(upbeat music) - Tremendous honor. It was a tremendous honor for where to see. - You gotta be who you are, be authentic to yourself. I feel like we all, as we grow in life, have a better understanding of that maybe than we once did. That's what people respect, is authenticity. So I shouldn't really rip a guy for being authentic and true to himself, but guys, it's just the, I don't know why, it's just so funny to me, the prepared speech. Tre living is up there. He looks like it's open mic night at an improv. He's like, all right, give me a place, a leaf grate and a game seven, you hate it. We'll do a little skit on it is what he looked up like up there. And obviously, you know, on one hand, this is Tre living further, putting his stamp on things. But on the other hand, it's just, that was the first thing that jumped out to me. I'm gonna give you five kind of big takeaways here. Well, let's be honest, like three big takeaways and two funny ones, but that was the first one of just how much of a crushing weight the Leafs captain see must be. And like, hey, we all have things in our life that we care about more than anything else. And it can be both, right? Like it can be a crushing weight and an incredible joy at the exact same time. And I'm sure that's what it was for Tavares. But just watching that moment, I mean, there's one guy who and yeah, it's one guy losing his captain see and the other guy gaining it. That reality of it is not lost on me. But it just feel like Tavares felt like a human exhale the entire time that was going on of (sighs) whereas Matthews was beaming and rightfully so. - You couldn't tell by John's prepared speech, but I do agree with that. And that's why I made the joke off the air with you and Azo, which job has more stress, which causes more gray hair. The US president or the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, I say that in jazz. - Brendan Shanahan would joke there's like, there's another job in Toronto that could cause some gray hairs, yeah. - Well, do a better one then. But I think that when we look back on this decision, I not only believe that it's the best decision for the organization long term, because Austin Matthews is going to be here longer term, but I also believe that for the immediate future, I think that you're going to get the best out of John Tavares. Now, I also think it would be better if you had a position change with that. But I think from a mental standpoint, I believe that we are in a time now where with social media, with media in general, these guys have to answer questions every single day as the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs with 20 media members all the time. That does take a toll on you. And not to mention, and I know this is going to sound really foolish to other people, but you and I can, again, you know what we talk about? We can't relate to any challenge at any point. Here's what we can relate to. John Tavares is a father. - Yes. - We can relate to that. - Yes. - Don't think that these, like we think about John Tavares, the player, and we forget about John Tavares, the person a lot of time. I think that when his tenure started as the Leafs captain, he had one kid. - Yeah. - He has multiple kids now. - Like, they're up for three, yeah. - Yeah, you're not playing man coverage anymore, you're playing zone coverage. - Zone. - That's a little bit different. - Yeah. - And I think that, I think all-- - We play the cover too at my house. It's just the solo child, yeah, it's covered too, it's great. - We've got man coverage coming up in October, and I can't say that I'm-- - I am the genius. - And just to clarify, like, I'm safety help over the top. Like, I'm not getting up there and press coverage, I very much like, okay, things are looking good. Let me shade to the basement where we have two TVs a little. - Okay, yeah. - Yeah, good call. So, I think all of them compassing, I think just taking one thing off John Tavares' plate is not the worst thing in the world, the timing of it is great, but I think you get the best out of John Tavares because of that weight that you talk about. - Okay, so I hit on this a little earlier, I want to expand on it a little more now. Tell me if I'm crazy, like, and guys behind the glass, you don't have to, like, weigh in on air, but just, like, give me thumbs up, thumbs down if I'm crazy on this one. I, as I was giving me thumbs down, I'm immediately crazy before I've said anything, shouldn't have asked, but am I wrong to think that the weight of being a local Toronto captain is just simply too much? And that's not to say that it's too much for anybody. Okay, getting too thumbs up, so I'm not insane. That's good to know, or maybe I'm thumbs up, signify I'm crazy, I probably should have clarified, but I just think that no matter the way in which you're wired, like, John Tavares, how many conversations did we have about him throughout his entire captaincy that he's the perfect guy to do this, 'cause he doesn't care, because he doesn't get caught up in the social media, or, again, like, pick your catch-off phrase that means he stays above the fray, and I think even by the end, and, hey, so much of this is the lack of team success. We wouldn't be having questions about Tavares' captaincy if this group had made it to a conference final or something along those lines. I think that's entirely fair to say, but I just don't know that anybody is, I don't think it's a wired thing. I just think when you're steeped in that, when you grow up in it, when you come up in it, the one thing I will say as a caveat that maybe changes this is, I don't know that the kid who's eight years old now, not that he doesn't care about the Leafs, but if you're already, like, on a track to be Conor McDavid, you're just wired in a different way from the jump, and I do wonder if that's the kind of caveat about it, but for anybody that's in the league right now, I just wonder if the weight of that would be too much, and does not say guys wouldn't want to take on the challenge, but it does mean that for a local kid who knows exactly what it means, I think it'd be hard enough for a Canadian at this point in time, not that they couldn't do it, but for somebody local, I just don't see how the weight of it, if things don't go perfectly, isn't kinda crushing to you, and that doesn't mean it's debilitating. John Tavares has been a very effective player in his time as a Toronto Maple Leaf, and I think to certain points, an effective leader as well, so I don't say it as he can't handle it, but it is just such a weight to put on a player who understands exactly what that is. - And I'll even take it a step further with, when you're talking about how John Tavares didn't look like it bothered him, I think it got to a point