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who invited climate action to the party? We

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0:05

Sarah Christie. Together, we host the Earth

0:07

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0:09

is full of climate experts sharing their

0:11

advice on how we can protect our

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Day Party Podcast on the iHeart Radio

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favorite podcasts. GameBlick

0:32

continues on the TSN radio network,

0:34

Mike DiStefano in for Matthew Cause

0:37

today. Joining me online now,

0:39

Anthony Stewart, 1050 Leafs, analyst,

0:41

former NHL, or the chairman at Hockey Equality.

0:43

What's going on, Anthony? I'm

0:45

doing well. How's it going? How are

0:48

you? I'm doing good. Doing good. Getting

0:50

excited for game five tomorrow. We'll see

0:52

if the bugs can close it out.

0:54

Didn't happen on Saturday. What

0:56

did you make of? Toronto's performance, and what

0:58

can they do better to try and finish

1:00

the job tomorrow night? Well,

1:03

it wasn't the best start, right? Getting down to

1:05

a two -nothing lead after that first period, but

1:07

they found a way to sort of, you

1:09

know, weather that storm and come back, right? And,

1:11

you know, there's been talks of, yeah, you

1:13

go to, you know, over times three games in

1:15

a row, chances are you're not going to

1:17

win all three, but they gave themselves a chance

1:20

to win. Some players stepped up

1:22

and had some great individual efforts. But

1:24

again, you know, there's now three

1:26

more opportunities to close out the

1:28

series. You know, if you

1:30

hold this team to four shots in the final two

1:33

frames, I think I really like Toronto's chances. So

1:35

not their best effort. Stolars, I feel it

1:37

could be a little bit better. But, you know,

1:39

any way you dice the 3 -1 lead is

1:41

a 3 -1 lead. And I think they have

1:43

another opportunity tomorrow, a good opportunity to close

1:45

out the Senators. Yeah, you

1:47

mentioned Stolar. It's

1:49

his worst game of the series. It's not

1:52

that he played horrible, but he played really,

1:54

really well in the first three. It's

1:56

a guy who obviously has been in a tandem

1:58

all season long. He's never been a starter, and

2:00

now it's three straight overtime games,

2:02

so that's playing even more time. At

2:05

some point, do you think

2:07

that... a concern the amount

2:09

of time that he's playing like that

2:11

was always a conversation of whether or

2:13

not the least we're gonna need both

2:15

gold tenders at some point With the

2:17

amount of games that Stolers has played

2:19

and looked a little less Sharp in

2:21

the last one. I think there's

2:23

any conversation or thought process of

2:25

of maybe going to Joseph Lowe

2:27

here in the future Well,

2:31

I think if this team has plans

2:33

of going the distance, right? I

2:35

think you're probably going to see both cool tenders,

2:37

right? But, you know, I know it's it's easy

2:39

to maybe, you know, point fingers at him, right?

2:41

But I think he's been stellar in most of

2:43

these playoffs, right? And this is not a guy

2:45

that's played, you know, 500 games in the NHL.

2:47

He's got, you know, 146 games experience and 12

2:49

playoff games, right? So for, you know, you put

2:52

that in perspective and yes, he is 31 years

2:54

old, but. You know, he doesn't have a lot

2:56

of experience. You put that into play. You're like,

2:58

you know what? Let's give him a little bit

3:00

to a longer rope. But, you know, at

3:02

the same time, he's earned this opportunity, right? And,

3:04

you know, he's got the pedigree of playing with

3:06

the Florida Panthers last year. And he sort of

3:08

won the gold -tenning duel with Joseph Wall. But

3:10

Wall's a good 1 -B option. I'm sure we'll see

3:12

him sooner than later. But I don't think, you

3:14

know, after one game, I think he's earned a

3:16

little bit more than a little equity, a little

3:19

bit more equity, I guess, from the fans and

3:21

coaching staff and like, because, you know, if he

3:23

didn't play the way he did for this year,

3:25

I don't think we're talking about this group winning

3:27

the division and even being in an opportunity to

3:29

be up 3 -1. So one game I feel he

3:31

can be better, but I think with

3:33

this group and the goal tending

3:35

as a whole, they've been consistently consistent.

