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Ben Ennis and Brent Gunning open the week by breaking down the Maple Leafs’ dismal showing against the Ottawa Senators. The boys break down the team’s response afterward and Craig Berube publicly calling them out, leadership concerns around captain Auston Matthews, the physical pushback from Max Domi and Scott Laughton, and the broader direction of the coaching staff and front office. After the break, they shift to the Blue Jays to discuss Dylan Cease’s debut, the development plan for Trey Yesavage, and how the pitching staff and bullpen are shaping up. They close by reacting to Shane Lowry’s meltdown at the Cognizant Classic.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.
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Yeah, I don't know.
I mean, just kind of lost it there.
Just really disconnected throughout all three zones.
And just bad, just fairly embarrassing to be honest with you.
It's just not the way we need to have more pride in our play
no matter where we're at, no matter what the situation is.
We just have to have more pride in our name.
And we didn't have that tonight.
Yeah, I mean, I don't think it was really the first two periods
to arrive a little bit in the third.
I mean, we had that desperation of if we're going to make
through one of these.
It starts with effort and we build it.
And I think that that's one of those non-negotiables
as a team when you come up with a home game,
you've got to have some pride and put forward an effort
that you can look yourself in the air
afterwards and I prefer that.
I don't think that's the case tonight.
And again, I don't need to repeat myself,
but you can't allow that to happen.
You're done with your game.
When I look at the game and show tape or we go over things,
there's a certain way we need to play the game.
But I can't give guys this or this.
And they have to come with that.
That's got to be on them.
They've got to bring the heart and the competitiveness
that's needed.
And it's all the little things.
They've got to bring that.
They've got to want to bring that.
We can bring the X's and O's and I can go in there
and yell and scream at them all I want.
That's good.
That doesn't do anything either.
She lets some fans yell and scream at them then.
Fan morning show Sports at 5'9".
The fan, fan and his bread-gunning.
Considering the stakes, at least play arguably
the worst game of the season, 5'2".
The first home game since the Olympics.
Two, their provincial rivals, senators.
Yeah, I know the senators probably going to misplay us as well,
but they seem to think that there's a possibility
that they could.
And they were only one point better than the Leafs
going into that game on Saturday.
Who'd have known it because the Leafs are done.
They pulled the shoot, they've given up,
called it a quit, called it whatever.
I mean, that first period was insane.
16-2 shots on goal, shot attempts.
We're 28-4.
And it didn't get much better than that
the rest of the game.
Good morning, Brent.
Yuck, ew, bad morning.
Bad weekend, bad leaf season.
Yeah, you mentioned there the possibility of Craig Bruebe
feels that yelling to the players won't do anything.
They should let the fans problem is,
they don't make buildings big enough for that.
I was about to make a joke about like over here,
like I don't know, like are there stadiums bigger than the big house
like at Michigan?
I don't know that there's stadiums big enough in the world
if they just wanted to open it up.
You know, I was thinking about my barber
this weekend.
I was also thinking of your barber.
Okay, well, weirdly.
Well, because he is, he's a big soccer guy,
not like a North American sports guy.
I was like, why do you guys accept this?
I'm like, I don't know what to tell you.
No one's all that accepting of it.
He's like, you should yell, you should get to yell
and scream at them.
And I'm like, honestly, after this weekend,
who could disagree?
Who could disagree?
It's, it's bad.
Craig Bruebe doing the, I can't give him this right here,
pointing at his heart.
I don't, I feel like that's kind of what you're here.
You're supposed to be here to do.
You know, if they wanted to go get their ex and those coach,
I don't know that that's where they're landing on it.
And sometimes it's overstated of like who just wants to play big heavy hockey.
Look, Craig Bruebe knows enough about the game,
but you're, you're here for one thing and one thing only to give them heart,
to give them gumption, to yell at them if they don't want to give you either of those
things.
So no, that, that's a, that's a new low point.
I don't know.
We can compare and contrast the what's lower, the like,
oh, man, I thought it'd be different this time.
Bam, game severed.
Bam, game five against the Panthers or this.
But woof, rough, rough Saturday night.
And it's not like they're coming off a couple of masterpieces there in Florida.
Yeah, that's what gets me to, right?
Because we, we all know what the situation is with the season.
Now, it didn't have to be this way.
Like even coming out of the Olympics, right?
Winners of three straight.
And it was hard to remember that they had won three straight after the six game
losing streak in the disastrous homestand.
And it wasn't right there, but you know what?
You put together some, some good hockey games.
You win four of those six games before Friday's trade deadline.
Yeah.
You're probably still selling, but it changes the conversation quite a bit.
And it's not just losing.
It's, it's the manner in which they're, they're competing in these games for long stretches.
And generally speaking, it's the first period of the hockey game.
Yeah.
Like that's, that's it.
It's, it's just how, how, how is, how is that happening?
Like what, what is the mentality that allows the worst period of hockey that this team has played all season
in the most important time of the season for this team to be competing?
That's true.
Like that's, it's, it's all now, it feels like a relevant time.
But Saturday, that first period against your provincial rival.
I guess the team that you just played in the postseason as well, right?
Yeah.
That feels like a lifetime ago.
Remember?
Yeah.
You were, you gave everybody that, that the, the, the Ick with the thought of a potential
three O series blown lead, but you didn't.
Yeah.
You ended up advancing to the second round for only the second time in this generation.
And, and it's, it's, it's like the numbers are, that first period, the numbers are like impossible.
It's like, I don't know how many times a team is as ever put for that type of shot metric totals against another team.
It's like, it's, it's, they're not in the same league 28 to four shot attempts.
Yeah.
Shots like, like I said, shots on gold, 16 to two, high danger shot attempts.
Six to one is insane at home.
No, I, it was, it was Cuffbird, simmer.
I don't know.
So one of them mentioned it of like, oh, man, the Leafs, you know, two, first two shots to the game.
They score on one of them and then a period over, basically, as far as they were, were concerned.
You know, I think back again to all the other times during this leaf era, which we, the Austin Matthews era, of which they made the playoffs every time.
