, feeling bad about it or or having wanting to really reverse my thoughts because I’m just like, well then tell me why I’m wrong. Like just blind faith. I have it sometimes. I get criticized for having it sometimes, but I mean to say that what I said after the game on Saturday where I’m just like these guys just leadership, character, um just what you’re made of, the grit, the determination, the willingness, the get the [ __ ] out of my way. I’m doing this myself and just I’m I’m going to take my skill and I’m going to put my heart and pair them together and make this [ __ ] happen. They don’t ever they only seem to ever have half of it. and it’s just the talent and skill portion and as we know after a decade it only gets you so far. just to kind of wrap up on what the weekend was and what we saw um on Saturday night and I mean the fallout here through through all day Sunday. Uh, but just kind of it was just tying all back tying it all back together and I think it was part of what was making me frustrated and maybe I was looking too much into it but it’s just the conversation of you know Quinn Hughes he says I’m not going to resign and Vancouver goes out and they make some big splash and they get pieces back and they trade things and you know you look at the rant in situation in Colorado again back to that one even before he went to Carolina you know he identified that he was looking for a certain amount of money and Colorado said we’re not and do that and they made a trade and they go out and get Martin Etches and people thought that that one wasn’t going to work out right away and Colorado is the best team in the NHL here right now. Who knows what happens in the future if they win a Stanley Cup. But you look at all those things and you know you can believe in your group as much as you want, but then at some point you either have to identify like this is not going to work and we’ve got to make changes. We have to adapt or you go down with the ship and it feels like here in Toronto we went down with the ship. And I think looking back here now at the end of this, you know, 10 years later, that’s why we end up getting frustrated as fans, as people who are watching, breaking it down, going on after dark, seeing everything, just looking back and being like, there were so many opportunities to correct course, to make a trade, to make something happen, to try something new, and we just refused because there was so much belief in these guys. And you know, I kind of understand it. And it’s like what you’re saying where every now and then we see these things and we go, “Holy [ __ ] I’m back in. I believe this group can do it. I believe they have it.” And then at the end of the day, they show their true colors. You know, those opportunities come up for them to show us they have something different and they just don’t. They show the same thing over and over again. And that’s where it becomes frustrating is like we just kept trying. We kept trying and it just never worked. It fell through. And they just kept showing us over and over again that they were the same guys we thought they were. I know. And like you talk about Colorado, they win a cup in 18 and then feel like they could win one like almost every year after that and then some some hiccups or stutter steps or come up a bit short, some disappointments um and then willing to make the changes that you need and you know move on from some highend like we were just not willing to move on from anyone. I mean Matthews what what’s his knock? I mean that famous just getting ragdollled while you’re smiling like not even willing to defend yourself let alone other people. It’s a It’s a gross taste in people’s mouth. Willie Knander, you know, there’s a lot of low lightss of him just not even bothering while he’s in the middle of a shift to like do the extra effort and it’s just this low light gross, you know, lazy look, right? He has a tendency to do that a little bit. Mitch Marner just a child with the playing [ __ ] street hockey out there all the time when it when it’s time to be a [ __ ] beast. And you look back and and they just gave them the keys to the city, gave them the max contracts, gave them the no move clauses, and I don’t know when you look back at that Dubis era and stuff, it’s like good players and and lots of upside, but like maybe too much of the same. Maybe too much of the soft holes in the game where that and maybe that will go down as the reason they didn’t do it. But again, I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t have a crystal ball. I’m not I mean I’m getting close, but I’m not saying like this will never happen because I I know that when they’re playing well and they actually show show signs of of playing a little gritty and and playing with a little bit of, you know, ferocity and and making, you know, a team just frustrated by just overwhelming them with with effort and all the things that it takes to play really good hockey consistently. I’m like, “Holy [ __ ] there it is. They are capable.” And I start to believe again. And I don’t know what the future’s going to hold. Maybe they’ll get tired of this [ __ ] and throw one last ditch effort and throw the kitchen sink at it and and throw caution to the wind and just be I don’t know. I’m hoping that there’s a sliver of hope they can still do that. And if they start to show signs of it like they were a week or two ago, I’ll be there praising on how good it looks and how nice it is to see and how we want to see more of this and how that’s the formula and I’ll be all positive. Rah, and you guys can call me a flip-flopper. Fine. But um at this point in time, all I can do is call it as I see it. And man, there the difference between good and bad and highs and lows is drastic. So yeah, I’m gonna look