Welcome, everybody, to game over Toronto. It's just me. Just me, myself and I and all of two beautiful people who's chosen to tune in live today on this festivist Christmas Eve's Eve. And it was quite a good, festive night. It was a pretty easy game.

Nothing that would cause much alarm. It was a very run of the mill beat down from a very good team in the Toronto Maple Leafs on a very bad team, the Columbus blue jacket, something you would expect. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. But, yeah, it was a great performance. We saw an absolute masterclass from Austin Matthews and Mitch Marner.

We saw Martin Jones absolutely solidifying. Stealing the net. Well, the backup net from one Ilya Sampsonoff. I mean, the team looked absolutely tranquil in front of him. Like they were.

Was. There was nothing that. They didn't look phased. I mean, the Buffalo game, they looked like they were on so much edge. It was like they had an exam the next day, their car wouldn't start.

They looked just out of sorts. And it just shows you what a calming presence in net can do for a team. So, yeah, great game, right? Great game. It's as good as you can expect going into the Christmas break of five games.

And it would have really sucked if that Buffalo game, that was last, the nine three drubbing of the Leafs, was the last game going into the Christmas season for the team and for the fans, because, boy, that would make a sour Christmas for the Leafs and it would just set the tone bad going into a break where five days to stew on it. Now you have this win where it kind of looked like an extended practice and that's the way you want to go into the break. So, yes, let us talk about this game right here. First of all, how good was that? That national anthem was fantastic.

I have been hating on the. I mean, the national anthems across the NHL have been kind of bad lately. Like a lot of the american cities singers do not know the lyrics of Canada or they mess it up or the cadence is off. Like, we have seen some butcherings of O Canada, but this one was good. They were playing it in mean, that was cool.

I liked it. Shout out to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Game ops. Know, when the game started, it seemed like it was kind of a little bit of a heebie gb start. Like, there was a lot of chances that Columbus was getting early and often really putting Martin Jones to the test.

And again, all credits to Martin Jones. He looks like he is not even phased in the slightest for a guy who has been on waivers. So many times they bought out who's been in the been. His career has been an absolute roller coaster ride. And through it all, he is not phased.

He looks calm. He looks like, hey, this is my net. And he doesn't seem like he's worried at all. It's quite the juxtaposition from what we see when you have Ilya Sampson off in net, where every shot is a fire drill, where everything, every time a putt goes even a little bit hard towards the net, you're like, oh, my God, it's going in. Oh, my God, it's going in.

Oh, my God. It's the Michael Hutchison syndrome. And we don't really have that with Martin Jones right now. So it's been kudos to him. He's been one of the mvps of the season so far, and great chance for the know.

Marta gets absolutely robbed by Teresov there, but he wouldn't be robbed for long because reunited, and it feels so good. Marner and Matthews. The tag team is back. Heart foundation, the degeneration x. The greatest tag teams of all time.

Marner and Matthews, they brought the band back together, and it was classic. Marner can just find Austin. Could find Austin Matthews with his eyes closed, gets it across, and my poor Terisov did not have a chance. The puck seemingly went into the back of the net before anybody even knew Austin Matthews was on that side of the ice. And it's back of the net.

What do you say? Austin Matthews, 27 goals at this point. He scored another one, but at this point, he scored his 27th of the year in 30 games. An unbelievable pace. They showed on the broadcast that he was on a pace.

On a pace through 30 games. I believe that was their method of checking. But he was on a pace that was only matched by Yarmer Yagur, Mario Lemieux, and Alex Ovechkin. That is what you call elite company. I mean, Alex Ovechkin's pace was from the 2018 2019 season.

Mario and Yaga were from the 95 and 96 season. So very, like, this is rare air. This is a very rare performance you're seeing out of. Yeah. And again, throughout the rest of the first period, again, Martin Jones.

I can sing this guy's praises from the treetops. I mean, is he the best goalie named Martin of all time? Find out later. Sorry, I had to do that. That was a little bit of a funny.