where it did bother him, and that's where I do wonder about Austin Matthews and his demeanor, 'cause Austin Matthews, he has a completely different demeanor than John Tavares. Could not feel like more polar opposite people. - And Matthew. - Even yesterday, like JT is up there, he didn't have a vest on, but it felt like he was in a three-piece touch. - Well, he's definitely wearing a button-up - Toss and Matthew's wearing it. - Tails, and Matthew's is wearing sneakers, and he's got a T-shirt on, he did have a suit, so I don't need Mike Food to come here and have an aneurysm on air, like he threatened to yesterday, but it was just even that, they're just very different guy. Matthew's has got an earring, how much would you have to pay John Tavares to get into put an earring on? - Yeah, no, that would. - It would've been a great touch of unification, though, if he came out with a T-shirt suit, sneakers and an earring as well. - And a drew sweat pants? - Yeah. - Yeah, but I think that's where the difference is. I think that because John Tavares grew up in this market and knows what it's like, I think he wore a lot of that. Whereas, Austin Matthews, like you said, does not have that same connection to the city. Not that it means less for him to be the captain, because I don't think that that's true. He didn't sit around at a barbecue in the summer with all his dad's friends having an argument about whether Matt Sundine was gonna wave a no move clause, or hearing guys rip on the Muskoka 5. That just like, there's no way that was a part of Austin Matthews, like when he was nine years old. And I think all of that stuff just allows him to come into this with, and I worry that people will hear this and say, "Oh, you don't think he has an a pre..." No, I think he knows exactly what it means to be the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I just think he was able to come to that realization while he was becoming that person, not growing up being smacked in the face by the legacy of what that is his entire life. Agreed. And that's where I think this is the right change to make. And I believe that Austin Matthews will, not that he'll handle things differently, because again, we don't know what goes on in the room. We can only speculate. But what we can say is, I don't think that Austin Matthews, and I think this is a good thing. I don't think this is a detriment. I don't think he's gonna wear it like John Tamaras did. Nope, I don't think so either. And I think, and this is not a knock on John Tamaras, with 29 goals last year. I think pretty much all of them, it's even strength, okay? So not a knock on what he is. But it's also a little easier to not feel the weight of that when you have 60 angles. And you've performed the way that he has in games, Matthews has in games that matter. I think that that part of it as well just goes with it. Not that Tamaras need to feel guilty about all of his performances, but when you are not the player you once were, it's hard to kinda carry yourself in exactly the same way. This is, I think, actually the biggest takeaway, although it's nothing new. It is just the stamping home of what we've kinda felt has been happening for the better part of, well at the very least since the end of the season, but probably since he took over at the end of last offseason, or at the end of last season, this was Brad for a living's call, and this is Brad for a living's team. Brendan Shanahan, nobody gave him a mic yesterday. Craig Barubay is the coach of this team. He hasn't coached these guys in a game yet, and they just told him who the captain and one of his A's are. I don't think Barubay would particularly disagree with either calls. I don't think it's an issue there, and obviously they would have had a conversation with him. But the fact that it was true living up there, running the show, this is so clearly his team. The fact that he was respectful about it, but answered the question honestly of, "I broached this to John at the end of the season." So this clearly came from him, and you heard in an answer he gave to Ailish and Justin when he was on yesterday. You know, he was trying to be diplomatic about it, but it seems like pretty early on from the jump here, Brad's your living was looking at it and going, "Oh, that's, well, I just, no disrespect to John Tavares." But that's the captain right there in Austin Matthews. This is just 1,000% for a living show, and that shouldn't be anything new, but we remember playing the politics of it all with the Pelly Presser, and what was that gonna mean? And hmm, Shanahan seems a little diminished here. Felt a lot diminished yesterday, and I don't say that is a knock on Shanahan. We've done that before, this day really isn't about him, but it is so clearly that tri-living has been empowered. I won't say to a point that Dubis wasn't, but there doesn't seem to be much of a power struggle happening up there. There's the one guy they're putting as the face forward of the oil too in Matthews, but also tri-living as well. And that's why you brought Brad's your living in here, right? Like we can, we can quibble on, you know, the power structure, but Brad's your living is the one making the decisions. Does he have, you know, the president and ownership have to sign off on everything, but Brad's living is the one who's going out and he's putting his stamp on this team, which is why I think it was so important for him to do this now and not last year. - Yep. - Because we talk about coming in and making change for the sake of making change, for Brad's living to come in last year and say, no, Austin Matthews is the captain, John Tavares, isn't the captain and we move on from there? - That'd be tough. - That's a tough move to make. Especially when you haven't been here, but he's been able to assess what's gone on with this team and he can say, this is part of us starting fresh. Now, I also wonder the awkwardness of doing this with two years left on John Tavares' contract and not one. I think that plays into it, but you're bang on. Brad's your living is the guy who is going to, it's gonna come down to him and his logic in this point, if I'm the general manager and this is what he's doing, if I'm gonna go down with this ship, I'm gonna do it my way. - Yeah. - And I think that's how you should always go about it. Like, I'm gonna do things my way and if it doesn't work, at least I can say I tried. - Does it mean anything that Craig Baroobay, what, I mean, he was there, he was part of the picture when they go frame it in one of the halls at Scotiabank somewhere. You know, he'll be up on the wall with that picture and so will Channing and so will Tavares, but does it mean anything at all that Craig Baroobay wasn't up there on the dais that we joked was gonna