(upbeat music) - I mean, I think we're doing a okay job. The puck's not going in, which is frustrating. But this chance is coming. You know, we're trying to focus on our structure and I think our entries have been good. We're trying to get pucks to the net, trying to create revives and traffic. And again, obviously it's, you know, all about results, but there's stuff going on around there that's good and it's just a matter of getting that puck across the line. - I mean, we're getting our looks, I hope we really are. And I think we've done a pretty good job of entering. It's just staying confident in it, knowing that we have the people in here to make it successful. Now we're talking here how to try to make it better, try to just relieve pressure a little better and support each other a little better. So that's what we'll do over the next few days, trying to figure out how we can just be better and help our team win a little bit. - Good morning, Joe Sports said 5.9 of the fan, Ben Anis, Brent Ghana, yeah. Power Play goal would have helped yesterday. Just no question about it. - Boy, would it have. - Over five on the power play where the Toronto Maple Leafs now clicking along at less than 10% this postseason. After finally breaking through in the first round last year on the strength of actually scoring on the 5 on 4. All right, let's talk to Justin Bourne of Real, Kipper and Bourne. Good morning, Bourne, thanks for doing this. - No problem, good morning, good morning. - So what if I told you before the series that the difference in this series would be goal tending and special teams that would have rang pretty true, I imagine. - Yeah, yeah, that would have made sense. It is a little concerning that the two games the Leafs have lost have looked like the way you would expect the Leafs to lose their two games. So certainly the holes to patch were not just regular season blips. This is still an issue. - And we're having the same conversation about the power play that we always do. I mean, Ben and I broke it down. You know, not quite as astutely as you're capable of, but we tried our best. But it's like the thing I keep coming back to is, it's the seventh best power play in the NHL over the course of a season. This is a unit that was clipping at 50% in the month of February. And, you know, they are not as good as the unit that was at 50%, but they aren't this bad either. What do you think it is about the collection of talent? Is it a, it's not a personnel issue to have a good power play. But is it one for a group that can go so dormant at times? I mean, just looking from the outside, the easiest thing to say is, yeah, just filter more stuff at net and hope you get some goals like that Bertuzzi one you got last night. But what do you make of the Jekyll and Hyde Leafs power play? And how funny is it that it's the exact same thing? We've kind of seen all season long. - Yeah, it's, you know, we talked about a Leafs talk post game last night trying to sort of dissect the issues. And there's a few of them. You know, one of them is, you know, to do all the sort of like little deception things, to make the little backdoor plays and, you know, fakes into the bumper and you see good teams like Tampa Bay do, you need the puck to be moving around so that the penalty killers are changing their shape, trying to figure out who they're covering. Like you have to start with puck movement before you can even find seams and holes. And right now it just feels like it goes to one guy and he hangs on to it and the PK is set. Like they have plenty of time to get set. So it's tough to do anything too cute. And then further to that is, you know, they seem very one dimensional right now. Like when Mitch Marner plays low, when he plays the goal line, he's pretty creative. He can make plays into Tavares and make him a weapon. But right now, like, Marner's not a threat to shoot. Riley's never been a threat to shoot. You know, Tavares doesn't make plays. So it's all kind of how do we get Austin Matthews a shot? And if you're a PK, you would be set up to defend one thing. How do we stop Austin Matthews from getting shot? So I think it's a matter of getting Marner down with the goal line and starting to utilize some of the other guys, Tavares or, you know, maybe Burtuzzi, but trying to find other things in just a shot for Austin. - Okay, it doesn't make sense that it hasn't worked, but it hasn't worked for a long time now. And I know there's no William Neelander. Maybe he's the elixir that clears it all up on Saturday. And I don't know necessarily what the personnel solution is, but, and again, like, there's no logical reason why you're $40 million, or I guess, yeah, 30 without Neelander can't effectively score on the main advantage. But it has, this is not like just emerging in the postseason. It's been worse in these three games than it was down the stretch during the regular season. But it's bad during the regular season. I know, you got to stack the top power play unit. They got to play a minute and a half. They stink and have stumped for a long time. Why not just go nuclear with it? And who cares? Like, they can't be any worse than it's been? - Yeah. Well, it doesn't score, so you're right. You can't score less than zero. - Correct. - So, no, that's a fair point. The idea of short-handed breakaways too. - Yeah, too, yeah. You actually can't go negative, that is a bad take. But yeah, you could throw Max Domi out there, a guy who seems energized and able to find some guys who are open out there, you could split it up in that way. Problem is you don't have another defensive option. I think Lillegrin has not done anything that has helped the Leafs so far in this series. And I don't think being on the power play is going to change that either. So, they're just pretty limited with like, who do you go to next? And how does that look if you haven't done it this year? So, you know, they've done Matthews on the opposite flank. You could try that. You know, there's a few ways you could tweak this unit. But at the end of the day, I'd rather live and die with the guys we've given all the money to and say, hey, it's up to you. - Yeah, I've been dying. I'm with you there. I do feel like it's dying. That's generally speaking how it's gone. You mentioned Riley