I amused myself because I'm talking to no one. And the fourth line, honestly, in the first period, I got to say something about the fourth line as know. I love when Bobby McMahon is in there over Ryan Reeves. It is night and day for that fourth line. They're always a threat to score.

When you have Bobby McMahon in there and you have Noah Greger, who is Usain Bolt on skates, he's not great at playmaking. He's not a great defensive player, but boy, can he fly down the ice and can he get a snipe or two.

Just that fourth line, I love it. They do a little bit of everything that camp in there for defense and you had him in there for face offs. McMahon mixing it up. And towards the end of the game with Zach Rowinsky, that's the kind of snarl you need. You don't need a guy with getting staged fights.

Like, nobody needs these stage fights. It doesn't affect the game. Or else the Leafs would have been a great team when they had Colton Orr and Frasier McLaren, but they weren't. But having a guy who's skilled and who you can put out there in a playoff game and in a big moment, and you wouldn't be that worried like Bobby McMahon. And he can mix it up, that's a good sign.

That's a really good sign. And that's how he's going to stay in the lineup. Even when Ryan Reeves comes back from injury. I hope he heals fast, but I think you're going to have to have Bobby McMahon in that. You can't move him out of that lineup there.

I love what they've brought. So we get to the end of the period, and the end of the period was a very, very strange and scary moment. So we saw Sean Corrali during the play. He was doubled over and kind of like behind the referee. Referee does not pay no mind and he's doubled over.

Looks like a rudimentary. He takes a puck off the hand or a slash, looks like he's hurt. Well, a couple of seconds later, that's when we start to panic. And I was sitting there and my skin was crawling. I was like, oh, no.

We've seen a lot of bad things happen on hockey rinks this year. And when you see the bench like that going crazy and like yelling at the ref, stop the plate, get a medic. I was like, oh, my God. I was praying he was going to be okay. And luckily, when you looked at the replay, it looked innocuous, like he got a shot to the abdomen, like in the chest, to the ribs area, and they looked in the tunnel and they were like, he needs help.

He needs help. But luckily, they suspended the rest of the period, but luckily we hear pretty much right away that it was all precautionary. He was all right, and it was great to hear because I was like, oh my a. I really don't want to watch a catastrophic injury, and I'm glad it was not that. So very happy to see that Sean Corrali was okay.

Sidebar they said this in the broadcast, but why did they have to wave down a paramedic from the other across the somebody, you guys in the chat can tell me this. Did they not have a doctor? Shouldn't paramedics be on both sides of benches in case something happens? You've got to be ready to react quick. They had to help the paramedic across the ice.

That doesn't seem like a very safe thing, but I digress. Luckily, everything was okay there for the player. Luke in the chat is saying that he was taken off site for some tests. So again, lucky to hear that right away the Columbus PR team and fried and everybody else were saying that he was all right. Just precautions.

So let's get on with the game. We're happy to hear that. So beginning of the period, it starts off like with a goal before I even sit down. So everybody is in. Pretty much everyone's in the ozone, including Lillegren and McCabe.

And they get caught. Like they get caught by a very fast Justin Danforth. He gives them the taste of the Danforth and snipes it past Martin Jones. Yeah, it was kind of a comedy of errors. I was like, oh, boy, here we go.

I feel like we always do that when there's a defensive lapse because there's a lot of them and we're going to get to the defensive lapses later, but he falls down and it's kind of just a killer. I was like, this is a killer. Beginning of the period. This is how your momentum is going to go. It just makes it, you know, the Leafs were playing in Columbus and luck with this game.

After I saw that goal, I'm like, they're playing down to their competition. Here we go. But they weren't. They weren't today. They played.

They looked at the schedule and said, we are the Toronto Maple Leafs team that is top one of the upper echelon teams in the NHL. We're playing the Blue Jackets, a team that is very much not. So I think they looked at that calendar and realized who they were and who their opponent was, and they dialed it in and there was a lot of weird ref stuff for the Blue Jackets. In this period, we thought that there was a penalty on the play, a power play for the Jackets, but a David camp stick and then a dive for Adam Fantili. And I gotta tell you, I didn't see it.

