The big night is finally here for legendary Maple Leafs broadcaster Joe Bowen.
Prior to Tuesday night’s game against Chicago, the Leafs will honour their long-time play by play voice as part of “Holy Mackinaw Night.” Bowen, who’s called over 3800 games for the Maple Leafs, will be retiring at the conclusion of this season.
We talked about that, Joseph Woll, and Anthony Stolarz in the opening block of the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. After missing four games with a lower body injury, Woll will make his return. Also, Craig Berube provided a bit of an update on Anthony Stolarz, and it’s not good. Berube revealed two things: 1. It’s not a concussion, and 2) Stolarz needs to see a specialist because he’s not making progress. This development is so unfortunate. Stolarz was incredible last season. Hate to see it.
Any rate, we spent considerable time breaking down this match-up with Chicago. The Hawks will be without Connor Bedard, who suffered an upper body injury over the weekend against Detroit. Simply put, it’s time for the big boys – specifically Auston Matthews – to rise up to the occasion. They need a signature Papi performance badly. Through 26 outings, he’s looked like a shell of himself. He’s lacked the pop and explosiveness that once made him one of the most feared players in the NHL. For what it’s worth, Matthews will start the night on a line with Matthew Knies and William Nylander. We’ll see how it goes. It feels like a sneaky big game for the Leafs, who already are in a precarious position in the Atlantic Division. Everyone around them is collecting points, so they need to continue to do the same. They’re 1-1-2 on this five game homestand —with the capper coming against the Hawks.
After that, we played my 1-on-1 from Monday’s practice with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who’s probably been Toronto’s top blueliner through 31 games thus far. The 34-year-old dished on his injury scare and coming back from that to face off with Connor McDavid. Additionally, he talked about his hot play to start the year and if this is the most complete version of himself. We also got into the Olympics. He would love to represent Sweden in February in Milan. OEL also hit on fashion sense, Berube calling out the team’s leaders, and Christmas traditions. He was a lot of fun. Thank you to the Leafs, Nick Caroli, and Colin Outridge, among others, for making this interview possible.
Plenty coming your way on the Wednesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. Firstly, Zack Phillips will be in for Jay Rosehill as co-host. We’ll recap Leafs/Hawks, plus also start to look ahead to Toronto’s visit to Washington. Speaking of which, 2018 Stanley Cup champion T.J. Oshie is expected to drop by the show.
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