there. And obviously, some of this, hey, if it wants to happen on the power play, that would go a long way. But I don't feel like we've had the full playoff Mo. I felt like you were getting it for half a second there when it looks like he scores, and he banks it in an opportunity who gets credit for it. But what have you seen in Riley that's been different from the guy we saw that was just a difference maker night in and night out in the series against Tampa last year? - You know, I liked him more last night than I did in games one and two. But generally, I would agree that he hasn't had that sort of pop. I don't know, I think last year in this, I don't know if it's a matter of Shen versus Labushkin, you know, freeing him up a little bit more. Like, he just seemed more offensively involved last year where he was up the rink and making plays. And he just felt very passive to me through a few games, which, you know, you don't get burned when you're passive and you're not on highlight reels. But the Leafs have a very standard type of D, right? Like Benoit, McCabe, Labushkin. These guys all want to run into you and that's great. But they need someone who can skate the puck and be involved in the offense. And so far, I think Morgan just needs to be a little bit more offensively aggressive jump up in the rush and get involved. - The panel was talking about how the Matthews line remains on the ice after Bertuzzi ties the game up at twos. The puck bounces off his leg and then off to the Bruins player and then into the back of the net. And they're on the ice when Brad Marchand jumps back on the ice and the shift is lasting about a minute at that point as it goes back into the Leafs zone. Did you have any problem with the process there? Sheldon Keefe leaving that line out there after they'd been on for about 35 seconds at that point? - No, I think I actually score a goal. Like you get this like a adrenaline rush. Well, you know, you have your legs or you usually feel really good and, you know, they're the best line on the team. So, you know, it ends up the puck going in their end and kind of ends it, you know, it's a funny way that the goal gets scored like Samsonov drops his stick and Marchand finds a little pocket there. But more than, you know, I don't look at that goal and go, that's a product of tired defensive players. It's more just, you know, Domi probably has to be a little tighter on the coverage there. And I think they got a little bit unlucky and it's a great shot too. So no, I'm not gonna fall to dead legs on that one. - Yeah, I was thinking, I'll be honest, I had the exact same thought of like, oh, you're keeping them out there still, but did you mention the adrenaline thing? And that's so true. And yeah, God, it's like it had to be him and that shot had to be so, so perfect right there. I don't know that I want to talk about him, but I'm sure he'll come up in this answer. The physicality. There was the, there was that one shift last night. Benoit takes off Pasternak's head. Revo maims and nearly murders someone mere seconds later. The Leafs have not shied away in that regard. It's, it was obviously a massive talking point heading into the series. I think everyone would be pretty happy with how the Leafs have handled discipline and physicality. I know they're different things. The physicality, everyone be happy with discipline. That's a different story. How much of an impact do you think that's had kind of through the first three games and have the Leafs maybe to a certain extent over prioritized it? And you know, I know it's not as simple as you think less about hitting and one more goal goes in, but God, it's like if we're talking about the ledger that matters the most in the series, maybe it's not the hit column and it's scratching a couple more across. - Yeah, but you know what? This is a weird year. Like I feel like going into game four that the Leafs are the better physical team, the more physical team. Like, Peach being out for Boston hurts them. Grizzly isn't big, but he runs into guys. They can be in out hurts them too. And it, it felt like there was a moment in the game last night where it's like, huh, like the Leafs are really putting the Bruins on their heels with all this contact. You know, Montgomery is starting to claim, complain to the ref. Marjanda is, you know, getting over involved with Bertuzzi and Kengold. Pasternak seems frustrated. Like there's a moment where I was like, this is usually what the Leafs get into, where you get their coach complaining and their best guy is looking frustrated, but it felt like it was working. And so to me, you get a win in that game last night and you had to feel you'd feel great about how the Bruins are on their heels and feel like they're chasing the game. You didn't win. And so maybe the Bruins can exact a little confidence out of that. But I do feel like that sets them up pretty well going on in this series that Boston has to know, they're not the bigger heavier meaner team in this series. The Leafs ended up with a bunch of D who play that way. So hopefully that lets the stars, you know, feel a little bit more free knowing that they're, they got, you know, some guys on their side that'll back them up too. So the idea with contact is it pays off later in the series. Oh, let's find out. Let's find out, let's find out how the rest of this series is officiated to. And maybe Brad Marchand at some point gonna land himself in the penalty box. How's it happen yet? Can't happen. It'll be bridged too far. He's too good. He's just respected. And Sheldon Keith made an explicit mention of Brad Marchand and like, yeah, give him all the credit and like he didn't explicitly criticize the officiating in that game and the Leafs had the majority of the power play chances. And boy, you got a score on one of those. If you get five, I get it, I get it, I get it. But there were some egregious non calls as well. I mean, for me, the worst is John Tavares when, you know, the Leafs don't automatically obviously score on a six on five. They've been very good in that situation all season long. And you effectively end the game on a very marginal call. I don't know what you're supposed to do about the officiating, but you knowing Sheldon Keith the way you do, how do you think he's