I didn't see it. The, the Jackets crowd was getting a little bit, was getting on the refs. And I kind of agree with him there. I didn't see much of an embellishment there. I think maybe it's a reputation call, like maybe he's a rookie.

Refs are kind of just saying, welcome to the show, kid, as the refs are wanting to do. But yeah, I didn't see it there. But after this play, the John Tavares this goal, I was like, who is this guy? Because this is not a John Tavares goal, right? Like he channeled Conor Badard, who scored one of the best goals you'll ever see in another game for the Blackhawks.

But goodness me, the spinoramas. And just absolutely walking past the entire Blue Jackets lineup and putting it past the goaltender Johnny Toronto, this is not the guy we're used to. This is the little thing king, as was said earlier in the chat, this is the guy who gets the goals. Greasy, gets them in front of the net, he tips everything in. But boy, that was unbelievable.

I think, I don't know, that golden stick, that portrait they gave him for his thousandth game, maybe he looked at it, got some powers. Maybe we're going to see a new John Tavares who's going to absolutely undress players that have the best handle in the game. Maybe not, but that was a wonderful goal. I jumped out of my seat, like, what? Who?

What? Where? What? Yeah. And again we go back to another power play.

Adam Fantili again, the number one pick or what? The draft pick. Number one pick for the Blue jackets. A guy that they put a lot of stock in their future. He's playing meaningful.

He's been games. Right now, the jackets are kind of out of it. So they're kind of playing, they're developing their young guys, and part of development is making mistakes. And he very much showed his young age. Taking a second straight penalty on a clear hold.

Like he really fighting off Austin Matthews, but he really just kind of had this around him there. Like, he can't really do that. I mean, sometimes if you're more of a veteran player, you can get away with that. But again, growing pains. But back to the box and the Columbus crowd, man, they were getting the refuse suck chance out.

You don't hear those refuse suck chance out a lot at hockey games. That's a basketball staple.

But they were getting restless out there, and it was a really good crowd. But on that power play, another Austin Matthews goal. Pretty much the same goal. Like, pretty much the same one. Mitch Marner one side of the ice, sauces it over.

Perfect. Pass Matthews off the stick before you can even hear a cannon explode at the arena. Like, quicker than the cannon at the blue Jackets arena. Back of the net. I don't know what else there is to say about Austin Matthews, other than, boy, you gotta appreciate this as a Leafs fan.

Like, there's a lot of things bad we can say about this team, and we do very often, but this is the best player anybody of us have ever seen on this team. Like, anybody alive. I don't know how good hap day was. I really don't know. I didn't see a lot of hap day highlights on YouTube.

I didn't see a lot of charlie conicker highlights. Like, this is the right. But I have never seen a guy this talented, not even close, wear a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform. Even a Toronto sports uniform, let's be honest. You got to put him in his sport.

Like him and Kawhi Leonard for that one playoff run. This is a guy who's been here seven. Like, it is right there. He is the best athlete maybe this city has ever seen. And that is.

It's not saying too much, but wow. And they got him on an absolute bargain of a deal, right?

They signed him at a perfect time. The fact that they got him to the negotiating table before the season started was a big w for Bradshaw living and company. Big one because they got him a higher number than before. But, man, he's raised his game to another level this season than last season. Last season has down year bad, terrible year of 40 goals.

Only 40 goals. He needs ten to eclipse that now, or, sorry, twelve to eclipse that. He has 28 goals in 30 games, almost a goal a game pace. Say that again? 17 times, but, yeah, mark dag in the chat says, can 34 only score during.

Only score once during a game? I don't think he can this year. Go, leafs, go. That's funny, Mark, because we were talking about early in the season that most of his goal, that he was scoring a crap ton of goals, were condensed into a couple pockets of games, but the consistency wasn't there. We were saying, like, well, why does he have to score two hat tricks in a row, but not score for six more games?

It's not his recipe for winning but now, mark, you see that he's scoring multiple goals most of the. And what is happening, too, is he's shooting more. And it just seems so elementary that a guy with one of the best shots anybody has ever seen should shoot more. And I'm glad he's getting it off. He has confidence with it.

