[MUSIC] Morning to you, Brad. >> Yeah, good morning, man. We're not so mad at the fans this morning, hey boy, that trip is sale. Pretty hard to be mad at the 20,000 plus hanging out at Scotiabank Arena. And they were invested, cannot question their effort on Saturday night. >> They were into it. >> Yeah. >> Off the opening face off. >> Yeah, Bob Cole Knight, Scotiabank Arena, let's just get right into it. It's like, it does feel like this- >> Yeah, I know, good morning stuff happened whatever. >> This market, these Leaf fans are out for blood after Saturday's game. And understandably so, there's been many a post season game in this city's history with all the pro sports teams, the major sports teams. But the ones that end with booing or there's booing in the middle of post season games. >> I don't necessarily do whatever you want, but quite often I'm like, well, boy, right? Is this helping things? I had no problem with any derision vocalized through the people that spent their thousands of dollars to go down to Scotiabank Arena on Saturday. As the Toronto Maple Leafs have now gone 11 straight post season games in which they've failed to score more than three goals, they've gone six straight home playoff games without a victory. The opening 40 minutes of the hockey game were about as embarrassing and opening 40 minutes as I've seen this team play, which is like an incredible, incredible statement considering what we watched over the last near decade now. There is no take strong enough and there is no opinion to insane after what we watched on Saturday. And hey, is the series over? It's not. It's not over, going to Boston where God knows they have a better chance of winning than here in Toronto tomorrow night and maybe they come back here and have a chance to force a game seven and Bruins dealing with their own ghosts, right? But there was so much from that game on Saturday that feels like it was the end of something. Not the least of which, of course, was the sniping on the bench and the glove throwing and all that. And it left me with a sickened feeling after the first 40 minutes of the hockey game. And then the third period, there was an attempted comeback and then William knee lander essentially ended it with his gang tackle and the penalty there. But it's just, I think there's a lot of people in this city that just they just want to scream at this team today. Yeah, I think there's a lot of that. I also, and look, the people in this market aren't mad at the Leafs because of what Sheldon Keefe said after the game, but it felt like any chance of, like, hey, we've all had it. We've all had the rough post season loss. It's a Saturday night. You're frothing at the mouth. You know, I used to have my like Sunday morning pick up skate. You go yell about it for an hour and a half with your buddies and then you move on. You go, okay, like it was three one. Yeah, I don't mean in the series. The game was three one. You move on. I don't think that would have happened. But any chance of that happening was neutered and nuked by Sheldon Keefe coming out post game and being completely unwilling to take a critical bent at all towards this team. Now I can, I can kind of understand the idea of this isn't the time to pile on. You want to build them up. But I think that in a year where, and maybe you and I are, you know, like the people who were so stoked in the minutiae, this or more aware of this, but in a year, this was the whole thing we talked about is who gets to hold who accountable, who gets to hold who's feet to the fire and to see that on Saturday night after we had taken the fans to task for two days to then come out afterwards and go, I didn't have a problem with it. No, I would have liked a goal to go in, but I didn't think the effort was an issue. We've coming out and effectively co-signing that and saying, oh, I would have liked there were different results, but that wasn't a lack of effort. That wasn't us coming out flat. I think that was, and it shouldn't be, but I think that was a big kind of final straw for a lot of people in terms of the post game reaction of it all. Yeah, I understand that sentiment. I don't agree with it, to be honest with you, because yeah, I, well, there's twofold, one, the series isn't over and Sheldon Keefe has to do whatever he believes he, he, whatever is in the best interest of his team and getting the best performance out of his team, he has to do whatever that is. No matter whether that's placating you or making you feel better or adding to your catharsis by piling on this team, and secondarily that's not, he's never done that. You want to talk about showing panic, right? It would be something akin to doing something you hadn't done all season long. Well, it has been a little more critical in this group. I mean, what you want, and what people who are critical of what he said want is, man, that was unacceptable. This is a team we got our backs against the wall. We want a postseason game at home in a calendar year. This is what's going on here. These guys are being paid $40 million. Where's the effort? Like, that's, where is that been? Like it, that's just not, that's not part of, that has been there, modus operandi. He has to a man called out by name, the captain of this hockey team saying, I don't have the exact quote in front of me, but something along the lines of, that's as poor a night as I've ever seen from John as a Toronto Maple Leaf, that's, and again, it's pretty fitting that it's that guy, right? Maybe it's a little different to do it to that guy. And do I think that the Leafs are better off if Keith comes out and says, no, I hate C and temper tantrums on the bench and I think that's a sign, I don't need him to say that's a sign of a fractured group or anything, but to come out and, again, just, oh well, we're on to Cincinnati yet, I think that's the completely wrong tact to take. It does make me think that they're, God, and, you know, we're maybe a day away from getting answers to all these questions. It does make me think that he feels like there's just nothing more to get from Matthews. I mean, he gets pulled out of the game by doctors, something honest. Like, I cannot recall ever seeing it. I don't recall seeing the guy sick and they just take him out of a regular season game. I