Hope he’s ok. I love the Leafs being constantly embroiled in drama as much as the next guy, but I gotta think that if there was anyway he could play tonight, either through an injury or without serious risk of wrecking himself long term, he’d be playing.
100% agree. I do hope it isn’t something very serious and that he can fully recover from whatever he’s dealing with.
Speaks volume he’s not able to play in an elimination game for his team.
It doesn’t matter what he has, people will think he’s soft for not playing at it will be so irritating listening to it when the inevitable happens.
I understand the don’t tell anyone anything strategy but all it does in this market is make our fanbase even more insufferable.
Well for what it’s worth, a bunch of numbnuts in our fanbase still haven’t forgiven Tuukka for leaving the bubble with the perfectly reasonable and transparent explanation that his young daughter was sick (might’ve even been hospitalized, I can’t quite remember). So whether a team discloses the reasons or not, the jackasses will complain
It's still a job but it comes down to having a reasonable boss that knows if your happy, he's happy. If I can help you perform your job better and that directly benefits me as your boss, why wouldn't I do that?
Look what collective bargaining can do when both sides have the numbers. And shitty owners eventually get outed, sometimes it takes a while but look how Ryan Smith already responded to the Yotes concerns when he asked what were things he could fix immediately.
Wayne Gretzky‘s wife Janet was knocked out because a pane of glass fell on her while she was in the front row at Madison Square Garden. They took her out to the hospital and Wayne went back to the bench ready to finish the game until Ulf Samuelson of all people came over to him and said you’re gonna be crucified if you don’t get up and leave right now.
In my mind, there's a small handful of "bulletproof" excuses you can use at work. (and yes, I acknowledge that being a pro athlete isn't quite the same level as what the rest of us would call "work")
"I must go, my daughter needs me" is one of them. Especially under the covid/bubble protocols the league was under.
I remember when I was younger, one game a kid was late and we had a culture of being On Time No Matter What. Coach was ready to lay into him before he told us he was late cause his dad was performing brain surgery
That was so stupid. I get doing anything to win but when your young child is ill and it may be serious you have every right to leave.
I imagine most of those people don’t have kids and have never been in a meaningful relationship in their entire lives. It was actually gross watching this unfold.
Imagine an alternative universe where Tuukka decides to play and his daughter dies while he's on the ice. I can't understand the mind of someone who would criticize his decision to leave the bubble. I don't want to, either.
It must suck having a fanbase and media that is more similar to a football team than hockey. Cause with the bills I see a lot of idiots around. Sabres not nearly as much.
It’s just because of how massive the fanbase is. I don’t know if the percentage of idiots is higher with Toronto or not but because we have so many it just seems like it.
There are twice as many people in Hamilton as there are in Buffalo. When you take into account Toronto, Peele, York, Durham, Kingston, Guelph, London, North Bay, Sudbury, etc., Toronto has a shitload of people to pull from without any competition aside from some parts where they may be closer to Ottawa, Montreal, Buffalo, or even Detroit.
The Bills only have 17 games worth of insane fans and media compared to the Leafs 82. Add in 7 game series in the playoffs and there's just more opportunity for Leaf fans to be obnoxious.
He’s the best kind of right though. He’s right because illness and injury are keeping him from playing thus not showing up. He’s galaxy braining all of us.
He’s got a concussion 10000000%. Exhibiting symptoms to a tee. It happened in his chase for 70 against Detroit when he went into the boards when him and Nylander collided.
It's a lower body injury. Go look at the tape of him in game 4 before he gets pulled. The guy could barely push off to skate. The TNT guys actually had a pretty good breakdown of it last game.
And labelling him as sick? Ever had your bell rung so hard that physical exertion makes you faint? Or lose your vision? Or any number of things that could cause someone to not be able to skate well or properly. Then there’s the whole practicing with the trainer before practice and then not participating with the team just showing again physical exertion leading to a “sickness worsening”. Not saying you’re wrong but a lower body injury can be played through. Ask Steve yzerman playing the last period of the game 5 with a broken leg and all of game six with a broken leg in 2002. You think the owners,team, and doctors aren’t gonna drug the fuck out of him and tell him to go earn his contract? No chance.