The wrist is looking great. It's not like he's looking healthy. And knock on wood, that it stays that way. But, man, at this point, I have never seen this guy at a level like this. But as we go, the Blue Jackets crowd finally gets a bit of a reprieve from the referees that they were absolutely hounding.

Bobby McMahon gets a holding call there. Pretty clear cut holding call, but the refs were like, okay, we got. We have to give them a call or they're going to throw trash in the ice and they're going to make us work a lot longer than we have to. And they call it right away and they didn't capitalize on it. Right?

I mean, this is a team that's struggling without Patrick Lione.

They just didn't really capitalize on it. We almost ended the period with a catastrophic giveaway by Morgan Riley. Yeah, I don't think it was a catastrophic giveaway. It's more of like, that was a great steal by Texier, by Alex Texier. He knocked that right out of midair.

And again, Martin Jones standing tall again. And that was the end of the second there on a sidebar. I gotta say, there are a couple of markets in the NHL that are like sleeping giants to me, because, and I think Columbus is one of them. It's like that. And the Sabers, like, obviously, the Sabers are a longer, more historic franchise than the Blue Jackets, but these are the teams that they've played more recently.

Two teams that have just cannot find real success. I mean, okay, the Jackets, they won a couple series. They beat Tampa. They beat the Leafs. I'm not saying that the Leafs are many better, but that's a market that is, I think, is ripe for a winner.

If you put a winner there, you will see a massive fan turnout. You're going to see a lot of passion there. That's a sports town, the home of the Buckeyes there. And it's the only hockey team in Ohio, or only NHL team in Ohio. But I'd like to see them get things back on track.

They tried, they went out, they got Johnny Goodreau. They thought that, okay, it's time to turn the corner. And, man, I mean, that's why you got to appreciate the regular season success of the Leafs. The consistent regular season success, because it is not guaranteed ever. Like, your rebuild is not guaranteed to be good.

It's not like, okay, three years from now, we will set the timer, we're going to be good, and you're fine. No, the Leafs had a perfect rebuild, basically, and they were off and running within two years into consistent playoff games. And that's why you got to appreciate what we got right now. The consistency of this team. Third period goes on here.

And now another. I had a bit of a moment here. I think all of us did. Morgan Riley gets hit in the ankle, and it didn't look that bad, and it wasn't, but he starts limping, and as soon as he starts limping, I'm like, good lord, but a season is flashing before our eyes. I mean, I thought he was like, if he was injured for a few weeks, it would be a problem because Morgan Riley is a load bearing pillar on this team.

The defensive core leaves a lot to be desired. Right? It's a lot of patchwork right now, but Riley is the constant on that back end and glad he was okay because woof. If he was not okay, that would be trouble for a Leafs team that is heading on the road for the west coast in January. They're going to have some tough games, and they're going to need all hands on deck.

And yeah, it was a pretty ho hum third. We got another goal. We got William Neelander on the PK. I am loving the PK. William Neelander on the PK.

Having a guy that just is a threat to get a breakaway on every penalty kill. I know you're giving up a little bit on the defensive side where you're trying to prevent a goal, but he takes it and he goes on a two on one with TJ Brody. Now, this was the most obvious shot ever. I thought the goalie for the Jackets probably should have read it a little better, because I don't think William Neelander holding the puck going on a breakaway is going to pass it off to TJ Brody. Maybe, but I think if you ran the simulation 100 times he's doing that, 99 times, he's sniping it.

Bar down William Neelander and 45 points on the year.

He seems to have faded off that crazy, torrid pace. Now we're talking about Matthews, but he's like fourth in NHL scoring in points right now. He's been incredible. This has been his year, and everyone's gonna be. It's gonna be the hottest topic going into the deadline and going into the new year is how much for, know how much is William Neelander going to get?

Like, let me know, guys. It's a tough thing because we want to bask. You want to be like, damn, we have all these guys here. They are looking great, but it's something that they're going to have to take care of.