can't recall ever seeing it in the postseason and I'm not, I'm not questioning his will or his desire. His desire is clearly sick. Of course. There's just no, no question. The guy that we saw in game two has not been present in games three or four. Yeah, four was a little bit better than three. Yeah. But yeah, I've never, I don't, if you're healthy enough to start the game, like, I, it would be nice to talk to a former team doctor or somebody who can clarify whether that's part of, I mean, their protocol being reassessed for an illness in the middle of a hockey game and then being deemed unfit to play in the final 20 minutes after being deemed fit to play in the opening 40. Well, what are we talking about? Like a risk of what? Like he's going to collapse in a heap. Like his long term health is in danger because he's playing through an illness in the third period of a, still must be said, win a ball game or three nothing going in time. You're right. Sure. But like you have Austin Matthews, there was a second there where the Leafs were buzzing again before the William D lander penalty, where you're like, Oh man, could this be their finest moment? Could this be the most classic leaf come back after they'd been dead and buried for the first 40 minutes of the game? What a help to have your 69 goal regular season goal scorer in there. But yeah, I mean, that's boy, there's a whole topic of conversation surrounding Austin Matthews and the messaging and then like, not just the messaging of the doctors holding him out of the third period, but the way, again, this Maple Leafs team has messaged what he was not coming back for. I mean, the release that was sent, the tweet that was sent by Maple Leafs PR after 40 minutes was, Austin Matthews not going to return to this hockey game with no reference to an injury or an illness or anything. Like I thought like, Oh my goodness, did some family tragedy occur where like Austin Matthews was on a plane out of here? Like, I had no idea what was going on headed into that third period. I'm really happy we didn't have to have that referendum. It's an uncomfortable enough conversation for me when it's like birth of child. And I have made my opinion like clear on that. But I'm very happy we didn't have to get into the weeds of that today. The thing with Matthews, I think it all has to be tied part and parcel and this is the problem with it is no one wants to hear, but Matthews is sick. But Nylander had migraines, but I think that has to couch why Sheldon Keefe is saying what he's saying. And I think that is the frustration here is that I think that, I mean, look, you just want a better result from the players. What Sheldon Keefe has to say is not the reason why people are frustrated, but it seems to me like that is very much a, again, I think if it's part of the reason why it adds to the frustration, it's very much of the call that's coming from inside the house. No, this is fine. Everything's fine. I think they're saying, do I think they go look over the tape of that game and say, this is great. Just do this again on Tuesday and surely it'll all work out in your favor. Of course not, but it just, you know, there was so much talk in the post game pressers about flat starts and urgency. And it just feels like there is, and again, of course, the players are, are feeling it. But from Keith post game, it just seemed like such a lack of urgency while your season is now literally not a, not a figurative must win. But I don't want to go down to Boston must win literal must win season on the line tomorrow. So I think where I want to, yeah, kind of restart this conversation. Yeah, we didn't need to just spiral for a few minutes. Yeah. It's like, is it possible the Brewers is a better hockey that teamed than the Toronto Maple Leafs? I think, yeah, I think evidence, all evidence would suggest that that's actually the case. I mean, not just the regular season record, but the regular season head to head record. And then what we've seen through four games of the post season, that I think that it's not that if the Leafs had lost this series in a competitive fashion and scored a bunch, that there would be some, hey, you know what, they just ran up against the tough team. But the conversation is less vitriolic than the one we're having here now through four games. The final product is not complete yet. To me, it's, I mean, it's the way it looks. This is, this is, and I get it, the Bruins, they restrict chances against and they have great goal attending. But the Maple Leafs had one high danger shot attempt in that opening 20 minutes of the hockey game. Maple Leafs, I was digging this up today, I was curious to like, what would the Leafs power play look as just like, they get to play all 60 minutes as a hockey team, five on four? What would that look like? Here's the extrapolated goals for per 60 for that hockey team. They played just over 20 minutes of five on four power play so far in this series. That team, the five on four power play team, the Leafs have played against the Bruins are averaging 2.64 goals for per 60 minutes. As you well know, they've scored once in the power play stage. That team, that team that is playing entirely five on four is still the seventh worst scoring team in the playoffs right now, at all strength, like you put up that team against the teams that have scored in all strengths is still a middle of the road playoff team in the postseason. They've been so anemic on the power play. They've been so low to get a single scoring opportunity. It's not just the way they're losing, it's not just that they are losing this series and have a chance to ballot in five games tomorrow night in Boston. It's that there is just, there is no, I mean, you can talk about Jeremy Swainman having some moments, he wasn't outstanding on Saturday, no, he had to do next to nothing for a team that was predicated on scoring. Every offseason move this past offseason was made to improve this team's chance of scoring in the postseason. They have a 69 goal regular season goal scorer who's dealing with an illness right now. They brought back their 40 goals scored in almost 100 point man. They had the 199 point man from a season ago. They have all the talent in the world, they cannot create anything offensively. Yeah, I think