processing a game that's officiated in that manner? And do you think his approach publicly after the game is the best way to go about trying to impact the way a game four is officiated? Well, consider who Sheldon has played the last three that are coached against the last three playoff series. He's coached. It's been John Cooper, then John Cooper, then Paul Maurice. And there aren't two coaches in the NHL who are more in Kent on trying to manipulate the series through the media, through their postgame comments and to the officials. Like those two guys are always going, well, you know, maybe it looked like this, but here's what's really going on. And I feel like this is Keith taking a page out of their book and trying to influence the officiating the series just by getting more attention on Marcin and noting that yeah, this guy hasn't taken a penalty yet in this series despite all that play. So, I mean, there's no doubt about it. The guy is extremely good at it. It is an art and he is the best to have done it. You know, it's just a matter of he is a guy that can get genuinely frustrated too. And you don't want him to get these little wins along the way. So here's to hoping, you know, that they can put him on his heels. I actually liked Bertuzzi and him going out of all series long. It like nullifies the guy to me. He doesn't bother any other legitimate stars. He's not in Matthews here or Marner's here. So I'm fine with letting those two continue to go at it. Keith's just trying to get the ref to say, hey, sometimes it's got to be their guy going to the box too. - Last one for you, Barney. We talk all the time about finding the line. How hard is it for Sheldon Keith to find that right line? Is it harder for him being head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs? And unlike John Cooper, he doesn't have a, you know, a couple rings. He can go throw in the official or the NHL's face. How much harder is it for Sheldon Keith? I mean, Darryl Sutter came into Toronto and said he's been getting hosed here for 30 years. And the league was just fine with it. I don't think Keith could have said exactly that same thing. How much finer of a line does he have to walk than some of his contemporaries? - Yeah, it is. That's a great point that you don't quite have the cache. And there's no way to go to the media and try to get the, you know, the word out that, you know, the officiating needs to be better in this one area without looking like you're whining a little bit. So that's just kind of, you know, what you take on as a coach in that moment. But I do feel like it would have been a conscious, a conscious effort to go out there and draw that attention. So it's a fine line for sure. But it does feel like something that was calculated. So, you know, things are set up okay in this series for the Leafs. You guys aren't going to believe this, but they just need Neil under back so bad. So hopefully that helps. - Yeah. And for Leanus Almark to start on Saturday, that'd be cool. - Please. - I would help too. Yeah. Thanks, Barney. - Thanks, guys. Really appreciate it. - See you, buddy. Justin Bourne, Reel Kipperman Bourne, and Leafs Talk, which you can watch and listen to on Sportsnet 5.9 and watch on Sportsnet Plus. - I wonder what type of sandwiches he's making. Normally he's got to get sandwiches going for the kids. - My kids don't eat sandwiches. I'm in the frame clear. I made them last night. They eat turkey pepperoni. Just like slices of turkey pepperoni. - Okay. - And like croissant or then some vegetables. - You put the accent on it. - A croissant. - I just eat croissants myself. - No, not me. - Okay. - French is one of the official languages of this country. So I feel that gives me carte blanche. - Yeah, well. - Just a croissant. - Ever since the Montreal series, it's like, you know, tenuous at best for me. I'm just sloping it in. - Okay. The officiating is very infuriating. Okay. Like there's just no question about it. That's like, it's pretty nuts, really, that we're here through 180 minutes of hockey. - Mm-hmm. - Brad Marchand has taken zero penalty minutes. - Yeah. And it's even, it's even crazier. Like, I don't know. My eyes like, you know, maybe it's like an allegory of the cave thing, but I feel like I'm seeing it. I could have swore he like has been slashing hacking guys away from the puck. It was just me. I don't know. Like, I feel like if I see, if I look at him in a hockey game, he commits an infraction or two. - Yeah. And maybe Tyler Bertuzzi very, you know, more easily than he normally would was upended. - Mm-hmm. - It's center ice. Just before our Trent Frederick fires it to the back of the net. - But like, when that happened the game before and a guy was more easily upended than maybe he otherwise would have. I don't know. It's just, it's odd. It's odd. It's almost, it's almost like there's a double standard and one guy gets to play because he won a championship 13 years ago. He gets to play by a different set of rules than everybody else. It's almost like that. - Yeah. - And then Charlie McAvoy also is now winner for a reason. I don't know, he gets benefit of that. - Yeah, you would think that the 69 goal scored during the regular season. - No, that's a guy that's on it. - That's a guy that's a little handedly won game two being upended with the puck. Nowhere to be seen behind the net would be, yeah, there would be as much as Charlie McAvoy is a very good defenseman. And the best advancement on the ice in the series. I guess Matthews is the best player on the ice and you would have figured it. This discussion is difficult for me because it's very true that like, the Leafs get a different whistle yesterday and the game goes a different way. But they got enough of a whistle, right? Like they got enough, man. They did, they did get enough to win the honky game. - I'm not mad about a single call. They didn't get other than the one they should have wiped a goal off the board. - That's it. And it's tough because I've watched it happen with my own eyes and everyone. And then everyone in the hockey world lined up to say like, you have to call that in that instance. You have to. And I know it's not Apple store. And just it's like Trent Frederick wasn't walking in all alone because of what happened with Bertuzzi