[MUSIC] >> Reaves for the long reach gets the right hand in. So does Rembank, Rembank trying to hold off the right. Right hand by Reaves connects. Reaves with another right hand. >> Reaves, he's been playing so good the last 10 to 12 game player. It's been 10 games for sure. I mean, he's four check and he's got a great stick. He's such a good presence in the room. You see the crowd is actually ramped up tonight for a huge event like that. And I mean, both of them, obviously, they left it all out there. And respect to that kid, he's a tough dude. And he was a tough guy in the league. So for him to hang out like that, all the credit to him. But now that he was great to see, I'm so glad he's one. He gives a huge part of that one tonight. >> Yeah, I mean, it's always, like I said, the other night, it's always exciting when you see 75 through own fist. He's a big man and it's obviously one of the best fighters of not in the league. It's always great now, so just how his IQ is when he's fighting. You can see it on the bench and they're just as patients with kind of, I think, trying to draw people in and then kind of unload. So it's always fun to watch a 75 throw hands. [MUSIC] >> You love watching 75 throw hands. Brank gunning, Matt Marchezi, fan morning show. Quickly Marchezi, just throwing you a curve ball here. >> Yeah. >> Mitch Marner, Mitch Marner threw it to me. I'm going to throw it to you, where you had him referring to guys by Jersey numbers. I mean, I am big on it in texts with psychos. I mean, if I'm texting with fellow psychos who were locked in into the game. I just to save time, I am a big 16, 34, 11. It still pains me to text 11 because that's a Zach Hyman's number. Sorry, love you, Max Domi. But where are you at on players just going with the number? >> I'm good with it. >> I love it. >> I do it every so often too. >> Sometimes I have been knowing to get a little cute, though, and it's like, okay, Bobby McMahon, just now he's Bobby McMahon. But it's like when he just got here, don't call him 74. Okay, don't make me look at a program. If it's a number, you got to know the number. >> Yeah, I was going to say, now, here's the other thing. How about those guys talking about, talking about Ryan Reeves glowingly about fighting? And there are people that'll tell you that the player, it doesn't matter to the players. >> Yeah, okay. Do you see how the bench was? >> My God, give me a break. >> Forget the rent pay one, which is impossible. It's like telling you to forget rent pay. It's like forgetting, telling you to forget looking at a Rembrandt. It's so beautiful. How could you possibly forget it? But you know what was arguably just as beautiful to me was Austin Matthew's reaction to Rivo's fight in the game before, against the the yolks. >> Yeah. >> And he is full. He looked like Rivo doing the thumbs up or though getting a crowd going, waving his hands up. It was awesome to see. And yeah, you know, one of those guys is a little bias and that his name is Domi. So maybe he's a little, you know, predisposed to that. >> Yeah, he kinda knows someone. >> The other guy's Mitch Marner, okay? And, you know, we saw what happened with Kichak in the playoffs last year and fighting not necessarily his forte. The guys love it. We all love it. You all might not out there and that's fine. You don't have to. >> But guess what? >> Close your eyes when it happens. >> Again, Brian Burke, to borrow the Brian Burke line, you can be the first person to say, better get up and get a drink. There's about to be a fight in a hockey game. And I don't think that's usually when people get up to go to the bathroom. >> I know. >> No, no, no. Somebody who got up, he was down all the way, all the way down and out was Ilya Sampsonoff. And he's back. Or is he? I'm gonna ask you, I've loved what I've seen from him lately. I have a hard time trusting goal tenders. >> Period. >> You don't even get to watch guys this long anymore. But if I watched the goalie for 10 years, it was great every single night ago. >> I don't know. >> Hard to trust him still. >> That's like being a Bill's fan actually. >> Yeah, okay. You would know, although I will say, if it goes wide right in hockey, I'm pretty happy. >> Yes, that's very true. >> If they're gonna go full CODCC point shot from a few years ago and just blasted in the corner, that is just fine with me. Where are we at on Lee's goal center, Mark Casey? >> Well, I thought that was Sampsonoff's best performance of the year. I thought that was his best game, not only because he made some incredible saves, like the one on Panerran and overtime, which was ridiculous. But also, I thought he looked very composed. He wasn't over challenging, he wasn't over committing. I thought that he just looked like a goaltender that had a lot of confidence. Now, here's the other thing that I will say. It just happens to coincide with Joseph Wall making his first start in a long time. And I do wonder if that kind of lit a fire under Ilya Sampsonoff even just a little bit. That was a big game against a really good Rangers team. It's not that any game is a layup, but that game for Joseph Wall on Thursday was as much of a layup as you are going to get for a goaltender in today's game. So Sampsonoff comes back in a game that they needed him to be really good, because let's face it, they didn't play very well in the Arizona game. And they needed a much better performance. And they got that from Sampsonoff on Saturday night. And so, my only question is, who do the Leafs want to be, the guy going into the playoffs? Because they're as part of me that believes that they want Joseph Wall to be the guy going into the playoffs. I think they're more than happy to have Sampsonoff playing well, think everybody likes that. But I think that they, I think that it would be in their, you know, in what they would want. I think that Joseph Wall is the guy that they would want. But man, Sampsonoff, the way he played on Saturday, that gives him a lot of confidence after that performance, especially with a tough schedule ahead. Yeah, confidence is king. And, you know, I think, I think they'd say whoever's making the stops they'll take, but I think it's well. I think you go back to everything Keith said at the beginning of the year, just reading between the lines, it feels like that's the guy they maybe have a higher kind of expectation of a floor with and the future after beyond this year as well, right? All right. You've asked me, let's ask our man, Gord Stellik, always happy to chat with him, especially on a wonderful