Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
For the first time since Game 7 against the Florida Panthers last spring, Matthew Schaefer will be at Scotiabank Arena—but this time, he’ll be on the ice.
The Hamilton native, who grew up a die-hard Leafs fan, is set to play his first career game in Toronto as the Islanders visit the Maple Leafs.
The Isles phenom was a big topic of focus on the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. Initially, we kicked things off by discussing Toronto’s St. Paddy’s jerseys as well as the continued noise around the Maple Leafs to start the week. Brady Tkachuk – via his podcast – has now weighed in on the Leafs’ lack of initial response. Meantime, according to multiple reports, Brad Treliving, who was on a scouting trip last Thursday, was enraged to the point where he was calling up players to give them a piece of his mind on how the situation was handled. Bottom line: There’s never a dull day in Toronto. This organization is in shambles, and right now, they’re the laughing stock of the entire league.
At any rate, as mentioned, Schaefer’s in town. On Monday, the phenom disclosed that he could have close to 1000 family and friends in the building for the game. Wild stuff. Following their strong weekend, it will be fascinating to see how the Leafs will look in this one. Bo Groulx’s on fire, so is the crease. Joseph Woll will get the call in goal. Toronto’s 1-0-1 since Matthews went down. They’ve picked up five of a possible six points over the past three outings. Stop the madness!
Lastly, veteran NHL head coach Dean Evason stopped by to weigh in on the Radko Gudas suspension and the fallout from the knee-on-knee hit on Auston Matthews, calling the discipline light while questioning Toronto’s initial response. He also broke down Matthew Schaefer ahead of his first game in Toronto and shared insight into what he’s looking for in his next NHL opportunity.
Be sure to join us on the Wednesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We’ll recap Leafs/Isles. Plus, projected lottery pick Keaton Verhoeff is expected to join us, too.