With the NHL season underway, that means the Last Word on Hockey Show is back again on the MAD Radio Network. Your host Jim Biringer from lastwordonhockey.com was back alongside Marc Weiss and Coach Jay after a week off. The boys dive into the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as the changes with the Montreal Canadiens, the trouble with the New York Islanders. Plus the boys talk about the benefits of ESPN+ and so much more.
Last Word on Hockey Show: Toronto Maple Leafs, Jeff Gorton In, Marc Bergevin Out, Time To Panik?
Toronto Maple Leafs
Jim welcomes everyone back to the show and they dive into the Maple Leafs success as of late. He talks about how the team has bought into playing for Sheldon Keefe and their commitment to defence. Marc and Jay agree and how it took all these heartbreaks in the first round to finally get the message. Marc brings up John Tavares and his play and how the Islanders, which we will get to in a second, could use him. Coach Jay talks about the play of Jack Campbell and what he continues to and showing last year was no fluke.
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New York Islanders
The mention of Tavares puts the rundown aside as the boys switch to talking about the struggles with the Islanders. They continue to lose and things are not getting better. Marc mentions they could use players like Tavares and Jordan Eberle to help with the offence. As Jim notes, the Islanders had to deal with COVID, but the reset has not helped despite getting players back. But the issue is the defence and they have not been able to replace the loss of Devon Toews and Nick Leddy. The boys agree the Zdeno Chara experiment has not worked. Something has to change.
Montreal Canadiens – Jeff Gorton In Charge
The show then switches to the changes in Montreal. Jim talks about how the Canadiens got rid of Marc Bergevin and the entire hockey management staff in favour of Jeff Gorton. The boys agree Gorton is a solid hire considering what he did in Boston and with the Rangers. And the Rangers are taking the next step this season. Jim notes that the owner is not afraid of the word rebuild, and Gorton is the perfect guy for this. There will be a similar dynamic to what the Maple Leafs had with Brendan Shanahan, Kyle Dubas and Lamoriello.
The boys also go around the league looking at the Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, and the interesting questions surrounding the New York Rangers, along with why ESPN+ is such a good thing and much more.
Enjoy!
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