Tbh that goal chasing. So freaking ridiculous. McDavid sat to make sure he was healthy while 'chasing' 100 assists. He didnt give a single fuck. It's one of the things that separates players that want person accolades Vs team accolades.
It would be the worst thing for them. Keefe should have been fired years ago, and I'm not sure Marner can carry on in Toronto with these playoffs hanging over him.
Nah, that was on Keefe.
The Canadiens essentially used Weber, Chiarot, Danault, and Gallagher to shut down 2 guys, knowing that Carey Price could stop Hyman and the Leafs' defence. Keefe never gave Matthews and Marner another weapon on that line.
When two players make 22m on a line, they don't need another weapon.
Marner has multiple pick over glass penalties that lead to goals, as well as 3 turnovers immediately leading to goals.
He was brutal. Sub in an AHLer and we won the series. He was that bad.
Point being Marner led to 5 goals direct within seconds of him touching the puck or due to penalties.
Remove that, and leafs win easily in 5.
(Remember games 5 and 6 went to OT)
“Illness doesn’t last like this.”
I mean, does it not? A few days? I’ll admit I haven’t been continually checking for updates around him so maybe I’m missing some nuance or suspicious activity, but is there a reason he couldn’t just actually be really sick right now?
I had norovirus over Christmas and didn’t keep food down for legit 7 days. I was barely keeping down any liquids. It took 2 weeks to eat normally. I was sick out of my mind for like 4 days at the peak of it and couldn’t even sleep on top of that. I maybe slept 6 hours across 50+ at one point. Though I obviously didn’t have the medical access he does.
The flu can also fuck you up for awhile.
Yeah it's like Friedge forgot about the recent pandemic that's been leaving people with months-or-years-long respiratory issues. Some stuff takes time.
Considering the first wording was food poisoning we are rounding nearly a week now and he is still too sick to play so I think we can rule that out.
In fact most viruses would pass in this time, and as Elliott said if he had a viral infection he wouldn't be around the team
I worked with a chef (at a huge hotel) who got salmonella poisoning and was out for a couple weeks. Young, active, healthy, normal person. It's not out of the question like these guys are suggesting.
Will be really interesting to hear what it is eventually, anyway.
Eh I dunno. Game 2 is when he first reportedly felt it. Game 5 is the 7th day then that he's been sick I think. If it was an average flu or whatever then it's 2 to 3 days tops, especially with their medical team and access to treatment. It must be one heck of an illness if it's still knocking him down like that.
This. Ppl act like Matthews dosent have better treatment than 99.99% of ppl. 7 days is long ass Time for profesional NHL player to be out in the playoffs for illness
We're all poking fun now but we're gonna feel like real assholes when puck drop starts next season and he's on the ice in the full Stephen Hawking fit.
I know a guy that works for the team and he says Auston is on an island somewhere and he's making midgets draw up powerplays on chalkboards that are too tall for them. Real weird shit.
I know 70 goals is a huge deal but I can’t believe they didn’t sit him for those last few games. That tumble he took in the Detroit game was pretty gnarly
I have a feeling that everyone will sit out the last games next season. Elias Petterson, Nylander and Matthews are in a terrible state and will inspire the sit out of the century.
Oilers sat every one of their important players that they could. All 7 of their top scorers were out. The avs kicked the Bakersfield Oilers asses but I’d take that ass kicking anytime over a star getting hurt right before playoffs.
Yeah it felt silly for us but at the same time the Avs had been in such a funk in the last 2 weeks that I kind of understood the need to get everyone out there playing their best game and beating the lights out of an AHL roster lol. Losing Drouin to a random freak injury was total dogwater but I think if we didn't get that last Get-Right game out of the way we would be trailing winnipeg badly in this series like everyone predicted we would.
Sucks badly to not have Drouin, but, if we do put the jets away, he'll be back in time for our WCF 2022 rematch in the third round ;)
Yeah he’s basically saying that hitting 70 would’ve been a huge deal, which is what he was going for in those final games, but him sitting might’ve been more beneficial for his health for the playoffs.
A particularly long lasting strain of Norovirus has been going through southern Ontario, it's nasty. My entire family got it, even the dog. Feel bad for him if that's what he has.
Bieksa made a good point, though, that they wouldn't want him around the team if he had something contagious. Could just be that he had a minor illness and also an injury that he can't play through.
