[MUSIC] >> Man, morning Joe Sports at 5.9 of the fan base, running out of it. >> I didn't mention this one, but he didn't do it. >> He didn't do it, he's in there. >> You almost hit the post, do you try to do that? >> No. >> You were so close, I think you were like, you have to beat off. >> So you went to radio school, I didn't do that. >> Like, is that a thing, I don't know. >> I'm not like, hey, hitting the post class. >> No, hitting the post for the uninitiated is, talking right up until. >> I guess you talk right up until. >> Well, either or, right? >> For us, it's the start of the lyrics in a song. >> For us, I like to think of it as like avoiding talking. And then I like to start talking on the post, in actual music radio. It's the opposite. >> No. >> We didn't have hitting the post class. My boy, Neil Mather at Humber College, did not walk me through that. >> Okay, yeah, I don't know anything about this. I'm a self-made man, listen, I figured it out on my own. I didn't need anybody to tell me how to do radio, or maybe there's some in our listening audience that would disagree, would say, hey, maybe you should have taken some pointers from somebody throughout the course of your 20-year career. >> My other boy at Humber College, Paul Cross, he could give you a pointer or two, just saying. >> Okay, so the Leafs are well in a playoff position, as 50% of this show always thought they would be. >> I've never been wrong, but anything, so I don't know why I would have said it. When I took my victory laps already on the TJ Brody, helped this grad, and the Tom Wilson suspension, which is forthcoming. But yeah, one day we'll both be right about the same thing. That'll be fun. >> Will it? >> No, you're right. It'll be the worst radio ever. Be like, oh, you're so right. No, actually, sir, it's you. >> Yeah, as you were of the belief, while things were teetering, and they were kind of teetering. Last time the Leafs played the Oilers, where they went through that Western Canadian road trip, and they were blowing leaves, and yeah, they were leaky ship for sure. Since then, they've well established themselves in the Eastern Conference packing order. Bottom of the East is very much up for grabs. It's amazing how quickly these narratives change, where it was like the Red Wings had a, what, a six, seven game regulation losing streak. And the Islanders had like a five game winning streak. Now at the Islanders, losers have six consecutive, the Red Wings have won back to back game. So they're back in the final playoff spot, although the Capitals do control their own destiny with a couple of games in hand on the Detroit Red Wings. I don't think this is a 2012 comparable, but man, you talk about those teams that just get in and anything can happen. It's that Kings team, and then it's the, the, the Blues team that was outside of, there were dead last in the NHL, what at the all star break that won it all in game seven of the Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins. Is there anybody outside of the teams that we've been talking about all season long as being the real cup contenders that you could see going on a run because there's one for me. Yeah. I think, okay. I guess I should have just, okay, one, two, three, Nashville. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. We really butchered that, didn't we? We said it the exact same time and you said the city and I said, and they're not in, in dead last and, and as far as the, we think we're so cute. The team in the first wild card spot with the red hot goalie, it's like, Oh, we're so smart that we figured that out. My th winner. Yeah. Geniuses. Look at us. And loot if we'd be here. Look at us. Play off performance. Yeah. But yeah, that's the one team, right? Sure. Yeah. I mean, well, I mean Vegas, but we, I think a lot of people include them in that class. Exactly. So yeah, no, there is one team. Did no offense to the fliers who did a tremendous job of getting a point out of that game against the Hurricanes. Yes. I thought you were going to commend them for scratching their captain again. Yeah. Again. No, he's, he's done so until they lose a game in regulation. Anyways, all right. Time now for our insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley, North Lexus.com today's insider, the great Mike Fuda, former NHL exact two time Stanley Cup champion. How's it going, Mike? Morning, man. How you doing? I'm doing all right, buddy. So yeah, we were just talking about your, your 2012 Kings team that was an eight seed that went all the way to the cup final and wanted. Yeah. Is there any team for you that's maybe just going to sneak into the playoff field that that could go on a similar type run? No. Honestly, until somebody like right now, we won, I think it was something like 10 to 12 or 11 to 12 to get to that spot. And, and it's not that we were, I mean, there's some great teams, but that I think have left a lot on the table this year, but there's nobody playing that type of hockey. It's more like a stationary bike race to see who's getting in that last spot. And if somebody goes on a tear, there's still time to do it. But as of now, it seems like, you know, like Buffalo gets on this wicked run, like they usually do. And just as they start to see that. It's like Harry McElroy in the final round of the Masters, right? He plays his way out of it. And then he has that, that Sunday, like 63, you're like, Oh, Rory, make it run. But it's all too little, too late. Yeah. It's like, like last night, you know, they get up to nothing. And you're like, I know, I was like, man, I better stay up and watch this. They might be for real. And all of a sudden, it's like, it's like, you're real Buffalo, like it's, and it's, if there are certain teams that do that, and that's what frustrates, that's why I would like to see as much as I don't like the way towards the end of the last week. I would like to see the Philly story. I'd like to see them. I hate to see them lose