like I’m flip-flopping, but I’m just basically reporting on what I see dayto day, which again, you never know in this market what you’re going to get. Yeah, I you don’t I think that’s kind of been the one consistent about the Maple Leafs has been inconsistency. We could consistently rely upon inconsistency. So, it’s uh it’s unfortunate, but let’s turn the page on the weekend. Let’s start to look ahead. I mean, there was let’s go Blue Jays chance. There was booze. There was people leaving early. It was it was a messy one, but uh at the end of the day, we still have to come here and look ahead to games coming up and news coming out of Morning Skate. So, we’ll break all that down. But, uh quickly before we do, Rosie, maybe uh maybe on the lighter side of things, our Super Chat charity partner is Sick Kids. You want to make sure that your question or comment gets on the show, hit us up with a super chat. Proceeds from our super chat will go to Sick Kids, ranked number one research intensive children’s hospital in Canada and third in the world. This super chat comes in from JD Anderson Comedy. Rosie says, “Now that Ponuse is gone, can we get a Scooty Loots shout out?” Scooty Loots, my boy. Yeah, students ponto said his name was fun to say, but uh we we have to move on. Uh yeah, Lyn Lots’s comments afterward. I mean, he’s a pro. He’s got a bit of old school in him, man. And uh I wish the whole team was uh just had you just look at the guys that are dogs who win cups and you know go through the old Bruins teams, go through the Panthers, go to the the Avalanche and it’s just like it’s not a big [ __ ] secret on wins Cups and nothing about it is fancy Hollywood [ __ ] [ __ ] man. It’s just it’s some meat and potatoes mixed with a bunch of skill and and desire and it just sucks that uh too often we get reminded that um we don’t have enough of it. But nonetheless um I got sidetracked bitching again. We are moving on to practice notes and the Chicago Black. Yeah. Yeah. No, it’s funny. I mean you brought up the Panthers. That’s not one team I didn’t even say as well just to give them their credit. But like you talk about Okay. Yeah. the homegrown guys identifying talent and all that kind of stuff. They also took swings. They traded a 110 point player and Jonathan Hubedo who’s in the heart trophy conversation in the sulky trophy conversation for people who forget. They traded him for Matthew Kachchuck. They identified this is not the kind of guy who’s going to be uh here to push us over the top. They take a swing, they get Kachchuck, they have two Stanley Cups in their pockets. So uh taking swings, making things happen, trying things out. Imagine that concept. Trading a soft skilled guy for somebody with a set of balls to be able to lead your team and push you over the top. I could couldn’t imagine. Couldn’t imagine, Rosie. But moving forward, moving forward. Let’s let’s move forward on this one. Uh as we get to practice notes and everything like that. This segment is brought to you by Table Fair and Social. The perfect spot to fuel up before the game or wind down after work. Located right across the street from the arena and just steps from Union Station and the Metroinks bus terminal, Table Fair and Social offers a wide selection of food and drinks with space for large groups and a family-friendly atmosphere. Next time you’re off to a game, check out Table Fair and Social, a downtown food hall right across from the arena for some great pregame bites and drinks. Rosie, maybe we’ll have to go meet you there next time you come to the city. I don’t know, maybe maybe after the rant you had on Saturday night hold off for a little while, but uh regardless when when you do come back to town, we’ll have to check that out. Now, uh big notes for today. So, let’s go on the Chicago side of things quickly. The next game the Leafs plays Tuesday night against the Blackhawks here in Toronto. Connor Baddard listed uh as being placed at on injured reserve. He’ll be out until the 19th. That’s not long-term injured reserve, but on injured reserve. So, maybe a sigh of relief here for Leafs fans going into uh Saturday night. For those of those of the Leafs fans who are looking for this team to turn things around, that’s a big player for the Chicago Blackhawks, who was not going to be playing in Tuesday night’s game. Yeah, that’s a help, man. Um, you know, the the Hawks in the last few years, even to get that pick, have not been great. And you know, most teams are licking their chops at playing them. But with the emergence of Baddard and some of the pieces they’ve put in play, all of a sudden the plan seems to be going the way it’s supposed to with them looking heavier and heavier as a team and obviously led by Baddard. Um, yeah, opportunity right here for for you to take a team that that’s taking a huge step back with him getting injured. Such a weird injury, too. Like I didn’t fully understand. It’s just on like a face off and he falls backwards and is like, “What the hell was that? What did he hear? What did you take of that? I thought it was just a really odd odd play. Not throwing shade at anyone. It just looked weird. I I I don’t I don’t even know. I I mean, to be honest, I was kind of surprised that he was hurt in the first place and then to find out that it’s been as long as it has here now also like just extra strange. But I guess the thing is look, tinfoil hat here situation. But you’re looking at Bedard, like if you’re the Blackhawks, yeah, you have an opportunity to push into the playoffs here this season, but you got a young guy, he gets hurt. I kind of take that as more of like a, this is me looking too much into it, Rosie, like a structural issue where it’s like back, spine, hips, like that kind of stuff where maybe they’re looking at