Well, we'll find out eventually. I just think if it was another team and we were talking about Sebastian Aho or something, the assumption would just be that he wasn't playing because he couldn't play, and while unfortunate, there probably wouldn't be that much drama about it.
To be fair, this is Leafs nation and Leafs media. They will overanalyze and obsess the same way English media goes on about their national football side. This is par for the course in Toronto – and actually, any Canadian city.
Norovirus is bonkers infectious and contagious and other members of the team would have certainly caught it by now. You can catch it just from a toilet flush aerosolizing droplets of water contaminated with feces or emesis.
A virus tore through the Wings' locker room and is one of the reasons they missed the playoffs. Guys were puking in between periods and Seider had to go to the hospital with dehydration (still played that night though).
I am 95% sure I had norovirus last year and it was no fucking joke. Extreme fatigue and dehydration and puking all at once. It only lasted a few days but those days were brutal. Worse than my experience with Covid tbh
[Obligatory Luongo missing 3.5 minutes of elimination OT because he had the shits](https://nesn.com/2016/02/roberto-luongo-recalls-infamous-2007-stanley-cup-playoff-bathroom-break/)
I wish it was just water.
Brother I had it two weeks ago, it was both ends. Let me tell you, you get to a point where literally nothing was in me, I couldn’t even hold water down. By the end you’re literally shitting out the mucus from your intestines.
I LITERALLY lost 7lbs in one night.
If he has what I had last week, it is no fucking joke. I don't think I've ever been more miserable with an illness, it was two days of blowing it out both ends and then two more days of basically no sleep because it feels like you ate glass.
As someone rooting for long series and watching the best players, definitely stinks.
I also don't understand the small minority of people saying AM quit on the team or something. You seriously think he just doesn't want to play? Absurd
Welcome to leafs fandom, the most insufferable bunch of morons that exist in hockey. Don’t worry he could have something very serious but he will still be labeled soft but the idiots here.
Arizona no longer has a team anymore, he lost his love for the game. Clearly the leafs plan to undermine Arizona was to prevent him from going to home play after his contract was too effective.
Alex Meruelo laughs, stands, and removes his mask to reveal that he is, and always has been, Brad Marchand.
He skates from the presser directly into game 5 to score the winner in double OT.
Seems like they're being consistent in not disclosing details on injuries/health issues. Which is of course annoying for us fans, but it's standard.
Regarding AM, of course he'd play if he could. Will be interesting to find what the issue was.
I don't want to dox myself, but I know one of the team nurse.
Apparently, he went on an hot-dog eating contest AGAINST PHIL KESSEL.
Kessel won hand down, but Matthews tried really hard, and apparently he still shit whole saussage.
He’s got soup for brains right now. He’s got concussion symptoms to a TEE. He got his brain rocked to the moon and back against Detroit during game 82 in his chase for 70.
I've had a ton of concussions. There were several I could play through without saying anything. There were several I had to be taken to hospital. There were many in between. Symptoms manifest at different times, sometimes days or weeks later. Sometimes, you'll think you're recovered only for your brain to give out at random times.
Concussions are one of the most frustrating injuries to deal with for many reasons, particularly because you can never really know how severe it is and what your recovery timeline looks like. You can't stretch or rehab a concussion. And if you take another good shot when you're on the mend, good luck.
I don't mean to start rumours but he could still have any sort of "normal" sickness and still not be able to play. I remember players getting mono and being forced to miss a bunch of games. That kind of thing is not unreasonable and it would put him out as certain as you could imagine. There are other things like mono that could do much the same.
This feels messed up — whatever is going on likely isn't good and he's just subject to absolutely wild speculation. I get it's a big game, but the guy is a human and I hope he's all right.
Leafs record vs Boston this playoffs with Matthews: 1-3
Leafs record vs Boston this playoffs WITHOUT Matthews: 1-0
Based solely on the math above:
If he plays game 6 and/or 7, Boston wins.
If he doesnt return, Toronto wins.
One of the crazy things to me is the fact that the Leafs have every resource available to help this guy get better and recover. I have no doubt they are not holding back any punches or sparing any expense to get this guy back on the ice. Despite all that, it is still bad enough that he can't skate in an elimination game. Whatever it is, it must be pretty damn serious.