that spot because they've actually maintained a pretty consistent season. I don't think they're going to do any damage to anybody. They might win a game in the playoffs, depending on who they match up with. But I'd like to see them hold forward as opposed to have somebody have somebody like, I think there's a couple teams that really stand out in the East that are going to make it that should be pretty much cannon fodder in the first round, whereas in the West, I mean, it's hold on your hatches here. Like, I mean, there's going to be some some unbelievable teams out early. So it'll be interesting. Yeah. I want to pick up on the West in a second there, but you mentioned the sabers. Like, what do you think is going through Kevin Adams mind watching this? Cause you know, he's been there for the last couple of years. He has seen this late season push. I think the problem with that is is if you're a GM and you believe in your guys, I'd imagine you can talk yourself into buying this. You go, ah, they finally get their feet under them. They, you know, young guys taking more strides. I'm not saying I'm selling that if I'm in Buffalo, but how hard is it for a GM to not kind of buy a late season push, especially when it's a younger core as opposed to, you know, an older group of guys that you say, all right, maybe they're hitting a hot stretch here. But if you're a GM, if you're Kevin Adams in Buffalo, I imagine you look at that. And if you want, you can squint and say perfect or headed in the right direction here. Well, Buffalo was a great, first of all, great, but Buffalo was a great hockey town that deserves to have success. And I think that, I think Kevin's in one of those states that I think he's probably going to look very long and hard at his coaching staff or his coach moving forward. I know with our situation, Los Angeles, Terry Murray had done a great job. You know, you know, teaching some systems and teaching some defensive accountability. And then when we felt it was time to push across the line, Daryl brought in a Daryl Sutter type coach, I mean, obviously that's not what I'm recommending for Buffalo. But if I think they'd drive me well, that would be amazing. Oh my God, Daryl, that's not a team that's ready for a Daryl Sutter. I'm telling you that right now or a city. But it's, if, I mean, they've really drafted that you start to look at that trade on the back and bring it in boom, you know, you've got power, you've got dully, they've got some excellent pieces. I still think up front where it's going to become a challenge. And it's just reality of the game, talk to Winnipeg executives about it as well. And Ottawa might be similar, it's a hard market to attract the top free agents. They need some veteran presence to pull them over the top. In LA, I think they moved on from my post. So, and so there's a captain, they can see their, they just need to bring in some older players that are going to help winning become more of a formality than something that you're chasing. And it'll be interesting because they do, when you really look at that back end, those are three incredible pieces on the back end, they've got the Johnson kid as well. I think they're a little too deep in lefties. I think they've got a great, I can't imagine the Johnson kid who was a high pick wanting to play behind looking at himself in the three holes. They probably got a trade shift to move for a nice piece up front. But it's, it's, it's, it's the same thing. There's just certain teams that it's not just this year that seem to come out of the gate, like a, they, like they've already been shot by their owner and put off to the pasture. And then all of a sudden they catch fire when there's just not enough time left. And, and I mean, last year it was one point, like this is not a, this is, we've seen this movie before. So now I just look at their team. All I'm saying is out of the teams that have struggled, they seem to be the team that has the best chance of putting together a run to catch Philly, which I don't think is like you're not catching a burning steaming team that's on fire. They're tripping around too. You know what I mean? So it's, I think I'm more excited if I'm, I think it makes that range, that, that's, that's the challenge to finish first in your division that more important because you're probably going to get a bit of a lesser foe in the first round and you can't take anybody for granted. But the reality is both division winners, whoever gets the, the fliers or whoever that eighth seed is should have a better, but easier luck. Sabre's only have 11 games left, which is, yeah, that's, that's the issue for them is they are just running out of runway here. Well, and hold on. Just one more, one more thing on Buffalo, Mike, the position, the least find themselves in. Obviously they're way farther ahead on the development curve. They've had the actual success of making the playoffs. But the problem they had is the great misfortune of all the great young players they drafted were all forwards. Buffalo kind of has the exact opposite thing going on. You know, I don't mean to slight talk or cousins or Thompson for that matter, but that team is built on its back end. How much easier is it to trade a young defenseman for a forward than vice versa? If that's what they feel like they need to do this offseason, for example, over out though, because, which said to the, to the great forage, you matter trade, trade accidents. So, I mean, sorry, you're drafting like with, with Los Angeles, and I think they've still do the same thing. Dean Lombardi always, it was built from the back end and our defense was so homegrown built. I mean, we're lucky too, because when we are the year that we sucked, we got downy, right? Like you always want to come up with a, you want to come up with a prize when you're that, when you're that, they have the year down here and we did. We came out with a Hall of Famer. Now, if you look now at the right side