Thursday FTB: Matt Murray is Really Good

Good morning!

Matt Murray is back! Or at least he seems to have shaken off the rust from his game against the Kraken in his last two starts, stopping 34/36 and 31/32 vs Philly and Nashville respectively. Last night was a fun back and forth performance that was 2-1 but could’ve easily been 6-5 with different goalies.

Related

Recap: Leafs beat the Predators in the last minutes

It was fun to watch, and Marner’s late goal saved us from the doldrums of mid-season OT against an opponent you don’t really care about. Fun game all around!

Mitch cellys hard and puts respect on the pass pic.twitter.com/S6lej0jQes

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 12, 2023

Hopefully the team’s got something left in the tank for the second game of their back to back in Detroit tonight at 7. On the downside, the Leafs won’t have home ice advantage to... make sure the refs don’t keep missing blatant calls.

Home ice advantage is tough to quantify and can be manifested in different ways. The game ops crew helping the officials call a late double minor leading to the game-winning goal is certainly one of those ways.

— Cam Charron (@camcharronyvr) January 12, 2023

With the Leafs’ overall success this season — they’re 2nd in league points percentage — a lot of people have been talking about Dubas’ contract situation. His contract is up this year, and there’s debate over whether the Leafs should re-sign him before having won a round with him at the helm. PPP-alum Kevin Pappetti has written the case for extending Dubas before the playoffs in an article for The Athletic (it is paywalled).

Related

Should he stay or should he go? The case for a Kyle Dubas extension

I’m with Kevin on this one, I think Dubas’ success with the Leafs is undeniable and they should extend him as soon as possible. Once he wins a couple rounds, his ask won’t come cheap. What do you think?

Should the Leafs extend Dubas...

In non-Leafs’ news, the Erie Otters had some really nice jerseys designed for their Black History night game.

Honoring the past, building the future.

Presenting our 2023 Black History jerseys - designed by Jordan Dabney (@notafan_jo) as celebration of Black excellence.

These jerseys will debut on MLK Day, & be worn again on Black Ice Night to benefit Erie's Black Wall Street.

— Erie Otters 🦦 (@ErieOtters) January 11, 2023

The designer, Jordan Dabney, has also posted on twitter explaining a bit of the thought-process behind different aspects of the design. It’s really awesome to get to see the ideation behind this kind of artistic project, and the final jerseys look really great too!

It took me a moment to think of the right words, but it's truly a privilege to be able to create art that celebrates Blackness and hockey.🖤

Here's the explanation behind my design, to better understand the creative direction I went in 🫶🏾 https://t.co/K49RtNooyG pic.twitter.com/yiPLQerM6k

— jovechkin (@notafan_jo) January 11, 2023

And finally, in broader hockey news, this twitter thread by Gord Miller is a useful in-depth explanation, coming from discussions with international sports representatives, of why Russia probably won’t be back to international competitions any time soon.

One of the questions I get asked most concerns the ban of Russian teams (and some individual athletes) from competing internationally. Here’s a long 🧵 based on conversations I’ve been having with various national sports federation representatives and international officials.

— Gord Miller 🌻 (@GMillerTSN) January 11, 2023

Have a great Thursday everyone!