one of those and they’re like like you just got pushed down and then act like like you got hit by a train like something tweaked or yanked or like what a weird and obviously shoulder front odd man like was that Shenner on that face off too I think they just just kind of pushed him off the draw when you’re tying up and he just really odd um but again good for the Leafs opportunity to get things on track I mean you look at the points they’re starting to spread out a little bit as we knew they would I mean they should have been eight nine points out of a playoff spot along long time ago, but they were like two and three. Um, that’s that’s it’s another reason why that loss on s on Saturday was so brutal. And to lose uh that lead against the Sharks the game before, I mean, there’s three points, right, where it looks a lot different on the you check the standings daily and it’s like yesesh. And I again, I was pretty firm on the Leafs are going to make the playoffs. Now I’m like, we’ll see kind of thing. But again, next team up is a Bardless Chicago Blackhawks. And and yeah, they need to take advantage of not having that that uh the guy who’s turning into a monster um being available. That was Shen on the draw, by the way. It was Shen who did that. Um yeah, I mean, just to what it was, it I wonder if it’s one of those ones where he wakes up the next day and it’s like it’s more than just his arm. You know what I mean? like it’s it’s his arm that hurts at first and then he wakes up and it’s like into your neck, up your head, into your traps, kind of like pulling in that tightness where they’re just like, “Hey, let’s let’s let you rest.” But but the way he grabbed it and took off for the bench just like I wasn’t surprised. It’s not like it was this little innocent thing and holy [ __ ] he must have, like you say, he must have woken up and it was crazy or it was really bad. No, like the second whatever happened, he was like, “Fuck.” He’s like, “Get me off the ice.” I got like really weird because it wasn’t violent at all and off a face off. You don’t see that very often. Again, not uh not calling into question anything. Just uh odd to see, but again um a bit of a gift for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I don’t know where their head is at if anyone’s checked out or if they’re really ready to like dig in and and do something or turn this around. I I know what some guys have in there and other ones still lots of question marks. So, we’ll see what they have against the Hawks. But, um, yeah, again, losing Bedard is is nice. He doesn’t get to come in and and light us up. So, take advantage, man. I I just I would like to stop seeing the roller coaster and start to see some consistency in their play and their effort and ultimately the results, too. Bernard out just does it still does not scream to me like here’s a chance for the Leafs to come in and take advantage. That’s just it’s not how this team operates. When they were terrible in the basement, the Leafs would go and lose to them. Like they’ve the trap games, it seemed like they really got the worst of the Leafs in the past like four years. Not so much recently, but um again, it’s they’re just so unpredictable and they just don’t have that like McKinnon style of everyone is accountable every single day and you show up to work and we are getting a little better every single [ __ ] day. It is not that. It’s never been that mentality in the dressing room. It’s just I don’t know what’s going on. But as a fan and a guy that that follows, I have no idea what these guys are going to bring game to game. I guess it makes it exciting, but like god are they unpredictable and and very unreliable. It’s not just unpredictability on the ice, Rosie. It’s unpredictability off the ice. And again, you and I have had this conversation numerous times. Whether it’s on Morning Take, if it’s on the after dark show, we come here and we go, “What’s happening with the injuries? What’s happening with the illnesses? Where is everybody? How long are these things going to take to recover from?” Yet again, I mean, you look at the wall situation to start the season, Stallar’s injury where he’s dayto-day and it’s over a month later here now. I haven’t even seen him skate. The only positive sign I saw was I saw a picture after I think it was Dennis Hillbe won the belt after one of the games the other day and stole in the room with him smiling with him. I’m like this is the only sign of life we’ve seen from the guy. Outside of that it’s just basically being who the hell knows where is everybody. Carlos skates now. Next thing you know he’s flying home. He’s getting surgery. He took out his surgery. You don’t know. But what we do see here out of Morning Skate, Chris Tanv took the ice and for the first time in a while here, Rosie, he was wearing a regular jersey, not the non-cont jersey anymore. So, we’ll get an update here shortly, I’m assuming, and we’ll give that information as soon as we get it here on the channel if you and I get that before the show ends. But Chris Tanv skating in a regular jersey, what do you make of that? And can you put any stock into it given how unpredictable and unreliable, as you so eloquently put it? uh the Maple Leafs have been with injury news this season. Yeah, I put a lot of stock into it. It’s nobody’s saying anything. It it’s an actual action and he’s been in a non- contact and they kept saying like there’s some special decision to be made like he’s going to see a specialist get another imaging done. Um and it seemed like it was taking place this weekend. So, we were all kind of waiting um anxiously to hear what this was going to say. Obviously some people reported um surgery like a major surgery was on the line. Um career and life after hockey type of consequences