Saturday was another loss. This time it was against the last place team in the league. It has left the Maple Leafs at a loss for how to right their ship.

Maple Leafs Fantastically Frustrate Fans in dismal loss to Sens.

What are they doing wrong? Well they all had some canned talking points for ideas about what they could do better after the game. Everyone from Matthews to Marleau said the usual canned lines about playing better defensively, but it was Garret Sparks who had the most interesting comment.

Meh. Wherever. As long as there’s MOAR EMOTIONS!

Mike Babcock responded indirectly by telling Sparks to worry about his own job.

I think Babcock has a point.

Kelly Hrudey, whom you may have forgotten actually has his own hot take segment on HNiC now, claimed a part of the Leafs troubles was that William Nylander smiled too much. Nylander made a great shot during the second period of the game which was unfortunately gloved by Anders Nilsson and Nylander then smiled. This rankled up Hrudey to a point he decided to devote a part of his segment to rant about it. He even had a video clip cued to analyse that smile in slow-motion, and identify the moment where the smile infraction was most severe.

Fortunately, Nylander later displayed a much different disposition in the game.

I can only assume Hrudey approved of that emotional display.

Maybe if you had been frustrated sooner, instead of smiling, you would have scored a game winning goal, Willie. Did you think of that? Why were you enjoying hockey? That’s not allowed!

Maybe Willie was smiling because he was remembering this moment.

This isn’t Hrudey’s first goofy hot take. You may recall earlier this season he ranted about players eating too well these days; all that kale and whole grains and non-mercury contaminated sashimi? What has the world come to where hockey players now eat better than TV hockey analysts? Back in Hrudey’s day they were lucky to get orange slices after the game, and if the coach caught you smiling during the game you would only get the orange peel to eat.

Marlies

In Marlies news, they wrap up their Atlantic Division road trip this afternoon. After defeating the Hershey Bears on Friday, they lost to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last night. Today they have an afternoon game against the W/B Penguins. The good news is Chris Mueller has returned and is racking up goals on passes from his old buddy Jeremy Bracco. Bracco picked up two primary assists on the two Mueller goals last night, which were his 48th and 49th assists of the season. He’s going for number 50 today.

Other News

How about something else those Expert Hockey Men don’t like?

If you want, or need, something to laugh about right now: here come the Oilers! They blew up their last best chance to make the playoffs last night. They were playing the Coyotes, who are presently the team in the last Wild Card playoff spot in the western Conference. The Oilers actually won the game, but it was in OT, handing the Yotes a loser point and leaving the Oilers, once again, seven points out of that playoff spot. As I have noted here a few times, the Oilers seem have been stuck at seven points back for about three months now. Well there’s only eleven or so games left now. Their time has all but run out and Connor McDavid will once again not be in the NHL playoffs.

At least he gave us a highlight-reel goal in the game to watch.

POLL

Why was William Nylander smiling during the game?

He hates hockey and hates the Leafs and wants to lose (I am Kelly Hrudey).94
Marner farted. The really loud and wet kind of fart.66
Matthews told a joke about Melnyk losing the keys to the arena in an Uber.37
William Nylander smiled because he loves the game.195
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