There's a lot of things that this team has got to do. And finding a number for William Neelander, that makes sense for both teams, for both sides, rather. That's going to be a challenge. It's going to be a challenge. I'm a little more optimistic.

I have a feeling will and Neelander might take under double digits a year just to be like, at some point he has to. I hope he realizes the value of being a superstar hockey player in Toronto. Right? I mean, the guy took the subway once and everyone's like, well, twice. I actually saw him once when everyone was wearing masks and I was like, oh, that's William Neelander.

But he takes the subway and it becomes a story. And now he has a Rogers commercial because he took the subway. You see what I mean? Like, being Toronto, Maple Leaf is one of the greatest investments financially, you will ever make in your entire life. Right?

If you do anything, they don't even have to win a cup. You go to a conference final. Like, Darcy Tucker was still getting checks in Toronto for a conference final team. Wendell Clark and Doug Gilmore are getting checks still from conference finals. Teams like this city does not forget.

So I hope he sees that and sees the value of that, because financially, it'll pay off ten times over and also you'll be on a winning team. I don't know, guys. I mean, you guys are telling me, no, Willie will not take under ten. Luke is saying, oh, Willie, under ten, you sweet summer child. Yeah, I know.

I'm sorry. You're probably right. I probably am. Just wishful thinking here. But that's my pitch.

Okay, here. 9.88. Put his jersey number in there. Everyone wants their jersey number in their contract. There you go.

It's not quite ten.

It's not quite there, but you get a little bit. You get a little bit of cheekiness there. Everyone has their jersey number in their contract. I don't know. It's going to be interesting.

And of course, Craig is telling me the cap is going up by four mil next season. So that's a good thing. But that's the thing. The contracts still can't outpace. They cannot outpace the cap going up.

It's not like because then you're stuck in the same situation where it's like you're still not adding anybody else. But let's see what happens. I'm confident that they will get a deal done. I don't think this is going to be a scenario where it goes past the trade deadline. He has no contract because what a way to distract your team while you're going into a playoff run when you're like, yeah, we have this looming contract situation, so it's going to be the last dance here, basically.

That would be a tough look to let a guy go past a trade deadline like that and you're just hoping at a prayer during free agency when everybody who's everyone is going to offer the sun, moon and stars for this a. It's going to be a very interesting deadline, for sure. Yeah, I want to see. Do you think Marner deserves much more than Willie? Yeah, and that's the thing.

You know what I feel like this season, Marner hasn't been like the topic of conversation a lot as far as look what this guy's doing. Last season he was on an 18 game point streak, right?

And he's on that 18 game point streak and everyone was like, wow, he's unreal. He's one of the best players in the league. I think he's kind of, he's like the most under the radar guy on the core right now, but he is still absolutely killing it. He has set up both those Matthews goals. He's been incredible and I think this deserves the same number.

Get him in the room together, man. Matthews deserves more. But I want you get those agents together, get everyone together. Be like, listen, I have $22,000,000.22 for the two of you a year. You guys divide it amongst yourselves in cash, get a bundles of cash.

Be like, divide it amongst yourselves. If only things were that easy negotiation wise. See Business 101 right there. Yeah. So another thing, in the spirit of the season of Festivus, I got to talk of airing of grievances here with the team.

Team was fantastic today. Okay. But there was this tweet that went out today by Megan Cheka of showing the absolute gulf of the defensive play of the team last season to this season. So I'm going to read it out. So last season, goals against per game was 7th in the league.

Now 26th. I mean, this is the whole season of last season and the pace this season. So smaller sample size, but still alarming. Expected goals expected by whom? 10th last season, 20th this season.

Shot attempts per game 13th last season, 29th this season. Scoring chances against eigth last season, 23rd this season. Slot chances against 15th last season. 20 eigth this season. Odd man rushes against a game 7th last season, 25th this season.

You get the picture, right? You understand it's dire straits for the defensive side of the team. Now, the thing is, we all jumped on ilya Samson because it's the easy thing to do. And yes, he was bad. He's been bad.

He's like an 868 70 goalie. He looks like he can't stop a rudimentary save, right? But it can't just be that. That's not the entire story of the season right now. The defense has been really bad all year.

