Chapter 1: What was the significance of the Vegas Golden Knights' sweep over the Colorado Avalanche?
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Saw a great tweet today by our dear friend in Montreal, Tony Marinaro. Oh, yeah? He said, where's all the media that said Mitch Marner was the problem? He said, where are you? And then somebody copied a tweet and posted it up during one of the playoff series, and it was Tony that said, Mitch Marner, where are you right now?
So don't... Yeah.
Well, listen.
So watch it, Tony.
You were on board, too. I thought, correct me if I'm wrong, Vegas made it to the Cup Final last night. Yeah. Was it not the team that made it, or was it only Mitch Marner that made the Cup Final last night?
Both of them did, and both of them should be happy with how well they played. They were awesome. That was clinical last night. Yes. Colorado had no answer for them, and Nate McKinnon, Grew frustrated and more and more frustrated. McCart was trying to play 29 minutes last night, I believe, close to it. But that was unbelievable by Vegas. And Blackwood was awesome. Played fine. Played fine.
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Chapter 2: How did Mitch Marner's performance influence his playoff reputation?
Yep. Carter Hart was great, too. But you're right. It's Vegas. It's Mitch Marner. It's all of them. But that team, the first thing I thought about when they won, I know you guys will say different. I thought they came from a pillow fight division.
Well, yes. A team that had 39 wins this year. That's the amazing thing. There's a lot of tweets out there, but someone tweeted out that the Capitals had 43 wins, didn't make the playoffs. The Islanders, 43 wins, didn't make the playoffs. Devils, 42. Red Wings, 41. Blue Jackets, 40. Panthers, 40. San Jose, 39. Vegas had 39. They're in a cup final.
I will say this, and I don't know how you feel, O. This speaks to make the playoffs, be healthy as you can, and get on a roll. That's what the league's all about right now. Vegas is a better team than 39 wins. Absolutely. They never got it together. They never got it going. They fired the coach with eight games left. And that's why.
Kelly McCrimmon came on this show and said, we needed something to wake our group up.
Chapter 3: What are the potential management changes for the Colorado Avalanche after their playoff exit?
They're awake now. And they look great, including Mitch Marner. And good for him. I don't know where people are at, so I'm happy for them.
Jamie, you said you've got to get into the playoffs, but the note that Hayes just read with the teams having more wins, does it also signify that they should possibly look into a play-in? where those teams that he mentioned could possibly play in and cause some hell in the playoffs. I don't know.
That's something that you would... But it's just wasting your breath even bringing it up because you know Jerry is going to say, not happening.
I know, but I'll say this. The only counter they'll have for that is two years ago. Calgary Flames missed with 96 points. So the year before, it was the West that had some strong teams that missed. This year, it was the East. So it might be back to the West next year. Who knows? But all I'm saying is that With the parity in the league, star players show up and be healthy at the right time.
You get goaltending. You get everything. This team's in a Stanley Cup final, and they look like a wagon.
Yes. They are awesome. I mean, they just dismantled Colorado. And Colorado was the best team in the league all year. Hands down. They were the heaviest favorite you could have coming into the playoffs. And a lot of people thought... Them beating Minnesota, that's their cup final. And they dismantled Minnesota. They beat up on Minnesota.
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Chapter 4: Could John Tortorella return as head coach for the Vegas Golden Knights?
And then they get into a bit of a brawl here. And Vegas played, to your point, just a perfect playoff series in terms of just clocking everything up, defending incredibly well. They were clutch when they had to. They had a come-from-behind win, which was really impressive. Their goaltender was great. There was a lot that went into it. And what has been emphasized here...
is Bill Foley, the owner down there, George McPhee, Kelly McCrimmon, the three of them have created a culture or created a business platform and blueprint that is the most successful in the league. And they blow through coaches. They turn rosters over. But what they represent is winning. They represent a... a ruthless attitude towards making sure that they're competitive.
And that's really what Marner jumped on. You know, like Mitch, again, everyone's doing the thing where it's like, why didn't it work here? And, you know, a lot of it is, again, I'm almost fascinated. I shouldn't be surprised. But I know it's a story here in Toronto. Of course it is.
And I'm not overly surprised that it's a story throughout the country, including in Montreal and Ottawa, because the Leafs are this massive organism that... creates, they just churn out content, and people either love them or hate them, and everyone's got to comment on it. It's a pastime in the country. Like, it really is.
There's hockey, and then there's the Leafs, and people responding to it one way or the other. So I'm not overly surprised, but the amount of it coming out of the states... where it's all Marner all the time. Like, what about this? Mitch Marner's going... Like, I saw ESPN on their Instagram account not posting, like, Vegas is going. Mitch Marner's going. Right?
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Chapter 5: Who is the most important player for the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4?
Not Carter Hart's going. Right? And let me guess. I'm going to go out on a limb here. If Carolina goes to a cup final... I don't think you're going to see Nick Healers is going to a cup final. How do people in Winnipeg feel about that? I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen. And again, I get it. I understand it. We live in it. We churn our own content out. We're a part of this massive organism.
But what Mitch did was make a decision for his career that turned out to be a brilliant one. It's not over yet. We'll get to his comment in a moment, which I'm a little bit surprised by because it is premature. They've still got to get four more wins. But... I was thinking about it today. When Tavares came here, John came here because of the players.