that you make a lot of good points. I don't really disagree with any of them. I just think this is the, this is the most frustrating part about this is there are caveats that no one wants to hear, but that really, really matter. If Austin Matthews is this sick, Austin man, let's say he, let's say he fell deathly ill after the game two, okay? Because hey, hard to perform like that while you're deathly ill. So let's say that if he's 70% of himself, if he's 75, 80%, whatever, that matters. Like we have to throw the caveat in that that matters. William Kneelander, for all we talk about Marner and be in the engine of the power play, that's the team's best power play player. In my opinion is William Kneelander, the damage he does, the fact that he could be a facilitator or a scorer, he could do it from the flank, he can do it in the big, he could do it in kind of the greasier areas. Missing that guy for the first three games of the series, it matters. And when I look at the team's top to bottom, was Swam in excellent on Saturday night? By any means no. Was he excellent in the other games he played in this series? Yeah, he was. So I don't look at this as the Bruins are a better team than the least. They've played better in the six games that they are, yeah, it's now what six, seven, whatever. As they played this year, Boston has been far and away. It's eight. Okay. It's eight now. Thank you. The better hockey team. But I still think that you have to include the caveats of if Matthews is diminished and they miss Kneelander. Now, that doesn't mean you completely excuse and we don't have a referendum on this. But if we're going to have a referendum, as much as I want to say, find a way to get it done. You think I'm not screaming that when I'm watching the game on Saturday night? Of course I am. But if we're going to sit here and have a referendum on it, that has to be mentioned. It has to be. And that doesn't say you can't make sweeping changes. That doesn't mean that doesn't say or doesn't mean that you can't say this power play is no good. Because guess what? It hasn't been. But you have to throw that into the equation. You cannot just say, yeah, everybody's hurt. Those two things matter a ton and not that's not. This isn't even Mitch Marner dealing with some lingering effects of an injury he's been playing on for, he was playing on for the last two weeks of the regular season. So what were you doing there in terms of the way we were protecting guys? So I think all of that, all of that has to be included. Be mad, be frustrated, say the team's no good at times, very fair. But you have to include that in the equation. I know nobody wants to take it in today, but you do. I mean, it connects around to the third goalie. I mean, but what are we supposed to do with that? And the least for winning when Martin Jones was their third goalie. Yeah, during the regular season. Well, I'm just saying it did have like, I mean, when you, if you're going to throw that at the equation, it's like, yeah, that did happen. And the least were able to take, they were able to do that as well. Yeah, during the regular season. And yeah, the Boston Bruins are the national predators. Right. I think that has to matter as well. OK, so they're not, they're also not the Florida Panthers. Like I'm not trying to say this is a Stanley Cup juggernaut. It's about to go on a run. They aren't that either. Yeah, I mean, all those things are true. And I guess at the end of the series, we'll get a better accounting as to how close to 100% these players are obviously Austin Matthews, not anywhere near it. Because he didn't play the third period of a postseason game. I think that is the most like the knee lander. OK, you missed him. He's back now. Yeah, to take a man. Also, we've seen awesome Matthews at his best win a hockey game by himself in game two. Yeah, seems unfortunate that the guy that had one of the best scoring seasons in the history of the NHL would immediately upon having his finest postseason moment have an illness so severe that he would be forced to be removed from the middle of a postseason game. It wouldn't be the Leafs if we didn't get to say it seems unfortunate and involved in the playoffs really would. Yeah. All right, let's talk about the bench stuff, which is, I think, the most interesting topic. If you went into a lab and said, hey, forget the results of the game. I just would like to create a moment in Leafland to garner a talking point for everyone involved. You could not have done any better than creating this moment in the lab. Yeah, it was it was pretty incredible the way analysts far and wide anyone that's ever seen a hockey game or played on a National Hockey League ice surface had pretty much the same opinion that this is nightmarish stuff. Not good. So, Austin Matthews turning to his left talking what looks like directly to Mitch Marner certainly looked that way. William knee lander also looks like he's turning specifically he's turning his head to the right. Yeah, because Marner's in the middle, yeah. Looks like he explicitly says something along the lines of stop crying. Yes. Uh, Mitch Marner, I assume everything was given to us in chronological order at some point, maybe not immediately thereafter, but like some point after this exchange of ideas. So free is a free flowing exchange of ideas. That's all. Marner decides it's the gloves fault and Bobby Hastings isn't doing enough and now he needs to come down the line and come pick up my gloves because they're getting chucked to the floor. Bob, by the way, Bobby Hayson is always doing enough yeoman's work. Sure. Um, yeah, everybody after the game said, Hey, it's just a couple of guys shooting the breeze. I mean, not exactly that they said, Hey, we're just trying to win a hockey game and everybody's cool. Nobody's upset with anybody. I mean, what was your opinion in the moment? And now given the benefit of hindsight and all the think pieces that we've seen since where are you on what was and will be if the least lose the series, the defining moment of the postseason, maybe the defining moment of this era of leaf stem. We don't do like, I don't even know if we do this anymore. I guess it's just like a YouTube video, but remember, I remember like being a kid and seeing all the time like, Oh, the