Like ilya Samsunov does not stop Od man rushes, right? He doesn't stop scoring chances. All that goalie does is stop the shots, okay? That's what they do. The goal is against.

You can finesse it and say, oh man, the goalie's been crap this year. But everything else, it lends to the fact that, hey, it's not just the goaltending. There's a system thing here. Now, I know there's been defensive, know there's been. Timothy Lillegren had a high ankle sprain for a while, Jake McCabe was out for a while.

But it's not that much of a different decor from last season other than it's a little bit know you had Del. TJ Brody's a little bit older. He gets caught up in a lot of OD man rushes and a lot of weird plays and end up in the back of the net. But also you got guys in the forward group who are a little less good defensively. Like Max Domi is a great.

I love Max Domi. I love the way this guy, I love getting this guy on the team. Guy's got a ton of charisma, he's got a ton of bite to him. He's not going to beat many people up, but he is tough. That guy has his dad's toughness, but yeah, he's not been great defensively.

If he was a great defensive player with his offense, I think he'd be an $8 million a year player, not a one year, $3 million a year player. What do you guys think? What else is the cause here? I saw some tweets half in Jeff saying Kerfoot and hall were the reason for the defense being a lot better last season than this season. I don't quite believe that, but the point is, whatever the cause is, man, Bradshaw living has a lot of work to do.

He's got a lot of work to do. This trade deadline, I mean, this is a big, this is a huge trade deadline. This is first, as the GM of Toronto, he's got to impress, know he's got a lot of holes to fill and it's like, where do you start? Of course you need a right handed defenseman, but I don't know if one defenseman is going to, even one defenseman is going to paper over all this and make it all better and make them all in the top ten and all those defensive metrics. Again, unless you're going out and getting, you're not getting a prime Nick Lidstrom and 6th and third said 15 goals in two games will skew those stats.

That is true. That is very true. You give them nine, but they still gave up those goals, though. I mean, they still counted, right? It wasn't like somebody just went into the spreadsheet and added more goals in there, right?

They still happen, but I don't know. That's what makes me think I'm happy for the win. And I think they've been, despite all the injuries and the bad goaltending and all the stuff surrounding it, they played very admirably this season. They have really stepped up to the plate with their backs against the wall and showed a lot of resiliency. But to be honest with these numbers and what I see with my eyes, they're still not a contender for the cup just yet.

Like, they have the bet. They have so much offensive talent, but it's more like an all star team than a complete team right now. So I'd love to see what they can add. I think it's got to be multiple guys. I don't think you can just count on one acquisition, and I think all the other gms understand that the Leafs are bad.

Like need defense and need to stop more pucks to win anything in the playoffs. And I think knowing that, they're going to be like, oh, you'd like our top four defensemen? Okay, great. Well, just the first. That's going to cost you an extra second, buddy, down the line.

No, you want our defensive forward. That's going to cost you one of your top forward prospects, I'm afraid. Not a lot of leverage. Not a lot of leverage there when you have such glaring needs and everybody else is trying to sell and get as much assets as they can. It's a recipe for a little bit of danger there.

But the tree has a lot of work cut out for him, a lot, a lot of work cut out for him. Curious to see what he does. I'm really curious and I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful he's made some big moves in the past. He's not afraid to make big moves.

So let's see what happens and yeah, guys, listen, thank you so much for watching out here. This is December 23 and anybody watching, thank you guys for showing up here. Appreciate you giving me your time, your time today. I truly appreciate that. But hit me up with some questions.

I mean, it doesn't have to be Leafs related, NHL related. Anything you'd like to ask me? The phone lines are open. Not literally, but I kind of miss those old shows. I really do.

When it was like, oh, we got Bob from Hamilton on line one. And then they would just argue with each know that'd be kind of fun. But we don't have the tech. I don't quite have the technology for alas. It's really funny actually.