Monday morning. It's going to be like 15 degrees this afternoon. You might even go golfing. I might. Don't tempt me with a good time. Gordo, how you doing? Happy Monday, bud. Well, happy Monday, Brett, Matt. I'll tell you, they were chanting Sammy's name on Saturday. I thought it was Sammy McKee for a while that was in the building. But then I realized, oh my God, they're chanting for Sampsonoff. So that had to feel pretty good for the, as you're discussing goal centers, that it feel pretty good for him on what was a great game on Saturday night. Yeah. So I thought, I thought Mark Casey made an interesting point there that the good performance from Sampsonoff comes on the back of Joe Wall coming back and I got to be honest, I'm a little surprised by that because the track record with Sampsonoff, at least in his time in Toronto here has been when the only competition is Jet Alexander or Dennis Hill to be or somebody that don't want to put in the game, that's generally speaking, when you get the best version of Ilya Sampsonoff, when there has been competition and he's been looking over his shoulder, that seems to have been when he's faltered a little bit. I mean, him and Murray handed it back and forth in terms of health and performance so well last year. I think it's encouraging that you were able to get the performance you got out of Sampsonoff now that there is some competition with, with Wallback and I don't mean that as a shot at Martin Jones, but we all know what that was as well. Well, I'm more surprised, Marques, who made an interesting point, anyway, that was, I'm going to loosen your chair on Friday when we're hosting together, Gourd. Watch. I know. Look, look, look, we're overthinking. We're overthinking. Like, you know, it's like, okay, you know, just, I think about mostly gold tenders generally, how often has it been a goaltender? Say you guys are a tandem and in brand, you're kind of the backup and all of a sudden Marques he gets hurt, and that's, oh geez, he can't take it or run with it. Geez, he's a great backup, but can't take him, he needed him to play well when the other guys hurt. So we're doing kind of the reverse juice now saying he took it to ram with it when they needed him, when Wall was out, and I mean, I know Martin Jones was around. So I just think, and I give Sampsonoff credit, and I give the organization credit that whatever it was back in December, now, you know, years ago, decades ago, you automatically would go to the American hockey league to play with the Kuznetzos of the world and that, but and they just said, hey, that's not going to remedy this. Let's figure it out, work on it, stay in the NHL. I thought, I thought the Leafs, that was, that's proven to be a great plan for him. And whatever it is, it's such a big part mental that he's got his game back together now. For now, when it looked like it was going to be a lost cause. Gordo, when you look at the two goalies going down the stretch here, and I'm not including Martin Jones in this conversation because he's not, I don't think they're going to be waving him, but I also, you know, don't think he's going to get a ton of playing time unless things go crazy, which is kind of what the organization would want. Now, in terms of another thing the organization would want, who do you think they want to be the guy going into the playoffs? Do you think it's Sampsonoff because, you know, he showed in the playoffs last year, he played very well until he got hurt, but Joseph Wall also played well in the games that he came in for also. Do you think that they have a care or is it just like, you know what, as long as, as long as one of them is playing really well going into the playoffs, we're just going to ride the hot hand. Yeah, the latter, the last thing you said, and by the way, Matt Murray actually is skinny with the team. Just I can't see him coming back for the playoffs, but he's actually practicing with the team or around the team right now. So I mean, first to one part, you got to believe Joe Wall is the goaltender for the future. So that's the one guy they're saying that, okay, five years from now, that's the guy we hope and expect will be our guy. But when the playoffs, and it because you go back to this, you know, turnaround, the turnaround, the Matthews, Marner, Kneelander, Riley air, whatever it may be, being in the playoffs and really always getting out goal tended. And we've said it many times. I was a huge Freddy Anderson fan, but in the playoffs, he got out goal tended. And until last year, you know, and that was mainly Joe Wall, I thought how he played. So whatever you want, the type of goal tending that gives you at a minimum gives you a chance to win all the playoff games, the playoffs games you're in, a bonus would be if they're able to steal the odd one. So I don't, I don't even whether it's Jones, Samson offered Joe Wall, whoever that hot goaltender is, hopefully that's the guy you got playing. Yeah, they're going to need somebody, right? There's there's there is yet to be a team win a Stanley Cup without at least half decent goal tending, right? We've rarely we've seen the other way around where a goaltender can drag a team to a cup final or sometimes all the way to the promise lamb. But generally speaking, a team cannot paper that over you. You got to get saves at all times of the year, but you definitely need them in the playoffs. You know, I know you, you, your dear friend, Damien Cox, I doubt he's listening, but just in case he is, I don't want to offend his sensibilities. I'd like to discuss the fight that we saw on Saturday night with you, Gordon. I know, I know Damien doesn't like them very much. But what did you make of the theater surrounding that? You know, I know, I know sometimes the pre meditative fights, people roll their eyes at it, but that didn't feel that way to me. It felt like the itch was in the building from the jump. There was a murmur in the crowd every time Renpey or Reeves was on the ice. What did you make of the kind of theater of it all? You know, a new tough guy in the league, take it on an established guy like Reeves, right at center. I Saturday night in Toronto, I mean, I, I guess I'm leading the witness here, but what's not to like about that, Gordo? Well, first of all, I can guarantee you, Damien's not listening. He's watching old tapes of him and Brunton McCallum from five times four, so that's what he does. Oh, maybe Marquesi just got a coffee in there. Good for him. Yeah. Slide it in there. So this one, you know, I mean, keep in mind, like, boy, he