defenseman at the Los Angeles Kings have had in house between Roy, they've been able to move on for, and I'm sure they regret it, Brock favor, drafted Los Angeles Kings, Sean Dursi, Sean Walker, college free agent signing. So, you look at the right side, in turn, now Brandt Clark's still coming. Those are golden pieces. And if you don't find you, you got to make sure you keep the right ones, but you're allowed to move on from them to fill up other areas of your roster and the Leafs, for whatever reason, have not really, other than I love Morgan Riley, who's your own drafted guy, who actually, you know, he's a bona fide star NHL player. He's not a superstar, but he's a star, and he's got, and he's character, and he's character, character, character. So, you've got those ability, but if you look around that, they haven't really, you're still waiting. Like, Sandeen was supposed to be the guy he's now developing and Washington, you know, a little bigger in every, you know, you're still kind of not quite sure what you get in every night. So, yeah, I agree with you 100% on the back end. They seem like they have some foul money in Benoit off to where Brad's continually trying to bring pieces in, but it's amazing that you haven't be able to hit on a defense and develop another couple internally that that's your home ground. Your home ground talent's going to win you stay on the cup. The pieces are, the pieces that are added around you put you over the top and make you consistent for a long period of time, but it is, it's unfortunate. I think without, I mean, the enemy, you guys, we've all talked about the least. That's probably my biggest worry going into the playoffs. I mean, everybody now is all excited. Okay. Let's find it. I love Max and I love producer. Let's sign them long-term, long-term, long-term. The only thing that matters is what happens with this team in the playoffs. Yeah. And right now, they still can't figure out, they're still trying to figure out who their pairs are. Right? Yeah. And that to me is a bit of a concern. I mean, I think I love the way both goal tenors are starting to come around, but they got to kind of consistently, and I know it's injury-based mostly, but they've got to try and come up with who they feel most comfortable with over these next 10 games. I think that's their biggest challenge. I think they'll find this way to score goals. Everybody knows that all that Mitch Marner is basically the heartbeat of that power play, but they have to find a way to balance out those pairs that they're comfortable with because they're going to play great team in the first round. No question. Yeah. A fewer than 15 games to go in the regular season, and they just healthy scratched their second-high's-paid defensemen as they're trying to win a Stanley Cup. So yeah, there's a lot to still be decided here as they head towards the postseason. So Mike, you mentioned that the difficulty the Sabres might have in attracting free agency through Winnipeg in there as well. I mean, we were having a conversation earlier about, you know, the talent drain that happens in this country with all the best players seemingly just wanting to play in sunny locales, south of the border, out of the spotlight, and I wondered, and I want to get your take on it. I mean, 93 was so, so long ago, and there's so many players in this league that weren't even alive when the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. They've never seen a Canadian franchise win a cup. What would seeing it happen in a Toronto, in an Edmonton, in a Winnipeg, in a Vancouver, due to the mentality of those players that seemingly they just, they don't want the pressure of the Canadian market because all they see, all they've seen, or the last 30 plus years, is failure in this country. Would a Canadian team winning a cup change that narrative a bit? I'm not sure. And that's a great question. I mean, but I don't think it changes the guys that are drafted to those areas. Like, I don't think, I think it solidifies the Conor McDavid and Dry's idol are going nowhere if they win, and I still think they're going nowhere, but it does that. For a Vancouver market, it just, and Winnipeg, it solidifies the two places that have never won that deserve to win and seem to be getting it right. I think it's more, there's certain, and I don't, this is not a slap, like, I don't think the Montreal Canadiens, I think there is a little bit of still a bit of a, if you're trying to sign a free agent American player, there is a little bit of concern about the language barrier and the unknown of going to a French province. I don't think, I think there's still a fear and I, you could put me in a broom and chloroform me. I still think that we, it scares me that Ryan O'Reilly didn't come back because I, because that is the guy that you think would just live and thrive in Toronto. And I still believe that it, that it was because of the, you know, there's a lot that goes into the pressures of being able to go out and not be anonymous and be gassed and can eat dinner with your, and if you got a, they could possibly a partner that you're married to or et cetera, that this, this is not used to this bombardment of national attention. That can be an egg. I mean, the, the, the, the spoils that come with winning, my God, you're, you're set for life, whether you're a fourth-liner or a top-liner, but you've also, you've got to have that blueprint. I mean, it, you have to go back so far to tell anybody what it's like to achieve that. You basically have to have people tell a story. You see what it's like when we go on a five-game heater. Like, oh my God, everybody in the city loves it today. But it's like, but it's, and that's honestly, that's the, right now what Toronto's engaging their success on. And it's such a finite between winning and losing. Like you can't, this team could go on, if they get hot at the right time, they could do some damage. But we've been saying that for many