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Jon Cooper fires back at Sheldon Keefe after Game 3.

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On Saturday, following the conclusion of Game 3 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe made some highly publicized comments regarding the way the Lightning conducted themselves during a scrum that occurred off the back of a big hit. That hit, one that came courtesy of Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, would send Lightning forward Brayden Point crashing awkwardly into the end boards with his head and shoulder absorbing the brunt of the impact.

Keefe accused the Lightning of “manipulating the officials” during the scrum, suggesting that the Lightning took liberties knowing full well that the officials would not put them in a 5 on 3 situation. The Maple Leafs head coach also accused the Lightning of “taking advantage of a situation” adding that “they just know… they’re not going to get another penalty.”

On Sunday, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was asked to respond to the comments made by his counterpart in this series, and Cooper flat out denied any knowledge of Keefe’s accusations. Not only did Cooper deny any manipulation, but he also suggested that it was his squad that should have had the man advantage.

“Manipulated the referees. Alright, I’m not sure what that means, but I would say this. When that hit happened, I think everybody watching at home and everybody in the building, including us, thought we were going on the power play,” argued Cooper.

The Lightning head coach would go a step further by suggesting that none of his players did anything, or would do anything, that would have jeopardized that potential power play for the Lightning.

“Our two best power-play players, I don’t think they would ever sit there and take themselves off a power play unless they thought something unjust happened. Auston Matthews doesn’t kill penalties. That actually worked against us, to be honest. Now, we ended up being shorthanded after that, but I don’t think anybody thought that was going to happen at the time, so I don’t know, that one’s a little different for me.”

It seems clear both coaches have drastically different perspectives regarding what transpired last night.

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Second, close-up, video emerges of Kyle Dubas ‘yelling’ at fans.

Earlier today we brought you a report of a video that purports to show Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas ‘yelling’ at fans at Amalie Arena, and now a second video angle appears to corroborate those initial claims.

This second video was published on Tik Tok by user ‘buffyclements1972’ and it provides us with a much closer look at the action that we saw take place in the original video. In this video not only do we get a close up of Dubas himself, one that appears to show considerably more anger from Dubas, but it might even catch the Leafs GM launching a few expletives at the crowd.

We can clearly hear a few f-bombs go off during the clip, with Dubas appearing to mouth the words as well, and on top of that the user who published the video claims the following:

“[Kyle] Dubas with [the Maple Leafs] yelling at [Tampa Bay Lightning] fans at game 3 tonight. I’ve never seen a GM yell F*** off and f*** you at fans before. Great sportsmanship yall should be proud.”

Here’s a look at the second video angle:

@buffyclements1972 Keith Dubas with @mapleleafs yelling at @tblightning fans at game 3 tonight. Ive never seen a GM yell Fuck off and fuck you at fans before. Great sportsmanship yall should be proud #nhl #nhlplayoffs #tampabaylightning #torontomapleleafs #game3 #amaliaarena #hockey #nhlplayoffs2023 ♬ original sound – Buffy Clements

It was a very intense Game 3 on Saturday night and it seems emotions were running high all over Amalie Arena.

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Jon Cooper hints at a giant lineup change for Game 3.

Jamie Sabau/NHLI/Getty

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs have played the first two games of their first round Stanley Cup playoff series and the outcomes of both games couldn’t have been more different.

In the first game the Maple Leafs looked lost as they were thoroughly dominated by the Lightning on the Leafs’ home ice, but the situation was completely reversed in Game 2 when the Leafs had arguably an even more dominant performance than that of the Lightning in Game 1.

Given how poorly his team faired in their second outing it should come as no surprise that Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will be looking to make adjustments ahead of Game 3 on Saturday night, but Cooper hinted at a potentially gigantic change to his lineup on Saturday.

Cooper indicated that we could see the return of massive Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman on the blue line tonight, although he did not confirm that officially instead listing Hedman as a gametime decision. More specifically, Cooper indicated that Hedman would take warmups with the Lightning tonight, something he did not do before Game 2, and that they would make their decision on his status at that point.

Additionally, Hedman was spotted on the ice with his teammates on Saturday and even participated in the drills, which to me is only more evidence of the fact that Hedman will likely make his return this evening.

The Maple Leafs manhandled the Lightning in Game 2 with the Lightning’s blue line severely depleted, and the Lightning will no doubt be hoping that they can temper the Leafs offensive onslaught with the return of Hedman on defense.

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Maple Leafs rival ready to put ‘full court press’ on Kyle Dubas.

Christopher Katasarov/Canadian Press.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made an interesting decision before the start of the 2022-23 NHL regular season when they allowed general manager Kyle Dubas to enter the season in the final year of his contract with the team.