3:37

So I'm excited and looking forward

3:39

to how they respond tomorrow. With

3:42

Anthony Stewart Matthew nice has been a

3:44

player who's absolutely Exceeded all expectations that

3:46

I've had I had on him You

3:48

know when he first got into the

3:50

league a couple of years ago just

3:52

a second full year in the NHL

3:55

had 29 goals He's on the top

3:57

line top power play killing penalties and

3:59

he scored an unbelievable beauty of goal

4:01

the other nights when you

4:03

watch Matthew nice play Like how

4:05

much has he impressed you

4:07

and has he exceeded expectations for

4:10

yourself? Um,

4:12

I would say he's exceeded everyone's expectations, right?

4:14

Um, again, I followed him, uh, you know, a

4:16

little bit, uh, in his junior career and,

4:18

um, you know, just seeing where he, you know,

4:20

was then to now, sorry, college career and

4:22

just seeing the evolution of him, you know, he's

4:24

turned into a legitimate power forward in the

4:26

NHL, not just for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And,

4:29

you know, he almost plays wise beyond his

4:31

years. You think he's been in the league for

4:33

five, six, seven years and. You look at

4:35

some of the other leagues, uh, power forwards, it

4:37

takes them sometimes five, six, seven years, you

4:39

know, look at the Criders and the Millers and,

4:41

you know, the Tom Wilson, she was a

4:43

fourth liner, I think for the first five years

4:45

of his career. So for him to come

4:47

in, uh, step into this market and perform at

4:50

such a high level, just, you know, scoring

4:52

shy of 30 goals and. You know,

4:54

dominating physically. I don't think

4:56

he scratched the surface of what he is and

4:58

what he can be. So, uh, it's a

5:00

problem, but a good problem to have is, you

5:02

know, I think he's proven that he's a

5:04

part of the core on the forwards and. You

5:06

know, it's going to cost a pretty penny

5:08

to retain his services, whether that's short or long

5:10

term. But it's great because, you know, since

5:13

they hit on the, the Mariners and the Nielanders

5:15

and the Matthews and the draft, there's been

5:17

a lot of misses over the years. So to

5:19

get him, who was a second rounder, step

5:21

in and into top line duties right away is,

5:23

it's great job at the scouting department, the

5:25

old scouting department. And, you know,

5:27

he's going to be a player a long time

5:29

in this league, putting up a lot of points

5:31

and dominating the opposition and being tough to play

5:33

against for years to come. Well, let's

5:35

say it just brings a different mix to that

5:37

top six, right? To that top line that

5:40

it feels like they've lacked and haven't had. And

5:42

like with him arriving, like I

5:44

think this year he's finally arrived to

5:46

be that player. I think you're seeing

5:48

once you add that element to this

5:51

line, it could be

5:53

possibly the best in hockey with

5:55

Matthews, Marner, and now Nye's there. Yeah,

5:58

he's like a young David Clarkson in New

6:00

Jersey, right? The one year of

6:02

David Clarkson. I said New Jersey. But,

6:05

you know, and that's great because, again, you

6:07

know, there's other ways that he sort of,

6:09

you know, affects the game other than on

6:11

the score sheet, right? And, you know, he

6:13

does have the hands and tight. You saw

6:15

that obviously on the breakaway in speed. But

6:18

he's a guy that, you know, win,

6:20

lose or draw, scoring or not scoring. He's,

6:22

um, you know, playing a physical element.

6:24

He's, he's chipping fucks in, he's chasing, he's

6:26

retrieving, he's creating opportunities, leaning, leaning on

6:29

the opposition, softening them up. And he's not afraid

6:31

to get to the net. How many guys have you

6:33

seen over the years take the scenic route or,

6:35

uh, you know, go around the fence and he goes

6:37

directly straight line hockey. And it's easy to play

6:39

with those types of players. Cause you know, in fact,

6:41

where they're going to be on the ice. And,

6:43

uh, what's impressive to me as well as, you know,

6:45

he's killing penalties, right? Sometimes, uh, I'm

6:47

still waiting to kill penalties in the NHL

6:49

and I've been retired now for 10 years.