look like the Brady roast and it was just three guys? - I don't think it means, I actually, the more I thought about it and you kind of alluded to it, like he's the new coach and I don't think he disagrees with any of this 'cause he would have been consulted on these conversations I would have seen. - Yeah, I imagine if he was kicking and screaming about this, we would have, we probably would have heard about it. - Yeah, I would think. - But, well, these were also, again, like these are also conversations, I forget when you named him coach. Like these wouldn't, you wouldn't ask him in the interview, would you strip the Sea of John Tavares and give it to Austin Matthews, but you'd ask him about your players, you'd ask him what he thinks about the outside group and, you know, like people can read between the lines or have answers directly to questions. So yeah, I don't think he was surprised by any of this, obviously. - No, and I think the fact that he hasn't coached these guys is the reason why he's, 'cause what question could you possibly ask Craig Baroobay yesterday that he could answer? Is this the right move? - Why were your arms crossed when you were having coffee with Mitch Marner? That's the type of questions he was gonna get. - Exactly. And so with that being said, if Craig Baroobay had been the coach of this team for a year, he's up there. But the fact that he has not coached a game, I'm fine with it. You mentioned the coffee, it's actually really funny 'cause Mitch Marner wasn't asked about that too. - Of course he was. - Of course he was. We haven't heard from any of these guys all summer long and it's the season of Scuttlebutt. So I think those are the three kind of big picture takeaways. Is the weight of the Leafs' captaincy? I genuinely question if a local guy will ever wear it again and that this was trail living's call and this is trail living's team. Now for couple silly takeaways. - Sure. Austin Matthews is huge. - Guys, a tank. I don't know if I just haven't seen him and it's the whole absence makes the heart grow fonder thing. I don't know if that's what's at play here. I don't know if he's sitting next to Tavares and he just looks a lot bigger than Tavares. I don't know what is at play. He looks jacked. We don't typically do best shape of their life for guys in the absolute prime of their careers coming off 69 goal seasons. I don't know how he could look any stronger and more virile. It was like he got a pump in right before he went out to accept the captaincy. It's like Austin, we're ready, hold on. I gotta make sure I look super swole in all these pictures. He just looks massive. And again, that shouldn't surprise anybody. He, you and I were looking at the measurements and it's a classic of like, I feel like he plays a little heavier than that than what they have him listed at on NHL.com. But he just, not that you would have seen Austin Matthews and said, well, I don't know. I don't have a ton of confidence about this. But if there was anything you could have gleaned out of yesterday, it's just got him ready for the puck to drop on the season. - Yeah. So, Tavares, I was curious about this when you mentioned it. So, Tavares is listed at 61-11. - Okay. - On the lease website. Tavares is listed at 63-15. - No. - False. - Somebody's fine. - Somebody is fine. - Well, and the answer is NHL.com, but- - Correct. But, and it is funny because growing up, especially in the OHL draft year, I know that guys had their heights and weights bumped up. - Yeah. - During ours, like they had me listed at 5-11, like 1-70 or something, and I was just like, I'm still not 5-11. So, so I don't think I've shrunk, but I'm still not 5-11. But having said that, I do, like Austin Matthews is constantly trying to better himself. I feel like what we saw yesterday was like supercharged Austin Matthews. - Well, and just looking at the off season he had, I mean, you know, he has always been somebody who's been a little, it's the word I want to use, protective of his health. Like, I feel like during COVID, he didn't like answering questions about that. We still don't know what happened. They kept him out of that, that Boston series. And I don't, and last year we had the thing where he had the risk procedure right after the season, season was over. This is an off season where he's, as far as we know, been entirely healthy once the weird hit got cleared up and he played in game seven. So it better have been cleared up if he played in it, that why wouldn't he be able to dedicate himself and do exactly that? This is the old, and this is just every pro athlete now, but this is the old Michael Jordan. Like, okay, you're the best, great. Develop a three point shot. Great. You're the best. Go work on your post game. It's like, whatever those things are for Matthews, the problem is it's like they're getting fewer and fewer to find. Does the next one include? Next, Austin Matthews, you need to pass the puck more. There have been some people who have been clamoring for such things, exactly. We're going to hear it all. Hey, go put the puck in the net 50, 60 times. I think we're all pretty happy about the regular season. And then I don't know, find a way to do it like 10 or 12 times in a post season. I think we'd be happy about that. One last silly one, and it's a sad day for me, who's been keeping watch on this for, I don't know, since the lottery ball has bounced through Euler's way and was it 16, let me take a draft. I would like to regret, regretfully inform everyone that this puts to bed all rumors of Conor McDavid becoming a Toronto Maple Leaf anytime soon. We all- You don't like alternating captains from home? (laughing) I was texting with a buddy yesterday, just wondering like, hey, what jersey you think they'll put it on? And he took that to mean that Tavares and Matthews were going to be co-captains, and he just sent the puke emoji, which is the right answer. 