TSN Toronto Reporter Mark Masters reports on the Maple Leafs, who practised at the Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday night’s 2020-21 season opener against the Montreal Canadiens.
Auston Matthews is one of only four players in National Hockey League history to begin his career by scoring in his team s season-opening game four straight times. He comes in extremely well prepared and comes out of the gates hot, observed teammate John Tavares. He expects a lot out of himself, wants to be a great player in this league and is such a driving force for us.
Thornton making jumbo impression on Marner
New Maple Leafs forward Joe Thornton, considered one of the greatest playmakers in NHL history, appears poised to have a significant impact on how new linemate Mitch Marner transforms into more of a shooter this season, Mark Masters writes.
TSN Toronto Reporter Mark Masters reports on the Maple Leafs, who practised at the Ford Performance Centre on Monday.
The line of Joe Thornton, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner generated a couple goals on Saturday night and, even though it was just an intra-squad scrimmage, they all wore wide smiles during the group hugs. Following the game, Matthews and Marner, both 23-years-old, each posted a picture of the first celebratory moment as an Instagram story.
TSN Toronto Reporter Kristen Shilton reports on the Maple Leafs, who held a practice Friday on their fifth day of training camp at Ford Performance Centre.
Frederik Andersen hasn’t had much to say publicly about potentially playing out the final year of his contract, and apparently there hasn’t been much dialogue between the Maple Leafs and their starter on a new deal either.
“There s been a little bit [of negotiation] but not too much else,” Andersen told reporters on a Zoom call Friday. “Right now we re just focused on getting started.”
The 31-year-old netminder is currently on the last season of his five-year, $25 million contract signed back in June 2016. And with no impending clarity about his future, Andersen is content to do most of his talking on the ice.
TSN Toronto Reporter Kristen Shilton reports on the Maple Leafs, who held team meetings on a recovery day at Ford Performance Centre on Thursday.
Auston Matthews has grown into the Maple Leafs’ best offensive player, and now head coach Sheldon Keefe wants to tap even more into his defensive game. Matthews will appear this season on Toronto s penalty kill for the first time in his career.
“We don t expect it to be any sort of full-time role or responsibility, but on a part-time basis as needed,” Keefe explained on a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. “We want to start getting him comfortable with those situations and faceoffs in particular is an area where he can bring a lot to us on the left side. We ve seen so much in his growth as a defensive player that we believe he can bring a lot to the penalty kill, and obviously the offensive threat that he is on the ice, in addition to some of our other penalty killers, brings a lot, too. So we re going to start to get him some
The Maple Leafs held their second day of on-ice training camp sessions at Ford Performance Centre
When Sheldon Keefe was named head coach of the Maple Leafs in November 2019, the fragile team he inherited could hardly handle any more tough love. Toronto wasn’t even in a playoff spot at the time, holding a paltry 9-10-4 record while teetering on the edge of total collapse.
Back then, Keefe’s primarily goal was to keep the Leafs above water. Now, it’s to see them soar. So in his first full training camp as an NHL head coach, which finished off its second day of on-ice sessions at Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday, Keefe has kept the pressure and intensity as high as possible on his players.