should have had a penalty. He hurt LeBouche, right? I mean, that was a charge. That was a charge, you know, like, I mean, I don't know what, what do you call it, dirty or not, what I wouldn't call, but anyway, it was a charge. He left his feet. And it just shows like he's, he's kind of a raw, raw material, the way he's playing in the NHL right now. He just needs some polish, but what a wonderful two week story spin. So I think that is why that had to happen in, or why that happened in the third period because it's a close game. And you really don't want fights in a close game and it's funny. He was near the Ranger bench. And I think the Rangers said go for it because they're down by one. So that was going to give them a little bit of momentum. And Ryan Reeves has really found himself a role since Christmas, but the last little while in particular, you know, and I so, so I was cool with it because I didn't consider it a stage fight. I can't stand the stage fight. I do worry about RMPY. It's got the black eye like so many fights. I mean, the shots he took in that Columbus game last week about just he doesn't have to do it too much, but it was funny. It was like he was debating and because it was about whether to go off or stay and whether someone said, yeah, do it or what have you. So I don't mind the odd till still. And again, like you said, it went and I think there was an element of that. Meanwhile, Reeves took a run, a clean hit on Schneider. He didn't play after that hit for the Rangers when Reeves hit him. Gordo, the buildup is what was so intriguing to me because, you know, it was it was palpable. I wasn't even at the game, but you could feel it that the fans were waiting for this. When was the last kind of build up heavyweight fight that you remember, maybe not even involving the Leafs, but just in general around the league that had so much buildup heading into it. Like we were talking about this potentially happening on like Tuesday of last week, that we were just waiting for this fight as if it was, you know, Ali Frazier or Ali Foreman, like it was just it was one of those that we don't get to see often. And also it definitely lived up to the billing as well was a really good tool. But can you remember a heavyweight fight that had this much build up in the like in the last, I don't know, 10 years because it feels like there's not very many of these left. Yeah. No, I can't. Like, I mean, there was that brief time, Colton or and Kyle McLaren, they both seem to get in fights every game, right? But they were making me wishful for the good old days, Gord. I can picture it now, cadre sitting on coaches corner flanked by the both of them off. Be still my heart. Sorry, Gordo. Yeah. Well, and, and then there was a scary one when McLaren or what he got hurt in a fight, right? That was a brief one, but there was no, you know, that that was a short term thing. I mean, obviously, Ty Domi, but he was with another team when he was fighting Bob Probert. It wasn't with the Toronto Maple Leafs. So I, you know, as far as like a regular fighting combatants, yeah, I don't know. I had, you know, like when I met a guy, I go back to the Wendell Clark era when he came in as a 19 year old and took on all the top fighters, which was pretty incredible. The Rick Tockets, the John Cordix, the Ben Wilson's, the whatever, and that, but I, as far as so, so weird, Brent and Matt, that last Monday, after I'd done my hit in the morning, but that evening I was at my tennis club and I had two people come by like big hockey fans and one guy said, Hey, this, this rempitling like I mean, man, they got, they got a stop from fighting. I mean, he's, this, this is, he's going to turn into one of those, you know, sad stories you see 15 years later and two minutes later, somebody else came by and goes, I got tickets for Saturday. They're going to go later, right? Right? Reads and read. You know, the total contrast. So I, so because there's no personal history towards them at all, but it was funny. And just then you had the new kid on the block and reach kind of the old kid on the block. I mean, and you got Saturday night hopping, Ockenite and Canada to original 16. So the answer to your question is, no, I can't remember something sort of, let's say so set up, so anticipated, like this particular battle was. Yeah, the other first thing I'll say is the first person who said that to you, that's a very tennis club take of, Oh my heavens, this poor young man. The next guy, it sounds like, sounds like something Teddy Honolulu would say somebody I want to be, want to be friends with. That's just for, for, for you, Gordo. But the weird thing about this rent by thing is that he has come into the league in a way that we only talk about skill players like this, like if a good defenseman, I am a perfectly behooves the point that I'm completely blanking on the kid in Minnesota's name right now, who's pushing a bard for rookie of the year, the defense favor favor, okay, he, a player like that burst into the league and you'll have a conversation here or there about it. But this is almost bard level conversation of the way rent pay has broken. Like we don't see a player come in who is not scoring or a all star goaltender that we talk about in this way. And it just, it just kind of goes to show that there's so much that makes up this wonderful game. And yeah, like we want the skill and all of that, but this is a part of it as well. In terms of the game itself, Gordo, I think the biggest thing to come out of it aside from the fight that we will never stop talking about, or at least I won't, is the benching of William Neelander and him getting back on the score sheet. You know, we've talked so much about Keith and accountability and how do you have to coach different players different ways. Neelander has been adamant, give me the stick. I am not a carrot guy. You need to throw me in the dog host occasionally. You need to make things tough on me. Keith did that. And you saw a better version of Neelander. What did you make of the benching that you saw of Neelander there and how he responded? I think he was pissed that Patterson scored for a sign for 100,000 more a year in Vancouver than he had. You know, I'm seeing more and more that Sheldon Keith is just basically figuring out, you know, he's got to push the buttons. I mean, this is his year. He doesn't have his general manager anymore, but he seems to have the support of the current general manager. But let's face it, there's got to be, start getting some playoff results or fairly