'Cause it's like quarterback. If you got two, you got none. You got to have a captain. But maybe it's ridiculous to look at such things this way. I mean, I think the cards are on the table for McDavid to just stay in Edmonton regardless. But I think he needed, he wouldn't need that carrot of like you can become the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The other part of this as well is that it was kind of envisioned Tavares money being the perfect placeholder for him. And, you know, not that Tavares is going to make what he makes on his next deal, but it certainly seems like he's going to stick around beyond that. If this is a successful air of Leafs hockey, well, we won't often spend it wondering what could have been with McDavid. But as a guy who has been keeping very close watch on that situation, I don't know, they hired his junior coach, they hired his agent in Edmonton. Now, all of a sudden, he can't become the Leafs captain. Pretty hard to envision a world where McDavid ends up in blue and white. Sorry, folks, I regret to inform you, because I have been the pied piper of one day, he will come home. And I suppose one day anything can happen, but not when this next contract is up. >> Today is not that day. So, I'll flip that question, dude. Did you, and I'm not even saying I like to be disparaging. Like, did you really believe at any point that he would be Conor McDavid to come home? >> In his prime. >> I really did think there was a world where, now it's too close. I thought there was a world where he got one early in Edmonton. The first run they made to the conference final, if they win that year. >> They lost the Vegas? >> Yeah, then they win that year. >> Sorry, Colorado? >> I can't remember. >> Yeah, Colorado, yeah, yeah. >> So, they win that year, things are fine, but a little topsy-turvy in the years afterward. They're shedding talent left, right and center. And then he says, hey, I did it. Like, I won the championship. I'm gonna go, like, I did think there was, I always thought it was at best a 25% chance at absolute best. But yeah, I didn't think it was a zero-sum possibility, but the closer he got to the end of the deal without a cup, and the fact that they were so close they could taste it now, there's just no way he's leaving. >> Unless they win this year. >> No, because he's not leaving. He's not leaving that close. That's why you needed the lead time, and then winning a couple of years ago. >> And then the scarring kind of. >> And then the scarring kind of. >> And it's like, guys, I tried, I tried. I had 180-point season, and it wasn't enough. You could have seen it. >> Boy, 180 points. And then the weird thing is it does feel like it's winning the realm of possibility. >> Well, I mean, you said that nobody scored 69 goals, and I said, oh God, I hope Connor didn't hear that. 'Cause he's, it is remarkable how him and Sid, both have had the seasons in their career where they said, okay, fine, you guys think I'm not a goal score, fine. I'll show you, here we go. >> Yeah. >> They basically called their shot, and then they went back to me, the player they've always been. >> Nobody has 100 assists. Well, I've done two guys do it. >> Yeah, watch this. >> It is, it is, you know, I had the thought of Connor McDavid being a maple leaf at some point. But to me, it, I don't know, it was just some weird thing that it always kind of felt like it was going to be later in the career, like one of those swan songs where he's like, Sid at the end of his career, like where it's like, he's still a very productive player. >> But don't say it with Sid. We can't put that in the air where he goes to Montreal. >> No, no, no, no, I'm just saying like being a productive player later in his career. God, no, I don't want to see him. >> I was going to say, I think there's more of a likelihood that Sidney Crosby goes to Colorado. >> Well, no, I do too, but my worry is that Sidney Crosby is going to be hockey's Tom Brady. And in the next decade, the Habs will be decent. And he'll go, okay, I'll share one time. >> I'll finish it off there. >> Yeah, it's my terrifying thing. 'Cause I keep looking at the window and I'm like, okay, this is good. Montreal keeps dragging their heels and not quite getting this thing going. Crosby's aging, but he was like better last year than he did in three of his four last seasons. >> So that was always my thought with McDavid was still an effective player, but not a front line player on a Sidney Crosby would be a front line player. >> Mm-hm. >> Sorry, he wouldn't be a 135 point Connor McDavid coming to the Toronto Maple. >> McDavid will be interesting to watch. Now we're just talking about this, but he'll be interesting to watch age, right? 'Cause all the other guys that we've seen of that ilk, I mean, not the Tom Brady's a hockey player, but he wasn't a burner at any point in time, right? Sidney Crosby, great skater. >> No, don't talk about the like end to end top end speed. And obviously, Connor has a million other things that make him special, but that's the one. Like that's the one A that we always talk about is the speed and the changing of gears. And I imagine he'll be that guy till he's 36 years old. But what does it look like when he loses a little bit of it? Because it's one thing when you're John Tavares and you've operated your whole life being a fine to you below average skater, but McDavid has thrived in a world where he has more space and time than anybody else because he could just quite frankly take it. And I mean, we're again, like we're a decade away from needing to have this conversation, but I am fascinated to see how it plays out. >> I do, with those guys, the evolution for me is because he's so smart, he hasn't advantage over so many people, but that becomes Yarmere Jager just being an absolute beast. >> Yeah, it's just like physical. >> No, I know exactly. >> Like Jager was just so strong and not that McDavid isn't strong as an ox, but just like Jager was a basketball player the way he'd post guys. >> You forget how incredibly big Yarmere Jager was. I had a conversation with Adam Graves years ago and were family friends and all that. And I asked him, I said, well, who was the toughest player to play against? And he said, Yarmere Jager. He says he was just a, and you think about it, like was he really that big? He was a, he played at like 245. >> That's insane. >> He's a beast. >> Still playing, has committed to playing every home game for Clando this year in check-in. >> I heard he was, I heard he was training to play every game. >> Okay, I saw it and I didn't want to get over my skis. It might be every game. It's for sure every home game, though, because he basically is worried that the team will go into bankruptcy. >> He's still tickets. >> Yeah, they made the logo look exactly like him. I do want to, I do want to get in this fridge clip before we step aside here. I got to talk to my man, Adam Stanley on the other side of things, but Elliot Friedman, making his trim from return to 32 thoughts, and he weighed in on the Leafs. So naturally, you get to hear about it. Here's for each from 32 thoughts. >> Now, by no means do I believe that Tavares is going to be a fourth-liner, but the one thing I have wondered is if the Maple Leafs to conserve some wear and tear on him. I mean, he's not like he's old. He's about to turn 34, but he's had a lot of wear and tear. And we know he's not the fastest, although he's very competitive. I just wonder if this is, I don't know if admission is the right word, but a signal that maybe Tavares' role is about to change. That maybe he's not necessarily going to be