were were being considered. So it was this holding pattern on something was going to be decided on and then Monday morning you don’t need a no contact jersey anymore. To me that that’s huge. That says that we’re moving forward here. um you’re able to do something that you weren’t able to do until this decision was made. Um I I’m not breaking any news or anything. I’m just speculating on what I see. That means something to me. You don’t go it it comes from the doctors down to the GM to the the all the trainer and then they go and they get a colored jersey and put it in your stall before practice and you don’t get a contact jersey while having a non-cont jersey for x amount of time unless there’s been some decision to move forward. So to me that’s uh that’s great news and I hope we hear something more official about him uh being very close because him in the lineup again with the the health problems we’ve had through this year um starting to resolve itself to a degree but the back end still Carlo you mentioned and uh Tanv is is no bueno. So the perspective of getting him back in my mind is huge. The only thing that I hope they don’t do in all of this is rush him back. Um, I mean, obviously I do trust the Leaf’s medical staff here. As much as we’ve gotten this crazy information, I feel like it’s not them. And by all accounts, when you hear, you know, some of these insiders and reporters talk about things, it seems as though it’s more on the uh tree living side of things that’s had this I don’t even want to call it a veil of secrecy. It’s just been like anything you like put into that cloud like it comes out on the other side just all [ __ ] up. Like it’s like a form of like broken telephone where like the doctor goes to True Living and he’s like [ __ ] up his knee. He’s going to have to have surgery. He’ll be out four weeks and Tree Living is like day to day. He we’ll see how he is on Monday. It’s like what the hell happened here? Comes out on the other side. We just don’t know. But um I don’t know. I just hope they don’t rush him back because it seems like this one was a lot more serious. and the guy I keep having in the back of my mind when I see something like that and specifically with Chris Tanv and it makes me feel sick like as a Leafs fan uh because of how it affects the team and the guy personally is the Jake Muzzin situation and not to say that they rushed him back at all like I don’t think that they did. I just remember how serious that was for him to have to take a step back and be like, I can’t do this anymore because he had so many in such a short period of time and they were so severe and like you hope for him as a person that doesn’t happen. And then I mean when you take that next step and you want to look at it as a fan of the team or somebody watching this team night in and night out, you know how important he is, which is obviously part of why you want him back in the lineup playing. But you also have to realize maybe some of these long-term repercussions here where you rush him back for the short term, it might really do some damage to you long term, both on and off the ice. Yeah. And I can imagine they did do that. By all accounts from what has come out as far as information has shown that this is serious. They’re taking it very serious. Um they’re not rushing anything. But I mean even if they have taken their time and you know technically could have come back if it was a different guy or situ whatever uh a couple of weeks ago or whatever and they took the extra time to make sure. It’s still going to be tough to see him out there. the way he plays, um, the way he needs to play to be successful, knowing that there is this this thing in the back of everyone’s mind of one because the the injuries that he did have, they weren’t the most violent things in the world, right? Like something is fragile in him, and it’s obviously serious, whether it’s a head or a neck or whatever. Um, I just it’s if he does come back, and again, I hope he does, and to hear him moving towards the right direction is great. And that’s a small step is that I think it’s a small step that means a lot is then you now have full contact jersey in practice. But when you watch him out there Yeah, man. I just can’t help but think he’s one of those little bumps away from, you know, maybe never. I don’t know, man. It’s it’s tough. But all all we can go off is what we know. And we know that he is moving in the right direction. And you know with uh Joseph Wool for example like Chief was kind of adamant and just kept reiterating it’s a week. It’s a week and you kind of for the IR it needed to be seven days and that was this weekend not on the bench yet. So now I’m I’m waiting to see something on Wool too like are you available tomorrow or not? because they were quite adamant about it’s just going to be a week and okay let’s uh let’s start to see some reports here and uh I’m I’m I’m cautiously waiting for that too because having Wall Habby I think would be uh would be pretty nice as Hildabby has just held down the fort here with both of our freaking starting goaler goalies gone he’s done everything uh to give them a chance and to have him finally be able to be alleviated a bit by Wool would be nice too so waiting on that as All. Mhm. Um the other news coming out of practice here today is uh as I see Vic I’m looking at the chat um the chat right now just going nuts battling each other. Sorry Rosie. Uh the other news coming out of they’re just haven’t won 667 guys saying that we as the media and this show are the ones tanking this team because we want the team to lose. There’s just people going to [ __ ] war right now. It’s madness in the chat. Uh but anyways, sorry. The other thing that comes out of his morning skate, Dakota Joshua is back