[MUSIC] >> Don't call me Ted Lasso, Jesse Mars there. The big boss for Canada's Ben's national team. >> That's a mean one, and I haven't watched the show, so I don't know. >> It's a great show. >> Did they know spoiler, if I didn't want to ask the spoiler question, did they win, the team's good that he coaches, does anyone know? >> They had some success. >> Okay, we'll leave it at that. >> I'm just going to say, it's like, yeah, maybe more of a compliment than we realized all along. One of the greatest SNL characters of all time by Jason Sudeikis that has now turned into a full blown show. >> Do you want to talk about culture builder? >> Sudeikis? >> Oh, yeah. >> That's a culture setter right there. >> Okay, well, so we've seen, and look, different sports are different. Coaching a national team is different, and that's different in different sports, right? We see it with, we're going to see it this summer. Jordi Fernandez is going to coach Canada, and then we're going to see him coach on Brooklyn net. So the idea of a being a guy's full time job in this sport is very different than it is in others. But I think that's the kind of big picture question I'm looking at. And, you know, we're kind of now in the full kind of reset after all of this. We had the Euro final Sunday, and again, I know I guess did this all yesterday. But give me some time here. We had the Copa final, everything's kind of recapping. How much of what we look back on and what we saw, do you think kind of stems from March? And I think part of the reason why I am, by no means am I sitting here going, I don't know. You guys are all sold on this March. I'm not so sure. But now the success didn't look like this, and that is the biggest differentiator. We heard a lot of these stories with John Herdman early on of like, hey, this is a culture builder. Now, I am a big believer that sometimes you need to build. And then, all right, you build to a certain level time to bring somebody to build kind of on top of that. >> Absolutely. >> But that is the thing that's jumping out the most to me is that we have been here before, in terms of, okay, program has taken some steps. Now, again, the steps they've taken under March, infinitely bigger, but that's what's kind of jumping out to me is that it didn't sound the same because Herdman and March are different guys. And certainly the tone being spoke about Herdman now that he is no longer than an international team coach, a little different than maybe what we heard at the time. But that's what jumped out to me about that is we've heard some of this before. >> Yes, I love your observation and your take on this because the way I framed it is, and I think Maddie, who was hosting with Maddie and I were hosting together yesterday, he made a great point. I think Canada has gone to the point where they've proven they belong, but now they got to learn how to win, right? I think that's sort of where they are. And it's funny because Jesse Marsh essentially alluded to that as well in his sit down with the rash, which I would encourage you to go watch on SportsNet.ca it was very well done. He made that point as well. And you know what? One thing that, and this is a point that I thought was interesting to raise as it pertains to both the Canadian men's soccer team and even the Toronto Maple Leafs and the parallels here of having fresh coaches come in. The idea of already stepping into a situation where there is a foundation and there is a culture and there is a preexisting continuity, Jesse Marsh, who is a great interview because he's very transparent, he's very forthright in his answers. He's not sugar-coating anything, right? He's not giving us coach speak. I feel like soccer coaches, they just do it very differently, right? Oh man, big time. You hear the tenor of his voice, yeah. You can tell it feels very genuine when you're listening to him speak, where we don't get that all the time with a lot of North American coaches, players, et cetera. So it's refreshing. But he mentioned how important it was and how beneficial it was for him to step into that job where there was already a core in place and a culture had been established and he gave credit to John Herman for that. I fully buy in and subscribe to the idea that every coach is hired to be fired and at a certain point you plateau and you reach the ceiling of what you're capable of, whether that's tactically or motivationally, whatever that may be, you tap out. And now he's the man who is stepping into that position to try and add pillars in addition to the core ones that have already been constructed. That's his job, that is the agenda. I did have this weird thought in my mind and so it's very fitting that you alluded to this as it relates to the narrative arc surrounding John Herman when he first stepped in and that sort of innocent ascent and how the team grew and everybody was now heralding him as the savior, right? This feels very similar. So in four years time or once that 2026 World Cup concludes, how are we going to view Jesse Marsh then that I think will be a more accurate judgment and assessment of who he is, the coach he is and the resume that he's built than it is today. Because right now we're in the honeymoon phase. Totally. That's where we are. And that's okay. It's good to be there. It's fun. It's exciting, but I just think we're going to need more time to actually make a definitive judgment on, on him as a person, as a coach and how he fits within the construct of this team in particular, flipping it to the Leafs Gunner and this is where I find it interesting. Craig Barube who's stepping in is in a very similar position because he's stepping into a situation where I likely, in all likelihood, the only major material change is going to be the coaching staff, him and the, the assistance that he has assembled, that is it. So to what degree is that going to make a world of a difference or is it or how, how do those coaches, when they're stepping into a situation, into a position where there's already been a certain