get the same kind of minutes, the same kind of role he's had in the past, while Matthew's role is growing, Riley's role continues to be massive, and the Lander's responsibilities will only grow. And I think the same with Marner, 'cause I expect him to be here. So that's the kind of thing I wonder about all of this is if this is going to be a signal that Tavares' role is about to change a little bit. >> Yeah, I think we all kind of see the writing on the wall there. The only problem with that in the super immediate future is somebody has to play center on this team for more than 13 minutes a night. David Camp, he'll play 12 for my team. That's fine. I'm okay with that. Max Stomi, he'll have his moments at center this season. I'm sure he's still one short, okay? Fraser Minton, it seems like everybody's opinion is, he's going to go have a big long year in the American League and mature, and that's great. And Easton Cowan's probably going to get his seven games, but guess what? He's not playing center for the least this year either. I can see the world of a step back for Tavares. It's just the way the roster's constructed, unless we're going to do it again. Is William Nieland or a center now? Are we going to put Marner up the middle? Is that the way you're going to fix that issue? 'Cause the call is not coming from inside the house with what's available now. And I didn't even mention him. Sorry, Connor Dewar. You're not the second line center either. - I wonder if that comes down to the power playtime. - Yeah. - I really do. I think he's, I agree. He's not going to, they don't really have anybody else. I guess it depends on what you think of Bobby McMahon as a center, but he's not your number two center. - No. - That player does not exist on this roster. - Every guy that you think of is like, eh, maybe is not a second line. - Can I tell you something? If it's eh, maybe I don't want that guy. The only guy that that's ever worked with is Tage Thompson. 'Cause that was like eh, maybe. And then he went out and scored 40 goals. But I think that I think you're going to see less of John Tavares on the first power play unit. I think he'll, I wonder if he'll sprinkle in on that, but I don't think it'll be a constant. Hey, John, you're the first over the boards. I do wonder about Matthew Nye's in that spot. - Totally. - So that's where I think they kind of land on that. But I agree. He's going to play less. And I think that's where you get, I think more is less with John Tavares. Remember when he went down to the third line? - Yeah. - He played really well there, and he looked like he was rejuvenated. - Yeah, people have done the Spetsa comps too much in terms of what the next deal is going to look like. - No, but, but I think this is the salient point, is Jason Spetsa went from providing the Dallas Stars with okay hockey at 16 minutes a night or whatever he was asked to play. Then he came to Toronto and was asked to play 10, 11 minutes a night, occasionally get bumped up in the lineup. And he was a different player. Now it wasn't peak prime Spetsa, but it was better than the version the Stars were getting. And I think that that was very, and I know everybody, including Spetsa, from that era is gone now, the front office, but I think that will be something informative as you kind of watch Tavares age. Speaking of age, Adam Stanley is watching some aged golfers this week in Calgary, covering the Rogers charity classic. Gonna talk to him about that. Gonna talk to him about the PGA Tour playoffs. They're starting up this week. Is anything up left for grabs in terms of player of the year? Or has that already been decided? The Stannemal, the golf content base joins us next. Fan Morty show continues. Sportsnet 5.9 of the fan. Unrivaled insight, analysis, and opinions on all things Blue Jays. Blair and Barker, be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Fan Morty show, trucking along here. And God, again, just, let me say a quick thank you to, you know, just the hockey gods in general. I would have taken the offer sheet news, quite frankly. I would have, I don't think I would have got four days out of it. Even I have my limits in terms of how much I could squeeze out of offer sheet talk. But I've definitely been able to make four days out of Austin Matthews becoming captain of the Leafs. Gonna talk about that a little later on in the program as well. My friend New York's Luke Fox, gonna join us later on in the show. He was there at the presser yesterday asking, asking the hard questions to true living and to Matthews and to Tavares, the only guys we heard from. It is going to be the topic that is going to dominate scuttlebutt around the Leafs between now and the season. It's basically going to be talking about Matthews and talking about Marner. And then we wait for the puck to drop because, you know, like, we don't need to lay it out here. But there are not going to be a million jobs up for grabs in camp with this team. There's not going to be a big, you know, bunch of roster decisions to make. We're going to have our fun with Easton Cowan and Frazier Minton. But that's the interesting thing, is that we're not going to have, you know, a ton of other questions in camp other than, yeah, how are the Leafs different now and what's going on with Mitch Marner? Yeah. The Barouba thing is the one that stands out to me is how, how does this team play differently? Yeah, which is all funny because the best bit of coaching that Sheldon Keef did was in the playoffs when it's two best players. But this will be a different looking team. I'm just curious, like, physically, what will they look like and how do the lines shake out and what changes? Because Craig Burby is going to make some changes. Just what are those changes? Yeah, I think the, you don't come in here and you don't make a change to just be Sheldon Keef, but meaner. So yeah, I think it's a, it's very curious to see what a, what Leafs camp will feel like this year. Also always curious to find out what it's like for the FedEx Cup playoffs. They have a different feel every year and who better to help us preview them today? Your friend of mine, they wrote me an intro on here. I'm going to say my own thing. Golf content based Adam Stanley, who's in Calc, recovering the raw charity classic right now. It joins us now. Stanley, how you doing, buddy? Hey, man, I'm, I'm doing great. I, I'm back, back on the road, we're, we're inching ever closer to the end of my, my busy summertime stretch with, with this week, and then we've got the president's cup coming up in just a few weeks, which is incredible and, and I have to thank you for taking a quick break from the Austin Matthews discourse over the last 36 to 48 hours to take a break, to let the listeners have a little bit