He came here because Austin was here and Mitch and Willie were here. And I think he looked at it. It was his hometown, too.
And that was a big part of it.
He looked at the players.
Yeah, it looked good.
I don't think he looked at the management. I don't think he looked at the ownership. I don't think he considered the greater Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment engine and what it's represented in the past and now what it continues to represent today. Where Marner, I'm not sure he went there because Eichel was there and Stone and Theodore necessarily.
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Chapter 6: What challenges does the Avalanche face moving forward after a disappointing playoff?
I think he went there because Bill Foley's the owner and George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon are going to give him an opportunity to win. And that's the difference. And he made a brilliant choice. And like he didn't haggle. He just said, give me the rent and the deal. Eight years, 12 million, I'm done. It wasn't about every penny. It wasn't about every dollar. It wasn't when he was in Toronto.
It wasn't when he went to Vegas because of the way they operate. And they said, trust us and we'll put you in a good position to win. And in year one, they can check that box on a cup final.
And there were times halfway through this season you're going, man, it doesn't look good. You know, it's been a winding road for that organization. Even Mitch this year, just adjusting to playing in the West, different organization, different players. But the one thing, you know, I was asked last night, and I do believe this is why the guys play. Mitch Marner has grown as a player, too.
This guy has played in the Four Nations face-off. And was very good there. Very good.
And very good at the Olympics, too.
And very good at the Olympics. Yep. We've seen him on big stages now perform. He gets an opportunity. So he's a different person, player, than he was two years ago, three years ago. But I know, listen, he's coming from a scenario here in Toronto where he didn't have success. So I think that's what he was talking about.
And it doesn't change based on what happened last night. No.
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Chapter 7: What does Mitch Marner mean by 'dark times' in hockey?
Again, and that's what you're pointing to, to the troll tweets today.
Thank you very much, Brian.
Yes.
Yes. For people that think that he was so awesome here with the Leafs in the playoffs and we're just overlooking it, please give your head a shake and go back and watch the games. We've said it on this program a million times. All we have is what's in front of us and how they play and how it looks. It wasn't good. Same with the rest of the team.
It's not like he was some superstar in the playoffs and it was like, man, other than Mitch, everybody was terrible. They were all terrible in critical times. They couldn't get it done. They didn't get it done. And it was maybe the team wasn't as deep. It clearly wasn't. But that's what happened. It's not like it disappeared and never happened in Toronto. I get so tired of reading that nonsense.
Like we're a bunch of dummies for saying he played poorly. It's just not the case. It's not the case.
And it wasn't a premature ending either. Would it have been great if they all stayed and they all won? Of course. That would have been amazing. Everyone was a... activist for that. I was leading the charge on that. It'd be an amazing scenario. I said it seven, eight years ago.
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Chapter 8: How does the media's perception of players impact their performance?
These guys, there's a fork in a road. They're either going to be the most celebrated, beloved core in the history of the team, in the history of the city, or they're going to go down as the most disappointing. Unfortunately, right now, Marner's story's done. He can't change it. If you're Austin and Willie, you still can. There's ebbs and flows, right?
They still have that opportunity to completely flip it and say, you know, we're not going anywhere and we're going to win here and we're going to let the rest of the world bask in that. But, you know, I was going through it today because it will be studied. It will be studied that the Leafs, the players here, right?
You talk about ownership, management, coaching, you know, everyone's got a responsibility for everything that happens over the course of a season and throughout a playoff run. But they had a do-or-die game in 2018, two of them in 2019. They were up 3-2 in that series against Boston. That game five against Columbus in the bubble in 20. Three closeout games against Montreal in 21.
Game seven against Tampa in 22. Game seven against Boston in 24. Game seven against Florida in 25. And they lost every single one. They lost every single one.
Yes, thank you. It's astonishing. Do me a favor. Just go... Read that again, just all of those, please.
This is off the top of my head, by the way, because I've lived it, and it's just 18 against Boston, Game 7, they lost. Game 6 and 7 in 2019 because they were up 3-2 in that series. They lost game 6 on Easter Sunday at home. They were up 1-0. Morgan Riley scored in the first period. They were at the game. Yeah, I remember that. And then they lost 3-0 in game 7, I believe.
That was the end of the Babcock era, effectively. Game 5 against Columbus, they got skunked. They lost 3-0 after that great comeback in game 4. They were up 3-1 against the Habs. They lost game 5, 6, and 7. They lost Game 7 at home in 22 against Tampa. Then they won Game 6 in 23. Yes. Right? Not in Game 7. They won Game 6 down in Tampa. Yeah. And then in 24, they lost Game 7 against Boston.
In Boston, Pasternak in overtime. Yeah. And then they beat Ottawa in Game 6 in 25, not Game 7. Right. And then they lost Game 7 against Florida in 25. So, that is like... And maybe Marner has one great night and everything's different, or Matthews does. Or maybe they have what Carter Hart's given Vegas.
It's also astonishing that Freddie and Campbell and Samsonov and no one stole ours, whoever it is. None of them could just have a great game where they said, we're not giving up anything tonight. It's astonishing, but that's their history. That's what it was for nine years.
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