culture that's been established and a core that is pre-existing, how do they put their stamp on that and how does it change materially what the team does and how it performs. That I think is the big question and an interesting parallel with us seeing a new fresh coach representing Canada the soccer team. And now preparing for a season in which we're going to see Craig Barube behind the bench for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Well, I also think this is the difference between making a change while you're clearly on an ascent versus making a change when there is, it's possible you have reached a bit of a plateau. Yeah. Right. Like look at when that change was made. And again, like, you know, we all were frustrated with the way the World Cup went when they go from Herndon to Marsh, but I mean, they were, they were in the World Cup. How mad could it possibly be? And. Depends who you ask. Well, no. Sure, sure. Look, hey, hold yourself to a higher standard is never going to, you're never going to like hear that's a problem from me. Okay. But I think you, you just look at the steps that were made and it was all right. Once you qualified to a certain extent score a goal, it was all rainbows and sunshine. With Keith, it had reached a point where they were building building and if they would have made this change, and I wasn't advocating for it, I, if you want, if you want my honest opinion on when they would have should have fired Sheldon Keith, it's if they were going to hire Craig Barube, it was February. Yes. Okay. That's when they should have made the change. But there are people who thought he needed to go after last season, after the season before that. If it changed then, I think it has a completely different feel of, hey, this is a team. Yes, they've been a little stagnant here, but clearly have made strides in terms of the way they're perceived or what their best players are capable of giving you on a night and night out basis. But now, okay, I'm done putting limits on Austin Matthews, but I don't know how much better he's going to get. I don't know what more of a, can he be a different player? Absolutely. But in terms of peak of his powers, I don't know it's ever going to get better than a 69 goal, Selky final of the season. Okay. I don't think we're ever going to top that from him. You know, Mitch Marner, is there more there for him? I do believe that's the case, but this is the guy who's been a 95 point guy while getting Selky votes as a winger. And William Neelander just had his best season we've ever seen that again, if we're all going to be, let's just put our cards on the table and be honest about it. I don't know if he's replicating that ever again as well. So there's just not the built in progress. They again, not to bring it back to the parallels between what Marshes dealing with and what Perubae will be. Alfonso Davies, like still very much peak of his power, Jonathan David looking and moves to bigger clubs. You look at guys like Kone who are on the rise and I mean, Schauffelberg, all that. These are players that are only going to continue to grow and grow in theory, you know, who knows how these things actually work, but in theory under Mars, whereas with Perubae. Okay. Like, you know, the Frazier mint and Easton Cowan, these guys weren't even part of it before they come in, they inject new life, sure, but we don't look at it. It's just a very different job. And I mean, that's the very like kind of interesting juxtaposition they find. And that's why with Perubae, I think it becomes much more of a hard and fast referendum on him. Now, the thing that I think is a little different about that aspect of it, the referendum aspect is that I think Perubae is seen as Mr. Fix it. Now, I don't think he's everybody's favorite coach. I think there are a lot of even the people who are most bullish on him are of my opinion and said, you should have just got him to do the thing he did with the blues and go turn it around in the middle of February. Yep. But I think Perubae has brought, has bought himself or comes in with enough cashier that people aren't going to put this on him right away. And I think that we're still, now this isn't necessarily my opinion, we're still early enough in the true living era that if it's truly rotten, people are just going to go back to the last guy. So that's the interesting part about this is I think Craig Barubae comes into the season with quite frankly nothing but house money, the idea that he, and of course, this is the standard, of course, this is what he wants to do, but it's turn this group into a cup champion immediately. Oh, why? No one else has been able to do it. So I think that's the other kind of interesting part about it in terms of pressure where this all goes. I think what's also interesting about Craig Barubae and him stepping in here in St. Louis, the most success he experienced was right at the beginning. It was immediate and I don't know if that speaks to the fact that, hey, his style isn't for everybody, but it does feel like when it comes to coaches that are more, shall we say, stringent, a little bit more firm with how they conduct things and the expectations within the locker room and how you conduct yourself and what the requirements are to play on that team. I think there's a shelf life to that. So we also have to think about it in terms of, well, what is the runway for him? Now it's not one season, it's certainly beyond that. But in terms of until you lose some of that resonance, how long do you have because that's not for everybody. I would, I mean, I think Sheldon Keefe was a much more firm coach than people actually perceive him to be. Well, I think the biggest, just quickly on that, I mean, I've said a million times important to note, the problem with Sheldon Keefe is they brought him in to be the pendulum swing from babes when he was way closer to babes than anything on the other side of the spectrum. >> Yes. It was painted that way. >> Yes. >> And the reality is he was probably closer. You're