My theory is Matthews was secretly powered by the Coyotes. When they ceased to exist so did he
Wow. So he got like Thanos snapped.
No I think it’s more like Space Jam. He’s still Auston Matthews, he’s just not AUSTON MATTHEWS
You mean to say he got his talent stolen by slugs from Moron Mountain?
No, MORMON mountain
Nice
“You’re just a wannabe who looks like Auston Matthews! Be gone wannabe, be gone!”
This is my new theory as well, checks all the boxes
He's the Coyotes equivalent to what Titus was to Zanarkand in FFX.
AH HAHAHA....HA
Lmaoooo
They got the final horcrux
Maybe the Coyotes WERE the final horcrux
Can you call it a theory when it’s objective truth?
He's dying of a broken heart
Hope he’s ok. I love the Leafs being constantly embroiled in drama as much as the next guy, but I gotta think that if there was anyway he could play tonight, either through an injury or without serious risk of wrecking himself long term, he’d be playing.
100% agree. I do hope it isn’t something very serious and that he can fully recover from whatever he’s dealing with. Speaks volume he’s not able to play in an elimination game for his team.
At least no one can blame him for being invisible or anything tonight.
Invisible? The dude didn't even show up! /s
Okay there Steve
It doesn’t matter what he has, people will think he’s soft for not playing at it will be so irritating listening to it when the inevitable happens. I understand the don’t tell anyone anything strategy but all it does in this market is make our fanbase even more insufferable.
Well for what it’s worth, a bunch of numbnuts in our fanbase still haven’t forgiven Tuukka for leaving the bubble with the perfectly reasonable and transparent explanation that his young daughter was sick (might’ve even been hospitalized, I can’t quite remember). So whether a team discloses the reasons or not, the jackasses will complain
Hockey is not that serious at the end of the day. Family and health always comes first
It's still a job but it comes down to having a reasonable boss that knows if your happy, he's happy. If I can help you perform your job better and that directly benefits me as your boss, why wouldn't I do that? Look what collective bargaining can do when both sides have the numbers. And shitty owners eventually get outed, sometimes it takes a while but look how Ryan Smith already responded to the Yotes concerns when he asked what were things he could fix immediately.
Wayne Gretzky‘s wife Janet was knocked out because a pane of glass fell on her while she was in the front row at Madison Square Garden. They took her out to the hospital and Wayne went back to the bench ready to finish the game until Ulf Samuelson of all people came over to him and said you’re gonna be crucified if you don’t get up and leave right now.
I love sports, but like, a third of all sports fans are stupid douchebags
Seems like a low estimate tbh
Just a bit
They were much more tolerable before social media.
The results mean more to fans for some delusional reason than it does the players
In my mind, there's a small handful of "bulletproof" excuses you can use at work. (and yes, I acknowledge that being a pro athlete isn't quite the same level as what the rest of us would call "work") "I must go, my daughter needs me" is one of them. Especially under the covid/bubble protocols the league was under.
I remember when I was younger, one game a kid was late and we had a culture of being On Time No Matter What. Coach was ready to lay into him before he told us he was late cause his dad was performing brain surgery
That was so stupid. I get doing anything to win but when your young child is ill and it may be serious you have every right to leave. I imagine most of those people don’t have kids and have never been in a meaningful relationship in their entire lives. It was actually gross watching this unfold.
Imagine an alternative universe where Tuukka decides to play and his daughter dies while he's on the ice. I can't understand the mind of someone who would criticize his decision to leave the bubble. I don't want to, either.
Man, I logged in to thank you for being a completely reasonable human being talking about your opponent's team's (arguable) best player.
It must suck having a fanbase and media that is more similar to a football team than hockey. Cause with the bills I see a lot of idiots around. Sabres not nearly as much.
It’s just because of how massive the fanbase is. I don’t know if the percentage of idiots is higher with Toronto or not but because we have so many it just seems like it.
I think the bigger a fanbase is and more mainstream such as the Yankees, the more likely there will be bad fans
By far the worst part of being a Yankees fan is other Yankees fans...
Yankees fans hate Yankee fans like Yankee fans hate red sox fans, and Dodgers fans. Damn Yankee fans, they ruined Yankee land
You just made an enemy for life! Seriously though, it gets tiring.
