Weekly Takes - Monday, January 6th Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs win over the Islanders on Tuesday...

1. Chris Tanev

2. Jake McCabe

3. William Nylander

The Leafs shutdown pairing gave the Islanders nothing, while it was Nylander's turn to be the star forward to break the game open offensively.

A strong defensive showing from the Leafs, overall, while Matthew Knies had his best game in a while.

2. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Islanders on Thursday...

1. Joseph Woll

2. Bobby McMann

3. Max Domi

The Leafs will have to upgrade on Nick Robertson at the deadline, but Toronto has something with McMann and Domi as secondary scorers on line three. It is something they simply have not had in the Matthews era.

3. My three stars from the Leafs exciting win over the Bruins on Saturday...

1. Knies

2. Mitch Marner

3. Auston Matthews

Maybe the most positive win of the season. Matthews looked dominant, while Knies looks all the way back and then some.

As great of a top-six the Leafs have had in the Matthews era.

4. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Flyers on Sunday…

1. Matthews

2. Knies

3. Marner

Quite the weekend for the Leafs first line. Matthews looks as engaged and dominant as he has all season.

5. My thoughts on Team Canada's early exit from the World Juniors for a second Christmas in a row...

• A major disappointment. Ottawa was the site of the greatest World Junior's of all-time (2009) and it seemed as though we were primed for that once again, with the crowd ready to explode each game.

• But at no point did Team Canada give the crowd something to explode over. They looked dominant against Finland on Boxing Day, but it was all downhill from there. Not one player stood out in a positive manner and at no point did a player look like he was going to take a game over. As boring of a Team Canada has there has ever been.

• How did this happen? Well, their top players were awful. Yes, management could have and should have taken other players over the likes of Ethan Gauthier, Mathieu Cataford, and Sawyer Mayino (who had no business being on the team), but it all would have been for naught given the play from the likes of Easton Cowan, Brayden Yager, Cal Ritchie, etc. I have never seen so many top players underperform at once the way Canada's top players underperformed in this tournament. That is on the players, as well as Dave Cameron, who at no point looked like he was going to have any answers.

• But it is also on management, who built a top-heavy team, leaving no margin of error if some of Canada's top players underperformed. The likes of Beckett Sennecke and Zayne Parekh should have been on the team. Period.

• So, where should Hockey Canada go from here? Well, they have to move off of Cameron. His time as coach of the National Junior Team has been an overall mess. Give the reigns to Gardiner MacDougal, who wins wherever he goes.

• General manager Peter Anholt also must go, but he is not the root of the issue. Hockey Canada has to completely change its mindset when it comes to who they define as a "Hockey Canada player." They make up their minds on players at such a young age and the reality is, the rest of the world is too good at the sport now to hold judges. Maybe Cataford was a better teammate and more likeable person than Sennecke as a 16-year-old, but players evolve. Now it is time for Hockey Canada to.

• Should Hockey Canada make all these changes, I feel confident about the team heading into Christmas 2025. This should be a Golden Era of Canadian hockey at the junior level given the elite-level talent at the top of the next few drafts (Matthew Schaefer, Porter Martone, Gavin McKenna, Landen Dupont, etc.) There is no summit needed when it comes to having a lack of talent. Hell, Canada's goaltending even looks as stable as it has in years, with the play of Carter George this past Christmas, the fact that he can return a year form now, and the fact that they have two elite prospects climbing up the ladder in Joshua Ravensbergen and Jack Ivankovic.

6. My 2025 NFL Playoffs Predictions...

Wild Card Round...

• Bills beat Broncos

• Ravens beat Steelers

• Chargers beat Texans

• Eagles beat Packers

• Commanders beat Bucs

• Vikings beat Rams

Divisional Round...

• Kansas City beats Chargers

• Bills beat Ravens

• Lions beat Vikings

• Eagles beat Commanders

Conference Championship Round

• Kansas City beats Bills

• Lions beat Eagles

Super Bowl...

• Kansas City beats Lions

At the end of the day, Kansas City, Bills, Ravens, Eagles, or Lions will win. It’s a five-team playoff, with the Chargers, Packers, and Commanders capable of an upside or two.

7. My 2024 NFL awards...

• MVP: Josh Allen

• OPOY: Saquon Barkley

• DPOY: Trey Hendrickson

• OPROY: Jayden Daniels

• DPROY: Quinyon Mitchell

• COY: Kevin O'Connell

8. General managers and head coaches that I would move on from if I were each respective NFL teams...

General Managers...

• Duke Tobin (Bengals)

• Andrew Berry (Browns)

• Chris Ballard (Colts) (Saying)

• Trent Baalke (Jaguars) (Staying)

• Joe Schoen (Giants) (Staying)

Head Coaches...

• Zac Taylor (Bengals)

• Mike McCarthy (Cowboys)

• Shane Steichen (Colts) (Staying)

• Doug Pederson (Jaguars) (Already Fired)

• Antonio Pierce (Raiders)

• Jerod Mayo (Patriots) (Already Fired)

• Brian Daboll (Giants) (Staying)

• Mike Macdonald (Seahawks)

9. Head coaching candidates that I like….

• Ben Johnson (Lions OC)

• Joe Brady (Bills OC)

• Mike Vrabel (Free Agent)

• Aaron Glenn (Lions DC)A

• Kliff Kingsbury (Commanders OC)

• Brian Flores (Vikings DC)

• Liam Coen (Bucs OC)

• Todd Monken (Ravens OC)

• Jesse Minter (Chargers DC)

• Wes Phillips (Vikings QB Coach)

10. Justin Trudeau will go down as one of the worst Prime Ministers in Canadian history, simply because he oversaw the decline of his country.

    
    

    Owning a house is a pipe dream, people are dying in waiting rooms at alarming rates, our schools are in trouble, and the one positive promise he had in 2015 (election reform) never happened.

    
    

    When the PC's win in a landslide, the media cannot point their finger at the voters. The Liberals and NDP have left people no choice but to choose the only other alternative out there, for as bad as Pierre Poilievere is.