How much would you kill to have the frustrations you had with the Babs era of like, hey, they don't start on time.
But then, then you better watch out that second, like a second half of the second period and third period there are coming.
And then there was no coming on, on Saturday, it was ridiculous to have that.
And again, to have it on the idea after the fact of the Tampa and the Florida games for it to be that way.
It's just, it's brutal.
They're a bad hockey team full stop and of sentence.
There are a lot of bad hockey teams in this league that don't look like that.
The Ottawa Senators to your point also, also not the 80s oilers of like, well, I mean, what can you do?
You know, beat him a lot of times, go ask a lot of teams in the, in the NHL, go ask yourself less than a year ago in a playoffs series.
So no, this is, this is abhorrent quite, quite honestly.
You know, sometimes you try to measure your words and it's like, hold on, there could be new loads.
I don't know that there can be.
You mentioned it didn't have to be this way.
You know, we're going to talk to Sam after, after eight today.
One of his big fears and I think that of a lot of people was, oh, man, they're going to win a couple of games
and they're not going to feel like they have to sell.
Could you imagine like again, all of the other lows that seem so quaint now.
Remember Kyle Dubas telling Zach Bogosian?
No, we won't even allow you to have a meeting with us.
Save yourself from us.
The idea of that, oh, my God, I'd kill to be in a position where it's like, you know, you probably shouldn't.
Teams would be fire, our players would be firing their agents if they had set up a meeting with the Toronto Maple Leafs
the way it's going right now.
Think of all the other times in this era.
It's been so bad.
And this is so much worse.
And, and this isn't, you know, the dying days of the season where it's like, okay, everybody knows what it is.
There's five games left.
Let's all just grin or teething it through.
There's 20 games left in the season.
This is absurd.
Yeah, it's bad.
Yes.
Is, you know how bad it is?
Oh, okay, go.
The one thing that you could hang your hat on, Jordan Beans, offside review.
Even that.
Infected.
And I will say, I think it was Craig Rubay going rogue when Matthew Neyes brings the puck into the own zone.
Oh, you think like, I don't know what review is like, yeah, it's offside, but it's not offside because he brought the puck back into the zone.
Like, I don't know how review is going to help you here.
We all know the stakes here that feels like a judgment calling.
It's the same referees that are making the decision as to whether it's offside in real time.
And on the review, touch the stick last.
Like, I don't know what you expect to see here.
Yeah, everyone with the brain saw that and went.
And again, like, maybe he's concussed.
I don't know.
It's like, I know I got bonked on the head, but it looks great.
Now you could, you could barely tell at all.
I feel like there's like a like an indent almost.
It's not great.
But yeah, I mean, how dare you sell the good name of Jordan Beaton Sam Kim?
They shouldn't have to wear that.
No, and it's not on them.
Honestly, I want the truth.
There's no way they authorized.
I mean, he's the coach.
He can do whatever he wants.
Sure.
There's no way they didn't authorize the code red.
They didn't call for the code red, okay?
No, I do love when you get the clip on the bench and it's whatever assistant is in the FBI.
And he's like talking in his wrist.
He's like, what do you think?
And they're like, we went to get coffee.
It was so obviously not a time for challenge there.
So, yeah, you need to look, I'm pretty sure I've seen Craig Brubay, like apologize to
Goldies for putting them in a bad spot or whatever.
I need it.
And actually, let's go a step further.
This is the only thing good thing going for the least this year.
Full page ad in the paper apologizing.
We're sorry, Jordan.
Yeah.
I mean, the NHL and the officials in that game should also apologize to Anthony Stolars.
Because this is the year of the of the goalie fight.
Right.
This is it's back everywhere.
Everywhere you look, there's a goalie fight in another league.
I tagged us over the weekend.
There was another one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So eventually in the third period, some people decided, oh yeah.
This is embarrassing.
We should probably like make an effort to make it look like we care.
Mostly Max foamy.
And Scott Long.
He, but it was like, do me.
Was patient.
Yeah.
He just grabbed a guy and is like, hmm, I'm watching my dad do this.
Yeah, yeah.
So there's that.
Sure.
And it was initiated from Anthony Stolars, right?
Who is cordoned off in the corner?
The official standing like his bodyguard in front of him.
Not as if there was going to be yet another goalie fight.
But maybe.
And the Leafs do have a guy in Stolars who feels like he fits the mold.
You can't even get that.
We deserve it.
Is what you're saying?
Absolutely.
You don't think so?
No, no, of course.
Like, well, there's, I mean, we, we deserve to create many things in this hockey market.
It's kind of one of the, one of the tenants of what I scream and yell about every day.
But now, of course, we deserve that.
If it's going to be a side show, gong show season, I don't know, like give me a goalie
fight, give me a goalie goal.
Yeah.
Just have, just have Anthony Stolars gave it a go yesterday.
Yeah.
He did.
I did see that.
And he stole ours just like, you know what?
Defense, I got this.
I'm breaking the puck out and he's not allowed to cross the red line, but like, I don't
know, go for a walk as much as you want.
Joe Wall would never, could never.
Yeah.
But, uh, but yeah, Anthony Stolars, uh, everything is on the table with him.
Uh, least blues.
I don't know if they have another game this year, but it's like, I don't know.
We could just watch those guys fight.
They're both our itching.
Yeah.
It feels like it anyways.
I know, I know like the Kippers of the world have been like, I don't like the premeditated
like, oh, and you guys are buddy, buddy after don't care what it takes.
Give it to me.
I want Anthony Stolars in the NHL goalie union group chat, just boxing glove emoji question
mark.
Who wants it?
I would.
I would.
Okay.
I'd be down with anything other than what we've seen here.
First three games.
Us.
It's the Olympic break.
Backing action tonight on Amazon Prime Monday night hockey, I guess that flyers.
Poor ad.
Anyways.
So yeah, you heard in the intro there, awesome ad views, William Nieland or Ed, you heard
Craig Bruebe as well.
Well, we'll get to the brew bay of it in just a second.
I'm sure change Morgan Riley.