world series champs by the DVD of, of the season. If there is a DVD of the Leafs losing in five games to the Boston Bruins, that's the cover is the three of them on the, the yelling at each other on the bell. Well, I guess two of them yelling at each other and one guy throwing his gloves. I look at it as I can't, I can't get away from in my mind the idea that knee lander just came back from, we think migraines, whatever was going on there, Matthews is, I think eight minutes away from getting pulled by team doctors from the game and not the marner is the pinnacle of health right now. But I think like a knee lander is back and maybe marner is dealing with something, but it felt to me like the two of them going, yeah, I'm on death's door and I could not look at the sun for a week and a half and why are you so frustrated in this moment right now? I couldn't look at the injuries. I couldn't get the injury stuff out of my mind. And again, I don't think marner is a hundred percent healthy at the absolute peak of his powers right now, but that was what jumped out to me. Matthews, again, he's that's in the second period. He is minutes away from being pulled by team doctors, knee lander just missed the first three games of the series. And that frustration is leaking through. I couldn't get that part of it out of my mind. Obviously, there's a million other factors at play, but that was the thing that as a, I mean, this will shock you is thinking about this driving in this morning. That was the thing that kind of kept coming back to me is that those two, and again, the marner is not banged up. Everybody's a little banged up. But knee lander missed games, Matthews missed period. And it just seemed to me like that was part of the frustration that was put in the hole. Yeah, they can say whatever they want. And I wouldn't expect them to say anything different than the things they were saying at the conclusion of Saturday's game. But go back and watch the clip that Kelly Rudi illustrates, and it talks about marner in the offensive zone, getting pushed down, and then having a little yelling match with the official. I mean, watch the, that's not the only clip. Like watch the highlight reel of Mitch Marner either avoiding physicality or being adversely affected by the physicality of the series. I mean, you can say whatever you want. But it's hard not to come away with the opinion that William knee lander Austin Matthews are seeing the world seeing, which is a guy that, that thinks that this brand of hockey is too much for him, that he's overwhelmed by it. But he thinks it's unfair what he has to deal with. The same thing that everybody is dealing with in this series. And I mean, there was also like, it's obvious to point to a dichotomy of reactions to the same type of stuff that Mitch Marner is going through, but David Pasternak getting banged around all over the place. Yeah, you know, he did reverse hit John Tavares. Yeah. And that's not part of Mitch Marner's game, but okay. What is wanting to the official going to do? That's my job. Like literally. And it's certainly Sheldon Keefe's job. Yeah, he's good at it too. I mean, it's just, it's hard. And again, like there's the potential of, and boy, who wouldn't put it past this team to win the next two, two games and force a game so just quickly, quickly what we're here. The idea of a nine to win anything other than like a nine to leaf shellacking where Marner and knee lander and Tavares Matthews reach like two into that feels like the most obvious thing in the world tomorrow night. All right. Yeah, it does. This is a guy in Mitch Marner who at times unfairly, and he does score a spectacular goal in the hockey game to get them back in. I forget in there. Yeah. Well, too, too little, too late the least except their fake comeback, but it is, I mean, if you lose this series in whatever fashion, yes, it's going to be impossible to message to the fan base an extension of any length of any dollar figure coming up after July first after seeing what we just saw and that being the embodiment of it all. Yeah, I mean, that's the separate conversation and quickly on that. I don't think that's an issue because he ain't going to want to sign one right now. Right. Like the idea that Mitch Marner coming off his worst statistical season in the world where they're two to three games removed from him. I mean, let's be honest, having a his he fit on the bench saying, Oh, now's the time to negotiate my long term banger of a deal. Don't think that's going to be happening. He's going to want to play this the exact same way that neither stuff played out. And yeah, that'd be super, super unpalatable in terms of the dynamic between the three of them. It's really hard not to look at it that way. The other thing about Marner as well is that the frustrating part of this is that he. He feels like a player who went and I guess suppose it's going to be said for a lot of elite players. It is more susceptible, it feels like, to the tides of a game. And I think this is a fair criticism for all of the Leafs players. But it seems like when the Leafs are flying and Marner's going, he is, it's like a noz booster for him. No one is affected in a better way than when the Leafs are going than Marner. But conversely, when it gets down and maybe this is a body language stuff and hey, guess what? You don't want me to do body language stuff? Don't throw your gloves on the bench and have everybody talk about it. It seems like he is the one who is, and this is a market thing, seems like he is the one who is affected most by the pressures. And I will just throw in this caveat because it must be said, the only reason he's affected the most by it is, not going to say he cares the most, but because he cares so much. This is not, we all do the effort thing and we can have that conversation. But Mitch Marner did not throw his gloves because he doesn't care about winning or doesn't care about being a leaf. I believe it is so outsized in his world that it's like Atlas carrying the globe. Or holding it up or whatever. I mean, there's also a part of it that feels like, hey, he wants you to know that he cares, right? Definitely. There's just a little performative outrage absolutely. That is for our benefit. This is a guy that, yeah, he's not pleased that