Matthew Barnaby gives some love to Jake McCabe & John Tavares: Leafs Morning Take
It was another weekend of highs and lows for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ultimately, they were able to salvage a split in their home and home with the Buffalo Sabres.
Having said all that, there’s still lots of room for improvement as Craig Berube and company prepare for their three-game slate this week.
At any rate, we kicked off the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take by talking some World Series. The scene has shifted to Los Angeles for the next three games —starting with Game 3 tonight. Friend of the show Max Scherzer gets the ball for Toronto. We still can’t believe that the Blue Jays are in the World Series. Amazing. The city has been buzzing.
Additionally, Rosey broke down a difficult shift for Mitch Marner during Vegas’ loss in Tampa on Sunday afternoon. Rookie Dominic James had his way with the former Maple Leaf. Is it January 15th yet?
After that, we broke down the weekend. Surprise, surprise, Nick Robertson scored in his return to the lineup. Meantime, we did talk quite a bit about Joseph Woll’s return. Cayden Primeau made 23 stops in Saturday’s win, but obviously, it seems likely that he will be on his way very soon. For what it’s worth, Brad Treliving did reveal that Woll’s been skating on his own the past few weeks. That said, there was no timetable for his official return. Treliving hinted a possible Marlies conditioning stint. It’s great to see Woll back in the mix! Meantime, we gave a lot of love to John Tavares, who potted the OT winner on Saturday night. That was career goal No. 499. Amazingly, Tavares has a chance to pot 500 against Calgary, the same team Mats Sundin did it against back in 2006.
Undoubtedly, Jake McCabe was the talk of the weekend. Rosey extensively broke down his massive hit on Bowen Byram and subsequent fight against Alex Tuch. In case you missed it, he beat the wheels off Tuch. It was not pretty. We both agreed that the Leafs need more of that moving forward. McCabe always plays with that mean streak, though. Speak of which, Daily Faceoff’s Matthew Barnaby stopped by the show. He dished on McCabe’s display, Tavares’ passion, and the Leafs – as a whole – as they approach the 10-game mark (4-4-1). Despite Toronto’s turbulent start, Barnaby believes in this team. He’s a big Craig Berube guy, and like most of our guests to start the year, he thinks the Leafs are a team that’s built for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Lastly, Barnaby weighed in on the weird start in the Atlantic Division.
Please make a note to join us for the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take (11 AM ET). We’ll preview Leafs/Flames. Also, we’ll catch up with former Leaf and Flame Matt Stajan.