You know, if there's, you know, if there's important, uh, hosh tones to say into a Leafs
Mike, he's never lurking far away.
Yep.
And he is a fellow that'll put it on himself a little bit.
Um, okay.
And we understand what Morgan Riley is at this point in his career.
William Nieland or awesome ad views supposed to be in their prime.
Yeah.
How much are they going to wear this season?
Like how, how much is, is when we look back on the reasons why the everything gestures
broadly to everything has happened is going to land in their laps.
I don't know how much I really, I really don't.
I think like a lot of things in sports, I don't know.
Can I get back to you on 18 months in this?
Like if Austin Matthews and I don't, I'll be on record for the eight billions time.
So long as this team proves it can, it can avoid sideshow bobbing itself and just stepping
on breaks time and time again.
I think Austin Matthews wants to be here and I think he's going to be a leaf.
But if in two years time, he is no longer on this hockey club, that's when I think you
get the like retroactive of him wearing it.
If like, he was already kind of checked out, he had looked at his next destination.
He was y'all can it up with all the boys at the Olympics and he had already kind of
made up his mind.
But when I look at this, it's not to absolve them of all of the sins of this organization,
but I can't put them on him.
I don't know.
You, you spend a lot of time in hockey rings and talking about this team.
The first thing in, in other years, it's been, oh, Matthew needs to step up.
Neymander needs to step up.
What I'm hearing a lot of and what I'm seeing a lot of is what is Bradshaw living doing?
What is this hockey team?
Austin Matthews could be a 69 goal self and guess what, it isn't saving this group.
So you're the captain of the team.
You're never completely absolved of its sins.
When I look at this team, I, in the past, I think it's been fair to wonder like, oh,
how far is this guy going to drag them or why can't he have the hat trick night when
the team really needs it or Neymander at the same boat?
But just the way that this team is built, I don't look at it as this is a, and I realize
this isn't exactly the question, but I don't look at it as an Austin Matthews problem.
I don't look at it as a William Neymander problem.
And even the character stuff we've talked about in the past, like, what if he was more
wired like McKinnon to get the guy's face and yell at him and tell him to work harder?
I don't know that it would matter.
I really don't.
It may be it helps a little, but it's degrees of bumping this up to respectability.
It's not turning this team into kind of a true blue winner.
So I really don't, they're not completely absolved.
But when you look at blame pie, like, I don't know, I'm giving like both those guys maybe
10, 15% of said blame pie each.
Let's put William Neymander aside because he agree with it, disagree with it.
I think if you, if you envision the player being anything more than just puts the numbers
on the score sheet, although he's the one who yelled at everybody to stop crying.
Right, bro.
It's not junior bro.
Okay.
So I'm not going to revisit the other captaincy stuff with, with Austin Matthews, who by
the way did get a standing ovation, whether it was as boisterous as you would have anticipated.
I thought, man, considering the discourse, considering the fact that he was the guy that
put the dagger into the heart of Canadian hockey vans.
Uh, yeah, let me quickly get in on that, but grudging applause is exactly the way that
should be handled, okay?
Yeah.
So I think largely that story is done, right?
I would agree.
I think.
Okay.
You can debate about outside of the bounds of hockey, what the responsibility of the captain
of the Toronto Maple Leafs is, and we had that discussion.
Go back in the podcast and listen on Friday.
If you missed it, our conversation with Damien Cox, if you want to hear that conversation.
I'm talking about hockey now.
Yep.
There's no debate.
So the Craig Baroubaay talking about, I can't bring this pointing to his heart.
I can't bring this pointing to his head.
I guess you can debate the coach's role in that.
I think we can all agree that the captain has some role in that, right?
Like that.
Sure.
If we're talking about the captain's responsibility, the emotional heartbeat of a hockey team.
How are we not putting some of this on Austin Matthews played?
Maybe not all of it, okay?
Not all of it.
And what are you supposed to do in the chicken salad chicken turret of it all?
But there has to be some level of responsibility for this, the embarrassing nature.
And you, like you said, well, maybe it's only taking it from embarrassing to like almost,
you know, salvageable, like a hockey team looking like an NHL, a normal NHL hockey team losing
a normal game.
You know what?
Would subscribe considering what we've seen about the last three games.
How is that not part of Austin Matthews' purview as the captain to make this team not
look embarrassing?
Well, because I think that, I think it's part of his purview, absolutely.
But I also think that, and I don't know, maybe this is me just like understanding what
the guy is or whatever, that you didn't, he never in his time here has been Ra Ra leader
guy.
And I think if you just start like, oh my god, the ship is sinking.
I have to completely change who I am.
And that is why I think that when you look around, the problem with this team is not
that Austin Matthews doesn't grab a guy, I was about to say by the cage, but they don't
wear those in the NHL.
Grab them by the chin strap and go, you got to try harder.
I don't think that's the issue here.
So I am not completely absolving him.
That's why again, like I'm doing the old blame pie, it's like, yeah, 15% of it is him.
That's not an insignificant part, but why is the team this way?
I don't know man, when everybody on the team seemed as locked and secured in their position,
and this isn't like the olden days where it's because Kyle Dubas gave him all the money
in the world or Brandon Shanahan said, oh, don't worry, no one's going to trade you
that big mean Kyle, we had to run him out of here.
No, this is a general manager, you know, the last transaction Bradshaw living made with
another NHL team was in July, July, that was the last time.
And it wasn't like, oh, July 30th, no, July 17th or 18th, whenever the Dakota
Joshua trade was made.
So you want to talk about resting on your laurels, what laurels, by the way, with this
hockey club, that's where I go with this.
So I got landed, Jonathan Uberdo, what are you talking about?
Under, under, under arrest.
Yeah, yeah, we didn't land on Plymouth Rock, the rock was landed on them in that instance,
okay?
No, no, Mackenzie Weger, that's the way he sells it by the way.
Yeah, okay, fine player.
Probably not as good as the guy who has two Stanley Cup rings, plug in his ear in
Florida, although he doesn't need to plug his ear because there's no criticism that
comes of that of that hockey team, they're either winning in great or sometimes the noise
at club 11 gets quite loud.