and Marshawn, but it's infuriating. And again, like it's just all part and parcel. It's like Nazm cadre and Brad Marshawn are completely different animals. Like what Brad Marshawn did last night was not maiming and trying to kill Jake DeBrusk. Like what happened with Nazm cadre. But again, it goes back to like, and I understand the team success is a massive part of it. So you can't just paper over it. But if Brad Marshawn just wore the blue and white jersey, would we not be having all the conversations about he can't make the refs look this bad and you can't put them in this position. And it's a way he is making them look. I just, I've heard it with so many Leafs over the years. And I will say it again, the winning matters. It shouldn't, but it does. The fact that he has the track record and he was able to survive the early part of his career to now be viewed this way. He has earned it to a certain extent. But it's tough when every guy in this market who tries to earn it in that way is seen as putting the refs on blast and putting them in a bad position. But it's never the case with him. Okay, if we're looking at one instance where maybe Leafs could have been penalized and weren't, but might have been a hinge point in the entire hockey game and it did not happen within the course of play. It's the Max Domi little bump on Jeremy Swamin, which is like, ah, it's kind of funny. Swamin flops around like he's been pole axed to get it. And I just view that as like gamesmanship because I'm kind of stupid and non-impactful. Very dumb. Except it might have been impactful. I think it was. Because everybody saw it. The brothers are losing their minds. Screaming. The officials saw it, right? Like they don't want to, they don't want to call a penalty on that. They don't want that to become a thing. But like they, if you want to talk about them feeling embarrassed or like they're not being respected or, oh, hey, maybe you have to officiate this game a little bit differently. Might have had some impact on the rest of the game. The game was officiated differently from that point. It was. What should, like, I'm just asking you and I don't know what the right answer is. What, what they should have called Max Domi for, for roughing, for slashing? Yeah, for roughing, like that I assume is what the penalty would have been like. Like, I don't, you can call anything there. You can, yeah, you can call them for roughing. You can call them for tripping even, even though it's not a word for somebody. Well, I mean, did he go out of his way to, like, did either guy go out of their way to avoid that collision? I suppose not. I'm not, look, I'm not saying that I wouldn't be sitting here screaming bloody murder the other way. But it's just, I have very little sympathy for like, well, they just, they, they miss this infraction that impacted absolutely nothing. So they just, they couldn't have possibly called Brad Marchon for the, either of the two penalties he committed or McAvoy for the one he committed. It's, you're right. It's a hinge point. There's no way to look at it. When the Leafs said, look, we do your deal all the time of, would they have gladly taken no special teams? The whole series of five and a billion percent. Clear now. At this point, no, no, no, no. Seriously. You would have said no, no special teams, please. Would they have taken your deal of like, just call Max Domi for whatever annoying penalty you would have given them there. And then let the game play out because you're right. I think you'd never get them to admit it. Even if we had the thing that would just ultimately frustrate us all of having a pool reporter there, ask in the refs these questions, they'd never admit it. But I do think that much like the, much like the makeup call immediately after the Frederick goal was pretty proof positive of what they thought happened there, it's almost equally as positive with the lack of calls on the Marchon stuff and everything that happened afterwards. Yeah, I think, well, what I would prefer is yeah, the call, if the non call there is impacting the rest of your calls the rest of the game, just call the thing that. Just do the thing instead of react, right? It's the cover up, not the crime. It's always the cover up, not the crime. Well, I mean, I will say you could just don't commit a crime also if I like if I'm just gonna give advice to the referees or listeners out there. Listen, are you, are you screaming from the rooftops? The officials do call Max Domi for a rough or a trip and that in that instance. It depends how the rest of the game is called. If it's prison rules out there, then yeah, I'm pretty aggrieved that two guys bumping into one another on, I think we can all agree though that that's Max Domi going out of his way to run a running to Jeremy Swamin, right? It's Max Domi not capitulating to the. Oh, come on. But it's all, okay, but whatever Max Domi's doing, Jeremy Swamin's doing the exact same thing there. What like intentionally running into it so he can fall over. I think he's like, I'm not gonna avoid Max Domi. Like, I'm gonna skate this. I think it's the, this is not quite it. But for a Simpsons guys, perfect. This is the bar, like, amen. I'm just walking with my arms going, whatever happens to you. I think that's kind of what was happening from both parties. If I'm gonna put like a blame on it, it's like, yeah, sure. 65% Max Domi, I'll give you that. I think ultimately it shouldn't, the way I would have officiated it, all in retrospect. Oh God, this is what we've all been waiting for. It's 724 this morning. How would Ben have called all the penalties last night? Well, first things first, cross check him on to start, no. I think actually the Maple Leafs benefit from like more prison rules in the series. But yeah, anyways, in that instance, I would have said, yeah, I'm not calling that, that's stupid. Like guys, knock it off. We're not doing that anymore. I wouldn't have called that. But I also wouldn't have had it impact the rest of my decision-making for the rest of the game, which I guess we can only infer happened. But yeah, the game has officiated differently from that point on. And the officials feel like one was, like they were embarrassed. That's the only way I can come away from that thinking is that there was a level of embarrassment from the officials on the ice that they thought Max Domi thought he could run into Jeremy Swamin in a TV timeout and there would be no adjudication against him in that moment. Yeah, that is playoff like gamesmanship type stuff. And it definitely impacted the way the game is officiated. And I don't wanna make the, like for doing the like, well, why don't you make the whole play, no, the blah. I don't wanna make the whole show out of officiating talk. 