of relief and we're going to talk some golf. And I'm, I'm so privileged somebody, somebody, not me out there is writing the joke of like, Oh, it wouldn't be hard for me to connect those dots, Leafs and golfing. Yeah. Well, new captain won't change that. Yeah. You know how the city works, buddy. Okay. We talked about even the blue Jays today, let alone the, the PGA tour here, man, I'm, I'm excited playoffs are always fun. I don't care what the sport is. This one feels a little different. They've changed the format. I think as best they could, but I also, even me, the guy who wants to believe and I want to buy in, I had to look up that Victor Hovland won this tournament or not this tournament, but the playoffs last year. Is there anything golf can do to give it more of a feel? And I also have to add in that with the Olympics coming so recently, it feels like, Oh, great, we got an extra major out of the whole thing. And it does just feel like the seasons, I don't know, running along, but I also don't want to diminish the playoffs. I love the idea of the guys playing for something all year long. Yeah. You know, the playoffs and then like I mentioned a couple of minutes ago, obviously the president's cup is a huge thing for us as Canadians, but it's, you know, it's another kind of big spike in the, in the PGA Tour schedule. I think, you know, I can add this, this playoff system has chugged long over the last decade and a half. Like I can see kind of all, all sides of it because, and I think I can see all sides of it because the PGA Tour has kind of tried to do a all sides of it. They tried to do so many different things with it. You know, obviously I think Scotty Scheffler brought up a couple of good points yesterday and, and probably he brought them up because, you know, he's so far ahead of, of everyone else that it would be jarring if he did not win kind of the season long race to the FedEx Cup. But he brought up a good point and he said, Hey, we get the East Lake and my neck flares up and I have to withdraw. I'm finished 30th at the last event and I, and I don't, and I don't win the season long points race. And no one's been in, you know, inside of a, inside of a, like, not even shouting distance, but like megaphone distance of this guy all season long since, you know, there were still snow on the ground here in, in Canada. So, um, yeah, I, I think entertainment products wise, I think they've kind of done the best that they can. Like they're, they're slicing the fields every week. There's only 70 guys this week, then 50, then 30, um, you know, there's, there's staggering, uh, they, they are giving the guy who's in first an opportunity to have a lead heading into that last event. So then he can take, uh, take the, you know, the FedEx Cup championship across the, across the finish line. I just, I don't know what else like you could, like you can't make it match play in that to her championship. I was kind of for that for, for a couple of years, but then I think that just reflects Scotty Scheffler's point as well. Um, and then also you can't just like give Scotty Scheffler the, uh, the trophy now and cause you would have had to give Scotty Scheffler the trophy two and a half months ago, he would have locked it up by then, right? So then you kind of run out of, run out of the gas. So I think they've done the best that they can if Scotty Scheffler wants to win the finish cup, he's got to play well these next three weeks and then put a bow in his ear and be done with it. And I think that's all we can ask for. Adam Lesser, we should just hand Scottie Scheffler the title every year, the way that he's been going right now. But I, I, you know, the thing is the one kind of pushback that I have is like, I don't bill, like Billy Horshel was complaining about the TV coverage and, and Scott, he was talking about how silly the playoffs were, but nobody's offering up a suggestion here. Like, what do the players want to do? Do they just want to play out the season like they have in years past and just be like, okay, the season's over, like, I understand the PGA tours side of this with having a playoff because every, every other North American sport has a playoff. This is not, you know, soccer in Europe or, you know, they just don't, we just don't have that here. What, like, where, what do the players want out of all of this? Because when you look at the prize money is great. And that's, you know, appointment watching TV, a guy has an $18 million putt on the line in the final, like, that's, that's insane pressure. But outside of that, like, what do the players want to do about this because they complain about it, but they don't want to offer up any suggestions either. Yeah. And I think that's because, like, the PGA tour has tried so many things that it's kind of like, well, what else are we, what else are we going to do? Now, you know, the players want to, you got to play for something, right? Like with every, every sport, as you mentioned a couple minutes ago, like every single team is aiming to be the one on top of the league at the end of that season. So, you know, with golf, now, now they have that opportunity as well. And the money, the money is incredible. The money is silly. The money is like just jarring. But I think for these guys, the bigger thing, the most important thing is this play down week between this particular week in Memphis and the next week at the BMW championship. Because if you make that field, you earn your way into all the signature events, you get to pick the big boy schedule, you get to play for all the money. Like, that's the real big thing that these guys are all shooting for. And if we recall correctly from last year, Mackenzie Hughes finished 51st on the list and missed out. And then John Ron went to live and Mackenzie Hughes was bumped to number 50 and he got to play this signature event schedule, which probably is going to allow for him to, you know, make enough points and get him Mike Wiersier enough to make it into the President's Cup as well. So, what do the players want? I think it's reflective of, you know, just the big playing opportunity for next year. This weekend and next week is going to be the real big one for a lot of those guys on the bubble. There's going to be some drama wrapped around that. And then the money at the end of the years is a nice cherry on top of everything. But, you know, three events, cut the fields, big fries at the end. I think that's kind of all they can do. Yeah. I don't disagree. And as you know, I've always said, like, great job, John, Ron, going to live. It was great for the game of golf. Like, I've long, long stated that and you're reminding me about Mackenzie Hughes impact, or how it impacted Mackenzie Hughes didn't sway my opinion one way