So that's good point, but those are champagne corks, he uses to plug his ears, not his Stanley
Cup rings.
But that's why again, like anybody who sits here and goes, Austin Matthews is completely
absolved of this.
What are you talking about?
That's ridiculous.
You might as well not have a captain, if that's the case.
But when I look at the ills of this team, what has failed this team, and I also think
part of it is the people he's been surrounded by.
Craig Brewer may specifically, that's the reason he's the coach is to provide the heart
thing.
And again, like we can sit here and wish, wish upon wish that Austin Matthews was, I
don't know, pick your, pick your leader guy.
Is it Sydney Crosby who by the way, generally speaking, not screaming at teammates?
Is it Connor McDavid?
Okay, we've seen him with the dig in as a game five of a cup final, a little bit of a
different circumstance, also the guy who was winning the consmouth in that year.
So I don't absolve Matthews of this.
You're being ridiculous if you do.
But I don't think Austin Matthews having the best season of his life, 69 goals getting
selky trophy votes is really changing the barometer on this team.
And most importantly, again, you can disagree, feel free to do it.
I don't think him having that season is making Nick Wah dig in in a different way.
Or John Tavarez or Bobby McMahon or and and, and, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
So I think that's just where I land on this, absolving him ridiculous, but not as ridiculous
as it is to pile the majority of the blame on him.
By the way, whatever company the economic David and Austin Matthews are promoting with
this, like they're this attempted viral interaction on Twitter, like the payoff better
be worth it because this is a stupid.
Have you seen this?
They have.
It's just I presume the company is the Toronto Maple Leafs and it's going to come in
two years time.
That's what I presume.
That's like, that's my.
No, it's not that.
It's some, it's whatever some some big brand.
Anyways, they're going back and forth on Twitter and yet the reveal hasn't come yet.
No doubt is coming.
You know, this is going to be like when LeBron, we all thought he was announcing his retirement
and it's like, well, I had a year, whatever it was there, there's nobody that's fooled
by this, like as a real interaction, right?
I don't think.
Does anybody think this is real?
The Austin Matthews, Conor McDavid, I really do know, they're both their teams floundering.
And the oilers are floundering almost as much, honestly, but because they play in the awful,
not very good, horrible Pacific division, still find themselves in a playoff spot.
I hope Brandax enjoys this because no hockey players ever going to do it again with the
way that it is.
Yeah, put a put a hack on both their teams, although one of the teams plays in the Pacific.
So it's fine.
Yeah, it'll be totally fine.
Yeah, it'll be fine.
Okay, so I'm brought back to my line of questioning last week that, okay, let's, let's imagine
a world in which Keith Pelley, his motorcycle brand I headed into Friday was, okay, yeah,
we're going to do a soft sell, we're going to sell some pieces here, but you know, we do
have Austin Matthews and Willie Neilander under contract and we've got goal-tending for
next season.
So you guys were on the hot seat Bradshaw living and Craig Baroube, but we're not making
any big moves this season.
I mean, is there a way that this season gets so ugly and so bad and so untannable that
somebody's got to pay and maybe both fellas got to pay because it feels like we're trending
in that general direction.
By the way, it is head coach firing season Jim Hiller finally paying for that insane
challenge in game three of the first round against the Oilers last year where that's
what it was.
Yeah.
And if you like it and you hear DJ Smith talk about like the fact that there was a carry-over
effect into the season for the Kings this year, if people forget the Kings led the Oilers
two games to none in the first round last season and we're up four three with seven minutes
to go in the third period of game three.
Oilers tied it up on like an avandor cane, like kind of weirdo goal that was obviously
never going to come back off the board, but challenged by Jim Hiller and then the Oilers
scored on the power play within 10 seconds, won that game and then never look back one
four consecutive.
Yeah.
Anyways, yeah, it's firing season in the NHL.
Will it be firing season for the Toronto Maple Leafs?
I don't imagine before Friday, but like at some point do you have to whether it's give
the fan base some red meat or say, Oh, yeah, no, we know it was bad.
We didn't know it was this bad.
My first takeaway regarding the Kings position and all this is they obviously watch the
Olympics and they're like, we got to make everything about the Leafs.
We got to fire a former Leafs assistant and hire a former Leafs assistant to see only
way we know how to go, go about our business.
Before I answer that question, just a quick question for you, who had higher expectations
coming into the season, the Kings or the Leafs or were they at least in the same neighborhood?
They were in the same neighborhood.
Right.
I think the Leafs would have had higher expectations because of the high end talent,
but I suppose you could say the reset.
They were up to nothing on the eventual West Conference champions as the Leafs were
up.
Right.
Right.
Okay.
The eventual.
Yeah.
Eastern Conference champs.
Right.
And the Kings are the ones that fire their coach.
You know, the Kings famously with this, this, this ravenous fan base to answer to.
I don't know.
Will Will Farrell.
No, there's a different head coach.
You tell me nuts, nuts, nuts, that that's the way this goes.
I, I don't think if there's, if this is all anybody's fault gestures to everything in
the plane.
It's Bradshaw Living's fault.
Okay.
If we're going to just put it on one person.
Yeah.
But, but if you wanted a crowd pop in that game, ladies and gentlemen, to start the third
period, New Zealand is behind the bench and Craig Borough Bay has been removed or relieved
of his duties.
Like, you could have convinced me it could have happened in the middle of that game.
And again, is it all Borough Bay's fault?
No.
Do I think he goes in there and says, Hey, guys, you're getting orange slices after the
game.
No matter what, try harder.
Don't.
I can't give you a heart.
Justters at my head make you think the game.
Okay.
I look at it and somebody has to wear it.
It has got too bad at this point.
You do, you're not going to make your, I don't know, who are the guys that matter on this
team?
Basically two guys, right?
And Matthews and Neelander.
It's like I suppose Jake McCabe matters.
But the point I'm making is you can't make a trade that punishes this team enough right
now.
There is no, you know what?