'Cause I think there were a million other things that were impactful there. It's just impossible not to be frustrated about the way that that played out regarding the guys and stripes last night. Well, you know what, we can, so you can't really impact the officiating. Hey, Sheldon Keef did his best to try and impact the calls that he hopes to receive on Saturday when the series resumes. I mean, what you can do less about is the thing that is also bubbling up on social media. And that's the impact of or lack thereof of the fans. Now, this is a Leafs team that has now lost five straight home playoff games, right? Okay. And, you know, maybe that's just a weird anomaly. Maybe that Sheldon Keef overthinking it. Maybe that's him tinkering too much because he has last change. Maybe it is because of the atmosphere. Like, we have to be open to that possibility. I don't know necessarily what you're supposed to do about that again. Like, when things are, when Ryan Reeves is throwing the body, when Seamal Benoit is throwing the body, when Jake McCabe got a great hit in that game too. Again, like, most hits in a postseason game through the first 40 minutes in six years. - That's awesome. - Everybody on the ice had a hit. When that's happening, the Leafs are scoring. - Yeah, it sounds electric there. And again, I'm just talking about it as a viewer on television, but people in the building. - Oh, game six though, we will have a referendum on this. - If there is one. - Should I get there? - Yeah, people in the building clearly seem to, there are certain specific people who seem to think, and there are some former NHL players who agree that it is impactful to the game. It might be part of the reason why the Leafs haven't had the home postseason record that they should. Is it anything other than, hey, we can just talk about it and boy, it sucks, and like, what are you gonna do? Tickets are astronomically expensive, and that's the nature of playing in a big market like Toronto, and that the true fans, the more boisterous, passionate fans are the ones that can afford the tickets that go to see the Leafs during the regular season, in Buffalo. I mean, what is there to do with what is clearly something? Maybe not everything, but it's clearly something. - Anybody who's mad at this has exactly one place to look. There's not one person to blame, but there's one place to look. And it is the hockey team that all those people are supposed to be cheering for. I've heard a lot of comparisons to go look at all these other great Canadian markets, go look at Vancouver, look at their crowd, Sharon, thank you, Casey, or you can do it, or orange slices for everybody, or whatever it was they were chanting right before disaster struck. - You know what they haven't, you know what they've seen in their life, like most of the people who care about that team? A run to a Stanley Cup final. - I know they burned their city to the ground afterwards, and I know it was 2011, that's not five years ago, but that's like you could touch that, you could smell it, you could feel it. Edmonton Oilers made a run to a conference final. - Even the Winnipeg Jets and that bubble Canadian series, they went and won a series, okay? And it's Winnipeg, they should just be thankful they have anything there, let's be honest. So I look at it and I say that yeah, you can be frustrated about the way the crowd is, and should the crowd be better at times, fair criticism. But it has been authored by one group of people, and one group of people only. And it's not the person setting the ticket price at 600 bucks to get into the lower bowl or whatever it is, could that help things maybe a little? But the team has authored this. If you, if any of these other fan bases that we sit here and talk about, if the Edmonton Oilers with their golden generation of a million first overall picks and dry-sidal and McDavid, if what they had to show for it was one playoff series win, do you know what it would be? Be a tight, nervous building that expected everything to go wrong at all points in time. So I understand the guy who went and sat in the square at noon yesterday, so he could be there, say, and put me in there and it'll be better. Agreed, I bet it would. But to take the onus off of the team that has authored this nervous crowd and fan base, you don't think the people want every excuse to be allowed and to believe. How can they? So I hear the criticism, I think it's fair, but don't put it on the fans. The fans are just reacting to what they've seen for basically a generation now. So, fair criticism, sure. But don't put it on the fans. Put it on the team that has authored the nervous, nervous nature of this fan base. Yeah, that's interesting. I hadn't even considered that that's the overriding force driving the lack of voicelessness. Everyone goes back to the O2 Sunday. You know what that team was in? A conference final. They actually saw a team, and God, William Neelander's not playing. How could they possibly win? That's a Dean. The only good center on the team. No offense to all the other centers that I loved when I was a kid, but I have different opinions up now that I've looked at stuff with a more, you know, alive eye. I look at it and I say that you give them a run. You give them a reason to believe, and they will take it. Even the lawyer and his cajillion dollar suit who gets their five minutes after puck drop, even that guy is going to be losing his mind if you actually give him a reason to. I was driving behind a Rolls Royce yesterday, my way home. I told you, man, they're out there. It's like I saw a Maybach driving in this, I don't like. Anyways, yeah, okay, I don't discount the possibility that that is impacting thing. I do think it's more likely that the reason the crowd is not proactive is like one, that's