right. He was probably, either as time progressed or somewhere along those lines. He was still doing, not doing the same things, but his approach was still not mirroring, but at least adopting some of the philosophical tendencies that you would have seen prior with the Toronto Maple Leaf. It's not like he was a completely different identity altogether in terms of what his vision for the team could have been and the understanding of how you need to play in the playoffs to win. He talked about that all the time, like this is how we need to play in the postseason if we are going to win. And it was very much along the same lines of like how much thematically, when we talk about the messaging and we think about what Mike Babcock used to say, like the starting on time, right, that winning the battles and being physical, being the tougher team. They used to talk about that stuff all the time. And yet, we're sitting here in 2024 and it was the exact same messaging from Sheldon Keith for years. >> Yeah, the only difference was he didn't hear about him being a good family man. >> [LAUGH] >> That was literally- >> How is it? >> That was literally the only difference. >> He's a great, that's why John Tvera's is kept. >> Obviously, he's a great family man. >> Great guy. >> God, there's just like- >> He's got great family. >> He's got great family. >> It was my favorite. >> I'm physically, I'm great. >> Yeah, he is. >> It was my favorite joke that it's like, hey, you want to get a Bob's dog house? It's like, you better go have a kid, you can sit on the way or get a pack of dogs. It felt like he would have really respected that. >> I have one word that I wanted to hit on that might actually be the linchpin to all of this. >> Sure. >> In terms of why, if you had to identify one thing, why would this be different under a new coach with the same sort of pieces, for the most part, sacrifice? >> Yeah. >> He, Craig Barrouby, figure out a way or instill a different type of mentality that emphasizes sacrifice. Sacrifice a little bit of your own well-being and your own production for the betterment of the team. And this is where Austin Matthews, honestly, he doesn't need to score 69 goals for this hockey team. >> Okay, so he doesn't. >> I want to stick on this though, okay, but what does that look like? The Austin Matthews is not blowing his own cheating, and so he's not, no, no, that's that's totally fair. >> But what does that look like that? Because I agree, there are players on this team and God, like William Newlander is certainly being built. He's been guilty of it. And that is a guy, even in the best season he's just had, you can point to the three or four Willie games where you can come on, you cannot, you cannot do that. But I don't look at this lease team as a team that's cheating for offense or, you know, they fall asleep at the wheel occasionally, but I think that's the other thing. When you talk about the ability to instill that, how much of that comes from the fact. And, you know, like, we talked about these guys who, you know, didn't have long careers like their bums. Like Sheldon Keef played in the league. Sheldon Keef was an incredible hockey player, you know, captain of an, but he would, you know, go look at his hockey DB page, played a hundred games or I don't even know if it was that many, whatever it was. It was not a long illustrious NHL career. Ruben has got a silver stick. He played a thousand games. You've seen, you see this a lot more now where the coaches are coming from that walk of life. I mean, God, look at the NBA. It seems like every other coach that gets hired is a former player of some, some ilk, right? Yeah. How much do you think that matters or, and again, like obviously every circumstance is different. I think people look at, you know, Craig Brube and JJ Redick may be in very different lives. Exactly. But how much do you think that helps that get across? Oh, I think it helps big time in this case by case basis, but for this team, it matters. I think the fact that he comes in with some pedigree, both as a coach and as a player. And the fact that he's, as you alluded to, there's a reputation of him being the fixer. Like he's the, he's the mechanic, the repairman coming in to get things going in a different direction and, and, and to where the production and the results are supposed to be in line with the talent that's in that room. I think they understand that the players are not dumb. They realize he's here for a reason. Like they want to, in a way, change or at least shift the culture in a different direction because of the lack of results in the playoffs over the course of Sheldon Keef's tenure and prior to that Mike Babcock. So here comes a guy with a resume and a track record and the name value and recognition. Of course, there is going to be, like, this is Bradtree Living's hire. Like this is his coach. Shelly. He wasn't his coach. So there is this, this built in understanding and here in understanding for every guy in that room, like we can't just foam at the mouth and, and, and mouth off in, in any setting about, you know, Craig Brube because he's got the ultimate support of the people up top, right? Like unless you're Austin Matthews, who you can't say boo because that he has the ultimate trust and faith that has been instilled in him by the people who are making all the key decisions atop the organization. Yeah. And that matters to me. I think that plays a factor, not that there's like, they've tried to induce or in inject fear or intimidation, but like they, they want a healthy level of fear, right? They don't want it to feel country club style. They want those guys to step in the room and be like, boy, I got to be on my, on my, on my toes to be dialed in today. If I'm not locked in and I'm not ready and I'm not, I'm not doing my job and performing to the best of my abilities or doing what's being asked to me, I know I'm going to be held accountable. That is what they're trying to achieve here. And he clearly has the track record to do that. Yeah. I think