This isn't Kyle Dubas a half thousand years ago.
You know what?
You guys, I'm taking away your toys.
We're breaking up the band.
Mitch Marner's going to Carolina wherever he wants to go.
You're not trading Matthews or Neelander.
One, they hold all the cards, two, you're not winning that trade.
And three, you're not trading those guys out of spite to stick it to this core that they
need to be broken up.
Of course, done.
Well, right.
Right.
There's one guy that can pay for this right now.
It doesn't require you to have another team's permission.
It's Craig Borough Bay.
And do I again, if I'm just going to blame one guy, it's Brad for living.
But I can understand the idea of, hey man, there's a deadline in four days seems like a lot
to throw Brandon Predeman to the fire unless we've been back channeling to him for weeks
on weeks.
So this is very likely to happen here.
I think you have to make a change because this is a fan base.
Again, unlike I would have thought the Kings who they could just wander off into the wilderness
to know him, whatever notice or care, people do notice and people do care here.
So you need to do something like, honestly, if they had already, if they hadn't just
changed the captaincy, not to get back to Friday, it's like, you pull a shark.
And you're like, something has to pay.
There is no captain to this team.
We're not waiting into those waters right now.
They're giving everything that's in play.
Something has to happen.
You need to show this fan base that someone around the team cares.
And I don't mean cares like those guys go out and they just are out for a Sunday afternoon
escape.
But genuinely cares about what's going on with this team.
And to just run out Barouba for the last 20 games of this and to, and again, the Bradshaw
living, if it's just me who's got to pay, it's him.
But I get why you're not going to do it right before the deadline.
Barouba has to wear this.
And is he wearing it for a thousand people's mistakes?
Yes, yes, yes, that's what the big bucks are for.
Yeah.
And we'll continue to be for he also wears it for some of his own fours, of course,
of course.
Well, whatever that is.
Yeah, I don't know.
Like maybe play Easton Cowan.
Sure.
Sure, sure, sure.
That I wouldn't be against that.
I think though what you might be missing is that coming up after Friday, apathy is going
to set it, right?
Like the fan base is going to unplug from Toronto Maple Leaf season.
Clearly, like these games, even performances like Saturday against the senators, it'll
be less relevant.
Partly because I guess Jacob Quillin is, I watched Jacob Quillin yesterday, he'd score
a goal from Marley's big win over the Chicago Wolves.
By the way, Dennis Hill would be, look great, going post post a couple of different times.
But yeah, no, they already looked like a button last time I was out of Marley's camera.
Yeah, he played the night before against Wolves and yeah, lost a shoot out.
I think it was six five.
Anyways, look at Marley's insider here.
Yeah.
So yes, like the, the, the fewer towards this team, racking up all the losses and handing,
I guess, the Bruins the six overall selection.
Yeah.
It won't feel this, it won't feel as hot as it feels right now because yet Saturday was
a moment where it despite us already making the determination that it was over, it wasn't
factually.
No, because they played a team that it's just as over for and they didn't play like
it was over.
But it will be when they start selling off pieces, even if it's just Bobby McMahon and
Scott Lawton or a little deeper and Oliver Ekman-Larson.
And yes, the report from Elliot Friedman over the weekend was, yeah, they're looking at
deeper cuts than just the guys that are pending for agents.
By the way, parenthetically, I mean, are we really going to, is there an offer out there
for Bobby McMahon at five million, like are the Leafs making a contract offer to Bobby
McMahon at five times five?
I haven't engaged with that because, and I know people are going to be like, when do
you talking about gunning?
You've been screaming at me for 30 minutes already on a Monday morning.
I don't have it in me to stop if I begin going in on how terrible an idea that holy
cow, man, like, and I know perhaps going up, it's like five, five is really three eights
from a couple years ago, Yuck Ew, and I look, I got all the time in the world for Bobby
McMahon when he's this, when he makes one three or what are two one or whatever it is,
I got, I got all the time for that.
The idea of committing term to a guy who's fast and he's just starting to hit 30 and has
never been a consistent threat for your team.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
And again, I hate, I ain't even going there because it's just Bobby McMahon's fault that
the team's not this way.
No, it's not his fault.
But it, let me tell you whose fault it would be, Bradshaw Living's, if he signed them
to that contract.
Yeah, that's, that's one where Keith Bell has got to stand in the way of that one.
Also, okay, so all of this is colored with, and this was what we were told from everybody
I talked to in Calgary when Triliving was, it's like, hey, buddy, get ready to hear everything
because he's in on everything.
Is this just like he can't help himself, but he's like, hmm, what about five, five for
you knowing Dan Welley's never going to do it?
I hope that's best case scenario, honest.
Anyways, so to the Craig Borubay firing him in season point, if this is a decision that
they've come to that at the end of the season, Craig Borubay is no longer that good.
If there's a factual reason why you think firing now maybe gets your, in a position where
you can get your ducks in order, you can maybe see the response that your team gets from
removing Craig Borubay.
I'm down with that or gives you a little head start on the head coaching market down
with that.
Is there no value to a pound or a pound of flesh for the fan base?
Is there no value in it?
I guess.
I don't know.
Again, it feels that way now, but it's, it's, I think you're, you're not thinking about
how these, the final 20 games this season are going to feel when the leaves have unplugged
officially on Friday by selling off the pieces and it's just, hey, let's see what Eastern
Cowan has playing maybe 20 minutes a game.
Yeah.
And, hey, is there something there in Jacob Quellen and, and hey, maybe Anthony Stoller's
if he's not injured, we can give him a fake injury so we can see Dennis Hilda be up
here again, because a decision is coming on the goalies next year because Dennis Hilda
will not be waivers next year.
Yeah.
I'm a little James guy.
I just think it's good.
If we like we have like a little Marley's here, you can have Quellen on the take hands.
Sure.
Sure.
Sure.
Anyways, yeah, it, the, the apathy is coming for this team.
There, it doesn't feel like there's apathy right now and there shouldn't be because Saturday
was so bad.
It was at home.
Yeah.
And, actually, they were still sort of kind of in it.