One time I'll tell a quick story. Did you guys know I was in high school and I called into the fan 590 and for some reason I'm swear this wasn't a fever dream. Jack Armstrong, the Raptors commentator was talking about the Leafs like having a full on segment, taking calls about it and I'm like, this is weird, but I remember talking to him and about the Leafs and I'm like, that is, you know Jack Armstrong. Love Jack Armstrong. So yeah, guys, throw me down some questions here, do you guys.

So one of the things I say a lot on these streams is that I'm glad that the Atlantic division and that the east in general is a lot more competitive by and large this season. Like, I like that they're going to have to fight and scratch and claw because that's the thing. The last season for them, not having some. Having to have the sense of urgency or having their feet to the fire all the time. Like by January we're all like, oh, great.

Well, Tampa Bay in the first round again. WHOOP. Do you do. It's bad for entertainment purposes, but it was also bad for. It was bad for the you.

It's human nature, I think a lot of mean. Maybe you can relate. I'm certainly this way when something. There's a deadline or there's something, there's pressure bearing down, you perform better and you learn how to perform better. So I think they have that more this season.

They obviously had the adversity early with the injuries, but now the division is wild. Montreal is three points back of know the only two teams in the Atlantic out of it? Ottawa for sure, and Buffalo. But Buffalo's not totally out of it. The Atlantic is wild.

Like it is a wild, wild division. The beast is still there. The Boston Bruins are eternal. They will be there longer than the sun is going to still be shining. The Bruins will always be good, those pesky panthers, always still there.

So I like think, you know, pressure makes diamonds, right? Pressure makes diamonds. You'd hope. We hope it does. All right, I got a question here by Matthew, friend of the show.

Would you like to see hockey on Christmas? Like basketball? And know, that's the thing. You know what? The NBA owns Christmas unless it falls on a Sunday.

The NBA owns, like, for as long as I've remembered, the NHL does not like to compete with anything because they are at least the fourth sport, pro sport in the United States. Like we're talking United States here. And even then you're talking like, the MLS in some cities is bigger than the NHL, right?

You saw them, they wanted to move the Panthers game and Leafs game because of the Formula one race happening in Miami. They know their place in the pecking order and going up against those behemoths. I don't think it'll happen, and I think it's a tradition for the NHL. And I kind of like the tradition that they have a roster freeze at Christmas. They kind of take this time of year seriously to where it's like, no, you guys are people too, and we want you guys to go and spend time with your families.

You're on the road a lot. You're taking a lot. You're taking a beating physically and mentally. Go and take your time with your families and rest up. We'll see you on the 27th.

I kind of like that the league does that. It's one of the things the league does. Right. I actually think even the roster freeze, I don't think anybody would be traded on Christmas Day. But you never know.

Someone will do it. But I'm glad they don't have that because that would really suck for anybody. Even if you're a millionaire athlete, it'd be suck to be traded while you're opening gifts on Christmas Day.

And of juniors, the world juniors own boxing day of, you know, like, let's see what we got here. Yeah. Lucas saying, why is it fourth? Hockey is the best. That's the thing, though, business wise.

I don't know.

It's an interesting thing that I think the league gets in its own way with marketing, too. They don't like to market stars and drama. And that's what the other sports. That's kind of how the other sports get to the top, right? Like the NBA.

I'm a big fan of the NBA and I do content for the NBA. There's always something happening and there's a lot about the stars. I think that's just naturally people want. I think they got to do that a bit more. They got to appeal to the human element a bit more.

I know they're very hard on teams. Team, everything's teams. The front of the jersey matters, back of the jersey doesn't matter, but you got to get away from that because honestly, I wish they would allow more access to teams. They needed like a Netflix series, like an NHL team kind of like drive to survive. You get that.

You'll get more fans. I think people who see the behind the scenes and see these guys personalities, if they let them in, you'd see a bit more growth in the game, in my opinion. Let's see here. I had an earlier chat question here. Who should the Leafs go out and get?

I cannot find the name. Bill Mills I think was saying what moves are coming? That's what I got. Okay, so I'm going to get my crystal ball here. Shake it up.

I think it's going to be a Calgary trade. I think they're just circling each other like just kiss already. That's kind of where it is at. It's like just, you got what we want, I got what you need. I know he worked there and they were kind of mean to him on the way out.