6:51

Like, you know, to step in and into

6:53

this market and play not just a good

6:55

offensive game, but defensive awareness. I'm

6:58

very, very impressed on how he's done

7:00

so far early in his career. And, you

7:02

know, I think the exciting part is, you

7:04

know, your picture where he's going to be

7:06

when he's 26, 27 years old, like it's, you

7:09

know, like he's knocking on the doorstep by, I believe,

7:11

for the Olympic team, right? And I heard the

7:13

comparisons this morning and, you know, maybe some of some

7:15

of the networks about, you know, is he going

7:18

to be on the US team, you know, You

7:20

know, is it him, who would you rather

7:22

hit, him or Kachuk? You know, so again, there's

7:24

a lot of excitement and hype around him,

7:26

but he's delivering in every sense of the work.

7:29

Dewey have you ever like have

7:32

you ever been in Batherson's shoes

7:34

like you watching on the broadcast

7:36

and the guys face told the

7:38

story He thought their season was

7:40

gonna be over. He takes that

7:42

High sticking calling overtime double minor

7:44

the blood coming from Tanev I

7:46

mean that least power had been

7:48

just lethal to that point Now granted

7:50

they killed it off and they go

7:52

on to win the game But you saw

7:54

it in his face that he thought the season

7:56

was over at that point. Have you ever been in

7:58

that situation before in your career? Yeah,

8:02

and I ended up in the minors. I

8:04

think the good thing about that after something

8:06

you have some cost certainty and some contract

8:09

You know certainly as well where I don't think

8:11

they can set them down But it's definitely

8:13

a moment where you're like you're just holding your

8:16

breath the whole entire time sitting in the

8:18

belly box and You know, I think we could

8:20

all agree if they didn't score there were

8:22

like yeah You're probably gonna lose the game, right?

8:24

They let a power play goal against shorthanded

8:26

goal against like this is a recipe for disaster,

8:28

right? And the one thing that I noticed

8:30

on that power play they just looked a little

8:32

bit tired, right? They look tired that they

8:34

did they showed nine I think kneeling over keeling

8:36

over a little bit So again,

8:38

just the double shifting, triple shifting in that overtime.

8:41

They didn't really have anything left with that power

8:43

play, but that's the killer instinct. That's the killer

8:45

instinct where you need to develop that. And, you

8:47

know, I remember playing with an Eric Stahl or

8:49

an Oli Okanen and we were in that position

8:51

where we need that big goal. Someone is stepping

8:53

up. So I think that's the one thing they're

8:55

still trying to develop as a group. But, you

8:57

know, I can't sit here and say, you know,

8:59

they're up 3 -1 and it's all positive on my

9:01

end, right? So I think, yes, if you want to

9:04

score on that. And that's a difference but the

9:06

powerplay has been clicking the last two and a half

9:08

months and I'm sure they'll rebound next game as

9:10

well Well, you mentioned it like

9:12

they looked tired and Matthews like

9:14

plays 26 minutes in that game

9:16

has been battling injuries all year

9:18

long Marner to like everyone up

9:20

over 20 minutes They get that extra

9:22

days rest in between played Saturday and

9:24

won't play again now till Tuesday. Is

9:27

this an advantage? for a team like the

9:29

Maple Leafs, a little more of a

9:31

veteran, veteran team with more miles on the

9:33

on the boots? Yeah, I

9:35

think it is right and you can't use tired

9:37

as an excuse, right? And, you know,

9:39

you're seeing, you know, Pacioretti had 14

9:41

and a half minutes, you know, Yancro, 16

9:43

and Holmberg close to 16 minutes, same

9:45

thing with Domi. And the

9:47

thing you can't rest on your laurels, right? Because there's

9:49

legitimate two or three players sort of waiting in the

9:51

wings to step in and take your spot. So you

9:53

can't use that as an excuse or we still haven't

9:55

seen camp. And Robertson exit the

9:58

game last game and you know it's interesting

10:00

to see if he's in or not I'm

10:02

not sure what happened at the skate but

10:04

you know it's something that you monitor it's

10:06

something that you keep in mind but it's

10:08

you know I used this term a couple

10:10

years ago you don't win the Stanley Cup

10:12

with short shorts and a bucket hat right

10:14

you see the guys lifting the cup up

10:16

they're crying because they're so tired and beat

10:18

up and you know broken bones and you

10:20

know their faces are bleeding right so that

10:22

that's part of it you want to win

10:24

the cup and it's not handed out it's

10:26

not a participation trophy it's something you got

10:28

to earn and uh it's very very difficult

10:30

so yes tired is part of it but you

10:32

can't use those you have to use those

10:34

almost a uh motivating factor right you look at

10:36

the travel look at the travel you know

10:38

between Edmonton and Los Angeles and you know some

10:40

of these other teams you know they're traveling

10:42

one of the one they're taking St. Louis like

10:45

that's not an easy flight and um...