the other interesting thing and, you know, it's, it's just kind of the way that and, you know, I guess JJ Redick isn't quite of this ilk, but I think of some of the guys in the NBA who've got coaching gigs, like it's like, you know, Hall Famer guys, like Jason Kidd, guy, guys of that ilk. And I think with Barouba, the comparison, the two, the two names that get brought up are Talkett and Brenda Moore. Now, Brenda Moore is a completely different animal. Like I was a captain of a cup winning team, like as a player and then coaches in the exact same building, you'll never find someone with, honestly, I was like, he's no different between him being a player and him as a co-existing personality outside of Pat Riley in Miami. I don't know that you can pick a figure that has more sway within an, like, or, or at least as Mr. Org or whatever. You look at Talkett, you know, this was a guy who won a cup as a player was traded, two-way team. Now, Barouba had a long, tough, illustrious career, but he has his cup as the coach. So that's the interesting thing is he doesn't necessarily have those bona fides to stand on as the player, not that, not that he, but the idea of going off to Matthews, be like, Hey, I played a thousand games the hard way. He's like, Yeah, I, I get it. I understand that. But it's like, that's not me, pal, you know, you know, and I'm not saying that he shouldn't take some lessons out of that. But this is the thing we're going to, we're going to do a lot of this this year of how similar how different is Barouba from Talkett and Brendan Moore. And I think that's going to be one of the big differences. I don't think it actually is the be all and end all. I think it's all personality. I think it's how you all measure these things. But I think that's going to be kind of the most one of the more different subplots from the start of the season. We have constantly measured this team against itself or against its own expectations and obviously a lot of that will still be going on. But now there is a new, and it won't be from a player's perspective, but a new central figure involved in this, even when the change was made going from Dubas to tri-living. There's been a lot of time talking about that in the off season and when trade discussions would come up, we talk about how different it is. But the GM is not a figure on a day-to-day basis or at least he absolutely should not be. Exactly. Right. Whereas we're not seeing him visually on the bench every game. No. To the math you say, I do think it's a little bit more complex with him because you don't want to obviously deprive him of the office or you don't want to, you don't want to discourage the offense. That's the clearest, that's his best attribute, obviously he's in a league goal score, he potentially could be one of the great goalscores of this generation. No question. I do think where the conversations need to be had is okay, Austin, you continue to have these incredible historic individual seasons. Austin, how do we translate that to winning? How do we translate that to not just the regular season points and when, you know, we're in the playoffs every, how do we translate that Austin to you being a central figure in helping us win playoff series? That's where I think that conversation is obviously far more complex. It's probably a lot clearer with William Neelander because you know what you should do then if you're going to have that conversation with him, if you're going to go that route with him. Yeah. And I don't, I'm, I am less of that mind. I'm going with this I think. Yeah. You got it. You got to say, hey, I like your sweater. It looks pretty good right now. Yeah. Let's put a big list. There you go. If you were going to make this about, hey, it's not about, cause to me and maybe I, maybe I'm misunderstanding, but to me, I hear Austin Matthews needs to take these lessons. It's for him to then yell at the guys who are saying, Hey, get behind me. I don't think this isn't say Austin Matthews is a perfect hockey player and he's never made a mistake. Yeah. But he's a 69 goal, selfie finalist. There's not much more, again, like, yes, a shift to your, of course, of course. But the thing you're talking about is that fire in his belly or the ability to galvanize. How can you ask him to do that without giving him that? How can you do that? Now maybe part of it is, look, man, we're going to be there in a year. You are my captain, we, we, we, everybody knows that the team acts accordingly. We're going to be, maybe that's how it goes because you don't want to immediately come in and rock the boat. I can understand that, but if that's the case, then what are we doing here? If you're going to sit there and look at that guy and say, you're the one and I agree. That's the way this should go, but if you're going to do it, it has to be with the sea on his chest. All right. That is as good as segues. That's very good. To talk to Anthony Petrielli. We'll do that on the other side. I do want to talk about this Toronto traffic story that is on one hand infuriating. And on the other hand, the most, well, you did headline of all time. We'll do that probably after a rash rash going to come on. Join us to talk about his interview with Jesse Marsh. Also, this is bad because I'm doing a tease for a rash. Actually, I'll just save it. Talk to Anthony Petrielli. Both beliefs. That's an exciting question for a rash. We'll do that after eight o'clock. Petrielli on the leaves. How much does Berubez impact change? How much can you ask Matthews to change if you're not going to give them the sea on his sweater? We'll talk about that more. We continue fan morning show on sports net five nine to the fan. Everything you need to know about the blue jays Blair and Barker, be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Good morning, show halfway through, I only say this is my first day back from vacation and I'm on Alberta time still. So it's like five in the morning for me and I've already been talking for an hour and a half. So, you know, your