on the ice here today. Uh it looks like he’s recovered from illness. Matias Michelli is the one who hasn’t uh skated here this morning. He is out for illness, which I think at the end of the day doesn’t matter. Um that’s not a disrespect to Matias Machelli. I just mean he hasn’t played in a long time. They seem to have zero interest in the guy being in the lineup. Like William Knander, Rosie, this is the biggest tell to me. Obviously, we’re hearing speculation out there like, okay, the Leafs have looked on Matias Michelli and maybe some other teams are looking on Matias Machelli, whatever. There was some interest by other groups other than the Leafs in the summer. Uh William Knander, credit to him, I guess, played on Saturday night. We heard he was sick. He battled through morning or he didn’t play in uh he didn’t skate in morning skate. Battled through the game and unfortunately was terrible in that one and you could see the cuts to him on the bench. He’s fighting for his life and then they just chose to do that instead of playing Matias Machelli. Like Knander plays 13 minutes. Machelli they would just rather have in the press box than a a sick knander who could offer you nothing and play 13. So I that’s what I mean when I say it doesn’t matter. I’m not trying to throw shade at the guy for the situation, but I just like I think there was opportunity for him to get back in the lineup after that performance. Nick Robertson I didn’t think was real great. Like he’s been on the shelf since November 28th or something like that. Starting to be a little bit ago. Um I think in hindsight it was a mistake to play Knander. Um I don’t know who gets sick twice in two weeks. Uh doesn’t not really the way it normally works. fairly unlikely. Um, again, is there more cloak and dagger [ __ ] going on with the reporting? Was he? When was he? Was he not? When was like I don’t know. We’re just left in the dark to like dissect the pieces and and then it again I I feel like the problem with the Leafs reporting is that it just leaves them wide open for wild uh speculation and accusations and all the rest of it. But I I guess Willy’s been sick twice in two weeks and looks like he should not have played on Saturday. He was dog [ __ ] And if you want to get Machelli back in, you probably could have done it on Saturday. Um, probably would have been better than what Willie had to offer. And now that there’s more opportunity to change the lineup after that performance, um, Machelli’s sick, so it just it just never ends with uh with the I don’t know what you want to call it, lack I don’t want to start getting mad at guys for being sick. It’s just like, of course, no, just let us know who’s not [ __ ] sick. if next time if uh if we’re going to do this like it’s seriously whatever it’s Michelli like you said not not huge news no and not not the biggest news uh we do have some some big news coming out of the lines here though uh which producer Vic just sent over but quickly JD Anderson says buy some super chats help some kids you dead beats so another super chat coming in here proceeds from the super chats do go to sick kids charity so make sure to send those in uh Rosie let me run you through the lines at morning skate here December Nomber 15th, 2025. Here is what we’ve got. Tell me if you like these. So, number one D pair, McCabe and Ster, Riley and Benois skating together as your second pair, uh Ecman Larson and Tanv as your third pair, and then thrron and Meyers as the extras slash your fourth pair. Anything stand out to you on the defensive side of things? Riley and Ben, they have they had many nightmare. I don’t care, but I don’t want them to have any. I I’ll be I’ll be frank with you. I’ll stop right here. I think for today’s show, I’ve been pretty like cool, levelheaded. I’ve had a couple days to chill out after that Edmonton loss. I’m going to put my foot down right here. If Craig Buru rolls those guys out there, and I’m not blaming Buru for what’s happened to this point, I think a lot of it falls on the guys in the room. uh maybe the guys who were put in that room, whatever you however you want to spin it, he’s probably not helped the situation too much because I think there’s some friction in the way he wants to play, whatever. But if he rolls those guys out there, he is a [ __ ] [ __ ] If you put Morgan Riley and Simone Benois on the ice together, that is a disgrace of a decision by the coaching staff here. I I don’t care. Like, I cannot defend that one. I hope to I hope for God’s sake, I hope that that is just a formality of this morning and they just happen to go out there together. Rosie, I’m sorry. They better not [ __ ] put those guys on the ice together. They cannot. You if you want to get your [ __ ] pumped every time they go on the ice, that’s a good way to do it. Well, I mean, you see the I mean, Benois is kind of the sixth guy in my mind and Riley’s, you know, maybe the fifth holding on for dear life sometimes. And I mean, you look at some of the plays over the last couple of games where just missed assignments and spinning around and out of your element and a step behind in the wrong position and can’t get the stick and turn to the wrong guy and it’s it hasn’t been strong for Riley. And then Benois is kind of like your your guy who I like Benois, but he’s he’s kind of that guy that’s going to play your least amount of minutes. Um, you hope he keeps it simple, but there’s going to be times where he just gets exposed, whether it’s decision- making or foot speed or whatever. And them together, you’re asking for on any given night a minus two. And that’s the difference in the game with the margins in in these in these games. So, I don’t like it either. I love the fact that Tanv is in the top six. Um, yeah, but I mean I I really like