or another, not one Iota. You mentioned the President's Cup there. Mike and his men going to be a Royal Montreal in a little more than a month's time. When is that team set and locked in? I know there's plenty still to play for regarding points. And I think most importantly, well, specifically to me, how many Canadians are going to be there aside from Mike Weir? And I don't mean outside the ropes. Yes. I don't know how many. So September 3rd is when Mike Weir is going to make his picks. So it's after the after the tour championship, Jim Fier is going to make his picks the day after. So, yeah, they're going to run it all the way through letting America react to their selections. I don't know. Jim Fier wanted to do it on the same day, as I was told, but because, you know, the tour wants to spread out the media coverage of it, they're separating the media. The media always kowtowing to us. Yes. So the Canadian question, that is the, that's the million dollar. That is the gigantic question. Mike Weir dropped a little, little nugget yesterday as we were talking. He was like, you know, it's going to be really hard not to pick, even though I've got six picks, you know, it's going to be hard not to pick number seven and number eight on the standings, which makes complete sense. Number seven, Corey Connors, dude, hasn't missed a cut all season. He's been playing incredible golf. He should be on that team one way or the other. So Corey, for sure, number eight's, minimally, Australian, he's been absolutely tremendous. Can't wait to see him in that environment, in that big stage, big personality, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So, yes, a million percent, minimally should be on that team. So Corey, minwoo, minwoo, of course, is not Canadian. So, what are we left with? I think the most curious... From the Commonwealth, though. Yeah. Let's go. It kind of worked. The most curious person for me has been the curious case of Nick Taylor. Obviously, he comes out, wins the Canadian Open last year, comes out with a bang at the beginning of this season, wins in Phoenix, but just really hasn't done pretty much anything since then. Hasn't had an individual top 15 finish on the PGA Tour since that win in Phoenix, had a nice finish alongside Adam Hadwin at the Zurich Classic, the team event in New Orleans, but other than that, has missed every cut at every major this year, which hasn't been great and has been constantly dropping in the standings. I love Nick Taylor, big moment Nick, but if I was Mike Weir, unless Nick Taylor does something absolutely incredible over the FedEx Cup playoffs, it may be a lot harder to pick him than somebody else, which is completely and utterly unfortunate. So, I think we're going to have Corey. I would say Adam, Adam Hadwin probably is 50-50, in my opinion. I think Taylor Pendreth is probably 70-30 as like a yes, and then I would say Mackenzie Hughes, from what I heard, Mackenzie Hughes is the most mister pester of all of the... And in like a good way, like he is in Mike's ear more than anybody else from the Canadian crew. He really wants to be on that team, and I'm just imagining Mackenzie Hughes on Saturday making a 45-foot plan, an unbelievably aggressive sellie, selective international team, have a sniffing chance on Sunday in the signals, and I am here for it immensely. So, I was always going to say that I thought that Mike was going to have four Canadians as pick. Now, I'm leaning probably towards three and maybe four. So, I would say Corey, for sure, Adam, maybe Taylor... So, I would say Corey, Taylor, and Mackenzie, and then Adam, maybe. Those would be my four. Yeah, man, shows the depth of Canadian golf that Taylor, whose first name is Taylor, who was on a President's Cup team last time around, and he's going to likely be on the outside looking in here. It just bodes well for it. It's funny you say that about Mackenzie Hughes, because, you know, I don't often do journalism, but I do one week a year when the RBC Canadian Open comes down. And I asked Mackenzie, this was last year, so we're more than a year removed away from the event. And his answer about wanting to play for Mike Weir was so emphatic that the President's Cup international team, like put it out on their Instagram, they cut like a hype video off of it. You could feel the passion kind of rigging, ringing through him there. Do they have a chance? Like, how much should I get my hopes up for this? Team golf, anything can happen, the Americans not on American soil, but Montreal ain't exactly Europe. I know old Montreal can feel like it sometimes, but how good of a chance do Mike Weir's men are they going to have in Montreal? Here's the thing, it's at the last President's Cup, it all came down to putting the Americans just putted way better. At the Ryder Cup, it all came down to putting and the Europeans just putted way better. Anything can happen to your point on paper, and Ernie Els was at this dinner that I was at last night. Late flex, I can't flex on most things, but... Please, yes. You got more golf flex in India than I don't know, like, Jose Conseco. But he was saying, like, on paper, the Americans look absolutely ridiculous. And it's true. Scotty Sheffler, number one, Sandra Schofler, number two. I think what may happen is, as we talked about it on the top of this particular radio hit, the Americans just might be white. Scotty, Xander, they have played a lot of golf at a very high level all season long. And this is the last week of September. It's going to be the last week for them before the calendar turns, and we see them in Hawaii. And it just might be one of those weeks where, you know, someone like Hadekki or Christian Bizenhout catches an absolute leader, and these guys just might be wiped, or Scotty's neck might flare up, or Xander might... We're living in the world of hypotheticals right now, but I've kind of become... Or maybe I've just, like, encouraged myself to believe that those two guys, although they've had, you know, students for the ages, they're still human beings, and they might be completely wiped by the time we get to September, and it might be an opportunity for somebody who's so fired up on the international side to take advantage of that. And I do think if you can hold... It's not unlike any sports. If you can hold, you know, the other team's best player to maybe a combined three points versus a combined, you know, five or six points, then there are some points that the potential... There's a potential for some makeup on the international side. So I think that's got to be the key. If you can take advantage of beating Scotty and Xander, then I do think, for the balance of that team list, you know, it's looking okay, and I think that's going to be the key, but those guys still