boy could take a nap in a little bit, but I'm happy to be here. Very, very thrilled to be joined by our first guest of the day, Anthony Petrielli leaves notebook every Monday and weekly Maple Leafs hot stove podcast episodes. Anthony, I always love getting a chat with you. Thanks so much for jumping on, man. Good morning, guys. Thanks for having me on. So, Leafs land, you know, you, good job. You always find a way to find stuff to talk about, think about in the summer before we dive into a latest notebook there. Just kind of want to, you know, and this isn't a conversation that we, that we haven't had already, but just kind of revisiting things with baroobay here now that it seems like this could be the possible only big move that that comes this off season. I mean, we've done the marner stuff, spades and spades through through the summer here already. You feel, I didn't want to phrase it this way, but I don't know how else to ask the question of does, does you feel any differently about the higher now that it seems as though that is the one big domino that we're going to see fall? Well, I think it's not just him, right? It's the overall coaching staff. Fair. Yeah. Fair. So, so Brueby and then Marks of Art and Lane Lambert, like all three of them are fairly accomplished in their specific roles. So Marks of Art's done a good job as a power play coach. I know he came from Calgary, but it was a really bad Calgary team. When he was with St. Louis, they had a top three power play. You know, his teams in Windsor were scoring the lights out. So I think he has some offensive chops and has established himself in that sense. Lane Lambert, obviously, like he won the Cup with Washington, he went to back to back conference finals with Islanders teams. You know, I wouldn't look at those forward groups on any of those three teams and say that they're had in shoulders above what the Leafs have. You know, he's ran successful penalty kills. So, you know, the culmination of that and top of Brueby leading the charge, you know, I don't know if that's going to move the needle enough for the overall team. But in terms of that being a good coaching staff, I think they put a good one together. Anthony, how do you think in terms of, you know, we often talk about how a coach, a new coach, a new voice can help galvanize a group? And I think the biggest question here, given that the roster looks generally the same. They've obviously made a few tweaks here and there. But the core group is, at least for the time being still intact and it feels like we're trending in the direction of that being the case come September and into October when the season officially commences. How do you think then it looks for Craig Brueby to galvanize this team in a meaningful way? Like what does that actually entail when we talk about the impact of the new coach stepping into this environment, having an opportunity to put his stamp on this team? What does that actually entail from the perspective of Craig Brueby? I think the old coach kind of gave us a bit of a handbook on that, right? I mean, his parting words, Sheldon Keith, at the end of his tenure there, were, you know, essentially like everyone knows how to beat beliefs, right? Just you come in, you wait for them to beat themselves, you play defensively. I think one thing I've kind of looked back upon the season and, you know, reflecting on and things that have happened with it is when they played, like they didn't beat Boston in the regular season at all, right? And so they struggled against them, they struggled against Florida, you know, a lot of the teams that they're familiar with and are familiar with each other. They knew how to just kind of grind them and wait for them to make mistakes and, you know, play mature games and the Leafs just couldn't do it. And that was, you know, ultimately the way that they lost, because even the Boston team that they lost to in the playoffs, I wouldn't say that was probably one of the worst things in Boston teams we've seen in the past 10, 15 years, like there's a reason they went out and paid massive amounts of money to a life, Lynn Holman, Nikia Zadora, because they just, they didn't really have a ton there in terms of depth and firepower. So I think when we talk about new coach coming in, galvanized in the group, I think it's a big part of it's going to be to take that next step in terms of how they play because they never really did that with Sheldon Keefe. There were glimpses here and there of being a bit more of a mature and defensive team, but I don't think he ever really got them to that point, I guess you could say, of playing that grinded out offensive playoff type style of hockey, which was a big thing that Paul Maurice did a few years ago when he went to Florida, right? He said, we're going to change, you know, I know this was a high scoring team that had a great president's trophy season here before, but we got to change the way we play because it's not going to happen to play us. So yeah, it's interesting to say that and like, I'm not, I'm not accusing you of this by any means, but it's like, we hear this from people all the time like, oh, they got to get somebody in here, tighten these rays, these leads are playing fire wagon hockey. And that's not really been the case. But when I hear the idea of, you know, a guy like Barouba and if there has ever been a person in, you know, this era of the NHL, who could sit here and talk about sacrifice, it's him who played the game, the hardest of ways for a thousand games. But you know, I see a guy like Oliver Ekman Larson being brought in, right? And he's going to factor into the power play and, you know, I don't know why it's always Morgan Rowley that has to, has to eat it here. But is that going to be maybe one of the things that, you know, he's not going to point to this publicly in Barouba. But when he's sitting in the room and having meetings going, yeah, we all need to kind of give up a little to get ultimately where we want to go. And do you think Morgan wants to be on