unfair. I mean, look at the other bench, the New York Rangers, they made a coaching change solely based on a very disappointing first round exit to the New Jersey Devils last year. So I think, you know, he's just trying to figure out what buttons to push that will work best in the playoffs. Apparently, they've especially gone over about not blowing the zone on that particular place. So yeah, you know, it's more in the NBA, they always talk about time, right? That's the coach always says, I remember Sam Mitchell, which is all I got is, all I got is playing time. That's the, that's the only way. And then it's a little bit different, you know, because you got four lines going, but it's the same kind of thing. So I, you know, thought it was Sheldon and Keith, like, I don't, I don't like coaches that always take on the fourth line, guys, it's, you got to make everyone accountable, which is what he did. And notice he dropped Matthew Nice for a couple shifts off, off that line as well and went to the fourth line. So I just think he's kind of just saying, look, you know, we got a, this, as far as the dress rehearsal goes for the playoffs, I got to make every game or every play, whatever you call it, like it's real, like it's a game seven and I'm going to coach that way. Gordo, we talked last week about John Tavares's role with this team and he's fully embraced it. I mean, he doesn't play on the top power play unit anymore. He's the third line center and the odd time they will, you know, kind of shuffle him in with Matthews and Marner to get him an offensive zone face off, which is fine. I think he's done a really good job in that role. I thought he played a lot better on Saturday night than he did on Thursday against Arizona, although he could say that for a lot of guys. Now we think that the Leafs, and we'll see what happens with Iliya LeBuchkin's injury. It's a concussion. We'll see how long he's out for. We think that they have brought in the guy who's going to play with Morgan Riley in LeBuchkin. Now, have they maybe turned their attention to finding a guy that can play with John Tavares on that third line? Cause I think Cali Yarnkroek is going to be there. Bobby McMahon's play has tailed off a little bit. I don't know that that is top on the priority list, but if they can maybe find a guy to fill in that wing spot to go with Tavares and Yarnkroek, do you think that is near or at the top of the list of things that they would like to do, maybe outside of acquiring another right handed defenseman? Well, yeah, I mean, that's, that's the top one about getting some more depth at the, I don't, like I just don't see a wow player coming in and I don't, I mean, all the cherries, Sam Lafferty, Colin Blackwell, I mean, you know, these guys kind of, okay, I know there were secondary players and deals, but you know, they all kind of came and left with a whimper rather than a bang. So if there's, if there's, and again, this is where it comes down to your pro scouts. I mean, is there, is there a specific player that you feel like, you know, a diamond in the rough that can do that? Because, but otherwise, you know, I'm looking at it that your, your under, your trade deadline deals as forwards are two expiring contracts, Max Domi and Tyler Batuzzi, I know they were, I know they required in the summer, but they're, they're comparable to what a trade deadline person would be now someone an expiring contract and of course they've played better. I mean, Domi, Domi playing center, that'll be an interesting one if he's able to carry on in that regard. So yeah, Bobby McMahon, all the, you know, they still have Nick Robertson around whatever may be. I just think, I just think from within is the way they're going to go. I know it's not sexy. I know, I know people like to have a bit of a splash and all that, but I, unless there's some particular minor deal, they like that would be the only way I'd see it up front. Yeah. Last one for me before I let you go, I'm, I'm with you there. I don't think the big deal is coming. You mentioned Robertson and he's just been, I mean, he's been 1500 players with the, with the Leafs. It feels like, right? He's been a prospect forever. And he had his brief moment and he scored a goal in the bubble in the, in the playoffs. And I thought he's made some strides as a player that you can use, not strictly in, in a scoring role this year. Do you think another team and, you know, we understand how hard trades are to make, but in a world where you, this is a team that doesn't have a lot of assets. Do you think a team that is in a, you know, I'll just pick on the blue jackets, for example, a team that's in a rebuild, retools, still trying to add skill and get younger. Do you think, do you think Robertson would carry, I don't want to overstate what an asset he'd be or anything like that. But do you think he would carry some value to, to a kind of more rebuilding team saying, you know what, if I can just give this guy 18 minutes a night, throw him on the second power play and not worry about it, I think there's probably a player in there. How, how much value do you think Robertson would kind of hold with other teams? Yeah. He's kind of like the Nate Pearson equivalent, right? Like the J's Nate Pearson with the Toronto Maple Leafs. No, no, but the, so last year, one trade Kyle Dubas did make was raspous sanding for a first round pick. So as much as he traded away a lack of them, he did get one back. Now I can't see Robertson going for a first round pick. So I, again, Yeah. And, and a defenseman that basically replaced him. God, I was so wrong about that trade. I hated that trade at the minute. And the fact that they got Gustaf said, and a first for that, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. But God, what a piece of business that was. Yeah. Yeah. And again, they're, and again, they're looking first, they're bought, they were looking for bodies again, depthwise this, this year on, on these. So, you know, but I, I can't see that being the kind of deal I, I, I don't know, I don't know if they're at the point that they really believe that he won't be able to play for them. They, you know, they still control for now about being able to send them down. And who knows? Like if you have a, if they finally have that longer run in the playoffs, then you need a lot of players. Like, you know, I, I think of St. Louis that year, they won the Stanley Cup and, uh, so you got 12 forwards. But I think they're about 16 they used, right? So some were interchangeable. They played the odd game or two or whatever some of would get hurt. And then all of a sudden, you know, whether it's Nick Robertson equivalent back then they were able to contribute. So, you know, that still could be, uh, you know, the, the sort of delight at the end of the tunnel. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see. And it's, it's funny. I mean, we've just been through this road a million times with, with the Leafs. It is, uh, it, I just know how it'll end. And it's with Nick Robertson having a moment for, for somebody if he, if he's traded. But, uh, that's the, uh, that's the deal you make when you're, when you're looking to make trades in the NHL, uh, Gordo, my mornings are always good, but they're better when I get to talk to you. So thanks for jumping on, pal. Well, appreciate that. And Matt, I'm looking forward to Friday. Yeah. Be sure to check your chair before you sit down on the call and, uh, get your coffee order in. Marquesie Marquesie is getting. Apparently. Yeah. All right. Uh, there he goes. Gord, Stella always, always love talking to El Gordo. We also provide a little still electricity and you can hear them all the time on, uh, Real Kip Brimborn as well, uh, very frequent guests there, frequent guests with us every Monday. I had an idea. Oh, I'm scared. So don't me to get the dump button ready to say it, man. Um, no. So I was thinking, you know, we were talking about guys to play with John Tavares. There's one guy that popped into my brain that is only a couple of years removed from a 31 goal season. Mm. He had an injury last year that, you know, we saw, and he played for a team that played against the Toronto Maple Leafs last year. Now he plays on the team. It's not so good. Anthony Dukler, talk about getting some speed on that third line to maybe give John Tavares an ad boost. It's not going to cost you that much. Yeah. I do wonder about, you know, having an eye on a guy like that, because the one thing that stands out for me is the speed. And I think that's what John Tavares needs on his wing and Dukler is a natural winger. Bobby McMahon's played a bunch of center and they kind of used him all over the place. And it's not a slight against Bobby McMahon. No, no, no. But I think bringing in a guy like Anthony Dukler, I think would actually be a really good acquisition again. And the cost to bring him in is probably not that much. Yeah. And it's because he's a winger that the cost is not much, right? I still think that 14 goals for a bad shark. Yeah. No, this is not. And again, I do not say this is a knock on Max Domi. I really like the version of the player you've got. And I think that this is the, this is the really, really big question that Brad Tri living has is that I don't think you can bring in another, you know, I don't mean depth center to be someone to play fourth line minutes when David campus hurt. But if you bring in another kind of three C like this team has done so often in the past, does that not remove the, the weight on Max Domi? And I think he's someone who needs it. Some players are better when there's less expectations or there's not as much ask them. The more you've asked of Domi this year, the, the beginning of the season didn't go well, it didn't go well for him for Bertuzzi, we know it didn't go well for John Klingberg or Ryan raised that matter didn't go well for anybody. I think with Domi, you need to give him responsibility and you need to kind of show that trust in him. And as we've talked about with John Tavar is fitting in so well on the third line right now. You can't say to Domi, okay, we're going to take you off the second line and you're still a key contributor. So I think that's the most interesting question for living kind of has to answer because everyone keeps going to the blue line. But until they figured out this Domi, it's center thing that was far and away. My biggest question with, with the team was what was going to happen down the middle. Yeah. All of a sudden they got three viable options and hey, we got a less than a week to figure it out. I, I would guess quiet week, maybe one more fringy, fringy before, before Friday you're saying? Just in general for the Leafs. I think. Oh, for the Leafs. No, no, sorry. Yeah, across the league, who knows what happens. But Gord mentioned all of those names, your Sam Lafferty, your column black wells. I feel like that's the kind of body you're going to come in. Maybe it's a defenseman and not a forward that's that type of body. That's what I think you're looking at. Like, I don't think this is going to be like first round pick. It's not going to be the rhino Riley type deal. No, a charity. It's not even going to be in Adam Larson type deal. No. Because they already went and made their Labushkin trade. If they're going to trade for, if they were going to make a bigger splash, I think they would have done that first and then circled back the Labushkin. Yeah. Larson would have. Larson was the ideal candidate. Yeah. But that price was also too high because of not only the extra year, but guys making four million dollars a year. Yeah. Having said that, and this cost them through the teeth, although it's proving paying dividends for them now, you could do the Jake McCabe. With Jake McCabe at four million bucks, you feel one way about? I still feel good about it. I want to be clear. I'm as bullish on the players any, but Jake McCabe at two million dollars is a steel of a steel. It is, you know, it's arguably the best value contract on the team. I mean, you can look at the one year deals and stuff, but for guys who are on any semblance of term, Jake McCabe at two million dollars, it's far and away. The best value on the team outside of, I guess, like Joe Law making his 800K or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. I'm on board with that. Just the other thing is too, is Seattle's in a weird spot because I think Seattle, you know, they think, okay, this is an off year, this upcoming off season, we can go out and make a big splash. Mm hmm. Well, if you think you're going to go out and make a big splash and you're going to be really competitive next year, guess what you need? Adam Larson. Yep. And you need them to play with Vince Dunn, who's been great playing alongside Adam Larson. So it'll be a great Vince Dunn to be a great leaf, but that's just because he kills them all the time. Yeah, that's true. I was, I was fully on board with the Larson thing knowing that it was probably going to be a long shot. I am curious to see what they do because just, I don't, I agree with you. I don't