like McCabe Stcher. I thought Mabe Tanv, too. Um, OAL Tan ever, whoever, fine. But you I just don’t know if you can if you can leave those two guys out there. Like you said, it’s nightmare fuel for you. I just think you’re too ripe for exposure with Riley and Benois together. I’ I’ve not seen that. Yeah. And again, like I like Simone Benois in my six. I don’t mind him there. That’s just the wrong combination. Like I part of me is not in love uh with Morgan Riley and is falling more out of love with him as the season has gone on despite the points he’s putting up. It’s just you’re hardressed to find a pairing that works. It seemed like Owl was the one. I thought maybe if Tanv came back he’d be the guy who fits there and what’s kind of unfortunate about this and I know Carlo is sidelined right now so you can’t like discount that but I I actually like the pair of Oel and Tanf. I like the pair of McCabe and Stcher. You just run into problems where it’s like, here’s your other options, Rosie. Let’s say you keep Morgan Riley in. Do you play him with Meyers? Do you play him with Thrron? Do you play him with Benois? Like, at that point, you’re basically looking at here’s all these guys that he can’t play with. And the the thing that sucks the most about it is it’s not really Benois and it’s not really Thrron that I look at and say that’s the guy they can’t go out there. It’s just that they can’t work with Morgan Riley. So then at the end of the day, it probably comes back to him. But I it’s just a it’s a little bit frustrating for me to see those guys matched up together. I I agree. Oel and Tennv look good. McCabe Ster look good. But uh you can’t. So do you put like would you rather Stcher go with Riley and see what that looks like? Um maybe like a Benois McCabe. Uh it’s it’s you just don’t like Riley. Let’s just say that. Let’s just call a spade a spade. Well, it’s like there’s very few combinations that work for him. I think is the problem. Like I think he works with he worked with Oel there. Um I think he works with Tanv. It didn’t work with Carlo. It didn’t work with Mabe. I That’s my problem. It’s just like it makes you hardressed to find a combination that will work for him and then outside of that it’s like pretty much everyone else can find a way to work together. It is interesting. Obviously the one thing though like T is Tenf playing on Tuesday like was was the big meeting and the big the big decision made on the weekend and he’s good to go. I mean all signs point to that him being in that six and having a non-cont jersey. That doesn’t happen unless you’re able to start going here and now with him being in the top six pairings like how is he not playing it? It looks like he is. Does it not? Yeah, I I would agree with you. I mean, the fact that he’s skating in a regular jersey, the fact that he’s in your six and skating alongside OL and I mean, we’ll find out here for sure, but there was this whole conversation about some big decision to be made and the idea of surgery or some type of rehab procedure that was going to take place here over the next little while if things went uh sideways and didn’t go well, he sought out a second opinion. So that would indicate to me, and again, pure speculation. We don’t know anything, but that would indicate to me that he’s made a decision. The team has come to a conclusion, he can play and return to the lineup. I don’t know why you’d put him in this spot otherwise. Yeah. And like take away the reporting of of surgery and stuff. Uh Chief kind of poo pooed that and was like, that’s not really on the table right now. Maybe. But I mean, who knows with that, right? Like Yeah. Why? I mean, like Carlo was nearing a return. He was on the road in Florida and then he’s getting surgery. Very true. But if you follow what they say as from inside the the organization as being real, um maybe he needed to go to the doctor, get a picture taken, MRI, and see if the swelling in this thing or the pressure on this disc or whatever has been alleviated. We’ve given you x amount of weeks. It should have happened. Before we give you the go-ahad, we want to go into this building with this doctor and have him okay. And if he does, then by all accounts, you’re rock and roll. And I could see that happening. And now it’s like, yep, got the go-ahhead that what the doctor wanted to see, he is seeing. Tenn has been saying he feels good for two weeks now. Um, but he needed to wait the time that they uh they said they would wait and see this specialist. Boom, boom, boom. They kept saying this weekend was a deciding pack factor. We will know more. It looks like they got the all clear and he looks to be playing. And I I I can’t help but think of great news, but also [ __ ] don’t get hurt again because I mean, if you get hurt for the third time before Christmas, yeah, let’s let’s be honest, there’s some writing on the wall there that is not positive. Yeah, that is the one thing. It does kind of feel like the next one could be the last one for at least a while, you know, and maybe not the end of his career type of situation, but like we just spent two months without Chris Tanv after he came back off of injury from the beginning of the season. Now, if he does go down again, I don’t know how long that is. Uh Rosie, one more thing here before we get to our best bet and wrap up the show today. Uh the forward lines have also changed. So, I’ll rattle these off. If anything sticks out to you, we’ll jump on that. But N Matthews kneelander line one at morning skate. Uh Robertson Tiveres McMahon Joshua excuse me Joshua Wah doi as your third line. Lorent Lton and Cowan as your fourth line. Uh Cali Croak out as an extra in this one. Kind of blew it up. Okay. Mhm. [ __ ] I I get trying to get everybody going there with Matthews