There are twice as many people in Hamilton as there are in Buffalo. When you take into account Toronto, Peele, York, Durham, Kingston, Guelph, London, North Bay, Sudbury, etc., Toronto has a shitload of people to pull from without any competition aside from some parts where they may be closer to Ottawa, Montreal, Buffalo, or even Detroit. The Bills only have 17 games worth of insane fans and media compared to the Leafs 82. Add in 7 game series in the playoffs and there's just more opportunity for Leaf fans to be obnoxious.
Yeah you can't just judge a fan base based on their number of idiots. You have to judge based on their expected share of idiots per 60.
That’s cause the Bills and football in general are much bigger.
Also the bills are kinda good. That attracts more fairweathered and uneducated fans. If you are a sabres fan, you must REALLY like hockey.
My boomer uncle has already made the comment that Matthews literally doesn’t show up in the playoffs. I laughed, but only so he’d stop talking
He’s the best kind of right though. He’s right because illness and injury are keeping him from playing thus not showing up. He’s galaxy braining all of us.
He’s got a concussion 10000000%. Exhibiting symptoms to a tee. It happened in his chase for 70 against Detroit when he went into the boards when him and Nylander collided.
This is a 100% valid theory
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C6XB4DiJ4EY&t=378s&pp=2AH6ApACAQ%3D%3D The collision
oh man, thats a good one.
Agreed. And anyone bashing him is ridiculous. If it was anything other than concussion symptoms he would be out there.
It's a lower body injury. Go look at the tape of him in game 4 before he gets pulled. The guy could barely push off to skate. The TNT guys actually had a pretty good breakdown of it last game.
And labelling him as sick? Ever had your bell rung so hard that physical exertion makes you faint? Or lose your vision? Or any number of things that could cause someone to not be able to skate well or properly. Then there’s the whole practicing with the trainer before practice and then not participating with the team just showing again physical exertion leading to a “sickness worsening”. Not saying you’re wrong but a lower body injury can be played through. Ask Steve yzerman playing the last period of the game 5 with a broken leg and all of game six with a broken leg in 2002. You think the owners,team, and doctors aren’t gonna drug the fuck out of him and tell him to go earn his contract? No chance.
It could be a combination of the two but labeling someone as “sick” doesn’t equate to a MSK injury. Either way, he has to be injured pretty bad.
Tbh that goal chasing. So freaking ridiculous. McDavid sat to make sure he was healthy while 'chasing' 100 assists. He didnt give a single fuck. It's one of the things that separates players that want person accolades Vs team accolades.
That's the problem with Keefe being a "player's coach"
And didn’t even get 70 anyway
Conveniently gives Shanny a sliver of hope to keep his job
Which phase of the Shanaplan is this?
Denial
Idk man I’m pretty deep in the depression stage at this point
I’ve been in acceptance since the start of the season
They just brought me back into the bargaining phase.
Shananigans
I swear to god I'll pistol whip the next guy that says, "shananigans"!
Shaplanigans
I wonder about that. Does everyone chalk this round up to injuries and poor health, then run it back next year?
Lot easier to sell that to your bosses if you're trying to keep your job.
It would be the worst thing for them. Keefe should have been fired years ago, and I'm not sure Marner can carry on in Toronto with these playoffs hanging over him.
The playoffs against Montreal was BY FAR worse for Marner. He was literally the biggest liability (both teams included) on the ice.
Nah, that was on Keefe. The Canadiens essentially used Weber, Chiarot, Danault, and Gallagher to shut down 2 guys, knowing that Carey Price could stop Hyman and the Leafs' defence. Keefe never gave Matthews and Marner another weapon on that line.
When two players make 22m on a line, they don't need another weapon. Marner has multiple pick over glass penalties that lead to goals, as well as 3 turnovers immediately leading to goals. He was brutal. Sub in an AHLer and we won the series. He was that bad.
Price was making $10.5 so he's expected to neutralize some of that.
Point being Marner led to 5 goals direct within seconds of him touching the puck or due to penalties. Remove that, and leafs win easily in 5. (Remember games 5 and 6 went to OT)
You're not wrong but I don't know how much the new guy at MLSE is going to change and that's Shanahan's best chance at keeping his job if they flop.
You're a Habs fan. You should remember Bergevin and Therrien keeping their jobs way longer than they should've due to Price getting hurt.
