Joel Quenneville connects Leafs’ downfall to tough Atlantic Division: Leafs Morning Take
Losers of eight straight, the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to host the Anaheim Ducks for their annual visit to Scotiabank Arena.
Anaheim has taken a big step this season, which doesn’t exactly bode well for Toronto—a team that hasn’t won a game since February 3.
This should be fun.
That said, at least we can all look forward to Michael Pezzetta’s Maple Leafs debut. The 27-year-old Toronto native is expected to skate on the fourth line alongside Jacob Quillan and Calle Jarnkrok. Pezzetta’s debut was the talking point to kick off the Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take as David Pagnotta filled in for Jay Rosehill. For the second straight game, the Leafs are slotting in a Marlies player. As Craig Berube intimated after the morning skate, this will be a theme down the stretch over the final 17 games.
This will be the first of two meetings with Anaheim over the next 18 days. Toronto has two regulation wins in the last 21 games. We’ll see if Auston Matthews can finally get cooking. It was a big talking point on the podcast. Where is this this guy? The Leafs captain is goalless 12. He has just one goal in his past 16 outings. Joseph Woll is expected to get the call in goal. The Leafs will enter the night five points up on the Blues and Rangers, who currently occupy 28th and 29th place, respectively, in the NHL standings.
On Wednesday, Rosey and I a chance to catch up with former Maple Leaf and current Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville. The three-time Stanley Cup champion reflected on what it’s been like returning to the NHL after time away from the game and recently reaching the 1,000-win milestone behind the bench. Quenneville also broke down Anaheim’s strong season to date—including the impact of adding veteran defenseman John Carlson—while sharing his thoughts on accountability in today’s NHL and the ever-evolving role of technology on the bench. From the outside looking in, he also weighed in on the Leafs, calling the Atlantic Division the toughest in hockey and discussing the unique pressure that comes with playing in the Toronto market. He also previewed the matchup against the Leafs, noting how tricky it can be facing a team that’s currently struggling, especially at this stage of the season.
Jay Rosehill will be back in the mix for the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We’ll recap Leafs/Ducks plus look ahead to this weekend’s back-to-back on the road against Buffalo and Minnesota. Meanwhile, earlier this week we caught up with Max Scherzer of the Toronto Blue Jays—you’ll hear from him on the show as well.