broke the stick. Was that last year too? Sure, yeah. The season two has to be in the bench for a shift. Literally one shift. How dare they? How dare they? It's just, it's tough, man. To watch the first 40 minutes of that hockey game. And with all the caveats that you write, they point out, I suppose, yeah, I don't want to, I don't want to make the show out of caveats because all the outrage that everyone feels is fair and not fair is the right way to feel like there is not a two sides to the issue. There's a right way to feel. But you have to somewhere, I don't care where, put it in the back of your lizard brain or whatever, but have no, like you have to know Matthews is what he is at this point, literally pulled out of the game. You might have missed first. The first 40 minutes too, it's like, it's something that goes beyond numbers or beyond whatever, you're talking about the caveats. And again, I understand it's not your number one point. It's something that I think watching as much hockey as we have, as much as people have in this market, watching this team in all its post season failures over the last near decade. I get something that you can just tell, right? Like that the level is not being raised at all. And I get like to me, the biggest embodiment of that is honestly five on four. When really? Yeah, no, it is because, hey, is it hard to score and create chances five on five against the Boston Bruins? Damn right. It is. And then even when you create one swam and it's like, no, you know where it's like factually supposed to be easier is when they have a player removed from it. And you can you even remove the physicality from it. The main beliefs aren't acting with enough urgency in those regards to get any legitimate scoring opportunities either. Like to me, that that is the biggest embodiment of this team's lack of urgency and comparing their effort level, whatever, and effort I'm using as a catch-all for whatever, like these guys don't go out there and go for a lolly gags cake. Okay. No, no, no. No. But yeah, like you can tell when something is happening, when a team feels like, oh, this is it. Yeah. And that ain't it. The first 40 minutes. Like there's just there's no number. You can tell me there's no caveat that you can give me that doesn't have me coming away with the first 40 minutes of that hockey game on Saturday thinking, oh, this is a is abysmal and embarrassing to watch. So I don't let me I've thrown a lot of caveats today. Let me say that this is not the reason why the Leafs lost the game. But if you're going to talk about energy and gumption or just going out there and doing a thing, find a thing to do. If it's hit somebody, great. If it's block a shot, great. If it's not, have a turnover. Just do that. The idea, and I understand this team is hurting for goals right now. So keeping Nick Roberts and I get it. That fourth line was giving you awesome energy shifts and the idea that they didn't lose the game because of that, but go back to that moment in, I guess it was the first home game when Ben Watt takes off past your next head and revo levels, whoever it is. And then Bertuzzi's getting into it and Domi's getting mouthy. And there wasn't any, you're supposed to pass the baton in a game like that where there's no life in the top half or top thirds of your lineup or top three lines. You need your fourth line to go out there and crash and bang and get something going. And then the whole point of having, I mean, there's many, there's other points to these players, but the point of Bertuzzi and Domi is that they can tap into that emotional charge that that fourth line is able to give you. You didn't get it from them last night. And look, just because Nick Roberts is there, it doesn't mean that, that revo or KFK run into somebody, but I liked what Dura was giving him. I liked the identity of that fourth line. And then you weren't able to have it from the two guys, and I'm not putting this on just Bertuzzi and Domi, but the way it's supposed to work is the fourth line has a little energy shift and then Matthew's line comes over the boards and then I'll look at that all of a sudden Bertuzzi's job with somebody and Matthew's, you know, cruising around with the puck and Domi's fire and saw. And then, oh, all of a sudden, the Leafs have momentum and who's coming over the boards? It's Mitch Marner. And because the game is trending in a certain way, Mitch Marner's feeling good and they didn't lose the game because Connor Deward didn't play. Of course. But I think that was a massive mistake to take away the one identity line. The Islanders haven't been in, you know, final fours in the NHL because of their energy line. But how many times throughout their runs and not the last couple of years, but three, four years ago, was it? Cezicas and Clatterbock and Martin running guys over. And then you just get momentum in the game back in a game that was flat. God, you needed that. Yeah. I mean, Sheldon Keith understands the stakes that are that exist in his world, obviously. But yeah, I mean, and I like Nick Robertson's game all season long and he wasn't bad. He does the thing that he's supposed to do, although it hasn't happened in the postseason. But like, yeah, he put the puck in the back of the net, but if he's, yeah, if William Neelander's going to take a spot on the third line, there's just like, I don't understand the purpose of Nick Robertson on that fourth line and a fourth line that had been so good. I understand they give up the goal, the first goal of the series, right? Like, make it back. They were even in that game because David Camp scored the only goal. That's right. Well, he scored in that hockey game. Yeah. I mean, and then TJ Brody makes his return to the lineup and just one more thing on Robertson, he only makes sense. If you're going to use him as the stick for some of the forwards in the top six, the idea of Robertson being in that game and him being able to give you offensive punch, that should work as the idea of, oh, Matthew and I's, do you like? I mean, it didn't matter who anybody was playing with because it weren't generating anything. But Matthew and I, do you like playing with John Tavares and Mitch Marner? I bet Nick Robertson would like to as well. You better pick it