think it's going to be anything big, but just when you think that things are getting a little quiet in these parts, something big happens, my only thing is, is I just don't see the path to that. I don't see the contract that you can move out to make it work. I don't see the assets that you have to make it work. There's nothing that just, I think if you're going to do anything big, it's going to be in the offices. Yeah, it's, it's very counterintuitive because obviously you're happy to have Samson off performing the way he is, but that was your roadmap to the bigger salary ad was Martin Jones becoming the backup, Joe wall returning. And then all of a sudden, Hey, three and a half million out the door, you're, you're half going to pay a tax for somebody to take it, but it's all part and parcel of the deal. Yeah. A lot of questions there. A lot of questions at J's camp. Oh boy. Like what's, what's going on with that, when I was shoulder, I thought he, I thought he was back. I thought things were going well. What's, what's going on there? Uh, but, but just happening in general down in Dunedin, we'll have plenty on that wake and rate coming up next and you know, we're done talking hockey. Frank cerebelli, y'all those questions we just asked each other, we're going to ask him and he'll actually be able to provide answers. That's coming up after eight o'clock halfway through fan morning show with gunning a Marquesi on sports net five, nine of the fan big guests and bigger opinions on everything happening in leafsland real kipper and born. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on apples, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It's going to feel like springtime. Well, that was very, very like, very like CHFI it's going to feel like spring today. So let's talk about a little spring training. It is going to be gorgeous though, having said that 14 degrees you tempted me with the thoughts of golf. I do know one of the driving range for sure. Well, I have a bed and bed and tip me to this. There's this bed and I look very close to one another. Not in the same house. Just want to be clear. Just near one another. We work together. We live together. It's great. And he tipped me to this indoor driving range completely automated, don't have to talk to a soul. So I don't need the warm weather just to get the sticks out. But spring training, blue jays, a lot of questions. What is the number one thing that's been, you know, I've been off for a week and I've been keeping tabs as best I can, but let me do a little catch up here. Sure. What's been the biggest talking point or kind of the most intriguing thing from the last week? I imagine you and Danielle might have discussed the blue jays once or twice. Oh man, it's flatty. It's what are we going to get from Vladi? It's what does this offense look like? Which I think I know they're related, but they're not related. They are. They are. They are the same. What is the ceiling of the offense if leddy can, you know, get back to whatever we believe his best form is, Danielle, he did a great job of outlining the struggles for Vladi against the fastball. And that's something that, and that's something that I don't think I don't think has been talked about enough in regards to the potential success for this team. You know, we talk about a lot about what he did in minor league ballparks in 2021. He also hit 363 against the fastball. That's pretty good. I mean, there's two seventy five or two seventy two against the fastball last year. And I want to be clear. Not saying Vladi is on steroids, but steroid rules apply where you still have to hit it. Like it's still impressive to hit the ball, the actual batting average, 100%. So I think that was kind of the big thing. But now as we get into this week, I think we're having a different conversation of what's this. So we think the rotation is going to be good, but the rotation is not going to be as healthy as it was last year. And then you start talking about, well, what is the depth? Well, the depth is Yariel Rodriguez, who we have not seen yet and the guy that they want to stretch out. We think at least they paid him money, though, he might be good because they did pay him money. Yes. But is he, but when's he going to pitch? Like he has some, he has some back spasms that he's been dealing with. I don't know when we're going to see him in a spring training game. I thought I was reading, I think it was Shire Ben yesterday, I think it was like he's looking to get up to four or five innings soon, ideally. Yeah. So that, but that's part of your depth and it's already banged up. Ricky Tiedemann was supposed to start the opening day of, of great, of great for lead action. And he had a hamstring issue. So then he didn't go. Then we're having the conversation now about Alec Manoa and his shoulder and his first outing did not look great, but it was something that, you know, he talked about being able to get the fastball up velocity-wise and he was happy about that. And then he said, the rest I can control. Okay. Fine. The slider looked a little flat, but again, it's early. Can I quickly jump in on the manoa thing again? I was keeping tabs to a certain extent on all this. I did, I did see the vague story of the struggles and hitting guys. And I was like, yeah. Okay. Cool. I'll deal with this in a week. Everything else. I was like a better keep close tabs on that. I was like, he hits guys anyway. I don't need, I don't need to sit here and think about this all week long. I will reassess that. But yeah, I did see that creep across my timeline there. And I went, not the start you want. You throw in the injury, man. It is scary days for him. Yeah. And so that speaks to, you know, if the rotation isn't going to be as healthy as they were last year, which they won't, because they had what four guys make 30 plus starts, that never happens. No, it's not. Bassett, 200 innings. Yeah. And he even Gosman, like he had his little blip post-all star break, but he's incredibly healthy too. Exactly. So if they're not going to be as healthy as last year and you're already looking at guys that are missing time out of spring training, that's probably going to be the storyline this year. As much as the pitching was a success last year, I think we're going to be talking a lot about the fact that there's not a lot of organizational depth here. And I think that's going to rear its ugly head. Whereas last year is like, you know, we're going to start to start going, okay, one is one of these guys going to break down. And they never did. They never did. Again, I think Gosman, there were some, there were some wear and tear coming out of the all star break, missed a couple of starts wasn't the guy you wanted, but he eventually found his footing and was the guy you, you needed him to be. That has been my biggest concern heading into this season was the idea that the, what you got from your pitching staff was so good last year and you needed every drop of it to get yourself in the postseason. Now that doesn't mean the bats can't wake up and have a more successful year. But I look at this and say, this season, as much as it hinges on flatty, sure, like I don't disagree, it really hinges on how close this year's rotation can be to last year's. Now, I like Bowden Francis. I think if Bowden Francis, your fifth starter, you honestly could do a lot worse than that. Rodriguez, we'll see. Mitch White. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. There's certain uniforms that just about every guy looks good in, okay? Yeah. The dodgers are one of them. It's a sweet uni. It's blue and white. What's not to like about it? Rarely, I don't like them in it. But rarely do guys look bad in pinstripes, okay? So the idea of, oh, it's born where this uniform. Yeah. Just if you're not, if you're not a hideous troll who lives under a gutter, then... Have you seen a few of those? Boy, how there? No, we will not be naming names because again, I don't need Alec Minnow what to come from me. I'm not saying he's one of them. We just know how much he comes to the defense of people who are bullying his fellow athletes there. Minoa is still the guy I think there's the most chatter about. And it's him and Vlad, and it's for completely different reasons, right? With Vlad, it is the promise of what could be with Minoa. I think it's kind of the same. In a sense, it's kind of the same. You're right. I think the difference is obviously Vlad is showing a much higher floor. We've been frustrated by what the floor can be at times, but it's still much higher. But I think those are really the, I won't say the only two guys because look, David Schneider came out of nowhere and changed the season for two weeks. So it's not say it can't happen, but if you get something close to the best version of both of those guys, the gap between the season you could have and the one that could be there for you, if you get something close to those guys, it's night and day because Minoa is really the only guy on this team. I feel like who can in a massive way change the ceiling, right? Vlad, if he takes off, yes, it will change things for this team, but you still need more bats than just him. Minoa, though, he is the guy who can, in theory, if he can find his form, cover off some of the negative regression that you inevitably will get from the starting pitch in this year. Yeah. And that was kind of where I went with my assessment of the team last week when we were talking. It's just, I don't expect that the pitching staff is going to be as good as last year. It was as good as you could have possibly dreamed of and more. And the defense is worse. We should probably mention that as well. Yeah. Say what you will about Matt Chapman. And we said a lot, other than the month of April is amazing. But other than that, we said a lot about Matt Chapman agreed. And so much of this team, what they did last year was we want to be better defensively. And they were, Dalton Varshot. We don't, we don't have to relitigate everything with Dalton Varshot. But he was an improvement defensively on what they had had out there in Tiazka Hernandez or Laura Scaryl Jr. But now you're looking at a team that is going to need more from its defense, because again, I just don't, it's not say the pitching can't replicate what it did, but it was everything I'm like, so swimmingly, that it's now going to be more difficult because you are losing a premium defender to premium position. Now that's not to say, you know, counter full F or Turner can't be okay there, but there's a massive difference between okay and Matt Chapman. And I want to be clear, it's supposed to me say and bring Matt Chapman back. No, no, no, no, no, no, especially not at the number that was never going to happen. Oh, quickly on that. And three years was not going to happen. No, not here. Me and Danielle. I don't know if he told you this, but we did call that in the middle of the season last year when the Giants came to town and Matt Chapman was glad handing with everyone on the Giants organization. So we knew that. I actually wish I could have bet on that. They didn't have, believe it or not, most books didn't have like Matt Chapman's exact team in the month of June. I'm stunned. I am too. So the other, the other thing that's always fun about camp is the fun stories we have. And I think the, that's the, I won't say frustrating because you love being a team that can win, but you're not at that point in the Blue Jays kind of iteration right now where there's the surprise of camp, the guy who completely comes out of nowhere. I mean, Davis Schneider was that guy in the middle of the season last year. I think that's the one thing that's kind of been missing from camp this year. And you've had your, you've had your little stories here of guys who popped up, but you haven't had that. Oh, this guy all of a sudden is pushing for, for kind of a roster slot. And so much of that is because the roster is just, just set. And that's what happens when you're a team in this kind of winning window. Yeah, I would agree with that. There are some stories where you're kind of like, I'm very intrigued and not because of the way that they performed in spring training, but what they could provide to the major league roster, the guy that I keep coming back to. And I had said, you know, when camp started that Ricky Tiedemann is going to make starts for this baseball team at some point this year. And a lot of people are like, well, well, it's more just based on the fact that where he sits in the depth chart, he's going to have to make starts because they won't be as healthy as they were last year. But the guy that I'm very intrigued about is Arellvis Martinez. And he's played a little bit of third base. And I know that I know that their plan is second base. And that is very intentional by this organization. They understand that. But Arellvis Martinez brings some power to the lineup that other guys in that same position don't necessarily do. Now, will that translate to the major league level? I don't know. It could, it may not, but what it could, what