have to go out and perform and play their best on a high level and try not to let the moment overtake them. So I think they've got a chance, but they really need to contain. It's like they're, you know, drafting up a defensive strategy that these guys might... They need to contain the points of Xander and Scotty. The Montreal Police do what you need to do as well. Like I'm not saying do anything, but if you wanted to, blueprints there on how to slow... Rip your pants. How to slow Scotty down. It's the only way. It's our own. Help us Montreal Police. You're our only hope. Stanley, I know you're out in Calgary. My understanding is you have a conversation with George Russik coming up soon, and you know, we love Russik, but like earplugs, so enjoy yourself and have fun out in Calgary. We know you're out there covering the Roger's charity classic. Thank you. It's my first time here. Can't wait. It should be a nice week. And yeah, can't wait to talk to you guys soon. Forget it. Yeah, we will bug you again. And yeah, they love that tournament. So have fun out there. There he goes. Adam Stanley. Check out his work on SportsNet.ca. Weird, weird position for a sport to find itself in where even casuals, I feel like find themselves getting sucked in a goal throughout the year. It would take a ton to make people get sucked into the playoffs. I can sit here and love them. I can sit here and care about them. It is such an odd thing in sports to say, we've got to find a way to fix the playoffs. They seem broken, generally speaking, that's the part that we don't need to mess around with at all. It's just such a upside down world that golf lives in. And they've made changes. They tried to get over the NFL's way smart. They tried to actually have some stakes to the final tournament smart. And it still doesn't really seem like it matters. No, because at the end of the day, we all know who the best golfer on the planet is this year. I don't need to, I don't need to play off to tell me that. There's lots of metrics and stuff that wins would be one of them. But even in a year where, you know, four guys have, you know, three wins each or two wins each and it's like, Oh boy, look how many top 10s at like, it's pretty cut and dry who the best player in the world is right now. And it's by a long shot. So I'm fine with it the way that it is just because of the stakes that are involved, especially from a monetary perspective, and you talk about like the rankings for this year for the president's comp like there, there's some meaning to this. But I don't, I think if we just separate the idea that the playoffs are what decides the best golfer of the year, I think you can, I think both things can be true. You can have fun with it, but also know that it doesn't mean anything. It's also tough in this year too, when yes, there has been a definitive best guy, but there's also been a definitive second best guy. They should just go play a match. And that's it. Like how much would we all love to watch that the two of them match with real good golfers for the title? Yeah, the match, but with talented golfers, although I don't want to say anything bad about Tom Brady before he comes tells me to do something. I, he was very mean to Charles Barkley, rightfully so during all that. All right, it is now time for the waking rate presented by sports interaction, your home growing sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly back to a regularly scheduled programming talking about Austin Matthews. This will shock you all. He is favored to win the rocket at minus one 15, not a ton of value there. Let me throw some other numbers at you. David Pasternak plus five 50, Carrillo, the thrill Capriza plus seven 50. Lee on dry side in a contract here, or maybe not to bet what happens with T now in the start of the season at plus eight hundred, the one that's jumping out to me, Philip Forsberg at plus 1300. He is about to play with more talented players than he has ever played with in his NHL life. And this is a guy that could pile up points without that talent around him. Kids have kind of changed up things. I think from a value standpoint, I love the value you get at 1300 for Phillip Forsberg. I also love Jack Hughes at plus 3000. That's another one where I think you get a ton of value there. Hughes and the devil's, I mean, they're everybody's darling to have a big season. And if they do, it's going to be with him putting up a ton of points, including a ton of goals. Yeah. There's some really good value here. Like, hey, even look at Brayden point at plus 2000, like the guy, the guy just scores like 40 goals. Yep. He can take his game to another level, which I think is shooting percentage jump to whatever. And maybe in the Stephen Stamco shooting spot on the power play on the left side, maybe just maybe. So I like that there. But for me, the best value in all of this, and it's such a weird thing to say because he's not the typical shooter, Zach Hyman scoring goals from two feet in front of the net because he has the best passer or second best passer in the world, depending on what you think and Nikita Kucharov on, on his line, like, I don't know that to me, like if you're going to sprinkle some pizza money on something, Zach Hyman, I think is really good value there. Yeah. Honestly, even Conor McDavid, nine to one, this is a guy who's more than capable of it. He's going to get 40 ish goals. You would talk about Brayden point being a lock for that. McDavid's going to get that and so Nathan McKinnon is sleep, Nathan McKinnon right there. This is what I'm here to tell you. A lot of guys could score in the NHL. It's going to be a fun, fun rocket race this year again, Matthews minus 115. You're asking me for my pick. If you're looking at value, Jack Hughes plus 3,000 devils are going to light it up. I think that's, that's where I ultimately fall there. Do you have a kind of best value on the board for you, Mark Raising? Yeah, I, I'm going to stick with, I'm going to stick with Brayden point at plus 2000. I think he's going to have a bigger impact with Stephen Stamkel's not there. Yeah. And they, we know this, a lock for Team Canada, the four nations face off. That was a wake and break presented by Sports Interaction, your home growing sports book, 19 plus bad responsibly. Okay, everybody, guess what we're going to talk about next. Austin Matthews, the captain of the Leafs, Luke Fox was there. We'll get his reaction on the day. What did he make of Marner and Riley being in attendance? How did John Tavares handle it all? And has anyone ever had a bigger say in Leafland than Brad for a living has right now? It certainly doesn't feel that way. All that more with Luke Fox final hour of the fan morning show coming up next on sports net 590 the fan.
