#for spagc

[16archive]

a sportsnet ad featuring mitch, auston matthews, sidney crosby, sam reinhart, and nick suzuki

his "assist team members whenever possible! [thumbs up] :)" is so cute

[16archive]

the canadian commentary for this goal

"the centering pass, ricochets back to toews. now stone, cycles it into the corner for crosby. toews fires it across. makar, marner, down low, scores! what a beautiful pass! and sidney crosby with the finish!"

"oh, that's pretty to watch. that is world class puck movement from all involved, ending up with sidney crosby poking it home. mom and dad approve. and the slap pass from toews to makar was nice, but then marner releases, and I had a perfect angle of it, he's looking for crosby. right through the wickets of roman josi onto the tape of sidney crosby. here's the look. that is threading the needle. mark stone occupying moser. and just like that, 4-1."

"that's the sixth olympic goal for sidney crosby. it's a 4-1 team canada lead. 7:28 here in the third. marner with a beautiful primary."

[16archive]

mitch giving away a stick to a fan in a leafs marner jersey….

[16archive]

chris johnston on twitter: no bucket warmup for mitch marner in his return to scotiabank arena, and plenty of signs expressing support for him along the glass

[16archive]

an excerpt from the new athletic article on how auston and the leafs as a whole have been faring without mitch so far this year

"[auston] matthews has missed [mitch] marner's playmaking wizardry. the two were linemates for the better part of the previous five seasons ... even penalty killing without marner is different for matthews. '(penalty killing) with him was relatively – I don't know if 'easy' is the right word,' matthews said in conversation at camp, 'but just because he's done it for a long time,' it was simpler for matthews to just follow marner's lead."

"never before in his career have the leafs been outplayed in matthews' five-on-five minutes. but that's what's happening right now ... subtract one of the very best right wingers in the nhl and replace him with a castoff (maccelli), a 20-year-old rookie (cowan) and an ill-fitting piece (domi), and the results were bound to take a hit."

full transcript below the cut

clearly, and not surprisingly, [auston] matthews has missed [mitch] marner's playmaking wizardry. the two were linemates for the better part of the previous five seasons.

it hasn't looked or felt the same way without him, though it's fair to wonder what effect the team's style under head coach craig berube is having on matthews' scoring.

one notable indicator: matthews is generating fewer than five high-danger attempts on goal per 60 minutes this season at five-on-five for the first time since the 2019-20 season. his marks in those five earlier seasons: 5.7, 6.6, 6.5, 5.9, 6.8.

even penalty killing without marner is different for matthews.

"(penalty killing) with him was relatively – I don't know if 'easy' is the right word," matthews said in conversation at camp, "but just because he's done it for a long time," it was simpler for matthews to just follow marner's lead.

matthews has blocked a ton of shots so far, but, strikingly, has registered just a single takeaway. he ranked second among all nhl forwards with 85 two seasons ago.

matthews and marner, together, were a superstar puck-thieving duo. and right now, the leafs simply aren't possessing the puck nearly as much as they typically have (or should) in matthews' minutes, another byproduct of marner's departure.

their struggles to sustain time in the offensive zone have been a particular source of frustration to berube.

it's a period of transition for the leafs, and for matthews, as berube tries desperately to find some kind of solution for the right wing spot long held by a superstar. the leafs coach has already cycled through three wingers — matias maccelli, easton cowan and max domi, all the while mixing in william nylander for stints with matthews and matthew knies.

none of it has worked.

never before in his career have the leafs been outplayed in matthews' five-on-five minutes. but that's what's happening right now. shot attempts. scoring chances. high-danger shot attempts. expected goals. the leafs are losing all of them with their best player and top line on the ice.

which makes some sense on the one hand. subtract one of the very best right wingers in the nhl and replace him with a castoff (maccelli), a 20-year-old rookie (cowan) and an ill-fitting piece (domi), and the results were bound to take a hit.

[16archive]

ok not to buy into conspiracies or anything I seriously thought it was just a stitch or something but my friend pointed this out and ? the more angles I see of it the more I just can't tell like are we going insane

[16archive]

mitch and freddie talking behind the net :,)

[16archive]

at the leafs red wings game, someone raising mitch's old jersey in the background of the amazon prime broadcast panel, a crowd member in the background can be heard yelling "I miss marner" after detroit scored the eventual game winning goal

he will never be forgotten and his legacy in toronto will never be overwritten no matter what narrative that portion of fans online try to push :)