And, yeah, that's as embarrassing a loss as you can have.
Anyways, Chris Stapleton's All American Roadshow is coming to Roger Stadium in Toronto with
special guest, Zach Topp, and Alan Stone on Thursday, August 6th.
And now a second show on Tuesday, September 1st, we've got four pairs of tickets to give
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If you don't win with us, tickets now on sale on ticket master contest open to Ontario
residents only standard message and data rates may apply.
When we come back, we've got the big brain plan for trayous average going forward and
Shane Lowry throws up all over himself.
That and more next as the fan morning show continues Ben and his friend getting sports
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That's why she shops at BJ's wholesale club stocking up on spiral ham baked goods, fresh
flowers, candy, and five dozen eggs.
I've got a lot of baskets to fill.
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And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance
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Not even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.
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you get your podcasts.
But especially with two strikes after throwing some stuff down and in, look at the life on
the fastball up top.
So many hitters are going to be under that baseball ride so well, especially with that short
arm action.
Oh, no.
It's pretty dream about building up and, you know, no more thing is even healthy and then
make sure to make sure all the shapes and all that are there.
So definitely a lot of positives to take from you.
And we're going to show a sports fan five night in the fan band.
That's we're getting.
That's Dylan C's saying all in all or all.
No, it sounded like all in all.
Oh, no, it's like Canadians, it's all in all.
There's a great clip of Pierre Edward Belmar back when he played in the league, not Captain
in France at the Olympics.
But when he talked about not getting to play and he's like, oh, no, you crushed my dreams
and it's like that just sounded exactly like that.
Oh, no.
Yeah, all in all, I guess.
No, I disagree.
This is, this is, oh, no, okay, maybe now, you know what?
This is the audio version of white and gold dress, blue and black dresses, what that
is there.
It's like, I will, whatever you tell me it is before I look at it or in this case,
hear it.
That's what I'm going to think it is.
Oh, no.
Yeah.
Now I'm.
Oh, damn.
I think it is all in all.
I do too.
But I wanted it to be.
Oh, no.
This is all the least fault that you can't do is say, it's got to find the levity in
life.
It felt like a great drop to put into leaf discussion like, oh, no, no, we can just grab
the pier and we're about where we go.
She crashed my dreams because honestly, that's very fitting for this air as well.
Dylan C's made his Blue J Spring debut over the weekend.
And who cares?
I mean, he, he struck out three, ending in two thirds.
That's great.
We'll say it was hilarious.
It's first strike coming against Kaus Schwarber on the most egregious and the most obvious
use of ABS we got going here.
This is what ABS is for, right?
It's, it's for, yeah, okay, I guess the borderline stuff, but mostly the egregious horrifying
weight.
What?
Yeah.
Type of call like strike three to Kaus Schwarber, that is as close to middle middle as you're
going to get called the ball.
And immediately like Kaus Schwarber is like, oh, yeah, why am I still standing here?
Right.
Like, just get me out of here and, and Alejandro Kirk rightly saying, let's have a look
at that one quickly determined.
That was strike three.
I had one of the, the hockey dads telling me about this at the Saturday game I was at.
And I am, and then I'm like, well, you know, I wonder if this is being overstated for
a fact of how middle middle it was and I'm like, oh, my, oh, my God.
Yeah.
I wrote that umpire out of baseball.
That was so bad.
But I guess spring training for them too, but yeah, this is, uh, this is what it's for,
yeah.
Yeah.
No, it's going to be great.
I, I really, I have high hopes for ABS, uh, mentally baseball is on a heater with every
rule that they institute being, uh, note perfect.
And I think this is just more of the same.
I think fully automated strike zone would have been bad.
Uh, I think this is the perfect, perfect solution in, in the middle of the road here where
you can still do some pitch framing and, and close calls, especially early in games
or you're going to get the benefit of the catcher and, and latent games, egregious calls
like that one are not going to be made.
Just quickly on that, did you see the, and I feel like he made these comments last year
and he's like, um, nobody gave me enough crap for this.
Let me double down on them.
Do you see the Walker Bueller of like why he's anti ABS?
No.
Like, well, I am a veteran pitcher.
So I inherently, it's my right to a bigger zone.
Yeah.
So I don't think that's right.
Sure.
But like, what if there's a veteran hitter at the plate, what it, like who, like what
do we just like have to pull out a service time clock?
And it's like, okay, tie goes to those are, so those are, he's talking about borderline
calls, which I think that will still be the cases.
Well, you can't challenge everything, right?
Right.
You get to a game, although you get unlimited.
If you keep winning them, right?
Like if you're good at it and what are the Yankees have like eight challenges against
the Blue Jays and one of those spring games that they played already because they just
kept winning them.
And there will be, yeah, it'll be an adjustment period and we'll see how easily or how
liberally teams will use their challenges, but that will still exist.
Like if there is such a thing as a reputation call both on the pitching and more, I think
of it more on the hitting side of things, right?
Like when Jose Bautista has his reputation as being an incredible, having an incredible
eye and having an incredible ability to take a walk, generally speaking, he takes borderline
pitch.
He knows better than you, that's a ball.
So you kind of defer to Jose Bautista, those will still exist early in the game and then
late in the game.
Obviously, it's a different ball game.
Anyways, good.
It's better for Dillon Cs to have started well than poorly and he was throwing up for 90s
and striking fellows out.
He also threw in a walk because that's part of the Dillon Cs of it all sure is, but the
bigger news out of Blue Jays spring training over the weekend was Blue Jays kind of revealing
a little bit their plan with Treyray Savage that he might not be fully built up for the
start of the season, but he will be in the major leagues at the start of the season.
So that means that his first couple of starts, maybe he's only capped at 40, 50 pitches
or so, which makes all the sense in the world to have Eric Lauer still on this team and
maybe not working at a trade because Maxures are, I guess he's arriving.
Maybe today at Camps will get a little more definitive timeline on Maxures or who's been
pitching.
So maybe he will be ready to start the season like he's been facing live batters apparently.
