It’s Family Day in Ontario, the holiday that was made up to win an election, and it totally worked! It’s actually a long way to Easter this year—Good Friday is April 15— so a break in between is welcome.

There is no holiday though for the Maple Leafs. They are off to Quebec where today is not a holiday, and they will play the Montreal Canadiens tonight. We’ll have our preview of that game out this afternoon.

The Marlies are playing today in Toronto at the Scotiabank Arena, hosting the Laval Rocket. That game is at 3:00 p.m.

In the mean time, watch Auston Matthews response to being asked if he had any idea how he lost his tooth in the last game.

The Trade

If you’ve been busy this weekend, the big news has been the late-night Friday trade of Nick Ritche to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Ryan Dzingle and Ilya Lyubushkin (who we have learned from Michael Bunting is nicknamed “Boosh”). Here’s our news wrap up on that trade.

Leafs trade Nick Ritchie and a conditional second to Arizona for Ilya Lyubushkin, Ryan Dzingel

For some analysis on audio, Arvind and Fulemin talked all about it on yesterday’s episode of Back to Excited talked all about it.

Back to Excited Episode 169: Ilya Lyubushkin Trade Breakdown

There was also the news yesterday that Ryan Dzingle was placed on waivers by the Leafs with the expectation he reports to the Marlies if he clears. We’ll know what happens there shortly after 2:00 p.m. ET.

Other News

Jack Eichel is back and playing for the Vegas Golden Knights after his infamous surgery fiasco that led to a total breakdown of his relationship with the Buffalo Sabres. He picked up his first goal last night and it was scored on James Reimer.

Building the Ultimate — And Fun — World Cup of Hockey - The Hockey News
Craving a best-on-best tournament like a true hockey diehard? Matt Larkin takes a shot at crafting a new World Cup of Hockey.

What happened in the Finnish locker room after they won the gold medal for hockey? Click here to see [NSFW]

It’s also the President’s Day holiday today in the US so there’s some matinee games to watch if you have nothing else to do. I wonder if someone could win an election in the US by pledging to add another holiday?

And if you’re looking for something to cook on a holiday that’s gray and dreary, this looks so good. You can’t go wrong with pasta, mushrooms, and cheese!

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for tagliatelle with lentil and mushroom ragu - The Guardian
Cook yourself into a good mood with this ragu of mushrooms and lentils with your choice of long egg pasta and piles of parmesan.

From The Branches