They're kind of petty. But if that's not any kind of deterrence, I think they're going to go out and get one of the Calgary defensemen, probably Tanev. What I hope is they don't shuttle first round picks out the door unless a guy has term. So trading a first for Chris Tanev would be kind of disastrous because unless you're getting like a package to get him and Zadorov or him and Hannifin, then yeah, trade the first.

I hope there are some big moves. I hope there are a lot of moves because I want to see them really go for it. They have everything they need.

They have to give themselves a chance. They got to give themselves a chance. You can say, oh, these core can't compete in the playoffs. And maybe you're right, but the NHL is the way it is until it's not. We thought Ovechkin was a playoff choker forever.

Cannot get past the. And then one year they know, narratives are there to be broken. These guys are still not old. They're not old and they're just maturing into themselves. If you look at most athletes who win championships, it happens in different sports, obviously, but it happens when they're in their 27, 26, 27.

That's when you really figure see yourself out as a player and you're seeing it with these guys as they're hitting their primes. So yeah, I'd say go out, go out. Do something big. I would like to see something big. Just make sure you got some term there.

Make sure they're part of a window. This is not the last dance, but make sure. I'd like to see them try to get a core piece and really put their chips on the table and get somebody that you're going to resign for five years. But that would be interesting. I think you're going to see Samsung off probably.

I can see it where they're going to move him in a deal like just a be. It's not like he's not a Jack Campbell where it's five years in his deal, they're going to move him. Kind of like what the LA Kings did with Jonathan quick. It was just a kind of a contract for contract. It's not like the Blue Jackets wanted Jonathan quick.

They traded him later to the Golden Knights. But I could see that where he's just part of a deal to like Calgary for example, just it's a throw in. And if you're a bad team and if you're a team like know you would take a flyer at Ilya Sampson off, you have nothing else to lose if you're not making it to the playoffs. Why not see if you can regain his composure? Maybe you have a guy who's young that you can build out of the net with.

If you get the guy from last know a team like Ottawa, pretty happy to have him. So I don't think he's unmovable as we think he is. People are asking Lucas saying about the resigned geo. Mark Giordano? I don't think so.

I don't know. It all depends on the guy. I mean, a minimum contract is a minimum contract, but I have a feeling like he's just going to retire and go to the and be assistant GM. He just seems a type or like an assistant coach, but for a guy who's 40 years old, he still is somewhat an effective player. But I don't like being in the business of giving a lot of minutes to a 41 year old defenseman.

The defense is shaky is enough. So shaky enough so you don't want to tempt fate there.

I believe we hit the end of this here. So thank you for joining me, guys, on my first ever solo game over. I feel like I have talked a whole lot because I have my vocal cord. My vocal cords are. They're fine.

They're going to sweat. My vocal cords are getting a sweat. But yeah, I appreciate it. If anybody has any last second questions, throw them in there. But just want to tell you guys, on behalf of myself and the rest of the SDPN family, I want to wish you guys a very merry Christmas, happy holidays, and, yeah, I hope you guys enjoy it.

Enjoy the time with your family. Spread some cheer. Be happy and enjoy it, man. Enjoy it. I'm going to do the same thing.

Going to eat and be merry. So, yeah, thank you so much for joining me here. Could have been anywhere else in the world on nearly Christmas Eve, but you are here with me. What's my plans for Christmas holidays? A lot of gatherings, a lot of eating, big extended family, lot of food.

So I'm getting ready for it.

You almost have to warm up for it. I think I got to do some stretches before you eat the turkey because it's coming in a couple of days. It's come like days in succession, you know what I'm saying? But yeah. Thank you guys so much for watching.

Again. Hit like if you liked it, share it. Tell all your friends and tell all your friends this is the place to be after every Leafs game. The next game will be on the 27 December. It will be a crossover with me and Charlie from game over Ottawa.

Those Ottawa sends down bad but up a came against the Leafs is always the antidote for those Ottawa Senators. Well, thank you very much again for joining. Merry Christmas and peace.