up. Hey, Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, do you like riding shotgun with the Rocket Richard winner? Better watch out. There's another guy we can pop in this top six. I think that's the utility of Robertson in those moments. And again, it's not the reason why they lost the game. It's just another factor in it from top to bottom. Yeah, TJ Brody makes his return to the lineup or makes his postseason debut this season for Timothy Lulegrin. And yeah, he's minus two, including, yeah, an attempted breakup of two-on-one returns into two-on-one ends up behind Eli Sandsonov. Before we take the break here, we got to talk about, yeah, Eli Sandsonov, also not returning for the third period. And Joe Wald, stopping all the shots in the third period. And yeah, you can't put it on Eli Sandsonov. Probably because of the quality of opportunities that were scored against him. And also the fact that his hockey team only scored once, and not until the third period. It's a real Bluejay starter situation going on with him. But yeah, it was okay. And yeah, it's a brutal turnover on the half wall by Ryan Reeves in the first goal. And nice little shot by JVR, had to be JVR, by the way. But like so mad every day I've looked and you can't bet him. It's like he's too far down on the peccic order. It's like you only get other, and it's like that's not good enough odds. I want my like 12 to 1 for JVR to inevitably have scored. As a quite an interesting look that he gave JVR on that scoring opportunity. And boy, the power play for the Bruins has really found life against one of the worst penalty kills, like just all season long in the NHL. Maple Leafs have been. Their safe percentage four-on-five has also been brutal. And boy, how many times have we seen that one timer by opposing power plays where it's like the hole four by six? Yeah. And okay, get it, get it, get it. Those are high-grade opportunities. Yeah, I'd be starting Joe Wall. I mean, for partly that reason also, I mean, at this point, it's hard not to also project towards next season. And what that could mean getting an opportunity for Joe Wall as opposed to the guy that's going to obviously depart in free-agents. This is shocking. The Leafs don't have a good option when it comes to you should start Game Five. You can either start the guy in Samsonov, who hasn't been his fault, but hasn't been able to be playoff Sammy from last year, or the guy who's lost every time the Leafs have gone to that building this year. Those are your choices. The Leafs are, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, but they're kind of in a similar spot. The Boston found themselves with their goaltending in round one last year, where, okay, we've waited, we've waited, we've waited, okay, go to Swamman, we've waited, we've waited, we've waited, we've waited, go to Wall, and it's gone great for him against Boston this year, especially down the stretch, right? Oh no, they lost both of those games, and he gave up four goals in each of them. I think if you're going to start Joe Wall, it has very little to do with Joe Wall or really a Samsonov, it has very little to do with next year. It is, okay, throw that game in the garbage. If they would let us wear our Justin Bieber flip side jerseys in the playoffs, we would do that. Whatever you can to make it feel as far removed from Saturday night. I think that's why you go to Joe Wall. If they go to Samsonov, I don't think that's a problem, but I don't think next year should enter the equation with who should start Game 4. Oh, I don't think for them, but for me it is. Yeah, okay. You can enter anything you want in your equation. The argument for Ilya Samsonov is that the floor was lower, but the ceiling was higher. He hasn't reached the ceiling at all. Oh, I was going to say it's just like the Goodwill Hunt. It's not your fault. Yeah. What they need is like a Stuart Skinner performance like from last night where they, hey, the Kings act like the more desperate team, obviously down two games to one at home and they fire twice as many shots on it. Yeah, I'd also take winning a game on 13 shots or 14, I'd take that as well. Yeah, Stuart Skinner comes up with his best performance of the postseason, best performance of his postseason career, his first postseason, Shadow 33 saves. Oh, yeah, if the argument was, he had a higher ceiling with Ilya Samsonov, we haven't seen that yet. So what's the point? Yeah. He's got some reliefs, obviously, to come. Interesting night in the NHL last night as well. Oh, yeah. We'll get him to the Nationals. Oh, it's like the Canucks is so perfect for today. Of course. Yeah, we'll get to that probably after seven o'clock. Yeah, yeah. So eventually. And yeah, the Blue Jays changed the narrative for one game at least as they still don't score, but boy, Kevin Gossman looks vintage as they salvage one of the three against the Dodgers. Well, I'm going to show you how Toni's first foray into a Toronto after an interesting off season for him, Blue Jays fans next, as the fan morning show continues, Ben Anis, Frank Gunning, Sportsnet 590, the fan. Hey, it's Ailish for a Fire. And I'm Justin Cusford. Join us as we discuss the most important sports stories of the day and tee up the biggest games of the night. It's the fan pregame, 6 p.m. weekdays on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590, the fan and wherever you get your podcasts. No catch better than George Springer does quite the top of the ninth inning with one of the catches of the year, allowing Jordan Romano to pitch a clean ninth inning, eleven pitches, nine strikes, a couple of strikeouts as well. But the pitching headline though is Kevin Gossman, who's looking ever closer to Pete Kevin Gossman. The biggest indicator for me is like the confidence he has in the fastball and a good job pointing out the ratio of fastballs to splitters going into that start as being about 50/50. And then Kevin Gossman just throwing it a lot more fastballs than splitters in that baseball game. It was up to the upper 90s, it was sitting around mid 90s, 95ish, but yeah, he's got the ERA now at four and a half after his horrible start, but goes seven innings against like this is no just seven innings against some bombs. Right. The second best offense in all of baseball and the best top third of a lineup in