“It’s a forecheck drill,” Sheldon Keefe said to Mitch Marner at Toronto Maple Leafs practice on Monday morning. “It’s blue’s puck.”
Blue being the colour of Marner’s practice jersey. They were the line that was supposed to be forechecking, in other words.
It was a mostly quiet morning otherwise for the Leafs ahead of Game 5 on Tuesday and potential elimination from the playoffs. No smiles. No laughs. Not much chatter. And no sign of Auston Matthews, who left Game 4 after two periods with an illness he just can’t seem to shake.
Keefe said Matthews’ status for Game 5 had “yet to be determined” but the team is “hopeful” he can play. “Of course we’re hopeful that he’s available and feeling good and back to himself,” Keefe said. “That’s what we’re hopeful for.”
And so the Leafs are preparing to be without their best player with their season on the line.
Max Domi took Matthews’ spot at centre on the team’s No. 1 line during Monday’s practice and also took reps in his usual position on the No. 1 power-play unit.
This, it seems, is how the Leafs would line up if Matthews is unavailable to go on Tuesday night. (Timothy Liljegren is set to replace TJ Brodie on the back end.)
Line
LW
C
RW
Lyubushkin
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There’s no understating how crippling Matthews’ absence would be in the biggest game of the season. He almost singlehandedly won Game 2 for the Leafs and is coming off a Hart Trophy-calibre regular season. He’s the best offensive and defensive player on the team.
“It’s not ideal to be without Auston Matthews,” Tavares said. “Obviously you’re talking about one of the best players in the world.”
And yet, the Leafs have also shown over the years, including this one, that they can pull together and win the odd game without him — or without some of their other top players, including Marner, Nylander (in that Game 2 win) and Morgan Rielly.
Matthews missed only one game during the regular season. He was unavailable because of illness, oddly enough, when the Leafs hosted Pittsburgh on Dec. 16. His team ripped the Penguins 7-0 that night anyway.
One combination that produced sparks: Domi, playing centre, alongside Marner. (The third forward on the line that night was Knies.)
Domi had a goal and two assists that night. Marner had two points himself.
That connection would explain, at least in part, why the Leafs opted not to, as they have in the past, promote Tavares into the top centre’s spot in Matthews’ potential absence.
“He’s done well with Mitch, he’s done well when we’ve had guys out,” Keefe said of Domi, who spent most of this season playing centre before shifting more recently to right wing. “Whether it was Auston or John, when they’ve been out, Max has played in that spot and he’s done a nice job for it.”
Tavares also has baked-in chemistry with Nylander, and there’s this: The Leafs would prefer that a Tavares-led unit goes head to head with David Pastrnak if they can help it rather than one fronted by Domi.
If there’s one thing that’s gone right for the Leafs this series, it’s the job Tavares’ line (with help from the pair of Simon Benoit and Jake McCabe) has done defensively against Pastrnak’s unit.
The downside of that work: The line hasn’t scored much at all, just one goal in Game 3 from Knies on a setup from Marner.
The Leafs will likely need more punch from that group if Matthews isn’t around — particularly from Nylander, a back-to-back 40-goal scorer who has 12 goals in his last 26 playoff games.
Nylander looked sluggish in his return to the lineup in Game 4 and was held off the scoresheet.
“Throughout the year, guys have been out of the lineup and I think we’ve rallied together each time,” he said. “If that’s the case then that’s what we’ll have to do.”
How much more Keefe can get that unit starting on offence on the road in Game 5 is uncertain. The big concern for the Leafs coach: Pastrnak.
Is he comfortable dropping any other line out there repeatedly for defensive zone faceoffs knowing Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery might pounce on a potential mismatch and drop Pastrnak out there?
He might have no choice but to risk it more often than he did in Games 1 and 2, if only to boost the chances of that line breaking through what Tavares described as the “layers” of defence the Bruins have around their net.
“I felt like last game they got a lot of sticks, a lot of bodies on pucks, and nothing was clean, even when you found ways to get into some good spots,” Tavares said. “You really gotta support each other really well, to be able to break through layers and pressure and be able to find the open areas and then obviously attack when the opportunities are there.”