years and I, this is not a negative comment. It's, it's, there's many other markets, but this is the Toronto Maple Leafs. So it's magnified because of how long since they've had that kind of success. And when you see, you know, it's amazing too, because my favorite hockey players in the Toronto history of K like Doug, Doug Gilmore, Wendell Clark, Darcy Tucker, and this is not Darcy Tucker and Wendell Clark never want to stay on the cup. Yeah, that's right. Okay. And they are gods. That's, that's the bar here. Okay. No, no, that's like caliber bar to set because every night they went to war and they took these teams deep. Like I'm convinced, even if you take a couple teams deep, you earn that status that those guys have earned, but they earn it because they're warriors, right? Like Gilmore got his cup in Calgary. But if you continually fringe out without kind of having one of those runs, and that's the only thing too that I talk about, and I mean, I want, I love Brad Sheldon, want to see him in a cup. I want to see Mark Giordano in a cup. There's so many pieces there and being a Toronto kid, it would be amazing just to see, just to see that kind of success. But usually teams of this ilk, and I know we did it, and I think pretty much everybody talks about the style of play, but almost every team that's won the cup has gone in one of those runs where kind of you got to see what the pages were like. And then you failed, and then you, then you found a whip, then you made that next step and you won it. Like, whether it was Tampa getting swept by Washington in the first round, there was some kick of adversity. The least form of adversity has just been running into a wall in the first round or last year it was the studies. So they haven't had that long run, which makes it even more incredible for you to do, but it doesn't mean you're not capable of having one of those runs. It just means you got to stay healthy, you've got to have some luck, which in fairness, every team that's won it, you go back and look at one point, one series, one game that something happened, whether it was a poster, whether it was a block shot or somebody missed an empty net that would have changed the whole dynamics of your run to the Stanley Cup final. But it happens. There is luck involved, but the biggest thing for me is health and consistency and that's something the Leafs are battling right now, but I mean, you look at the Florida Panthers right now who I mean, I don't, I don't, it's pick your poison, right? I actually think the Leafs would fare much better against this Bruins group for some reason this year in spite of the record, but the Panthers are playing without Barov and Ekblad, right? And Koolikov suspended. So everybody's got their adversity, like, you got to fight through it. Yeah, they certainly have. The Leafs have kind of struggled. I mean, struggled is relative, obviously, but they've been worse on home ice than they have been on the road. If you look at some of the playoff numbers of power play percentage, it's kind of cratered at home versus on the road in years past, you know, the prevailing sentiment, at least with people I talk to is you kind of got one of two theories. It's they just get tight. It's the pressures of Toronto, all that, or it's maybe some overthinking by Sheldon Keith and chasing line matchups too much. Do you have a theory for why this team has performed better on the road this season and even going back over the past couple of years in the playoffs, the road's been a happier place for them than at home. What's your theory on that? They seem to play a smart structured system on the road and they play looser. They seem, this team seems to really enjoy each other, but they haven't passed. Like, I mean, you see that last, like, with Burtuzi given the belt to Dom, I mean, these guys, these guys really, truly care about each other. And Toronto, like, you don't, I've gone to see a lot of, like, it's amazing not being with a team and have been a lot of home games. I find it absolutely incredible still how this team can actually be on a four or five game eater and then get down to nothing and they're starting to get their boot mercilessly. So there is a part of that hometown that's the best of these getting able to support you like crazy, and then there's times that it's just like, you know, give us a little bit of a, a little bit of a break like a, it's, I guess it's got to be tough. I mean, it's the best of the best when you're, when you're cheering them. And then there's just, there's not a lot of thought process that goes into the hatred. Sometimes it's just here we go again. As soon as you, you know, as soon as you see this lead start to fizzle, there's not that you're not identifying this group that's been together for one year. You're, you're, you're as a fan base looking at the entire package of failure and going oh, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Doesn't matter. We change the names. You change the jerseys. Here it comes again. And then instead of rallying the troops, it turns into a bit of a, a boo fest and that, that can wear on people, but that's why they get paid the big bucks and that's why the party, if they have success, is going to be better than anyone that's ever had in the hacking history, but there's so much work left to be done. And again, there's, I just like, usually by now teams, like I know right now the teams that are at the top of the list, like you look at Carolina right now and you look at the Rangers and Boston, they know exactly other than injuries. They know exactly what's happening and I'm not, I'm not quite sure. And I mean, I'm probably completely wrong and Kiefer's got it all lined up, but I'm not sure the Leafs are comfortable. If all the defense were healthy, I'm not sure they're still comfortable with who's playing with it. Yeah. I think, I think that's a fair assessment and we'll see if TJ Brody gets back in the lineup to more night against the