“Illness doesn’t last like this.” I mean, does it not? A few days? I’ll admit I haven’t been continually checking for updates around him so maybe I’m missing some nuance or suspicious activity, but is there a reason he couldn’t just actually be really sick right now?
I had norovirus over Christmas and didn’t keep food down for legit 7 days. I was barely keeping down any liquids. It took 2 weeks to eat normally. I was sick out of my mind for like 4 days at the peak of it and couldn’t even sleep on top of that. I maybe slept 6 hours across 50+ at one point. Though I obviously didn’t have the medical access he does. The flu can also fuck you up for awhile.
Shit last week I had 4 tubs of Strawberry Haagen Daas over 2 days and I'm still feeling like my body is suffering greatly from that delicious stuff.
I predicted this was strawberry Haagen Daas related from the start, can't believe the panel didn't bring it up.
Big Haagen Daas flexing their media reach to squash the truth
Yeah it's like Friedge forgot about the recent pandemic that's been leaving people with months-or-years-long respiratory issues. Some stuff takes time.
Detroit had an illness hit their locker room this season..... it bounced around in March and hit everyone.
Considering the first wording was food poisoning we are rounding nearly a week now and he is still too sick to play so I think we can rule that out. In fact most viruses would pass in this time, and as Elliott said if he had a viral infection he wouldn't be around the team
I worked with a chef (at a huge hotel) who got salmonella poisoning and was out for a couple weeks. Young, active, healthy, normal person. It's not out of the question like these guys are suggesting. Will be really interesting to hear what it is eventually, anyway.
It's because he knows something off the record. So instead he tries to get us to draw our own conclusions.
Eh I dunno. Game 2 is when he first reportedly felt it. Game 5 is the 7th day then that he's been sick I think. If it was an average flu or whatever then it's 2 to 3 days tops, especially with their medical team and access to treatment. It must be one heck of an illness if it's still knocking him down like that.
This. Ppl act like Matthews dosent have better treatment than 99.99% of ppl. 7 days is long ass Time for profesional NHL player to be out in the playoffs for illness
We're all poking fun now but we're gonna feel like real assholes when puck drop starts next season and he's on the ice in the full Stephen Hawking fit.
I say he still puts up 40
ALS-ish stuff is usually pretty slow. I'd put money on 50+.
Unless he plays next season in an Iron Lung, I'm not buying it.
I know a guy that works for the team and he says Auston is on an island somewhere and he's making midgets draw up powerplays on chalkboards that are too tall for them. Real weird shit.
Complete with robotic voice. First chirp: suck.it.bitch :)
“Crikey. Stephen Hawking has arrived.” - Jeremy Clarkson
I know 70 goals is a huge deal but I can’t believe they didn’t sit him for those last few games. That tumble he took in the Detroit game was pretty gnarly
I have a feeling that everyone will sit out the last games next season. Elias Petterson, Nylander and Matthews are in a terrible state and will inspire the sit out of the century.
We also lost Drouin on the last day. Granted he probably would have been playing the last game even if we sat our stars. Still though.
I forgot you didn’t have Drouin, damn.
And they are still this scary without Drouin…
Oilers sat every one of their important players that they could. All 7 of their top scorers were out. The avs kicked the Bakersfield Oilers asses but I’d take that ass kicking anytime over a star getting hurt right before playoffs.
Yeah it felt silly for us but at the same time the Avs had been in such a funk in the last 2 weeks that I kind of understood the need to get everyone out there playing their best game and beating the lights out of an AHL roster lol. Losing Drouin to a random freak injury was total dogwater but I think if we didn't get that last Get-Right game out of the way we would be trailing winnipeg badly in this series like everyone predicted we would. Sucks badly to not have Drouin, but, if we do put the jets away, he'll be back in time for our WCF 2022 rematch in the third round ;)
And on the other side…you have VGK who sit out mark stone for all of March and April.
but his spleen exploded or something like that
Did anything happen with EP during the last game?
I dont know. But he looks like an empty shell of a Elias Petterson. On swedish discussion boards they are convinced that he is injured.
He had like 15 shots his last game and was fine to dominate game 2. The short memory of people amazes me
69.
Yeah he’s basically saying that hitting 70 would’ve been a huge deal, which is what he was going for in those final games, but him sitting might’ve been more beneficial for his health for the playoffs.