From the outside looking in the move appeared designed to put more pressure on Dubas to produce results on the ice, notably advancing beyond the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but it may have been a move with some unintended consequences.

Since the conclusion of the regular season there have been rumblings that Dubas may be drawing interest from rival teams around the league, potentially even teams within the Eastern Conference. On Friday, Mike Stephens of The Hockey News revealed that at least one team is prepared to put the “full court press” on Dubas should he become available, with that team being none other than the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“The rumblings that I’ve heard at least are that Fenway Sports Group is ready to put the full court press on Kyle Dubas if he leaves Toronto,” wrote Stephens.

It’s not hard to see how this could cause problems for the Maple Leafs, especially if Dubas were to take his talents to another team and find success there. Even in the event that Dubas doesn’t leave the Leafs though this could still have a negative impact on the team, with this likely greatly increasing Dubas’ negotiating leverage in any contract talks.

If we’re hearing rumblings that other teams are interested in Dubas, you can bet his representatives have already heard them as well. The decision to not re-sign Dubas sooner could end up costing the Leafs significantly more money later down the line.

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Sheldon Keefe appears to give Matthew Knies some bad news on Sunday.

There will be tremendous pressure on the Toronto Maple Leafs as they head into their first round Stanley Cup playoff matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning, pressure that will be felt at all levels of the Maple Leafs organization.

Keeping that in mind, it will fall to head coach Sheldon Keefe to field the lineup that he feels will give the Maple Leafs the best possible chance of emerging victorious in Game 1 of this series, and that means making some tough decisions when it comes to personnel.

That appears to include giving some bad news to newcomer rookie forward Matthew Knies, who on Sunday was spotted wearing a grey jersey out on the ice. That color is usually reserved for players that will be extras and that appears to indicate that Knies will not be in the lineup for Game 1, although of course things can change quickly at this time of year.

There’s a good case to be made for not using Knies, including giving the opportunity to players that have grinded all year to showcase their compete factor in the playoffs. Knies is also relatively inexperienced at the NHL level, having played only 3 regular season games and having just 1 assist to his name thus far, but that doesn’t mean that the 20 year old winger couldn’t slot in later in this series or even further down the line.

Although as I’ve mentioned things could change, Sheldon Keefe and the Maple Leafs may have given us a preview of their Game 1 lineup with their lines in practice on Sunday.

Forwards:
Bunting — Matthews — Marner
Tavares — O’Reilly — Nylander
Aston-Reese — Kämpf — Lafferty
Kerfoot — Acciari — Järnkrok

Defensemen:
McCabe — Brodie
Giordano — Holl
Rielly — Schenn

Presumably it will be Ilya Samsonov who gets the start in goal, but no official confirmation on that front just yet either.

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Lightning get a big weapon back hours before Game 1.

The Tampa Bay Lightning appear to have received some very good news on Monday morning, good news that comes just hours before Game 1 of their first round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A video published by Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times clearly shows recently injured forward Tanner Jeannot taking practice with his Lightning teammates for the first time since he was injured.

Jeannot was injured roughly two weeks ago when he got tangled up with the New York Islanders’ Scott Mayfield, resulting in the weight of both men coming down awkwardly on Jeannot’s leg.

Jeannot taking the ice this morning is no guarantee that he has been medically cleared to play in Game 1, but it certainly has to be viewed as an extremely positive sign for a Lightning team headed into a tough playoff series. 

Update: Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has officially confirmed that Jeannot will not play in Game 1, but is now being listed as “day to day.”

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Ilya Samsonov makes a bold statement about his Maple Leafs.

Steve Russell/Toronto Star

The Toronto Maple Leafs are now just days away from the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs and there will be a ton of pressure on this team to deliver after failing to do so many times in recent history.

While that may be a burden on some players, it would appear that at least some of the members of the Maple Leafs roster are welcoming those expectations as the playoffs draw near. On Saturday, Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov was asked about his expectations headed into the Stanley Cup playoffs, and he could not possibly have set the bar any higher. When asked if he felt the Leafs were the best team in the league, Samsonov left no doubt.

“Oh for sure,” answered the Maple Leafs netminder as per TSN, without a hint of doubt in his voice.

Asked to expound on why he felt that way, Samsonov’s comments grew even bolder.

“Because we have a nice group,” said Samsonov matter of factly. “We have the best doctors, best therapists. best workout coaches, we have the best coaches, we have the best players here.” 

Although some may scoff at the confidence from Samsonov given the team’s relative lack of playoff success in recent years, it may be a much needed boost of confidence for a team that has fallen in the first round of the playoffs, or the qualifying round in the case of the bubble playoffs, in six consecutive seasons.

It’s worth noting that Samsonov wasn’t a part of those previous teams either, having only joined the Maple Leafs this season, and his confidence may be a reflection of the fact that he didn’t experience some of the heartbreaking losses that other members of his team have.