Oilers. Mike, always a pleasure, man. Thanks. Thanks, gentlemen. Have a great Friday. Yeah, you too. There's Mike Fuda, former NHL executive, two times Stanley Cup winner and our insider brought to you by Don Valley North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley North Lexus.com. I get what Mike's saying about the booing a little bit, but, and also, yeah, yeah, okay, this team doesn't have to wear the sins of the past, but they kind of do, like, yeah. This isn't, this isn't your two of this, where we're talking about the oomph enough core. Yeah. This is all these guys now. It is. Yeah. That's Dolmy and Tyler Batuzzi don't have to. I guess. Yeah. And I don't think the booze are directed at them. And I guess we're talking about theoretical booze because I can't even really think of one. There's no booing that comes to mind immediately in recent vintage. Oh, there's this team. There's been winning most of the games. No, but there's been, there's been, there's been a few, like, I can't pinpoint the exact game, but there's been a few shell shock, third periods or terrible power play to end a period and they're a little boot off the ice. And that's fine. Like you're allowed to be. But yeah, it's happened. Yeah. Well, that doesn't happen in the postseason though, right? Like what I think, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's maybe in the Panther series there might have been the conclusion of the game. Yeah. No, I think it was that fateful game three where they go down or no, like in the middle of the game. No, I think it's usually the end of a period or something along those lines, not just like in the middle of play. Yeah. You actually got to have a guy to pick on and Jake Gardner's not here anymore. So my answer to all of this is generally that's what the money is for. Oh, yes, I wholeheartedly agree with that. But again, like if you're a an NHL active player and you're under the age of 30, that's all you know about. Like, that's all you see is the negative side of thing. It's all theoretical. The positives. You might write during the seven game, winning streak, boy, lots of positives, glowing praise towards this Leafs team book that is that gets put in the rear view very quickly. What will live forever is winning a cup for sure. And we just haven't seen it in this country. Well, the other thing though is like you keep going back to 93, you're right to do it. It's like we the kids today don't even remember like the sends run to a cup final or anything along those lines. But think about how old the Conor McDavid's of the world were during that. Yeah. They were older. They were older enough that they were in there. I'm already a pro hockey player phase where they're young enough not to remember it. Like there's such a fine window that you would have had to they haven't even seen that. Like does Conor McDavid remember the red mile? Almost certainly not, you know. Yeah. Yeah. So like win a cup Canadian franchise somewhere ideally the one in the city. No, actually that's where I completely disagree with you. Don't win a cup. No, no, no. Only the Leafs win a cup. Yeah. Because if you do an Edmonton it's like well Toronto is still crazy. Like I actually don't know that that last simmer. Like we said it probably ratchets the pressure up even more in the city of Toronto. Tenfold. All right. We will talk. But please sign here. And each others. Yeah. We'll talk to Craig Simpson of hockey night in Canada next is the fan morning show continues Ben and his friend gunning sports at five ninety the fan. Diving deep into leaps rafters J's and NFL the JD bunk is podcast subscribe and download the show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Fan morning show sports at five ninety the fan Ben and his brain gunning again sorry to the podcast people who can't hear the music but sorry Queen don't sign me now yeah. There is I'm an Apple music person okay and listen I'll be a Spotify person I'll be whatever person if you give it to me for free or pay me to do so yeah I'm just telling you the reality is the situation I'm not saying it's better or worse than any other but there's a playlist on Apple music called dad rock yeah I feel like that is exactly what is playing in your car at all times there is actually like a funny Instagram video going around it was like sounds only dads can hear in the wild and it was just like the opening riff of like a Steely Dan song and what I actually did was I took all the songs in that video and made a playlist and then it's just kind of slowly been populating itself since I'm not judging wrong I'm not judging and I probably have the same sensibilities I'm a father so like I can't listen to dad rock no you absolutely can't thank you it would be a crime if you didn't thank you all right uh Leafs Oilers tomorrow night hockey night in Canada is there anything better couple of teams with Stanley Cup aspirations although the Oilers are right in there amongst the favorites as far as the betting markets are concerned I have them tied for the third best odds to win the Stanley Cup with the Panthers won of course at least first run opponent possibly and the Avalanche to sandwich in there but Edmonton and Carolina both plus 750 all right let's talk to Craig Simpson of hockey night in Canada how's it going Craig pretty good how are you doing very well so yeah obviously these two teams are interesting every time they match up but specifically the two stars with these teams awesome Matthews Conor McDavid a couple of guys who are very much in the heart trophy conversation this season how much do you think they view this kind of as a 1v1 of sorts like obviously they want to win the hockey game but how much do you think they get up for the individual match up against each other yeah I'm not I'm not sure if it's so much against each other I think you know I go back even to my days as a as a young kid going to make leaf gardens and watching the Edmonton owners play the Toronto