power play too? Do you think maybe Matthews and Marner want to be split up on different units? No, but that's the way we're going to go about it. Like how much of those little things do you think can kind of tell us the way they're going to go about it? Because I agree with you. Like the team is going to play differently in terms of what he prioritizes. But if we, if we talk about, you know, what message he instills, I do wonder how much something like that will kind of play a part in it as well. Yeah, I mean, I'd be surprised if he just kind of loaded everything up and said, all right, you guys are going to play, they're going to get their 22 at night. And we're just going to top, you know, we're going to top load everything and they're going to be the top power play unit. If nothing else, it probably behooves in this organization not to just kind of split things up and try different things like, I honestly thought, again, like looking back on the season, there was that stretch in March where they split, you know, the four guys, if you want to call them across three lines. And it was, to me, the best they looked all season when they had the three lines rolling and it was, there was way more to it. And then eventually, you know, Mitch Marner came back and they tried to keep it and then everyone got hurt, but there was a stretch there where you could see the three lines and the match up problems and, you know, you could see the shifts building off of each other. And fundamentally, I just don't think that's something that Sheldon Keith wanted to do, just given the history of what we know of him as a coach here, because he was here for such a long time. And even if you look back on his playing career and how those teams were lined up, it was always top loaded in about the top guys. So I don't know fundamentally how much he believed in it. So I'm curious to see how Craig Ruby goes about it. And then to that same token, if he tries anyone else at center, because you look at his time in St. Louis, right, he moved Booch-Navage to center, you know, you could argue to some degree, Braden Shen, because, you know, he wasn't by any means a full-time center when he got there, but he was under Ruby for quite a while. So he really prioritized kind of power up the middle in his time there and obviously had success. So I don't know if he'll look at, you know, someone like William Newlander, who we know Brad tree living was interested in seeing at center, we saw all of one game in preseason. I don't know how anyone made a determination in that one game that that wasn't a good. You know how? You know how? Here's how. Keith said, I'm not doing this again. I've done this too many times. I don't disagree. I don't disagree that they shouldn't have given it more run. And I think we'll see it with Buru Bay, but I think it was just Sheldon Keef going, you know what? No, we've done this a million times. Yeah. Get out of here. I got to try something else. Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty sure minting for four games instead. Okay. I was going to say, I mean, I would imagine I wouldn't be shocked if Brad tree living maybe made a mention of that in his, in his exit meeting with Sheldon Keef was like, you know, we should have tried the knee lander thing a little bit more. I don't know. I'd have an appetite for 11 five up the middle looks a lot better than 11 five on the wing. Yeah. That's the other part of it. Even if he's having a career year still, you never know it would actually be a little bit better. Well, I do want to kind of pick up on this point of Buru Bay kind of trying different guys at center. And you know, this isn't about Max Domi. And I don't think Max Domi's best spot was up the middle, but we saw it from him that that was the, the, I'm trying to remember exactly what, what predicated it, but there was the stretch where they did just flip them to center. And I remember all the conversations being, this guy's a much more engaged player. He seems to be much more involved in the game. I do wonder what aspect of that can kind of play into this as well. If not, cause again, when it's key saying, all right, Willie, we'll try it center and they've done this every year of his tenure, knee lander goes, okay. Yeah, sure. Here we go. Let's try it again. But I do wonder with somebody like Buru Bay who has a track record of that. And I think back to the max Domi moment from last year specifically that again, he is not better as a center, but that stretch of hockey got him playing so much better for the Leafs. Yeah, I think there was also just the first 40 games. I think there were a lot of things wrong, the first 40 games of the season with the team until it started hitting that, that post New Year's or the other half of all star break where things started kind of figuring out, but the first 40 games are a bit of a mess. For max Domi in particular, there were just a ton of games that you could point to where it actually didn't matter how he played, he was going to get like 11 minutes. And that was kind of that. And I think that had just as much to do with his engagement or lack of engagement because it just seemed as if it didn't really matter how he played, he was just going to get a very limited amount of ice time in a very sheltered role and he kind of, you know, it was a bit of what comes first, the chicken or the egg, the player not being engaged or the coach not trying to engage him situation. And then there was within that period, there were a few games where they had no choice to play him up the lineup because of injury, right? So, you know, Matthews gets like he doesn't play against Pittsburgh in Toronto and Domi moves up and centers knives and barner and easily has his best game as a leaf, right? He has a couple of points. Who's electric? Yeah. Matthews knives has the Gordie Howe hat trick. I mean, he was unbelievable and he kind of went, oh, where's this guy been for the first couple of months? And then, you know, right after that, it was right back down the lineup, right