could happen is we could see this team struggle. And to maybe not get the offense that they would like from second base or from third, I wonder how quickly they would look at Arellvis Martinez and say, okay, you're going to get a shot here. And maybe they don't because a guy like Davis Schneider has been hitting very well, although the high fastball very much alludes him. But if he makes adjustments where he can be a good major leaguer, I don't need him to be a star, but a good major leaguer playing second and left field, then fine. But if he can't, I don't expect a ton from Kevin Vigio. I don't expect a ton from Kiner Folefa offensively. >> No, shouldn't. >> So maybe So maybe Arellvis Martinez is a guy that comes up, he's not breaking camp with the team. But he could be a guy that comes up in June, July, and maybe makes an impact. >> Yeah. And even if not, you need those guys to show something so that you can go get somebody who can't make an impact for them. Another place for this is actual positive regression as opposed to negative is the catching position in terms of offense last year. Kirk just wasn't the guy he'd been at time. >> And he had almost an old camp too. >> Yeah. >> Huge, huge. >> And you know, he runs into one yesterday again, we're not doing anything with with spring training numbers. >> But that's two. >> You like to see it, confidence is so important for any offensive player. And they just need that position to be one of offensive might for them, whether it be Kirk, whether Jin Jansen actually is able to stay healthy for more than eight minutes this year. >> And not get hit by so many pitches. >> It has to be, it has to be a position of strength for them offensively, especially. And it shouldn't work this way. And I know the front office doesn't think of it this way. But because of what you did, because of what you all did, those guys need to be impact players for this team. And Danny Jansen shouldn't feel that way. And Alejandro Kirk shouldn't feel that way. But I guarantee you, if they're wired, anything like me, everybody watching and listening to these games is going, hmm, you're no Gabriel Moreno. And look, I really like Danny Jansen. Clutch is the thing. I don't know where you're standing on this. I agree. But Danny Jansen, if it isn't a thing for anybody in the world, it is for Danny Jansen. Okay, the guy just runs into one at moments when you need it most. And honestly, for a team that did try to have so much, we are serious now. This is a team where we're going to lock in and be more adults in the room, not having Jansen for part of the season. I don't want to overstate it to say Kirk is the complete antithesis of that. But Jansen's kind of one of those guys who's wired a little psycho, he's a little locked in, and not having him in the fold. I think mattered a ton. So yeah, man, tons of questions, very few answers. But that's kind of the name of the game when it comes to spring training. Yeah. And honestly, we're at the point now where it's like, okay, you know, you want the season to start because spring training, they're two and seven. And not that you want to, you know, read too much into the records, but it hasn't been a great start to spring training for them. You want to see it when, okay, this is the lineup. This is the rotation. Let's see when the game starts. And we're, we're not that far away from it all starting. So I'd be very curious to see. I, I'm, I wouldn't say I'm bullish on this team, but I still think this team is in and around a wild card spot. I don't think that they've regressed so poorly that it's going to be, you know, such a miss for them. I think the pitching will be fine. And I think the offense, honestly, how much worse can the offense be than it was last year? That'd be very hard to do. Careful what you wish for. Careful what you wish for quickly. In terms of the division, raise of the raise, pixie dust magic. I will not be writing them off. They will be holy in the mix and until they are not the Orioles got a little, got a little ear from hell in them, I think. They're a scary team. And if everything goes right, great, we've seen this movie a million times where team takes a step forward and all the prospects are there and everything's going well in this new ownership and everything should work well. Yeah, sometimes it just doesn't go that way. Yankees will be better. Socks probably struggle. And there's your a lease. It's going to be a, it's going to be an interesting year. It is now time for the wake and rake presented by sports interaction. Your homegrown sports book 19 plus bet responsibly. This will shock you where we're going to go for the wake and rake room back to the ice Boston Toronto tonight. This will also shock you leaves are favored on the money line minus 130. The total is six. And on the puck line, if you do want a little value for the leaves, it's minus one and a half at plus 170 there. Do you have a lean on this one tonight? Boston and Toronto, Maddie. So the over has hit in six of the last nine games for Toronto and Boston and four of the last five when Toronto is hosting the Bruins. And I like the fact that you're getting six without a hook. So God forbid you get a push. It's fine. I kind of lean the over and I think I'm leaning Leafs on the money line. I think it was a big win on Saturday. I mean, I am curious to see who starts tonight because Joseph all is getting one of these Bruins games this week. So I'd be curious to see who starts. It doesn't matter for me. I have enough confidence in Samson off. I'm going to go Leafs money line and the over. If you like the Leafs, I think you take them to cover so you can get a little, so you can get a little juice on the puck line there. The interesting thing for this one for me is that the Leafs are always favored. So is Boston. This is a rarity. This is a rarity for them. The Bruins have been an underdog in just six games this season. They've won three of them. So do with that. What you will, that was the Wakenraig presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly. Leafs back in action tonight. The question is though, well, Brad for living, be back in action for the deadline. I don't have the answer to that. Frank Seravelli just might. And he is lurking on the other side here. Fan Morning Show with Gunning and Marquesi got one hour left coming up after Frank. It is a Michael Grange to close up the show. You know, the rap played last night. We're going to talk about it. We'll get to it. Fan Morning Show with Gunning and Marquesi here on SportsNet