Maple Leafs to watch Wayne Gretzky right like it's coming back to Ontario for Wayne it was you know obviously not his hometown but when you get to play the Leafs it's a special game and it's Saturday night and talking night in Canada and by the way that game Gretzky had a hat trick that right and as he did so many times and that's two times yeah I stand up against the Leafs so you know for a guy like Conor and let's face it even you know Leon great players when you come into this market on a Saturday night in hockey night in Canada it's a special game and so you add to that the intrigue of the the leads leading goalscore and Matthews I think there's a natural competition built in to to the match up regardless so you know I think it's always a big marquee night it's a big game and it's another good test and I think that it should be fun to watch and I think all the great players when you come into this market on on a hockey night Saturday night it becomes a special battle and I think that's what's fun about seeing these kind of marquee matchups happen yeah tail tail is oldest time one of the faces of the league comes into Toronto on a Saturday night and lights them up of you saw it with Wainer I saw it with Sid and my have a feeling we'll see it with Conor and then guess what in a couple of years we'll probably see it with another Conor I would imagine when he makes his his return trip here you kind of hit on something at the tail end there though the idea of yeah this game means a lot between the two teams like they've had their battles going back to kind of the Canadian division or really when these two guys enter the league but this weekend is massive for the Leafs you know not to say that they go into a game against you know pick you're also Rand who's not in the playoffs and take the night off but there's only a handful of games left against teams that are playoff caliber and they got two of them this weekend like how important is it not so much for the team to play well but for Sheldon Keefe to kind of tease what he needs to what are these games yeah I think it's like everything it's a measuring stick and you look at the back-to-back nights it's not an easy game to have on Saturday night and then a tough little travel against the Carolina team I heard you talking about that man they look like they are just in centrism too so I think anytime you look at the the schedule and you go oh we're down to what 14 games you know as a player you've got to have your mindset of focus on tonight's game but we're building towards what are we going to be when we have game one whether it's against Boston or whether it's against Florida or yeah I don't know how it would be against Tampa at some point but it looks like Boston or Florida right so your mind your mindset gets focused on on becoming a playoff ready player a playoff ready team so I look at this weekend if I was a player on the Leafs and go man those are back-to-back unbelievable good tests for us to see what we are as a team and what we can do as a team and how we can prepare and come up and you get through these two games and play some of your best hockey I think that's what you're trying to build as a group and saying you know what do we have together as a as a unit are we ready to play at the highest level and okay we've we've been missing Marner we've been missing our young croak a couple players that happens at any time you got to be able to fight to that I think it's a wonderful cast to see where you're out of the team over these next two games yeah you're trying to figure out also your lines and your defensive pairings but who's in and out of the lineup and we saw TJ Brody a healthy scratch for the first time in his Leafs career in that game against Washington what did you take out of that 60 minutes of hockey without TJ Brody do you expect him back in there immediately and is there a legitimate chance that we're looking at game one would not having to TJ Brody in the lineup no I think the timing was not a bad time you know I think you'll look at a team in Washington that you say if you're ever going to give a guy a little bit of a physical break a little bit of a mental break I was saying the other day with TJ you know it's kind of been an up and down roller coaster he's gone through little stretches where you know he was he was minus four in two games he was plus two in the next two and then you know minus eight and eight it seems to be kind of a bit of a roller coaster ride and I think with the fact that Connor Timmons was finally healthy and past I think the timing was right to give him a little step back and you know he's played 20 or more minutes in 23 straight games and you know you maybe find a time where you're struggling a little bit you're fighting to puck a little bit things that are negative happening and sometimes it's a good perspective to sit up in the press box for a game and get a little bit of a different look I would be surprised those guys on this weekend if he doesn't play so if he's a healthy scratch again on Saturday we can revisit this conversation and say you know maybe the coach has different feelings but I do think it was a time to get Timmons in which I thought he played pretty well I think Ben wants been a player that it had to be and even Sheldon said that first game he left them out in Montreal that's a tough scratch for a guy that's battled and played pretty well so I do think there's a lot of questions on the back end what the pairs are going to look like so I'm I'm not totally surprised that that Brody got the time to get a little bit off and then Sheldon he's got time to look at what maybe some pairings will look like you know what do you think and you know I understand the answer is everybody's got to be a pro and you know grow up and deal with it but what do you think the team dynamic is like with seeing a guy like Benoit scratched when other you know they made a point of saying we didn't want to replace Timothy