Prior to last night’s game, Anaheim Ducks’ captain Radko Gudas spoke to the media and told them exactly what he was going to do to Auston Matthews. His whole plan going into the game was to make Matthews’ “night not enjoyable”. He had one job all night, and when he delivered the fateful knee-on-knee to Matthews, probably one of the clearest examples of a knee-on-knee hit this season, the Leafs’ response was a complete lack of heart. Morgan Reilly skated over to Gudas to give him effectively a hug. The other three guys on the ice didn’t even do that much. Pathetic.
What happened to Auston Matthews last night against the Anaheim Ducks
After a 12-game scoring slump, Matthews finally converted for the Leafs, scoring a beautiful power play goal to get the team to within one. However, just five minutes later, Gudas caught Matthews knee-on-knee right in the slot. Matthews stayed down for an extended stretch before being helped off the ice. He couldn’t put a lot of weight on that knee. Here’s the hit.
Gudas received a five-minute major and a game misconduct. He will almost certainly get some sort of supplementary discipline, but because it’s the Leafs, it will undoubtedly be shorter than any of us would like it to be.
But there were four other players on the ice. Reilly, William Nylander, Brandon Carlo, and Easton Cowan. The latter three barely moved.
After the game, Craig Berube didn’t mince words, saying, “We should’ve had four guys in there doing something about it”. There was barely a move by any of the Leafs’ players.
Accountability continues to be lacking in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ dressing room
After the game, Morgan Reilly was the first one to fall on his sword, taking the blame for not standing up for his captain. Specifically, he said, “I take full responsibility for not being the first one in there…” That’s great, but he was there and went after Gudas, but seemed unwilling to even push the Czech player.
The player who should have been right there standing up for his teammate was 6’5″ Brandon Carlo, who the Leafs acquired at last year’s trade deadline. When he was acquired, Brad Treliving went on at length about Carlo’s size and character as the reasons for his addition to the team. Where were those when his captain went down?
This is part of an ongoing problem in Toronto
This isn’t the first time this has happened. When Timothy Liljegren was run by Brad Marchand two seasons ago, there was no accountability on the ice. Instead, the team held a team meeting about it. Nothing changed.
All season, Berube has been preaching accountability and the lack of emotional engagement in this group. Even last night in his presser, he called it out, saying, “it shows you need passion, emotion in the game to be successful”.
The Leafs gave up on their captain, their season, and their coach
It doesn’t matter that the Leafs won last night. It doesn’t matter that they fought back from being down 3–1 to win either. Frankly, they can win every single game for the rest of the year, and it still won’t matter. This team has a character problem.
You don’t need to drop the gloves and be reckless with every hit and whistle, but you do need to have the fortitude to stand up for your teammates, and especially for your captain. There’s no emotion out of this group; they’ve become blander than day-old white bread, and aside from Berube, everyone seems to be okay with this.
There is a culture issue in this locker room, which likely runs even deeper through the organization. There needs to be a change across the board, ushering in a culture of accountability in the team where the players stand up for one another and play as a group. We haven’t seen that at all this season, and frankly, it’s ridiculous.
Where do the Leafs go from here?
This season is done; they’re not making the playoffs. Matthews could be done for the year. Berube is probably done after this season. The team is going to have to rebuild or retool this summer.
But it goes deeper than that. From Treliving and the team’s management down, there needs to be a long conversation about how this organization ought to be run. Doing nothing to stand up for your teammate but falling on your sword in the post-game is not good enough. There’s no accountability and no buy-in to the team from most of the players on the ice. It’s time to start rebuilding that trust, and that’s the biggest job Brad Treliving has to do this summer.
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