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NHL
Maple Leafs

The GIFies: Bad Bounce Bonanza

Rachel Doerrie Dec 19, 2023

The Rangers beat the Leafs 5-2 on Tuesday night in a game that featured as many weird bounces as it did regular plays. 3 of the Rangers goals were not even shots on goal and one was en empty-netter. It was a really weird night and we have lots to cover, so let’s dive in!

JT91K

Prior to the game, the Maple Leafs honoured John Tavares for reaching 1,000 career points in the NHL. He’s the 98th player in league history to achieve that milestone and while Isles fans may not appreciate him, Leafs fans made sure to voice the appreciation.

It is a rare achievement and the Leafs made sure to honour their captain properly. A Tiffany crystal from the league, a Golden Stick to commemorate the milestone, mini golden sticks for his children, a beautiful painting and a $25,000 donation to the John Tavares foundation. All in all, a nice ceremony for the Leafs captain.

About Time They Got Some Attention

The Leafs are one of the only teams in the NHL, if not the only, to not have their own dedicated TV broadcast team. They are always  a national broadcast on Sportsnet and that prevents them from having their own broadcast, like the Bruins have with Jack Edwards, the Canucks with John Shorthouse and the Rangers with Sam Rosen. This means that while the Leafs do get national coverage, there isn’t the coverage that slants towards the team. There is no homer broadcast for the Leafs and that kinda sucks!

Robert makes a good point. There is no outright homerism around the Leafs and generally, broadcasts are more cynical when discussing the Leafs. Now, the Leafs have Joe Bowen and Jim Ralph who could be the team centric voices, but given the amount of complaining about Leafs coverage already, adding a Leafs-centric broadcast in would only worsen that. It should noted that TSN does a good job of focusing on the Leafs during their regional broadcasts with Gord Miller and Mike Johnson. They focus more on the Leafs, but those gentlemen call other games around the NHL and the homer feel isn’t there the way it is on a Bruins broadcast with Jack Edwards. TSN doesn’t have the bulk of the games, so these broadcasts are highly appreciated among Leafs fans.

Max Boom!

This is VERY obviously an interference penalty. Except it wasn’t called. Max Domi is really finding his game of late with the Leafs, producing offensively and getting involved physically – as he did here. Toronto’s depth has been a major issue over the years and they seem to have found something with the Robertson-Domi-Jarnkrok line. If that line can produce offensively and be annoying to play against, the Leafs may have something.

BONK

Hockey is a game of bounces and this is the bounce of the game. Jacob Trouba has been fantastic on and off the ice for the Rangers, but this is funny.

Sometimes you just have to laugh and Jonny Lazarus adding the sound effect made this play funnier.

Matty “Knuckles” Knies

After his Gordie Howe hat-trick performance on Saturday night against Pittsburgh, it would appear the Matthew Knies has earned him self a new moniker from the Leafs radio broadcast team.

The Leafs have been looking for a Darcy Tucker type since Tucker left. Knies isn’t that, but the easiest way to endear yourself to the Toronto faithful is to score timely goals and not be afraid to lay a big hit or two. Not that I think the Leafs rookie should be dropping the gloves very often, but you can bet the Uncles Union of Ontario gained a lot of respect for the young Leaf after his performance on Saturday night. Matty Knucks – do we like it?

Best Blooper

No one, including the players on the ice or the broadcast knows how the Rangers’ first goal went in the net because it defied logic. We’ll never know and all you need to know is that, it happened against the Leafs so there’s some “voodoo, wizardry and BS” involved.

It really was a nutso bounce, or couple of them, that led to the Rangers goal, but if you’re new to Leafs hockey, get used to this type of thing. Unexplainable goals happen a lot.

Bad Bounce Buddy

You mean to tell me that the second Rangers goal was a weird bounce, too?

Insert Auston Matthews Goal Post Here

We’re just going to leave this section in here because well, it happens a lot!

There Goes That Papi!

The Luke Fox tweet is out of date now because he’s got 11 in 7. Not sure I’d give him that type of time to shoot because it usually ends with a face-off at centre ice.

Matthews is the first player in the NHL to score 25 goals this season. He’s the best goal scorer right now and the MVP of the Leafs.

Point Streak Update

In case you forgot, William Nylander is cooking this season. He also need a new contract and it isn’t getting any cheaper.

Plenty of Leafs fans are asking Santa for a Nylander contract extension this holiday. He’s been one of the most consistent Leafs in 2023 and was excellent in the playoffs. Nothing seems to bother him and he’s a key piece of the Toronto core. The way hes’ trending, that looks more like an 8-figure per year contract than seven…

Mike Johnson Appreciation

For my money, and it doesn’t seem to be the consensus, Mike Johnson is the best colour commentator in the NHL. The insights he provides during the run of play along with the use of analytics.

He’s the best. Full stop.

We’re Old Now, Apparently

I don’t even know what to say about this one…

Robidas Island Sighting

Matt Murray and Jake Muzzin haven’t been seen or heard from in quite a while. Neither one will suit up this season and based on Muzzin’s new role in the front office, he’s unlikely to play another NHL game. It’s good to see them in Toronto and around the team, which is something we haven’t seen a lot of this year.

4 Bad Bounces = 4 Goals

The Rangers scored four goals and every single one of them was a bad bounce in some way, shape or form. The first one was a pinball machine. The second hit Rielly. The third was a missed penalty call followed by Schneider fanning on the puck. The fourth was going 2 feet wide before it hit TWO Leafs…

That sums the game up pretty well, actually.

Rachel Doerrie

Rachel Doerrie is a sports media personality, businesswoman, and former NHL front office member. Doerrie began her career as a consultant for several teams before joining the New Jersey Devils and, later, joining the Vancouver Canucks as an analyst and video coach. In media, Doerrie has written for some of the top outlets in the industry such as The Athletic, EP Rinkside, and The Hockey News. She created the hit Staff & Graph podcast that has grown into the streaming and video spaces and continues to consult with professional sports teams on data analysis and communications.

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