Lillegrine we wanted to let him have this opportunity to grow Simone Benoit you know a little bit older a little less you know skin in the the organization for sure but he has been as much a heart and soul guy he's played great this year like how much does Sheldon Keefe have to be mindful of how the room feels taking a guy like Benoit out of the lineup because again he should dress the best six players he thinks given the chance to win but you can't be blind to that aspect of stuff as well no and that's the honest that's what the trade deadline brings to a lot of teams right a little bit of an upheaval of a group that's kind of fought together and scrapped together and then now you bring in a couple of new bodies and it's not their fault that they're brought in so I don't think the players are from my experience anyways as a player when guys get brought in I've been traded you know you come into a new team and you take someone's spot that's never an easy position so I do think it's a natural occurrence when you get through that deadline and so somebody ends up being the one that falls off and and it does have an effect on guys who maybe have battled with that guy or are fond of that guy and that's part of the challenge of being a professional and coming through you know there are times when it's a pretty hard pill to swallow like you're the guy who ends up not being in the lineup because of a newcomer but he's a teammate and you're for the best of the team and maybe he is a better player and so you have to be supportive so I think guys like the opportunity for a guy like Ben want to get back in and play improve if he can play or not so and that's part of the tug of war of you know guys pushing to be in the lineup and and almost forcing the coach to make a difficult decision and I think there are going to be some of those down the stretch that might be difficult decisions to make because guys are playing at a level and and it's hard to keep them out of the lineup. Will it be a difficult decision for Sheldon Keith when Mitch Marner is healthy to break up the Bertuzzi Matthews and Domi Line? Yeah that's you know I was saying yesterday I thought that the way that Max played and the way that he responded to getting the opportunity to play with Austin the way the two of them look like they had some good chemistry I think it warrants at least an opportunity to give it a little bit of time to see how it can play out and the interesting thing that I'll be watching for is okay if Mitch is back and can play is it Marner that you leave off the line and keep you know that trio together or I think the natural one for me is to move Bertuzzi to another line and say could you live with a Domi Matthews and Marner Line combination and see what that looks like I think inevitably when you get into a playoff series that you know okay for potentially the next seven games this is going to be our one opponent you get a really good idea of what the matchup looks like and what the other guys lines potentially are going to be and how can you counteract that it's easier to put a line and keep a line together or break up a line when you know what that's going to be when you have you know 14 games and you're playing 12 different teams during that time I think you can experiment a little bit and you can try guys in different areas but I think if Domi and Matthews aren't together on Saturday I'd be shocked because I think this is another good chance to say but let's have another look at what that can look like and maybe it's an intriguing idea to have I know on the wings you know not the biggest of guys in Domi and Marner flanking the side of Matthews but it could be an intriguing look and I'd be more prone to moving Bertuzzi off that if Marner comes in just to have a look to see what that chemistry might look like. Yeah that's interesting because the guy who is typically and I'm just talking about a prototype I mean the guy who is fit best there has been Zach Hyman but the prototype of that player has been somebody with you know don't need to be overly big but happy to go in there and be physical win a puck battle and get the puck to those two guys and you know most people wouldn't necessarily think of Domi in that regard but he's obviously completely unafraid to go in there and then you throw his playmaking with those two guys and yeah it's uh it would be intriguing to see for for sure one guy who I'm gonna have I mean you know we're all watching closely every night it makes 11 million bucks and he's the captain of the team but if this is a big weekend for the Leafs this is a big weekend for John Tavares I mean I have been kind of of the belief that he has been as he's got longer in the tooth that it's been a kind of horses for courses thing with him there are teams stylistically that he suits really well against there are others that it's a bit more of a slog I feel like the hurricanes and oilers kind of present very different challenges and it should provide him a chance to kind of succeed or excel I guess in one of those games what do you expect from Tavares and how big of a weekend is this for him yeah I think you're right about John and I think there was no question you know maybe a little gift in his game and you always have to be conscious of making sure you're building a line around him that helps him you know you you have to have somebody that has a spark and a little bit of speed on his flank you've got to get him the opportunity to have a guy who can get in on the floor check quicker but you also have to understand that you know he's a competitive guy and you know that he doesn't want to come down this stretching in the playoffs by sending any message to the coach other than hey I'm ready to compete I've got my jump back I'm ready to continue to be you know at the top six four so I do think you know his game has gone on a couple of little dips but to his credit you know what he's played some pretty darn good hockey as well and