Shane Bieber is not going to be ready to start the season, but just feel like they're
going to do this, this piggybacking thing, which has been the rage in the Blue Jays minor league
system, but they're going to carry it over into the regular season for, for Treyay Savage.
So not like a full-fledged starter out of the gates, which I guess the, the plan is,
well, one, it's supposed to prevent the, the horrifying elbow or shoulder injury that looms
over every pitcher in baseball and two by easing the, the innings burden at the beginning
of the season, it makes him more likely to be, have the shackles off by the end of the
season and into, into the post season, which I guess makes sense.
Yeah, I personally would rather have Treyay Savage, John Brightolt, and ready to throw as
many pitches he can handle in, you know, September, October, hey, November, as opposed to,
to having that in, in March or April, something, something on those lines.
So yeah, it does, it does make sense.
I also think that, and I don't know, maybe they have this, but it is funny how things have
evolved with this, that it's not, well, he's going to throw X number of innings this year,
and that is that.
It's like, no, guess what?
It's like, you can, I don't know, what machine you hook them up to or whatever you see,
how his arms feeling on any given day, and you see the, you know, the cumulative wear
and tear throughout, throughout a season.
But yeah, like this, as opposed to, he has this number of innings we need to baby, baby
him a massage him.
It's like, is there a ballpark figure?
I'm sure there is.
But I don't know that there's like a hard and fast figure, and I'm, I'm happy we've
changed from that.
I guess I, I, I will say even this though, the, the nebulous, hey, we'll ease him into
it.
And he's not going to be fully built up, and eventually we'll get to the place where
he can, it throw maybe 80 to 100 pitches.
This just, I guess there's a, a little bit of data, but my belief on the matter is, if
you're going to get injured, you're going to get injured, like there's been so much
babying over the, the, the, the history of the sport, whether it be the job of rules,
or the Steven Strasberg being shut down for the post season, guess what happened to both
of those fellows?
They got injured.
They got hurt.
So, severely, like this, if you're going to get injured, you're going to get injured.
I am generally of the belief that, hey, man, guys healthy now, use those bullets, because
who knows how many bullets are available for you down the line, and the idea that, that
they have the answer.
If you had the answer, and there's more concrete data on this, absolutely, don't start
trace average in minor leagues, bring them up at the all-star break, if, if that's what
it's going to do.
And you feel like that gives you a 99% chance of keeping them healthy this season, getting
the best out of trace average.
There is no such thing, right?
There just isn't.
I've read Jeff Passen's The Arm book, and there's, there's, there's, there's just not
enough there that leads you to believe that, okay, well, this is the silver bullet.
This is what is going to keep these guys healthy.
Guess what happens?
Throwing a baseball that fast, it's just, it's not good for your elbow.
No, I, I mostly agree.
Like, if you haven't forced me to be in a camp of like, do the job of rules or the
Strasbourg stuff, or just pitch him when they're ready, I do agree with that for the most
part.
But one would they have shot you savage down last year, if the season didn't go the
way.
Like, even if he was as good as he was, and the Blue Jays just stopped winning baseball
games.
And guess what?
Like, there were quite a few times where they were close to, close to doing that with
the way at least the Mariners series played out.
I, I just think it's a guy who, I mean, what was the story with him?
He was ripped through every level of baseball and, you know, it's not like he was a terrible
thing that was done to him.
It was his performance that put him in that position.
But I, I can have time for taking it a little slow with a guy who, I also think when you
look at the idea of this rotation and yes, this team has proven capable of finding starting
outside of its, you know, development system.
But this is the crown jewel of it for not this year, not next year.
And to your point, like, there's no world where a decade of this is promised.
But I also think that they're not sitting here and saying we're going to completely
baby him.
Like, I feel, I'd feel stronger about this if it was what you're saying of like, yeah,
we'll just really, really slow play it.
The fact that he's going to be in the major leagues, the fact that he's going to be starting,
the fact he's going to help this team, whether it is a case of he's helping them for, you
know, eight innings and a hundred pitches out of the gate or he's giving them 40 to
50 to start.
Also, that's the point of having the depth that this team has is to be able to do that.
Well, okay, where do you think if there is a weakness on this blue J team, where, where
would you say it lies is it the offense, is it the starting rotation or is it in the
bullpen?
The bullpen is where I'm the most, yeah, guess what happens when your starters only go
in three or four minutes, you got to use more of your bullpen.
And maybe Eric Lauer has a, he's now this guy going forward, or maybe Eric Lauer is
the guy that had to go overseas to continue his professional career and there's a reason
why the blue J seven signed them to like some multi-year extension, right?
Yeah.
How will we feel about them babying tray a savage when I know it's aprons long season,
like his first couple starts, he's nails and he's just absolutely as dominant as he looked
at times, whether it be against the anchors of the Dodgers.
And then incomes Eric Lauer and he's a gas can and incomes the bullpen and they're blowing
these games because they have to cover so many innings.
Interesting.
How differently you feel about the babying of tray a savage on, again, very nebulous and
wishy washy data and no real roadmap for anybody to keep them healthy.
No, that's totally a fair point, I guess, and I don't know, maybe this is the pessimist
in me.
Like by no means do I think your savage is going to get lit up this year, but I think
everyone needs to soften the expectations that were set in the post season last year.
Like what he did last year was so if, if Tarek Skubel had to run a game like that,
he'd be like, man, I mean, he's due for a, a Skubel stinker, which is like, I don't
know, seven innings is supposed to, you know, shut out or something along those lines.
But I think that that's the way I look at it is I have high hopes for you savage.
I think he's going to be an impactful starter, but I think the bar was set so unbelievably
high that last year that the idea of yeah, is it possibly comes in him for 40 or 50 pitches?
He is that guy, absolutely, it's possible, but I think it is maybe not quite just as
but pretty close to as equal a proposition that he's going to be a more normal starter
this year.
That's why I look at it.
I mean, he, at his best, he does feel like a guy that could defend for end of season
awards.
All right.
I want to get to the cognizant classic in the Palm beaches, obviously.
Yeah.
I mean, this will help the golf fans out there at the bear trap.