baseball pretty clearly. Yeah. I would like to officially report any concerns about Kevin Gossman have been this wage. We are no longer concerned about the start of Kevin Gossman's season. Having having said that, something he said towards the tail end of last year has been rattling around in my brain about this starting staff as a whole. And we think of leverage innings as a bullpen thing. The Blue Jays starters every inning they throw as a leverage and that's right because of these bats. So I mean, kudos to Gossman. It's been remarkable how quick in the grand scheme of things he's been able to find it after having no spring kudos to the Jay's staff. I know they lose two or three, but it was not the, you know, pitching undid them in that first game, but it's not the starting Chris, Chris Bass. It was bad, but you say Kikuchi wasn't bad. It's pretty crazy. Blue Jays had a chance to actually win the series if they get more than three hits in the second game of that thing. Tough ass though to get four hits in the baseball game. It's honestly like it's just there's, there's only, there's only nine innings. You only get minimum three turns off every one of them, 27 like to only to ask to get four hits in a minimum of 27 played appearances, like that's just, that is such a tough, tough ask. The other thing is like, Otani, he's loud early and then quiet the rest of the weekend, pretty much, but very, very loud early. There was a, it's a weird thing to say, but yeah, though they win that ball game the way they do. Which is good, no moral victories, but borderline encouraging series loss. I guess. Yeah, the offense still looks pretty, pretty similar to the one we've walked well. Bleak, inept. For the last three weeks now, we should just have a, we should have a Blue Jays the Saurus for the offense. And like every day, it's the Blue Jays word of the day that's just a synonym for inept. It's pretty amazing to me that for a season in which it was explicitly told to us by the Blue Jays front office that it's on the core now. In fact, that's the motto for this season to, to the core. And it's, I think it's actually kind of a brilliant motto, right? Cause it's like, you're a Blue Jays fan to the core, but it's also, it's up to the core. Like, you don't think that that was part of the decision making with whoever came up with that motto? Oh, I thought, I thought you said they worked backwards and the marketing guy was like, this is the slogan. They're like, all right, we'll go, we'll handle the off season accordingly. No, no, no, to the core. I've also seen it's, yeah, there were unintended consequences. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's, but yeah, it's, this is a season. It was up to the core players on this team, which is basically two guys, but you can throw George Springer in there as well. Vladimir Guerrero, Bobo Chet, George Springer, you starters are part of the core. Yeah. And those guys have been good. I didn't even thought about that as being part of the core because it just feels like burrios is like the guy front and center of the thing. Sure, sure. Yeah, to the core, I think of Bowen Vlad, it's pretty amazing that in a season in which so much seems to hinge on the top third of this Blue Jays order, there's an argument to be made that they've had their worst combined month ever as members of the Toronto Blue Jays. Chris Black, like actually pouring through the numbers, they spent 19 months together. Are we allowed to say they're bad? No, I didn't, I thought Chris Black was very anti-yes, saying they're bad. Hey, I don't know how you could come away with another opinion of what we've said. I've seen here as it's almost May, these guys have been awful, awful, awful, again, it's incredible. Even a game under 500, it's incredible. Yeah. This Blue Jays team wins any games considering the lack of offense that exists around those guys and those guys to the core and being up to the core and they had their worst combined month ever. Yeah. And I think that, I mean, again, like we've had this conversation at Nazi, I might think if you're going to say the core of the offense and you're right. Like pitch era. Sorry, not you. I'm right. Pitching is obviously a part of the core, but we'll part them for a second. It's three guys, right? Like we could talk about how good a gear Justin Turner's having or actually, I should say it's four guys because it's Vlad, it's Bo, it's Springer because you paid him and it's far show because of what he's done. Now it's also part of the plan, like you don't trade Gabriel Moreno for a guy and think he's a fringy piece to your ball club and the fact that he is hit now, you know, a little slightly cool down weekend for him, cool down weekend for everybody offensively. But I think that that's the other part of it. And Varsho has exceeded expectations in a way, of course, but it's we're kind of in the same conversation we had with a lot of, you know, not so much with Bo, but with a lot of these guys, positive regression, like, is it not due to come to a certain point? I mean, we can have very, very mild John, all these guys. But it's, it's, it literally, like I said, it's been the worst combined month they've ever had together. It can't be worse than the worst unless we're like setting new career worse. I mean, I guess it's possible that Boba Shedd and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are two of the worst offensive players in baseball. I don't think so. Probably not. And I think the track record for Boba Shedd is a little stronger than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. I think at the end of the season, his baseball reference page is going to look pretty similar to every other season he's ever had in his career. But I think the most frustrating part if you're a Blue Jays fan is like, there's nothing you can do about it. Like if those guys aren't producing, they're like, what, okay, we're talking about maybe like more Addison Barger at third base, you know, runs into one, once in a while. No, but like there's no, I got like all of us Martinez and like play them where it's at second base where like, Kevin Bijo's been pretty good or, you know, where he's committed all the errors and okay, like, I do think they should be playing David Schneider more. And