not a Canadian sports fan crowd generally. Like, if you've ever been to a sporting event in the United States, there are people there. There's just like a little more outgoing general, right? And yeah, they go in to scream, like they love it. They love screaming. The middle of the street, they're screaming. Yeah, it's just not necessarily as Canadian a mentality as it is in many big sports markets in the United States. And secondarily, I do think there's an element of, yeah, they want the Maple Leafs to win, but not as much as the guy who's made it much more a part of his personality. And it's his escape from the 45, 50 hour work week like in the dark wet pit. Like that guy cares more because he has to grind more during the rest of his life. And it's his release and like, yeah, he's so frustrated that it hasn't worked out that way. I also think, well, what? I'm never going to blame the fans for anything. And secondarily, yeah, if that's the reason why the Leafs haven't had the postseason success, that's a failing of the players that they need some extra, even if it's a 1% boost from the fan base. Or if that thought process even enters the minds of one single Toronto Maple Leafs player over the last near decade, that's a fatal flaw. Like that's insane, that's nuts. Also, if you think that's a problem, we saw proof of concept last night that it literally takes one, like, let's say they are sitting there and they're like, God, we only have, we can only be 99% of ourselves because the fans aren't giving us that extra 1%. Let's say, I highly doubt that's happening. Let's say that's the excuse that's being made for, all that it takes is one shift from the guys who-- - Do a good thing. - But it also can be from the guys who matter the least on the team, the Benoit and Revo Shift. - Yes. - Nothing happened, like in the grand scheme of things, in the game, it was, I think it was one nothing at the time or whatever the score was. It was the exact same score at the end of that shift at the beginning. Building was rocking, Revo was feeling it. That's all it takes. I think when people hear, you know, 'cause I don't, you know, I don't think it's the world's most original opinion that it's like if the team plays better, the fans will get behind it. But I think people hear that and they go, yeah, it's pretty easy to be excited when your teams win in five nothing. Yeah, agreed. But they don't need five nothing. They just need two or three of those Revo or Benoit hits in the first couple minutes of a game. And also, if we're gonna do crowd stuff last night and he pretty quickly adjudicated it and got back in everybody's good books, but taking a puck over the glass pedal the 30 seconds into the game or whatever it was from Benoit, not the way to go about it. So maybe not the night to pile on all the fans. Buddy, I would love nothing more than to do a swap, make all the people in their suits, go stand out in the square and put all the square people in the lower bowl. The square people, yeah. The square people. Who wouldn't, God does make them sound like creatures. But, eh, I gotta be honest, not fair. I would love to see that. It's never gonna happen. Like, yeah, Balmer's doing his thing in L.A. where it's like you have, if you show up early, it's like basically T-ball. It's like, all right, first person here gets the best seat, but you gotta be loud. And that's an idea, but you can't. Yeah, that's like that's well, hold on. That's like a singular owner. That's not M.L.S.E. exactly. Exactly. There's no, like, Mr. Maple Leafs who owns M.L.S.E. It's a good one. So well. Well, and also we're so well with Harold Balmer. Like, obviously. Sure, yeah. Like, there's the opposite end of the spectrum. But no, this is a money-making operation. They operate in a cap world. Oh, and they've spent plenty in the areas that they can spend on. Very comfortable for maybe those players as we well know. And I maintain, like, even that guy who's driving is like $500,000 car down to the game and is like, why can't I park it right at center ice? He'd be very convenient for me. Like, even that guy is gonna be losing his mind if you get to a conference final. Of? Yeah, sure. Is he gonna be losing his mind if the Leafs are down one nothing in the first period of game one of the conference final? No. Yeah, probably not. It's a reactive crowd. That's the way it is. But I also think there's more goodwill built up. Like, you get to a conference final. It's like, that guy is never gonna be Joe the plumber or whoever that guy is in Alberta with his Leafs cave that I see on social media. He's never gonna be that guy. But you can bring him along. You can pull them along. You can get them excited. Yeah, I didn't view the lack of noise at times because it was a nervous fan base for a fan base that was like metaphorically rolling their eyes, right? Like, it just, I felt like, yeah, okay, there wasn't anything to cheer for. Leafs are, you know, down a goal or yeah, there'd been nothing. Like, the rare in the second period, there was like a stretch of time there where there wasn't a ton happening. I just, it's a very reactive crowd. Yeah. Canadian sports fans are generally more reactive than proactive. And again, you have $40 million to forwards. I know one of them is not playing, but you're like, they could get the crowd excited as well. Like, it's a reactive crowd. It's like you could give them something to be excited about. Correct. All right, when we come back, have a look around the rest of the Santa Cup playoffs where, boy, Oilers are on. The crowd must have been loving it when they lost last night. Like, woo, we love hockey. I'm reacting. Yeah, surely, right? Well, maybe Stuart Skinner is gonna get the K.C. to Smith treatment in Game 3. Let's go, Stuart. Come on, Stewie. Stuart, little, come on. Hopefully he's staying away from social media today. All right, that and more next. As the fan morning show continues, Ben and his friend, Gunning, sports at 590, the fan. Unrivaled insight, analysis, and opinions on all things. Blue Jays, Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. [MUSIC] Fan morning show sports at 590, the fan. Ben and his friend, Gunning, started off so well for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1, a couple of goals. Yeah. Zack