back down ice time, you know, it's not, it's not a, a necessarily an excuse for him, it's just kind of the reality of they, they were barely playing him and it looked like it didn't really matter what he did until they moved him up finally in the second half and they gave him a little bit more, you know, responsibility and, and ice time and he seemed very much invigorated by it. So, you know, if you get that guy for more of the season, then I think he'll be pretty happy with the player and the contract and all those things. I think Barooby will do a bit, we'll see how he manages the line between like the top guys do have to get, you know, their ice time, so to speak, you know, they shouldn't be playing 18 at night. They're too good for that, at least the three of them are. And so how he manages where they fall on that spectrum, but then also, you know, bringing along the other players, Bobby McMahon would be another example of the guy that was down the line up and then suddenly he moves up and it's like, oh, I guess this guy can play hockey. So, you know, they got to manage that, right? I think Barooby will do a bit more of empowering guys and rewarding guys for playing well down the line up. I think what we're getting at there too, Anthony, and it's something that Brett and I discussed in our last block is sort of the element of sacrifice and maybe Craig Brubey's biggest impact or the imprint he can make is stepping in there and certainly he's been brought in to shift the culture in a sense. But there are guys that are going to be asked to do things slightly differently than what they've become accustomed to doing. And I think it's pretty obvious with some of those guys, even the core guys, you can point to areas of their game where you could say, okay, you know, Willie, this is where we need you to be better. Mitch, this is where we need you to be better. I think the conversation is a little bit tricky with a guy like Austin Matthews because, heck, he scored 69 goals and was a silky finalist last year and obviously one of the best forwards in the world and in the National Hockey League. But if we're trying to think about how to best challenge a guy like Austin Matthews, how to deploy him in a way that keeps him hungry, empowered, yet still challenges him to push his game forward, what does that look like? What does the challenge look like from Craig Brubey as he sits down and has to have conversations with Austin Matthews throughout the course of the season to get him to a point where his individual performance is having a even wider, more wide ranging impact on the team success and obviously that specifically pertains to the postseason. Yeah, I mean, Matthews is incredible. So anything I say further is not necessarily a knock. That's right. Good answer Anthony. Yeah. Good job. So first thing to note there, that's important. We had a great season, I mean, I'm not expecting him to score 69 goals again. I don't think anyone is, but I'm sure he's going to have a great season. I think when you look at it, if they look at all to give knee lander run at center to push for three lines again, maybe, maybe Marner moves and plays with and helps knee lander if he moves to center, maybe Marner moves down and plays with Domie at center or whatever the case is. And I think Matthews on that other end of things will inevitably have to play with some weaker line mates at points than he's usually accustomed to. So we kind of saw it for the first time with that Bertuzzi Domie Matthews line, right? That in the first time in years, really, that he hadn't had one of Marner or knee lander staple to him. And he looked good. Yeah. And you look great, right? And he in that time, I think what happened is we saw him a little bit more engaged when it came to being on the forecheck and hunting pucks, but there's a number of goals where you could look at even with Edmonton, against Edmonton, he in Toronto, he played with Domie and Homburg at a good chunk of that. And there's a goal where he just, he beats Bouchard on the forecheck and he sets the stage for what ended up being a Homburg tapping, but a little bit more of you're not necessarily the trigger man the whole time, but sometimes you're just going to have to be this six, three, 220 pound, you know, truck that you can be and go get the puck and set the table for your other line mates as opposed to, you know, we've seen a lot of Zach Hyman go get the puck and set the table for it. Michael Bunting go get the puck. And I think early on with Matthew Nye's, you know, it was a rookie. So he didn't, you know, he wasn't consistent in that role and you can't expect him to be, but can he kind of bring along Matthew Nye's a little more in that role? Like, that would be a player I'd be more interested in being attached to Matthew's longer and seeing if he can bring that up. And I think everyone thinks highly of Nye's, myself included, end of the day, he played on the top line most of the season. He was a 35 point winger. Yeah. Great. Great production for that spot, especially beside a 69 goal score and Marner who had what 85 points and 69 games. So like there's a step there to kind of bring, you know, someone like him along or is Max Domi going to be there again. So that, you know, I think it's how can he do a little bit more for his teammates in those scenarios. Yeah. Yeah. I also, I also look at that as well. I mean, Nye's is kind of the poster child, right? Like a big, strong, tough guy and not to say like, Baruba is going to turn him into a Rempay or anything along those lines, but you just, you, you do that. You can, you can squint and easily see a different version of it. And yeah, I think if nothing else, it'll look a little different. And hey, that gives us something different to talk about Anthony thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed the chat with you. I'm sure I'll bug you once or twice more throughout the summer, man. Thanks for having me on guys. Thanks. There he goes. Anthony Petrelli, writer of Leafs notebook. Yeah. A