Uh, are the, are the Leafs flying under the radar from a results perspective, I guess, is the, is the simple question here.

I, I think there's potential for that for sure.

And I mean, I think some of the reason they're, they're behind the eight ball right now in people's minds is just what an atrocious season they are coming off of.

And there was, there was nothing good about it.

There was hardly any high points.

There was about a 10 game piece after Christmas where they looked like a good hockey team.

Other than that, it was just, they never found their footing.

No swearing.

How have you evaluated what he's been able to do in the last, call it six, eight weeks?

Yeah, I mean, uh, obviously it's, it hasn't been a disaster as people predicted.

Uh, it was, it was a shocking hire, and people really dug deep into, you know, some negative things from his past.

And I even thought that was a bit aggressive.

Like, there's obviously something to this guy to be able to be an assistant GM at 26 and a general manager of an NHL team at 28.

Like, he's got some things going for him, clearly.

Like, nobody does that unless you can wow people and have a brain that, uh, that, that impresses people so much they're willing to, to give you that opportunity.

[laughs] Yeah

So how you feeling this morning? You must be pretty fired up.

Yeah, I mean, I get it.

I, I'm not, I'm not heartbroken or anything.

I, I really wish that it would've gone differently in Toronto.

Um, you know, with their 10 years of playoff runs, we saw the same stuff happen over and over again.

They were, they were too fancy, they were too soft to get through the heavy teams, and they got punished every single time they tried to make a run for the Stanley Cup.

You know, two playoff wins in 20 years, just not good enough, and that's why they brought Berube in.

[laughs]

[laughs]

"Here's the three teams I would even consider going to," and you're like, that really narrows it down.

Those teams understand that's the situation, too, and they're gonna go, "Well, I know Toronto's hamstrung here, and they only have a few options to move this guy." So I mean, you, you see these trade proposals online from people, and it's just the absolute world.

I, I'm sorry, you're probably not getting that back.

Also, I don't think they're gonna move on from Auston this year.

I think they're gonna play this year.

I hope he has a better year and his stock goes up considerably and people are reminded of, oh my God, what, what this guy does.

Like, that's, that's kinda where I see this thing going, no matter who they hire.

What do you think Auston Matthews' in for?

I would hope...

I mean, we talked about this on, on Leafs Morning Take this morning, you know, about the- I mean, where do you wanna go with it? About the reception to him.

There's, there's a few things.

There's A, he is American, and he's coming back to the biggest Canadian market in hockey, and he's got the gold medal, so there's kind of like a boo aspect to that.

It's still fresh in people's minds.

Most of Leafs fans are probably Hockey Canada fans, and were not happy to see them lose the gold medal.

Yep

Mm

... and he's got the gold medal, so there's kind of like a boo aspect to that.

It's still fresh in people's minds.

Most of Leafs fans are probably Hockey Canada fans, and we're not happy to see them lose the gold medal.

And then there's this new added level of him going to the White House, and that being so bad, and literally the insane people online saying, "He's not my captain anymore.

Trade him immediately," and that's social media for you.

But I would hope that if you're really a Leafs fan and you're not a lunatic, you would say, "Hey, it stings that Canada lost, but my captain, who has a history of coming up, you could say, short in the big games," his playoff performance is not like his regular-season performance.

Yep

(laughs)

...

in my career, no doubt.

But one that stands out to me is, um, it was my second game playing overseas, and I was in Glasgow playing.

We were in Belfast the night before.

Um, they had me net front of the power play and no one wanted to stand there, so I stood there.

It was big.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And it hasn't led to a whole lot of success.

But I do think that those are issues that you can clean up in a hurry, and they are getting used to each other, and nobody has played with the same guy, um, with too much familiarity, uh, at all.

They're putting the lines in a blender, actually, the way Sheldon Keefe did, and I, I really think that Groube is trying to find some chemistry with certain people and figure it out.

Again, it's the first month of the season.

I think the problems that they have here, I, I would not be shocked if we hit Christmas and look back and say, "Oh yeah, remember that brutal start?"

Mm-hmm.

... type of a team.

This is what this is about.

We're, okay, we're a terrible team, uh, Norfolk Admirals in the American League.

I'm like 22.

We're on, like, a five-game slide, right? And nothing's going good.

Um, we had the, like, a good group of dudes.

We got along, wicked leadership.

Like, Norm Nilly was, like, this beauty leading the charge, our captain, and, um, we're at dinner, and we all decide that dinner's, we're not going back to the hotel room.

Oh.

Yes.

...

in a street fight or a UFC fight, you'd never do that.

It's just such a, it's such a thing of its own, and I love it.

It's, it's something that I just...

It's hard to describe and it's hard to put into words, but it is something that is so intense and, and so unique, and I ...

It brought the passion and the intensity of a hockey game and it, it, it, like, it was the culmination of all of that that brought to a scrap usually, and I just, I happen to love that.

Yeah.

Yes.

...

in a street fight or a UFC fight, you'd never do that.

It's just such a...

It's such a thing of its own and I love it.

It's, it's something that I just...

It's hard to describe and it's hard to put into words, but it is something that is so intense and, and so unique.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

... about, oh, that happened to me, so I'm gonna hammer down on that guy.

I didn't really experience that, so that's fine with me.

You kinda gotta go by the rule book and you gotta have a pretty detailed explanation of why you're suspending a guy.

Um, I bet you any amount of money if you're sitting at a table having a beer in a- in a tavern with George Parros and that fight is on, he sees it, he'll say, "Do not like that.

I don't like that one bit." I don't think that the fact that he didn't suspend him means that the league's okay with it.

I- I, in my mind, I think that the social pressure of it and everything you saw online, Chatfield will probably get the message, probably won't do that again.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

... um, you know, how they're spread out a, a little better.

They have a little bit more depth.

You look at, um, you know, Matthew Knies coming and hitting his stride, and, um, you know, with Domi starting to hit his stride after a tough season.

Look what John Tavares is doing, and we haven't even really talked about the superstars yet.

Uh, it, it kind of annoys me, and I understand why to a degree when, when fans won't get excited for where this team is right now, like you mentioned, leading the Atlantic.

They're deep.

Yeah.