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Big development regarding Matthew Knies.

Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff

There have been a series of major developments regarding Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect Matthew Knies, all of which point to the fact that he is set to join the team ahead of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.

News first broke when ESPN’s John Buccigross reported that Knies was on his way to Florida, a move that coincided with a road trip from the Maple Leafs who are set to play the Florida Panthers this week. Many suspected that Knies would join the Leafs following the conclusion of the NCAA’s Frozen Four, and the report from Buccigross certainly lent credibility to those rumors.

Those are rumors no more however given that National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman has now confirmed that Knies will in fact be signing his deal with the Maple Leafs, a deal believed to be valued at $925,000 per season in terms of his average annual value and salary cap hit.

Acquiring a player at such a low cap hit is always going to be a boon for any team in the National Hockey League, but it is especially valuable for a team like the Maple Leafs that has constantly been dealing with salary cap issues since the cap has stagnated thanks in large part to hockey revenues lost to the pandemic.

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Noel Acciari tells the tale of the time he showed up to a game a bloody mess.

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Hockey players are known for their legendary toughness but sometimes they can be too tough for their own good, and that very much appears to be the case when it comes to Toronto Maple Leafs forward Noel Acciari.

Recently Acciari was interviewed by National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman and it was during that interview that Friedman asked Acciari about an infamous story from his past. As the story goes, Acciari once showed up to a game carrying his equipment on his back and bleeding from his head after a car accident, but insisted on playing in the game anyways and would in fact do so.

Not only did Acciari confirm that the story is in fact a true tale, but provided perhaps the most shocking detail of all by revealing that he was only 10 years old when the whole thing happened.

“It was a Saturday and we were driving to Bridgeport in Massachusetts for a game,” revealed Acciari on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. “We get rear ended pretty good, kind of caved in the back of the whole van and me and my brother are sitting in the back.”

As if that wasn’t crazy enough, according to Acciari the reason the accident happened in the first place was due to the fact that an inmate had escaped a local jail. This resulted in increased police presence on the streets, and the driver who collided with their van had apparently been distracted by the sheriff’s on the road.

“Apparently an inmate had gotten out so there was searches and everyone was looking over… and one car was just focused on the sheriff’s and everyone looking for whoever.”

Acciari would end up wounded as a result of the accident, splitting his head open on a TV inside of the family van, but that wasn’t going to stop him from getting to the game.

“We had the TV down the middle seat and I hit my head on the TV and cut my head a little bit, was bleeding,” said Acciari. “So we wait for the police and EMTs show up and I’m like ‘I gotta get to the game.'”

10 year old Acciari was determined to play despite his injury and even though the back of his family’s van had been caved in and could no longer be opened, he grabbed his equipment from the damaged van and took off to the arena with his gear on his back.

“You can’t open up the back of the van because the back door is caved in, so I just reached in and grabbed my bag from the backseat and pull it out and I told my parents ‘Hey the rink is right there, I’m going.'”

Unable to leave the scene of the accident, Acciari’s parents allowed him to walk to the arena where he would end up playing in the game and even scored a couple of goals to really complete the story.

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Kyle Dubas orchestrating a plan to bring in Matthew Knies?

Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press

What initially appeared to be something of a goaltending crisis for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday may actually have been part of a bigger plan on the part of general manager Kyle Dubas and company.

The Maple Leafs backed themselves into that crisis on Saturday after sending goaltender Joseph Woll down to the American Hockey League and calling up veteran Wayne Simmonds, giving the team insufficient cap space to call Woll back up should the need arise. That need would arise when veteran goaltender Matt Murray proved to be unable to back up Ilya Samsonov, forcing the Leafs to sign an amateur goalie for tonight’s game.

While this may not be ideal for the Maple Leafs tonight, it also appears to have put them in an ideal scenario moving forward should the organization have the intent of signing one of their top prospects in forward Matthew Knies in the coming days.

According to Cap Friendly, by playing short tonight the Maple Leafs have created a scenario in which they would be able to sign Knies to a new deal and call Woll back up to the main roster as early as this weekend. After creating an emergency situation as per the rules of the collective bargaining agreement by playing short tonight, the Leafs would have to send Wayne Simmonds back down, sign Matthew Knies to an entry level contract, and recall Woll on an emergency basis to make it all fit… but it could all fit.

Knies will be playing in what could be the final game of his collegiate career tonight in the Frozen Four, and many suspect that the Maple Leafs will be quick to sign him following the conclusion of his season.

Could what looked like an unfortunate situation for the Maple Leafs prove to be a stroke of salary cap genius from Kyle Dubas and the Maple Leafs? Only time will tell.