October 11, 2024 • 20 mins
It's 2002 and there's a thick layer of hope wafting in the air around the Air Canada Centre. The Leafs have finished 2nd in the East, only one point back of the Bruins. Mats Sundin is the highest scoring centre in the league and has led the team to their 4th consecutive playoff appearance. The supporting cast is stronger than ever with Darcy Tucker, Gary Roberts and Alexander Mogilny upfront, Tomas Kaberle & Bryan McCabe on the blue line, and Curtis Joseph manning the net.
After a hard fought 7-game series win against the New York Islanders in the first round, the Leafs are bruised, but ready to battle against the upstart Ottawa Senators, who feature young talent like Daniel Alfredsson, Marian Hossa and an oversized defensemen named Zdeno Chara.
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Follow @Sportsfeld on X! While you're there say hello to @theZubes and @JGoldsbie or reach out to the show and say hey: podcast@sportsfeld.ca
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And as always, thank you for listening to another episode of Sportsfeld.
After a hard fought 7-game series win against the New York Islanders in the first round, the Leafs are bruised, but ready to battle against the upstart Ottawa Senators, who feature young talent like Daniel Alfredsson, Marian Hossa and an oversized defensemen named Zdeno Chara.
Sick of hearing all the ads? Subscribe to Soda Premium on Apple Podcasts to get rid of them!
Follow @Sportsfeld on X! While you're there say hello to @theZubes and @JGoldsbie or reach out to the show and say hey: podcast@sportsfeld.ca
If merch is your thing, be sure to check out the store: http://bit.ly/merchfeldIf you enjoyed today’s show, please rate Sportsfeld 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts.
And as always, thank you for listening to another episode of Sportsfeld.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
They saw.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
One Charles Gots and sometime a series one place.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
If we get an indication tonight.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
This is going to be a long, tough series versus
what people thought after Game one.
Speaker 5 (00:18):
Well, I think so. I think both teams obviously know
what's at stake, and I can see a long series
ahead of us.
Speaker 6 (00:30):
I'm Rod Smith and this is the early edition of
Sports Center for Tuesday, the fourteenth of May. Six games
between the Sins and Leaves now mean nothing. Only the
final game matters. Tonight it is Game seven of the
Battle of Ontario. The winner goes to Carolina to decide
who will play for the Stanley Cup. That should be
incentive enough, but Ottawa has more at stake. You'll have
to make do without their steadiest and most physical defenseman's
(00:53):
a Dan o' chara, who clearly was missed in Game six.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Historically, at least over the last ten years, teams that
have a chance to plich at home in Game six
and don't do well in game seven, they're four and
eleven over the stretch of time, and begs.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
The question, Pierre, where's the killer? Restink Ferrata.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
If you guys make a big deal experience and stuff
like that then it really is.
Speaker 6 (01:10):
I mean, everybody has.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Their first Game seven they play in and I'll tell
you what. If Ottawa does lose this game tonight, the
dragon is still out there.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
It needs to be slain by the Senators, and people
are questioning this team's heart.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
A great chance for the Senators tonight to really put
that to rest.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It is sports Field story time. We are wrapping up
the story of the two thousand and two Eastern Conference
semifinals Maple Leafs first Senators, the Battle of Ontario, the
triple overtime game where Gary Roberts goes five to hole
on Patrick Lalim with no Matt Sundeen, the Maple Leafs
somehow keep little Brother at bay for another day. The
(02:14):
Ottawa Senators couldn't get past that hump, couldn't get past
the Maple Leafs, the big bad monster under the bed
when it became playoff time the Battle of Ontario in
the series, the sends immediately after the triple overtime loss,
they win game three three to two.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, I think that was sort of the That was
kind of the funny thing about the Battle of Ontario
series in that as a Leaf fan, especially as a
young Leaf fan. We're always very confident, justifiably so, but
never comfortable, Like I don't really recall ever being that
(02:56):
worried about this series after Game two, but I do
remember it being always like that what if of like, oh,
we can't lose to the Senators. It added added a
little bit of stakes to it.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Ottawa in Game three jumped out to a three nothing league.
