Massive day for Toronto sports.
Game 7.
There’s not much else to say.
From the Maple Leafs perspective, it’s a good thing that the Blue Jays are doing what they’re doing. Had they not been around right now, indisputably, the vultures would be circling. For all the talk about changing their identity this past summer, it’s been a very listless 3-2-1 start for Craig Berube’s team.
At any rate, that’s where the conversation started as David Pagnotta filled in for Jay Rosehill on the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take. Fortunately, the Leafs aren’t the only juggernaut off to a tough start in the Atlantic Division. The Panthers and Lightning have been very ordinary to start the campaign, too. Meantime, Detroit has been a revelation thus far. They’ve won five straight games after Todd McLellan called them out after their pitiful opener against Montreal. Additionally, we did discuss some teams off to dreadful starts like Calgary and Los Angeles. You can’t win the Stanley Cup in October, but you sure can lose it.
After that, we got into the Anthony Stolarz conversation. In case you missed it, the Leafs goalie ripped his team a new one in his media scrum following Toronto’s ugly 4-3 OT loss versus Seattle on Saturday night. He’s had enough. Bottom line: He’s right. The Leafs are playing with zero passion. They haven’t been physical; they haven’t been playing Craig Berube hockey. They’re just going through the motions. We both think Stolarz had every right to call his team out after the game. That’s leadership, that’s accountability. In addition to that, we talked about Monday’s line at practice. It looks like Easton Cowan could be on the outside looking in once again for Tuesday night’s home tilt with Sheldon Keefe’s Devils. Where does Nick Robertson fit in all this week? According to Pagnotta, not much is cooking on the trade market right now. He doesn’t expect much to change over the next little while. We had a heated debate about Robertson’s value. It’s time to move on. Plain and simple. Lastly, we gave some love for John Tavares and Morgan Rielly. Both vets played well against Seattle.
Jay Rosehill be back in the mix for the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We’ll preview Leafs/Devils. Also, NHL head coach Peter Laviolette will stop by the program.
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