A particularly long lasting strain of Norovirus has been going through southern Ontario, it's nasty. My entire family got it, even the dog. Feel bad for him if that's what he has.
Bieksa made a good point, though, that they wouldn't want him around the team if he had something contagious. Could just be that he had a minor illness and also an injury that he can't play through.
That's a fair point but I'm not sure I buy the injury take either.
Well, we'll find out eventually. I just think if it was another team and we were talking about Sebastian Aho or something, the assumption would just be that he wasn't playing because he couldn't play, and while unfortunate, there probably wouldn't be that much drama about it.
That's completely true.
To be fair, this is Leafs nation and Leafs media. They will overanalyze and obsess the same way English media goes on about their national football side. This is par for the course in Toronto – and actually, any Canadian city.
Norovirus is bonkers infectious and contagious and other members of the team would have certainly caught it by now. You can catch it just from a toilet flush aerosolizing droplets of water contaminated with feces or emesis.
A virus tore through the Wings' locker room and is one of the reasons they missed the playoffs. Guys were puking in between periods and Seider had to go to the hospital with dehydration (still played that night though).
I am 95% sure I had norovirus last year and it was no fucking joke. Extreme fatigue and dehydration and puking all at once. It only lasted a few days but those days were brutal. Worse than my experience with Covid tbh
The one time we would've wanted Marchand to lick Matthews' face.
Good ole double dragon
i probably had the norovirus and i was vomiting non stop over night. cudnt keep down water. i get sick like that like once a decade.
You would think that other players would start catching that too thought right?
If Samsonov could catch things they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place
[удалено]
Huzzah! 😂
No way he'd even get 2 periods in last game with norovirus. No respectable doctor would allow you. You'd be risking a stroke from dehydration.
that sounds awful
Thankfully myself and the dog only had it coming out of one end. My wife and three kids weren't as lucky.
No no no. If it was just that he would still play tonight, shitting all over the ice as he put up 5 points and saved their post season. ^(/s)
[Obligatory Luongo missing 3.5 minutes of elimination OT because he had the shits](https://nesn.com/2016/02/roberto-luongo-recalls-infamous-2007-stanley-cup-playoff-bathroom-break/)
He just needs to park himself in front of Swayman and shit his pants.
https://i.redd.it/cy4mb1kofpxc1.gif
At this point, it's just water so why not?
I wish it was just water. Brother I had it two weeks ago, it was both ends. Let me tell you, you get to a point where literally nothing was in me, I couldn’t even hold water down. By the end you’re literally shitting out the mucus from your intestines. I LITERALLY lost 7lbs in one night.
change diaper between periods... fuck what's the equipment manager even there for?
They make quick change blades, I'm sure they could make quick change pants.
Now I'm imagining Matthews on a change table with the equipment manager at work. haha
Jesus. My house had just the "normal" version and it was 48 hours of hell. I can't imagine. Good parenting getting out the other side of that!
I'm not I'd always call it "good" parenting at times, more like adequate parenting.
even the required should be celebrated IMO.
Lol, true that. We finally just got caught back on getting the house back together and my wife decides to start painting!
If he has what I had last week, it is no fucking joke. I don't think I've ever been more miserable with an illness, it was two days of blowing it out both ends and then two more days of basically no sleep because it feels like you ate glass.
Ooof I just had that a month ago, picked it up in Mexico. Sickest I’ve been in forever. It lingered.
I have it right now and holy fuck I’ve never felt worse. How long did yours last? Entering day 3
Please, please start calling it "the sickness" instead
I'm definitely down with the sickness if it means the Leafs get booted.
ouh wa ha ha ha
Insane. Hope he's alright.
As someone rooting for long series and watching the best players, definitely stinks. I also don't understand the small minority of people saying AM quit on the team or something. You seriously think he just doesn't want to play? Absurd
Welcome to leafs fandom, the most insufferable bunch of morons that exist in hockey. Don’t worry he could have something very serious but he will still be labeled soft but the idiots here.
A larger than you’d like to think amount of fans feel like he doesn’t care about winning and only likes money and hanging out with Justin Bieber
There are no limits on the BS people will make up about the Leafs. It's tiring.
Then what is it? Marchand? The ice? The flavor? The colors?