Hyman, Hatrick, and Conor McDavid, five assists. Yeah, it's ridiculous. Surely, it continued. I saw some takes that, hey, you put the foot down in the opening 20 minutes of Game 2 and the Kings, they just, they die. They just, they turn to dust, like probably not. It's just two home playoff games. Yeah, you're supposed to lose. Yeah, as dominant as you looked in Game 1, it's still a 7-4 score line. Yeah. Also, Stuart Skinner's a net. And boy, some spectacular looking goals in the hockey game. No question, but yeah, like we do oftentimes, you and I, I mean, specifically, and you know, Sheldon Keith too, it's like that in five, it's too many. Yes, and I only, they get in a couple of minutes of an extra period in there, but expected goals, and all of them, five on five, by the way. The Oilers with one power play goal, but expected goals, five on five against Stuart Skinner, 1.88. Actual goals, five. Yeah, for you. And now for his career, Stuart Skinner, do you know what the gory details are about his playoff save percentage? I'm betting not great. It's not great. 879 career save percentage in 14 postseason games all starts. You know, Jack Campbell's career post-season save percentage? I don't. In 18 games, 14 starts. 9/20. Hmm. God, there's no way. Obviously, I feel like that's a good goal. I just thought it in there, just throw it in there. I just feel like people needed to hear that, not that there's like an Euler fan listening, but just in case they were. Just let me do that for you. I joked with you in the break that the utility Campbell should serve as he should be Stuart Skinner's representative after games like this to come out and be like, I'm so sorry. It was all me, me, Jack Campbell. Somehow I'm at fault here. Yeah, oil need stops, man. It's the story of before an aw block got brought on. And when they made the coaching change earlier in the year, it's been the story. They're going to score like the unlike the Leafs. The oil are going to score. And man, I mean, you find yourself in a split. It's far from the end of the world here. But you know, the Oilers should pretty cleanly win that series. And it's going to be a gauntlet. I mean, this goes for any team that thinks they have a run ahead of them. But there's no easy series on the other side waiting, waiting for Edmonton. So if you can take care of business quickly in this series, it's only going to be beneficial. So yeah, the extra game, the extra period. It's not helpful. I also don't know if you saw this. Zach Hyman, I don't know if he did this for me, has pay back for what Philippe DeNo did to Matthews in that Canadian series. But he smoked. DeNo, just clean headshot against playoffs. I have no problem. This isn't me being like, ah, supplemental discipline. But it was as clean a headshot as you could possibly have. Zach Hyman does it all. Yeah, he scores again. Like he's just unbelievable. Yeah, it's like, it's a world in which the Oilers win it all. And Zach Hyman is hoisting a conspiracy. I mean, what if it's not? OK, so like what if he has all the goals and Conor McDavid has all the assists? I think he's going to have a couple goals, too, though. That's the thing. I mean, we were also Phil Castle had a real case. Yeah. One once upon a time on the Sydney Crosby. And then one of the guys who we think about what it because that's. But he could have, he could have won it. I do wonder. And you know, like, obviously, you're talking about building up Goodwill. Lord knows McDavid has done it in spades. I would like to play what would the Leafs discourse be of the Leafs losing a game in which Conor McDavid is standing with his hands up in the crease as the puck is nowhere near in and then arguing with the official. It's like, I don't know. Maybe play through the whistle and that's all but your goal so much. I love this time of year. It's the best. You go from Leafs pain to just like other people's pain. It's wonderful. Mark Stone in the Golden Knights. They're never going to lose a game again. Yeah, it's a hundred million dollar hockey team is pretty good, turns out. And Jay Gautinger isn't bad, but like they get Jay Gautinger needs to be spectacular against the team with the most talent. How can you lend two goals? You can't. You're not allowed. Do that. Not permitted. Yeah. I feel very smart for having placed a future on Vegas the second they traded for Noah Hanifah. Yeah. That was really pressing. I'm just happy to do that. Good for you. NBA playoffs. Just Alexandra the needed like the final dying seconds and a big Shay shot to win game one looks more like the team that they should look against Zion Williamson yesterday. It's man, Celtics heat is just something that's, I don't know, for whatever reason the heat have the Celtics number and maybe not in the overall like when we look back on the series. Maybe this does be like a quaint little anecdote that they won game to, but the Celtics like just didn't they were there like 20, you know, at home at one point this season, the one and one at home during the postseason against the Miami heat team that is stanky even with Jimmy Butler, but no Jimmy Butler Miami now four playoff games in the last two seasons with 50% shooting from three against Boston. No other team has more than one against anyone. It is it is a hilarious, hilarious confluence that allows this team and when Jimmy Butler was in the lineup for some of those games, Jimmy Butler is not exactly some dead eye three point shooter. He just makes all his threes against the Boston Celtics just hilarious that you have one team for whatever reason looking across the way at the other team and it turns them into good shooters. I have no idea. Yeah. I mean, look, how many times you heard this before? Maker Miss League and when you're making a 50% it's going to be pretty hard to to be beat. Obviously some of that goes to the looks the Celtics are giving up, but so much more of it goes to to Miami just being nuclear, like just full flame thrower from from behind the arc. I love that this happens in the NBA. It's not supposed to. This is kind of almost, I mean, the stakes aren't there and we'll see how the series actually plays out. But this is like old school battle of Ontario stuff where it's like the Celtics are supposed to be far and away the better