maybe he's finally, you think you, you, Ben Ennis think babe Schneider should be in the lineup more. I am floored. Yeah. So I think he's going to be, he's going to get an opportunity against all commerce and he's played more against righties in left field. But that's it. Like there's no, no, there's no, I've heard this like, Hey, well, you got to do some of the batting. You're going to put like bow and Vlad, like seven to eight. It's not like there's some other player that's been deserving of some elevated rock line up spot. And yeah, okay, Dalton Varsho's already been bumped up to fifth and on occasion where Justin Turner doesn't place his head forth. So there's just like, there's no in silvery move. It's entirely up to bow and Vlad to turn this thing around. Yeah. And they're the pitching and defense team, but even they can't afford to ask Major League Baseball to put in a rule to have several DHS and just field with, I don't know, six, seven players out there at any time, like, cause that's the thing. That's the fix is, and I don't think it would be the fix, but if you could find a way to get Martinez bad in the lineup and just, it is not about that Martinez is going to come in and save the day or Barger is going to eventually figure it out, but it is about having enough opportunities for danger in the lineup. There just isn't it in this lineup right now. I mean, we've even talked about Horowitz, a guy who we think could hit, you know, what damage is he doing and fair conversation now, but where's he playing an even more important one? But that's the problem with this lineup is that there is a, there is so much boom or bust potential, but the boom is all in the top half of the lineup. Like once you get to Janssen, you can't really expect a ton else from what's going on down there, you know, competitive at bats, but we're beyond that. The idea of, oh, Jase are giving you some good competitive at bats. Yes, you want that. That's the route to success, but they, it has to start turning into something and something doesn't mean they score six and a half runs a night. But the idea of them putting up six or seven runs should not seem like an offensive outburst in a way that it does for this team, but it's going to it is interest. Listen, it's up to each individual player to give their best effort and do what they think is. What's their problem with the Js, right? Is to do what's in their best interest to perform individually, which eventually helps the collective. But yeah, it's pretty interesting. Blue Jays now have an offensive coordinator. There was like this talk of a different approach. Yeah, I mentioned that it's been the worst month collectively that George Springer, Boba Shedd and Vladimir Gurir, Jr. have had in an overall sense. As far as home runs, average, on base, slug, barrel second worst, run value. All these, it's actually very good month when it comes to walk rate, cutting down on those right and right and chase rate, which are the again, these all these stats brought to us by Chris Black. So you wonder if yeah, are they siding on the side of having better played appearances as far as their abilities to walk getting in hitter's accounts and then just not able to finish the bats off. And is that part of the problem? Is it like, is there a legitimate case to be made that, hey, it's the players ultimately who decide this thing, but like it's the wrong philosophy that's being preached to them by whoever's in charge. I guess the face of this thing has to be done mattingly. He's wearing the headset. He's the OC. That's right. Cut off. We got to get him like cut off sleeve hoodies. Just anything he can do to look more footbally. I think the other, if you're, if you're a believer in that philosophy, you have to believe that the idea is you continue to have that approach at the plate and you will continue to get better and better pitches to hit as the season progresses should. You be able to stay in it. Now that's the hardest thing in the world is to stick with an approach where you're not getting the results you necessarily want. And look, they can sit here and talk about pitches taken per it bad and chase right and all that. They want results in terms of loud, loud contact and doubles and homers and jacking up the OBP and your slug and all, all of that. So I think that that is what you need to see is if you're a believer in it, you need to and better and better. And even lesser hitters, guys who do not have as much power can take advantage of counts like that. Lastly, Shoyo, Tony, predictably booed. And then I guess equally predictably hits a home run in his first plate appearance in Toronto. I think everybody did their thing. Like I think even Shoyo, Tony, after it was like, yeah, I get it. I was expecting it. And then there can only be one team I can sign with. Yeah, I mean, the idea that there should be some like test-tisking of Blue Jays fans for booing, Shoyo, or even was anyone doing that? I mean, the closest I saw was, hey, don't boo him. It makes him stronger. It's like, I think he's, he's pretty strong on his own. And I think it's, if you're a Blue Jays fan, there's only one way to voice your displeasure. And it's, yeah, we talk, we're going to be talking a lot about catharsis today. Yeah. There's an element to that. I think everybody was fine with doing whatever they did and clearly, yeah, he's still very good. And I don't think the, I don't think your, your booze fueled him. I think he's just very good. Yeah, I agree. I, I think that you should have booed him. That's if you want to show Hayo, Tony, to be a Blue Jays, he's not, he can boo him all you want. Guess what? I don't think it's going to happen again, where we have the Shohei sweepstakes and he's like, oh, but they were so mean to me in Toronto. And I don't think that's like going to carry any weight with future Japanese players or anything on those lines. If you went down there and you booed, good job, want to shake your hand. Yeah. Well done. Not, not very well done on Saturday by the Toronto Maple Leafs. The exact opposite, in fact, who find themselves in a three one series hole, they need to win in Boston tomorrow to extend the series. We'll talk to Gord Stellick next as the fan morning show continues, Ben Anis Brent Gunning Sportsnet 590 the fan.