It said one of the eight billion courses on this earth, the Jack Nick was his design.
Yeah.
Including Glen Abbey.
Okay.
So Shane Lowry, three shot lead, three horse to go moonwalk to a win, obviously.
Nope.
Back to back to the logies, a couple of balls in the water.
And here he is watching Nico Etcheveria, collect the victory at 17 under par T2 for Shane
Lowry, who did sound so much like a human being.
That's the great part of the Shane Lowry experience, right?
He's a beer drinking every man.
Well, man, when Rory was, was ready to win the masters heading into Sunday last year,
he got asked like, oh, how great would that be?
He's like, well, yeah, I mean, I guess I'm here.
I'm trying to win the masters too.
I'm not completely out of this.
So yeah, he also, because they didn't have the opener in COVID, he got to keep the, the
Clare jug.
And it's like, God, I mean, was that thing ever empty?
I mean, probably every day.
And then he filled it right back up.
So no, you love, love Shane Lowry.
But that's what, yeah, makes him fallible is because he's not a robot and I couldn't help
but think, oh, yeah, no, that's totally what I'd be doing, but not just the double bogie
obviously.
There would be much more strokes than just the double bogies.
Sure.
I'm talking about the comments he made after the round about his young daughter.
He was envisioning her coming across the 18th green and a big hug and daddy did it
and the win anytime you start thinking about the, the things that are going to happen
beyond the finish line when you're not at the finish line, yeah, that's, that's not
good.
That's, that's not where you want your head.
You want to stay in the moment and, but that's part of the reason why I love Shane Lowry's
because that's exactly what, man, who isn't on the 14th hole having the, the, the round
of their lives and like, oh my God, I'm here, imagine all I have to do is this and I got
that.
And then of course, that's when disaster hits, and that's when disaster hit.
For Shane Lowry.
I'm so bad for it.
I'm like, I'll, I'll hit like a, a good drive for me and I'll be like, ooh, eagle could
be in play.
And it's like, guess what?
Guys are topping me.
Yeah.
No, that's it.
It's like, I got so far ahead of myself.
You, you think you're going to make an eagle?
Yeah.
I do.
It's happening.
All right.
See, speaking of new existence or throw up all over yourself in the, in the, in the
before times, I, I think that's what happens.
Yes.
He's a human, he's a human, but it wasn't just, oh man, I didn't hit the shot I wanted
to, shank, takes an iron to play it safe.
If you, you got to go search it out today, there's the overlay of every T shot that was
hit in tournament play this week, and they're, I guess what, they're all like roughly the
same spot.
And then about 150 yards back in 50 to the right is Shane Lowry's T shot there.
Then the next hole, it's on par and throw over water, he hits it in the water so clear
when they show the ball entering the water, there's no land nearby.
You know, Etchia Maria who wins that tournament right before him, he like barely clears the
water.
But guess what?
By barely clearing the water, he has a, I don't know, whatever it was, 10 foot or 12 foot
or for birdie, and he poured it in Lowry.
It was just an all-time miscue.
And this happened before, you know, last year was a big event on the DP World Tour, double
bogey's the last to lose it there.
He is one for five, comforting 54 hole leads in his BGA tour career.
Yeah.
It's brutal.
It's like you love a choker.
Do you like this?
Because you always want one, but it's like you, it's like, oh, no, so easy, yes, so easy
to be like, oh, I love when we have a choker and it's Rory McElroy.
Is it easy when it's Shane Lowry?
Are you happy?
You did this to yourself.
I hate myself.
I hate myself.
You did this to him.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Shane.
I take it all back.
Because yeah, you're not a guy.
I want to see joke.
No.
I want to see you choke back a couple of Guinness.
That's right.
Anyways.
So Tiger hot of a son, like are you, are you like a summer Guinness?
I'm not generally speaking a Guinness guy to begin.
I like a Guinness, but it's never, it's never my first choice.
Yeah.
I agree.
I'm, I'm such a sheep though, like if I am somebody, Guinness, I'm like, that does sound
good.
Totally.
Because I never think of it.
Yeah.
But if somebody else says, oh, yeah, it sounds right.
Before break, so Tiger put us all on alert a couple of weeks ago when he said he hadn't ruled
himself out for Augusta still hasn't, but he still isn't played in the TGL, which is
notably not walking 72 holes at Augusta National.
No, it's barely walking 72 feet from where they have like where they have the T shots to
where the green is.
Yeah.
No, I mean, he's toying with us.
He's teasing with us.
This is the thing about Tiger.
It's what we loved him all along, but he can never quit.
He can never turn it off and just, I, it floored me that he talked about the champion
store.
And that should have been all we needed to know of like how far away from, yeah, for
a peak Tiger, just competitive Tiger.
This is also just you mentioned TGL.
There were guys who played in the TGL yesterday who played in the final round of the Cognacant.
Could you imagine Shayne Lauri's team was on deck and he had to go there after that?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, that would, I actually think that would have been the most electric TGL in history
because he might have been tossing a club or two.
Every time I turn on TGL, it seems like Keegan Bradley is hitting the worst shot that's
ever been hit in his career.
Like, there are some people, like I missed a simulator.
My game is dialed at the simulator because there's no chunking.
Like the idea of like the horrifically fat shot, you can do it.
You can do it at a simulator.
It feels like Keegan Bradley is a guy that's like, he's not built for that sim life.
Well, what it is is he's on the team, he's on Rory McElroy's team and he's just sabotaging
him because he's still so angry about riding a cup, that's why that's why I'm playing
out there.
All right.
Speaking of sabotage, I may believe it's a mature doing something resembling hockey, but
only barely on Saturday.
We'll talk to Gordon Stellick next.
The fan warning show continues.
He's been asked by and got in sports at 590 to fans.
President Barack Obama.
Virginia, we are counting on you.
Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to raid the next election and wield
unchecked power for two more years, but you can stop them.
By voting yes, by April 21st, help put our elections back on a level playing field
and let voters decide not politicians, vote yes, by April 21st.
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The FAN Morning Show