They scored in the second and then two more and
the third maybe Leaf sort of came back. Travis Green
scored with thirty seconds left to make it three to two,
and that was sort of it felt like something had
been salvaged with that late little comeback.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Yeah, but if.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
You're a Senators fan, you can look at this and say,
we're one bounce away. Maybe we score in the first
minute of Game two, one bounce away from being up
three to nothing, and we've been the better team. You
could say in all three games if you wanted to.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I think you could say the Signers were the better
team in all but five periods of this series, and
that was happened to be the last five periods of
the series. That's a good take, I mean, like that, Yeah,
they punched the leaves in the mouth pretty well in
a lot of these games, sometimes literally totally.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Game four also a very tight one two to one game,
which we will affectionately call the Alan McCauley game. Two
goals from McCauley, a starmaking performance. He was man. He
was the man after.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
This, Oh man. He had fifteen points in nineteen games
in these playoffs. Him and Roberts, I remember were like,
we touched on this a little bit earlier, but they
were I still can't. I know, he had like a
decent career and went to play in San Jose, but
it's wild to me the amount of love he had
from Leaf fans this time. And he only played one
more year here, which fair enough, and like, it's not
(04:41):
that he ever became like the guy anywhere, but you
would have thought this was the makings of like a
folk legend story.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
It's hilarious because, yeah, he gets traded the next season,
He gets traded within the year, scores twenty the next
year for San Jose and his third in SELK voting,
but only scored in double digits twice in his career
twenty three, twenty four, and then twelve the next year.
And he's in the league. So yeah, interesting little study
(05:11):
there played nine years in this playoff run, I think
is his NHL peak. And he is also a captain
after this, so he got half the season of ultimate
captain before. That's trade to San Jose for oh and
no one must say.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Of course, which look that was fun as hell, all
good trade. I'll always back there one Nolan trade. I
remember that. I will remember that day for a long time.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Well, it's not like, as we said, it's not like
Alan McAuley becomes this huge regret. He scores twenty goals once. Anyway,
we move forward the game five, we get more drama.
Finally we finally get some like real versus Senators garbage
drama shot.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
This is the league the hit star, Tunny Pews hurting
the pens right on.
Speaker 7 (06:04):
Nice star, all the scores a goal.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
In the league where nailed along the boards from a
check from behind is still down and this crowd is
pretty asty.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
That's Tucker who's.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
On the boards on the Hicks.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Play continued and a goal was scored.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
When the Leafs are screaming that this was a hit
from behind and Tucker did not get up and before
before the leaf could get the puck back, it was
in with two.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
H one to go, and they.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Got a call that that was a hit from behind.
They were usually quite strict in calling it.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
And you can see that.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Alfredson ended up with the puck, no doubt about it.
He's through the hit. Then he goes to the net
and he's rewarded with the pass right here in a
nice play by Yolonan and Alfredson puts it up.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Tucker still down when alperson scored the.
Speaker 6 (07:05):
Goal and that gives on a Wall the lead again
with only two minutes in one second remaining in the
third period.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Were you surprised he was a player?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Like Alfred said to me to hit. No, he's been.
Speaker 6 (07:20):
Pretty active in those sets, usually from behind, but been
pretty active.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
There an infamous game that it took me a long
time to not be mad about.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
The Sens win this game. But day Alfredson man, he
was not a liked guy.
Speaker 7 (07:39):
I would say he like he he was so good
at like playing it up though you remember this, the
fake stick toss, this hit.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Obviously he loved he loved playing the heel in Toronto.
He was great, great.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
He was the perfect foil to Sundean and the fact
that they were both Swedish, like really funny. It's theft
looking back at it, like it's the perfect little guy
to have if you were going to also be a
captain of an Ontario team, that you would pick another
Swedish guy and he would know Matt's well enough and
(08:16):
would be like his total opposite in every way. Really funny.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah, And like I think we can all look back
now and be like, oh, this was funny and great,
and like I have a huge appreciation for Daniel Afferdson
now as an adult, but like, oh I hate him
into like my early twenties. I feel, oh, for sure,
this one play like had so much ill will for
(08:40):
so long.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
He sneaks up, he hits Darcy Tucker from behind, which
we've been over in every episode Ottawa hated Darcy Tucker,
and for good reason. But he hits Tucker from behind,
knocks him out, and then turns back towards the play,
sneak in the back door and scores the game winning goal.