10:47

so that's part of it but uh... they have to find

10:49

a way to channel it and uh... not use that as an

10:51

excuse as well speaking of Winnipeg, how

10:53

concerned do you think people are over

10:55

there about what they've seen from Connor

10:57

Hellebuck over the last couple of

10:59

games? People are complaining about scholars,

11:01

what? Exactly. Look

11:04

at what's going on over there. A guy

11:06

that's up 11 goals the last two games. My

11:08

favorite meme is when someone's getting lit up

11:10

is the Jean -Claude Van Damme when he's the

11:12

goal, the backup goal header and set a death

11:14

and they put it down, put it in

11:16

the debt and the coach comes and taps his

11:18

shoulder. He's looking like, I don't know what's

11:20

going on. That's calming right now. was like, I

11:22

hope he doesn't have to, I don't have

11:24

to go in here and then try to save

11:26

the day because St. Louis, they look heavy, they

11:28

look strong, they look fast. Like that's real playoff

11:30

hockey, right? So, again, so when you put in

11:32

perspective, things could be worse. You could be win

11:34

a peg right now, but Hella Buck is a

11:36

great goal tender. And, you know, I know it's

11:38

easy to jump on him, especially with the playoffs

11:40

series he didn't have last year. But

11:42

he is, you know, people are talking about him

11:44

winning the heart. So again, I think he

11:47

can respond. You don't lose your pitch overnight. You're

11:49

not a young Dontrell Willis, sorry, but I

11:51

think he'll rebound. Yeah, and

11:53

earlier today actually was a finalist

11:55

for the Vesna, definitely expected

11:57

to win it too. It's just

11:59

his road splits is incredibly bad.

12:01

Like the last three years,

12:03

Stewie, won in six, an

12:05

845 save percentage and a

12:07

494 goals against. That's three

12:09

year sample size in the

12:12

playoffs on the road. It's

12:14

bizarre. Absolutely bizarre stuff. If

12:16

the Jets want to win a cup,

12:19

that certainly will have to change. Yes,

12:22

it will. And I know he's probably listing right

12:24

now. So I'll just say, hey, he's got to

12:26

be a little bit better. But, you know, you

12:28

look at sort of the goaltenders that they've had

12:30

in years past, you know, Andre Pavlik and Steve

12:32

Basin, he is for sure an upgrade, right? But

12:34

again, if your goaltender is struggling, you

12:36

know, that means you got to block more shots.

12:38

You got to, you know, find a way to

12:40

insulate it and protect your goaltender, right? And I

12:43

always say, for me, I think he's been taking

12:45

too much rubber over the years. He's always up

12:47

there and saves and shots against. And

12:49

they say that he loves the volume. He

12:51

loves the work, but you know, you're

12:53

playing 65 plus games every year. Like

12:55

I don't care unless you're Iron Man,

12:57

it's going to, it's going to affect

12:59

you. And I think that's what it

13:01

is. So, uh, if there's an early

13:03

exit, I'm thinking they reevaluate that because,

13:05

you know, you have to have a

13:07

two man system. You have to have

13:09

a bull tenor. I think a minimum

13:11

of 27, 28 games, right? The game

13:13

is too fast. It's too quick. There's

13:15

too much travel and. To be able

13:17

to play 65 -67 games, like a young

13:19

Roberto Longo, I think it's a recipe

13:21

for success in today's NHL. All

13:24

right, Anthony. Appreciate the time, as always. Hopefully,

13:26

you can do it again soon. All

13:29

right, Leafs in five. Thank you. Leafs in

13:31

five. There it is. You're here first. Leafs in

13:33

five. That just

13:35

happened with me, Bashy Capellos,

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