lot of good stuff there. Totally. The point I wanted to end on as it relates to Matthews there too is how about we do this? How about we get Matthews to the point where he develops the reputation of being the guy that gets other guys paid, right? How about we do that? How about he is the $13 million player? And just like Conor McDavid has this reputation in Edmonton, playing alongside various guys and elevating line mates. One of whom's about to make $14 million and be on dry cycle, right? How and mind you dry. So a great player and is all right. Zach Hyman, like Zach Hyman went, you know, he was a 20 goal scorer in Toronto. We've all rehearsed this over and over again, but he, you know, just had a career, you're scoring 50 goals, which we never thought was in the bingo, the realm of possibilities on the bingo card. He does it. But look, how about that? Why don't we, why don't we get to the point where now Austin Matthews is the guy that helps other guys get paid? Well, okay. Let's do that. Here's the thing about that though, is that generally speaking, it works the other way. I am not going to sit here and criticize Austin Matthews. I'm not criticizing him. No, no, I know you're not. But the idea being a goal scorer, he's not Conor McDavid. Okay. We don't, we don't look at Alex Ovechkin and say, man, you got Nick Baxter and paid. No, they worked really well together because one's a setup man and one's a sniper. Yeah. Austin Matthews is a good, good. He's a transcendent two way hockey player. He is very good. But I don't want him to turn into someone who has facilitator brain. I don't think it needs to be Mitch Marner, William Nielander, stapled to his wing. I think the idea of a nice, Domi Matthews line sounds pretty good to me. And if it's the idea of getting a player of Max Domi's ilk paid, totally. But the idea that it is a setup man that can turn like Jonathan Chichu's are not, you're not going to see a Jonathan Chichu assist season from somebody. It just doesn't quite work the same way. It's such a, it's not harder to set players up than it is to score goals. But you need the finisher there and Matthews is that guy. So I just look at it and you're right. I think that you should be able to separate these guys across the lineup. And I actually love Anthony's idea of, all right, if it's a middle, you have a marner, then you can have a Tavares line that is, you know, checking is the wrong word, but a kind of solid two way grindy line. And then you have Matthews, Domi, Nies, all of a sudden things kind of fill in a little better. Maybe it's McMahon alongside Tavares. Then he just got to find somebody else for that left side. All right. A little shopping left to do. What a shock in, in, in, in Leaf and it is now time for the wake and break presented by sports interaction, your homegrown sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly. So all star game tonight, always go into this blind, never have an idea. It's an all star game. Why would there even be a favorite? Well, there is one, the American league minus 120 favorites on the money line nationally plus a hundred. Here's where we're going though, over under seven and a half pitching plays. It is so hard to hit good pitching, but if you've seen some of these hitters, I personally do not want to watch a low scoring all star game, but I think we might see one tonight. I'm going to go with the under at minus 120 on a seven and a half runs. That's where I think you're getting your, your value there in terms of the game tonight. I'm in agreement with you. I feel like the all star game always, for whatever reason, skews in favor of the pitching for the most part. It's amazing how there is a favorite, like how is there a favorite? Look at the lineups. Look at the teams. They're both incredible. Look at the players. The nationally show. Hey, and Trey Turner and Bryce Harper, Vlad, he's hitting seventh by the way for the American league, which is interesting because in his last two starts, he hit second and cleanup respectively for the American league. So he is down in the seven hole for this ball game tonight in Arlington. Yeah, the, I don't even know who did this on our doc, but I have the exact same thought. Was that you highlight schemes at plus two plus 2, 800 for the all star game MVP. We love a narrative is he going to piss it off though? No. Here's the thing. That's the problem. He's going to be dialed. No one else is going to be transcendent. Like someone will hit a home or maybe maybe Bobby with like hits a double and steals third or something and maybe gets one other knock. I think they're going to give them if he is nails in the first, I bet they give them a second. And if he has something like four strikeouts and two clean innings, that is going to be more than enough. And we love a narrative. They made him the start of play. Goodness. They did. Good job major league baseball. So yeah, that's what I like there. Paul Skienes plus 2,800 for the all star game MVP. And we both like the under at seven and a half on the game in and of itself. That was the wake and rate presented by sports interaction. Your homegrown sports book 19 plus bet responsibly coming up a Rashman Danny. Now this man is a world traveler. Okay. I actually think the last time I spoke to him on this show, it was when I was working with Alish and he referenced looking at fake Rolexes in wherever the World Cup was, or sorry, maybe not real. I shouldn't. I shouldn't speak ill. I was presumptuous. Well, I was actually presumptuous of a rash and I'm just quoting him. He had a great sit down with Jesse Marsh, but he has had a great front row seat for a lot of these kind of changing of the guard moments. You know, I think of it with Canada basketball. He's been around for a lot of Davis cups as well. Like international moments, a rash has kind of been there. How different, how similar does it feel with Canada men's national team and Jesse Marsh? We'll do that more when we continue the final hour of Fan Morning Show on SportsNet 590 the Fan. [MUSIC]