and Knander together. Um that second line doesn’t look that awesome to me. Like I just I have a hard on for that third line of McMahon, Doy, sorry, McMahon, Wah, and Joshua. Um thought it was really effective. Really good bottom six. really the kind of stuff that they were trying to get to when they built this team and made the changes and said, “We’re going to change our DNA and it’s going to be, you know, suited towards playoffs.” I thought that that line was just like, “Yes, that is why we did this.” Um, but they’re going to mix it up. Um, I didn’t write them down, but Doy down with that third line. Correct. Doy with the third line on the fourth line. Uh, a third line right wing. East and Cowan down to your fourthline rightwing spot. Yeah. You wonder Kowi just coming in off the season like is is his development is it better for him to be in the NHL or not? And well, you can’t be a fourth liner and develop. That’s not his game. He can’t be playing 11 minutes a game, go to the Marlies and develop and then when you’re ready come in and play in the top six. Um he’s been able to play in the top six, but for whatever reason they think it’s kind of stagnated. They’re they’re still going to keep them and play them fourth line. I I don’t love the combination. I’m just going to be totally honest with you. don’t love the combination. I hope it works. I hope I’m wrong. Um, but I liked uh I liked other combinations better, but with Willie kind of stagnating and and Matthews kind of stagnating, I guess they figure throw them together and see what you can do. What I worry about is down the lineup a little like that second line does not look awesome to me. It’s it’s Robertson and Bobby McMahon on your top in your top six. Yeah, with Sorry, I’m not not in love with that. I the I don’t like the idea of N Matthews kneelander unfortunately. I like that if you’re trailing by one goal with three minutes left in the game. Um I like that if you’re going on a six on five and you’re trying to tie it up. Like I don’t mind that. I have no issue there. Uh I don’t like it from the opening puck drop. I think it makes your attack um uneven. It makes you a little bit easier to defend. You know, like you you think about in years past when Neanders jumped up and played with the first line, Mitch Mner goes somewhere else. Like that’s the benefit that you had. So Mner goes to your second line or uh you know you you balance things out and then Tiveres is on a different line and MNER’s on one line or Knanders moves to the third line and Tiver on your second line or you know there was a lot of [ __ ] that could move around. Even at some points we would see somebody moves up and takes Mner spot on the first line right wing. Knander would bump down to the third line right wing. Marner would bump to your second line right wing. So you get that balance of attack. Bobby McMahon is nowhere close to the player. No disrespect to Bobby McMahon, but that Mitch Martner or William Knander are. So now you’ve just got these holes in your lineup. Like you’re you’re looking at this opening where you’re all of a sudden going for them. You know, Chicago puts their best defensive line out against Matthews, Knander, and Ny. They shut them down. Now all they do is just roll out their next lines of attack and go like here go feast. And I think it makes dogs against Robertson and McMahon like Yeah. I don’t love it. I don’t love it. And again to your point to your point about the third line. I hate that they broke them up. They had like one meh game and McMahon got suspended and then it’s like that’s it. Thanks. Thanks. We saw what we saw for five games. you were [ __ ] awesome for the five games we put you together. Done. Change it up. You’re You’re out. I I don’t get that. Uh the one thing that I’ll point out is um I I do like Eastston Cowan in that fourth line. And I think I know a lot of people going into this season said that if Cowan is in your bottom six, he should just be in the AHL instead. And I was probably leaning more towards that side myself. I’ve changed my tune on this and changed my opinion and I’m curious just to get your thoughts again before we wrap up. Final thing here, but I think every player’s development path can be different. And I know that people are going to be a little bit upset by me referring to this, but you know, like Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyru were on the St. Louis Blues team that won the Stanley Cup. They didn’t play top six minutes with the Blues that year. They played under Chief in the fourth lines. They learned to be NHL players. And it’s not every guy that has to go and be some superstar in the AHL playing 30 minutes a night for them to figure it out in the NHL level. I think if you are able to adapt your game and play the style that’s required and play more than just this softer skilled type of game, you can work and learn how to play at the NHL level as you develop physically, maturitywise, skillwise into an NHL player. And I think it fits East Cowan’s game personally because I see this guy uh hard in on four checks, recovering dumpins, winning board battles. I see him battling in front of the net. I see him not shying away from taking hits, from fighting in front uh uh from fighting in front of the net for for positioning and space. And like I see a guy doing those kinds of things and I see an NHL player. He’s a guy who has room to grow and room to work with, but I would rather him doing all that kind of stuff and not getting pushed around at the NHL level and learning rather than just like going to the AHL and being like some guy who’s going to be solely relied upon for skill because I think he kind of gets an opportunity to learn and adapt to the NHL speed. So, I I don’t have a problem with him on that