sort of sending the message that you know don't don't game plan around me and don't forget about me and I think players like that when you're in your 15th year and you got Conor McDavid and the Oilers coming in on a Saturday you know that you know there's another great challenge and another great opportunity to show that once playoffs start you know I want to be part of the mix and I want to be an important player and some of that can be on the power play where I thought early in the year he kind of lost his way and quite frankly you know at different times he's he's looked like he's more comfortable back in the role and wanting to ensure that he's part of that five-guy unit when you get to playoff time so I do agree I think I you just love the fact that you're getting almost a single digit games left and as a player you can't be more excited than than getting the playoffs started and making sure you're a big part of it yeah and he salvaged that four-minute power play they were on in Washington against the Capitals as he scored was seconds left as boy it felt like they needed to score one on that four-minute power play they did it was extended to a double minor on Tom Wilson I think your reaction Craig going to break was the reaction many of us had upon seeing that replay it was crazy it was bizarre in Tom Wilson's reaction in the immediate aftermath was also kind of head scratching so he's got an in-person hearing with the Department of Player Safety which allows them to suspend him for six games or more I think there was a realistic possibility that he got nothing what did you what did you make of the decision-making in in the subsequent days well yeah I thought his reaction was was perfect in the regard of what the heck did I just do what happened all right do you not do you not find it was it not Jacob Truva who had the very similar thing and what did he get five thousand five grand yeah like so I didn't think it was times or Wilson I guess you know his reputation is there are some moments that he can lose his judgment and do some things that are over the edge but I if I was his camp I'd be taking the Jacob Truva video and just showing that over and over again and say it's kind of similar to that and I thought his reaction was was pure and honest but it was like what what did I just do and so I was surprised that he had an in in-person I didn't think it warranted necessarily you know a five game or more I thought it was just a weird reaction judgment play that if he could do it over again man would he ever like to have it back yeah it was very no a Gregor would take the do over as well yeah no Gregor would gladly give it to him yeah yeah exactly yeah uh Greg always a pleasure thanks so much for doing this enjoy the game tomorrow all right guys have a great uh Friday and hopefully enjoy the two games of the weekend sounds good thanks hammer bye there's uh Craig Simpson hockey night in Canada well we've all done similar type things not hit people in the face with hockey sticks I'll just speak for myself I've never done that I went yeah one time in a uh in in like gym class volleyball I uh somebody was like oh you I could block you when you spike it and I blasted my hand right through their hands and give them a bloody nose that happened so yeah but that's terrifying I guess I don't know if like that's as close as I've ever come I guess is what I could say to that yeah and yeah like boy I can tell you in my example and then I'm sure you're the same like said things like in the meat like has the words are coming out of your mouth it's like you wish you could just I inhale them yeah my favorite memory of working with you was you screaming at one of our bosses and watching that happen it was great I loved that yeah I've done a better job of that so like when I first started doing this time slot routine like I had to get used to not being on sleep like I'm not like you I enjoy my sleep and so like the guardrails were a little bit off me a lot yeah a lot I had to figure out that hey like just try not to like talk to people too much after the show you've talked about your emotions at this time of the day it's it's my favorite they're roiling a little bit okay so I do sympathize in that and maybe Tom Wilson didn't have a great night's sleep maybe previous night great point the the difference is he is Tom Wilson so I mean we do have we have a history like this is true we can we can roll the the tape back and we can go over as the video shows yeah we can do that yeah it is but I mean everybody keeps bringing up the the same Jacob true but he's not getting said and he's not getting six games like no way he's not getting six plus oh Tom Wilson yeah not it yeah yeah yeah yeah I agree yeah well one they don't want this to go to an arbiter because again just like the Tom the the Jacob true but video exists and you know one half that happened but yeah that that's the that's what's going to happen here's gonna give us something less than five games I don't say I have no idea if you tell me it's one I believe it if tell me it's five I believe it I just what is the explanation I wish we could have George Peros in a room and ask him and we just yell at him like the explicit question just explain the difference what is the difference between the Jacob true but incident and the Tom Wilson incident maybe there's no difference in the book that's a dollar fives maybe I mean has that ever happened I don't know if you get an interest in hearing there have been less than five games with an in-person hearing but I don't think justifying I don't think so now he's getting he's getting bang with the suspension here no doubt all right uh yeah at least you know others tomorrow night on hockey night in Canada we'll be back on Monday to dissect a couple of leaf games in the back the back against Caroline on Sunday as well this has been the fan morning show Ben and his friend Gunning sports at a 598 the fan good morning (dramatic music)