team and everyone all year long has been running away with it. We're not supposed to have upsets in the NBA playoffs really. It's like, you know, I'll have like a five, four upset or something like that, but we're not supposed to have a team like this. The heat have done it and honestly, I think it is massive for the NBA. If you're not going to have the, you know, the Warriors dynasty or LeBron being the de facto final team every year, you need the belief that anything can happen in any of these series. And for so long in the NBA, I mean, they literally played best of fives because there was no point to the first round. This is massive for the league. I still think they'd be better off with a true blue chip dynasty that we'd all think of forever and we could all hate. I still think that's what's best for the league, but if you're not going to have that and that doesn't exist right now, this is such a better place to kind of operate. Maybe this, maybe that loss in game two will look like game one between the Raptors and magic. Remember that first round series with Kawhi 2019 magic makes shot at the end of the game and win game one, but yeah, raptors about back in one and five. And then of course, we know what happened in 2019, but maybe not like her Lando magic are not Eric Spolstra in Miami Heat. By the way, Eric Spolstra, Steve Kerr's assistant for the US Olympic team in Paris this summer. I mean, it's six and one, a half thousand the other, but like what Eric Spolstra has done over the length and breadth of his career without some key cogs and under different circumstances is pretty unbelievable. Yeah, man, did you also started with the idea of Shay having the game he had Jamal's already had his buzzer beater? The Canada has not almost had the Leafs like it is the Maple Leafs there. They're not going to go into the Olympics as favorites, obviously, but this is as good as you could possibly ask for. I mean, even like down the pecking order, not that we were worried about this, but Kelly Lenick not putting any miles on the body right now with a with an arduous playoff run. Those two guys feeling as good as they possibly can, like, you know, we'll see all the rest of the playoffs. Mm hmm. Go. But them already having those moments and just only bodes well for Canada basketball. I mean, Paris, they ghost busted a little bit, right? Like it's it's the now the expectation is to play well and be some teams and maybe get into the metal round. That would be unbelievable, but it was, man, if you don't get into the Olympics, it's a nightmare scenario. It's like this golden generation is never going to exist. They've already busted the ghost. No, I can't wait for that Olympic basketball tournament this summer quickly before we get to the Waken Reich. Yeah. And I only saved a couple of minutes for this because we could probably do a half a segment on this is that Tiger Woods is going to get a hundred million dollars from the PGA Tour in equity. Yeah, kind of. Rory McElroy is going to get 50 million in equity as thank you very much for not joining the live tour and all this money coming from all the sports owners across North America that have thrown the $3 billion at the PGA Tour. So what is it? 750 million is going to go to 36 golfers, more most deserving of this increase, right? To try and satiate some of the people that might be angry that they didn't take 300 million from from live. And it's not the same. It's not the same. But if it works and if it's like, this is a clear to me, as a clear attempt to stave off what we thought was already agreed to, but hasn't we haven't gone beyond like that handshake thing that happened before the money was infused into the PGA Tour. This is just like staving off the eventual merger between these two for as long as possible. And yes, it's going to maybe hurt the PGA Tour's bottom line not to have John Ram and there's less interest and they're spending more money on these tournaments year over year over year. There's more staying power, the PGA Tour, where at least they're making some money and there's some interest or the live tour. And as much as the Saudis have unlimited funds, they're not going to do 10 years of nobody caring about their product and existing in some other world region like this is just another step in the direction of increasing the pressure on live to merge, not the PGA merging. >> Yeah, and I think that it, I mean, the guys literally have skin in the game now. I mean, it was pretty apparent that Rory wanted and needed the PGA Tour to succeed. But he is literally an investor now. He has $50 million of eventually vesting shares of equity. Tiger obviously gets the most. It's not the billion that Tiger could have had. It's not the 600 million that Ram got, but it's a step of the right direction. And I think those guys needing to, needing the tour to succeed is only beneficial for the tour. They now just have more skin in the game. They're going to want to do more of the walk and talks or whatever you feel is going to grow the games. >> Time now for the Wakenrake presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly, a little afternoon action for the Blue Jays in Kansas City with Jose Barrios on the Mount against Cole Ragan's, Blue Jays trying to secure the series split. And it is the Royals favored, minus 120 Blue Jays, even odds at plus 100, the total is eight. >> Let's go under Barrios on the bump. You're confident in him and the Blue Jays, so well, they're still the Blue Jays when they get up to the dish. So yeah, let's go under eight there. You get it minus 115. I like it. >> I like it a lot as well. Yeah, the Blue Jays aren't scoring and Cole Ragan's is really good. Jose Barrios has been out freaking standing. That ballpark very difficult to score runs in as well. And just again, we're not telling you which way to put your money on this thing, but just an updated series odds, Leafs, Bruins, obviously with the Bruins now at the series lead, they are minus 278 to win the series, Maple Leafs plus 225. And that was the Wakenrake presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown Sportsbook 19 plus bet responsibly. When we come back, former NHL goalie Devin Dubnick as the fan morning show continues, Ben Annis Brent Gunning, Sportsnet 590, the fan.