Referring to Pastrnak, the Leafs captain said, “Obviously we know how dangerous he is offensively. You’re not trying to be overaggressive or high risk.”
If not Tavares’ line, the Leafs have to hope Marner can power the No. 1 unit in Matthews’ potential absence. Marner had a quiet Games 1-4 offensively while playing in a shutdown role against Pastrnak.
He still had a direct hand — a goal and a primary assist — on two of the Leafs’ six five-on-five goals in the series.
Playing on the top unit will free him up for many more offensive zone faceoffs and, playing with Domi, more opportunities to shoot the puck.
Marner has fewer five-on-five shots in this series (four) than Connor Dewar (five). Not enough.
If Matthews comes around and plays in Game 5, Keefe has an interesting choice of where exactly to use Domi.
Option 1: Keep him with Matthews, a look the Leafs coach hasn’t budged from for weeks now. That would require, potentially, moving Marner and Nylander around somehow.
Option 2: Move Domi down into the 3C spot, keep Marner with Matthews and look for more threatening depth with a possible third line of Nick Robertson, Domi and Calle Järnkrok.
Domi occupied Matthews’ usual spot on the right flank of the No. 1 unit at Monday’s practice. More interesting is the apparent adjustment — which will presumably stick even if Matthews plays — that will see Marner move to the bumper position.
There’s Nazem Kadri-like potential there for Marner — that is a weaker shooter pouncing on quick shots from the slot. Though he hasn’t played in that spot much at all, Marner should get juicier shooting opportunities from a position on the ice where the lack of zip on his shot won’t matter as much.
Marner will have even more space there if Matthews is available to play.
“No videotaping, Mark,” Marner shouted in jest to TSN’s Mark Masters, filming the work on his phone during the unit’s pre-practice session on Monday. “You’ll share our secrets.”
Guy Boucher, who runs the power play, appeared to be stressing the need for more support around the puck at that session — better retrievals, in other words.
The Leafs assistant coach placed a puck along the wall and had three of the five members of the unit crowd around before the group got into their set actions.
“We gotta be hungry,” Tavares said, “the way we work for pucks, work for opportunities.”
Nylander said the Leafs were intent on moving pucks around quicker on the power play and firing from more varied locations on the ice. “The focus is get the puck to the net and then get the rebounds and get those in,” Nylander said.
The Leafs are 1-14 on the power play in this series.
Keefe identified special teams (the penalty kill has killed off only 53.9 percent of the Bruins’ power plays) and goaltending as the two big areas for needed improvement in Game 5, whether Matthews plays or not. “They’ve had the edge in those areas in the series,” Keefe said, “and that’s tough to overcome.”
(Photo of Max Domi: Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.
The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.
A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.
Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.
“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”
His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.
Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.
Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.
“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.
“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”
The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.
After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.
He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.
“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”
Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.
“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”
Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.
“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”
Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.
It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.
“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.
“You never know.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.
Jose Maria Celestino da Costa was named vice-president and head of soccer operations while Marianne Brooks was appointed vice-president of partnerships, Kelly Shouldice as vice-president of brand and content and Joyce Sou as vice-president of finance and business operations.
The new six-team women’s pro league is set to kick off in April.
“Their unique expertise and leadership are crucial as we lay the foundation for not just a successful league in Canada, but one that stands among the top sports leagues in the world,” NSL president Christina Litz said in a statement. “By investing in top-tier talent and infrastructure, the Northern Super League is committed to creating a league that will elevate the game and set new standards for women’s professional soccer globally.”
Da Costa will oversee all on-field matters, including officiating. His resume includes stints with Estoril Praia, a men’s first-division team in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, where he helped develop the Portuguese women’s league.
Brooks spent a decade with Canucks Sports & Entertainment, working in “partnership sales and retention efforts” for the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, and Rogers Arena. Most recently, she served as senior director of account management at StellarAlgo, a software company that helps pro sports teams connect with their fans
Shouldice has worked for Corus Entertainment, the Canadian Football League, and most recently as vice-president of Content and Communications at True North Sports & Entertainment, where she managed original content as well as business and hockey communications.
Sou, who was involved in the league’s initial launch, will oversee financial planning, analysis and the league’s expansion strategy in her new role.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