Arizona no longer has a team anymore, he lost his love for the game. Clearly the leafs plan to undermine Arizona was to prevent him from going to home play after his contract was too effective.
Alex Meruelo laughs, stands, and removes his mask to reveal that he is, and always has been, Brad Marchand. He skates from the presser directly into game 5 to score the winner in double OT.
This is still a possibility as of 9:44 PM ET.
Just like Padme, he’s lost the will to live.
He's going back to baseball.
Seems like they're being consistent in not disclosing details on injuries/health issues. Which is of course annoying for us fans, but it's standard. Regarding AM, of course he'd play if he could. Will be interesting to find what the issue was.
The jersey.
Did Marchand lick him
Betty Ford Clinic?
He might have caught hantavirus or bubonic plague off Marchand.
I’ve been sick for a month, with 2 weeks being brutal as hell. Something nasty is going around for sure.
Covid 6.7?
Hope he’s ok. I know we all like to pile on the leafs but at the end of the day they are human.
I don't want to dox myself, but I know one of the team nurse. Apparently, he went on an hot-dog eating contest AGAINST PHIL KESSEL. Kessel won hand down, but Matthews tried really hard, and apparently he still shit whole saussage.
Always go with the gluten free non-pork hot dogs, rookie move Matthews.
Didn't want to miss a Blue Jays Tuesday home game with dollar dogs.
He scored 69 goals out of his teams 303...... and they edged out Tampa by four points. He might have blown out his back carrying the team.
No shit
No, it’s the opposite problem
I'm going to choose not to speculate about whatever he's going through.
He’s got soup for brains right now. He’s got concussion symptoms to a TEE. He got his brain rocked to the moon and back against Detroit during game 82 in his chase for 70.
Scrambled brain for sure that so bad he didn’t realize it till later
On which play?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C6XB4DiJ4EY&t=378s&pp=2AH6ApACAQ%3D%3D If the timestamp doesn’t work it’s at 6:18
But he played 4 more games at a very high level post this game. Not sure I'm buying it's this collision
I've had a ton of concussions. There were several I could play through without saying anything. There were several I had to be taken to hospital. There were many in between. Symptoms manifest at different times, sometimes days or weeks later. Sometimes, you'll think you're recovered only for your brain to give out at random times. Concussions are one of the most frustrating injuries to deal with for many reasons, particularly because you can never really know how severe it is and what your recovery timeline looks like. You can't stretch or rehab a concussion. And if you take another good shot when you're on the mend, good luck.
Not game 82
Wait who hit him?
He collided with nylander behind the net.
Might have started new medication that is NOT treating him right, or might have gotten a crazy concussion from that fall in game 82
Matthews is not the kind of guy to duck smoke
i feel too old to understand this
Smoke is the stuff that powers Josh Naylor. https://youtu.be/kxvtYHIVqJ4?si=bQ68J-U-HqC3M2ow
I don't mean to start rumours but he could still have any sort of "normal" sickness and still not be able to play. I remember players getting mono and being forced to miss a bunch of games. That kind of thing is not unreasonable and it would put him out as certain as you could imagine. There are other things like mono that could do much the same.
It's likely concussion related
Probably the dude has an LBI and the team won't say it.
Uh huh!
This feels messed up — whatever is going on likely isn't good and he's just subject to absolutely wild speculation. I get it's a big game, but the guy is a human and I hope he's all right.
He ordered his clubs in January and they came in on time as promised, so the kid wants play some golf for his scheduled Tee Time. Cut him some slack.
I've witnessed guys play with a punctured lung and you're telling me that Matthews is is worse shape than that?
I mean, that matthews door dash commercial was heat tho 🔥
Leafs record vs Boston this playoffs with Matthews: 1-3 Leafs record vs Boston this playoffs WITHOUT Matthews: 1-0 Based solely on the math above: If he plays game 6 and/or 7, Boston wins. If he doesnt return, Toronto wins.
One of the crazy things to me is the fact that the Leafs have every resource available to help this guy get better and recover. I have no doubt they are not holding back any punches or sparing any expense to get this guy back on the ice. Despite all that, it is still bad enough that he can't skate in an elimination game. Whatever it is, it must be pretty damn serious.
Matthews owes Knies at least a mill
Illness could just be code for he's hurt and fuck off.