fourth line. And by the way, they looked [ __ ] awesome together in the preseason when the three of them played together. Yeah, there you go. So, he he’s got some dog in him that that can that can do the things you need to do with that amount of ice time. And um you can look at him as, you know, solidifying the important things about the NHL about protecting the puck and making right decisions and being smart on the blue lines and using the walls and getting on your horse to forche and all the things a fourthline guy’s got to do. Um so, I don’t mind it. I’m not saying that he should be in the NHL. I don’t agree with that. don’t think that the team has the luxury of I think they need him. Like he has to be in this lineup for them to try to get where they’re going. It’s just a necessity right now because he’s he’s better than the next guy. Um and hopefully he can have some, you know, pop off with Scott Lton and all of a sudden like they both have a bit of dog in them, but they also have some skill and can make some plays. So, um again, I’m disappointed that third line doesn’t look like it it uh it did and I would love to see that sooner than later. I wish it was I wish they went to it right now, but um nonetheless, new setup for us to analyze and critique after Tuesday’s game by the looks of things. Yep, that is for sure. Uh let’s wrap this up. Uh it’s time for our last call brought to you by bet365. Whatever your bet is, it’s never ordinary at bet365. Download the app and get in on the game. Use code nation. That’s nat i n. Must be 19 or older. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. if you were someone you know has a gambling problem is it connects ontario.ca. Rosie the NHL is a weird weird league where you get like no games on Mondays and then 35 games on Tuesdays and you know it just they stack days up where you just get nothing in between. But luckily here today on this Monday we do have some hockey to watch. So five NHL games around the league. Is there anything that’s standing out to you here tonight? Uh nothing crazy. Lots of it makes sense. I just can’t help but see that uh battle of Florida there within our division. Um the Florida Panthers at plus money. I just I don’t think the Tampa Bay Lightning are for real and it’s just a matter of time before the Florida Panthers um start to their DNA starts to flow through them a little bit. So I’m kind of leaning towards not that I want I I I hope it’s not a three-point game. I can tell you that. But I think the Florida Panthers at plus money is hard to hard not to look at. I am the worst gambler on the his on like the history of planet earth right now. I’m on the coldest streak of all time. But uh I did finally win one on Saturday night. I had Dennis Hillby over 25 and a half saves. I believe he got 26. The Oilers scored on number 27 and Hilde got yanked as he gets yanked. That’s tough to do. You need that to break up a slump sometimes. Yeah. But tonight I’m going with Chris Krider. anytime goal against the Rangers plus 200 returns to MSG. Um I I don’t know. This guy’s looked pretty good this year. It feels like just a good revenge spot. The Rangers said, “We’ve had enough of you.” And Crider’s gone to Anaheim and found his footing there. So, I’m going to go Chris Krider anytime goal against the Rangers. And you’re heating up. As you just mentioned, the slump is over. All right, buddy. I I like it. Good reasons for all. I’m not really going to be too interested in that. I uh again Tuesday Tuesday it’s going to be interesting what we see. The one fun thing about the Leafs is you just never ever ever know what you’re going to get. So uh we look on to Tuesday, man. We’ll see what you bring. Sure. I guess that’s fun. Sure. I’d rather just know the team is going to battle every night. But sure. I guess that’s a good that’s that’s a way to spin it, Rosie. And that’s a way to spin it to close this thing off. Thanks to everybody who watched here today. Make sure to hit that like button before you leave. Subscribe here to the channel Leaf Station 401 right here on YouTube. Uh big stuff coming up on the channel this week. Alberta down at the practice facility getting some exclusive content that I believe will be aired tomorrow. So I won’t say too much other than that, but make sure to be tuned in to the channel to find out what that is. Rosie, thanks for doing this with me here today. Thanks to producer Vic behind the scenes. Uh, we’ll see everybody back here tomorrow morning, 11:00 am Eastern time for another edition of Leafs Morning Take. I’ll be here for a game preview later in the day and then Leafs Nation after dark tomorrow following the game. Thanks for watching everybody. We’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you, Zachie. [Music] Make sure to check out more of our content right here on the Leafs Nation YouTube page. We got long form interviews, we got clips, you got epic rants by Jay Roso. We simply have it all. And don’t forget, you can find out much more at the leafnation.com. Thanks so much for watching.

Zack Phillips & Jay Rosehill break down a frustrating night at Scotiabank Arena as the Maple Leafs fell 6–3 to the Edmonton Oilers. Connor McDavid had his way with Toronto, and a disastrous third period sunk the Leafs on home ice for the second straight game.

Postgame, head coach Craig Berube didn’t mince words, calling on the team’s leaders to give more — and the boys dive into what that message means, who it applies to, and whether it should spark a response.

They also turn the page and look ahead to Tuesday night’s matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, who will be without Connor Bedard, and discuss why this is a game Toronto simply has to take care of.

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