(09:03):
It's a meltdown. It's a meltdown.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
This is like I know, we've seen a few, like
Toronto sports meltdowns, mostly in baseball. Surprised this one didn't
turn into something ugly, and it did from the crowd.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
To be honest, had the Internet been around for this one,
that would have been an Armageddon Twitter day, because for
sure it would have been. Because you can look at
the video now of Alfred's and hitting Tucker. You can
look at that video now and there are people commenting
(09:36):
that Tucker deserved it because he hit Pekka. That's still
going on. It's been eighteen years, people are still having
that argument.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
You're right, it's good that Twitter didn't exist in the
early two thousand May leafs years total. It's a good thing.
That's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Game six list are up against the wall now, it's
elimination is they're on the brink and the sens Maybe
this is peak confidence. I talked earlier in this series
about thinking that coming into game two of this series
was probably peak confidence. Maybe it was after Game five,
having them on the ropes, having everyone fired up about
(10:26):
the the Tucker thing about Alfredson. That's probably as good
as they would ever feel in the Battle of Ontario
in this era.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yeah, I think so. But I also had, like I
remember having sort of the opposite reaction, and like after
the Tucker thing happened, like being convinced that the leaves
are going to come back and just like smoke them.
In game six.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Well guess what, buddy, there's a sports karma to it. Well,
they managed to the maple leafs. I wouldn't say they
smoked them, but man Alfredson SCORESS seventh of the playoffs.
McCabe scores, Roberts scores, so it's two to two after
one in game six. Roberts scores again in the second.
Todd White scores late in the second, so it's three
(11:11):
to three going into the third period. Alex mcgilney, no problem,
early third period goal. We're going to game seven. This
one had one two, three, four, four roughing majors and
a four roughing miners and a game misconduct for boarding
from ricard person. A lot of penalties in this game.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The card person sounds like a fake player. It sounds
like a person that like that's the default name in
Create a player.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Thirty six minutes and penalties in this game.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
In the game six, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
A lot of it. In the second period, things got
a little chippy. But we go forward to game seven
and this was I think Ottawa, I mean, how are
you feeling going into Game seven.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
I guess I'm so so confident. Like it was like
the Cenators had the Sator's had him in Game six,
they had the lead, They're at home, they couldn't close it. It
was and like Game seven back in Drow. I was
obviously You're never like this is over at that point,
(12:24):
but I was not concerned.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Well, you had ever right to not be concerned.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
I will say, though, this game does have an underrated
Leaf's moment. I think it's mcgilney's second goal where le
Leam sort of has to dive across the net and
just like can't get there in time. I think that's
the two nothing goal that sort of had that similar
(12:49):
feeling to Do you remember twenty fifteen Blue Jays against
the Yankees when Russell hit the home run in the
regular season.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Of course, of course I remember that, and it.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Was a one nothing game then everyone could just kind
of breathe. This had sort of a similar feeling of
like there it is, now, we're done with this, and
then obviously looking ahead, feeling good, feeling confident.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
I heard us so said those sport team seconds away
in a sport teams career by all shut up the
second the season. Like, that's seven seconds, that's m off, Robert,
let the crowd take them one.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Let un all on. Yes, as you said. Mcgilney scores
too his sixth and seventh playoffs and then Brian McCabe
adds his fourth for a good measure, scoring in the
(13:51):
in the second and third. So it was a pretty
tight game. All these games with the like aside from
Game one, these are all really tight game. They're mostly
one goal games, except Game five, which had an empty
net goal in it.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah. I think the whole Leafs all three series the
Leafs play this year are insanely tight that obviously, the
Islanders went seven games, the home team winning each game.
This one wins seven games, a lot of one goal games,
triple overtime game. The Hurricane series has three games go
to overtime. Half the series goes overtime. It's a This
(14:28):
is like a long, long, tight, stressful year for the
Maple Leafs.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
I was like, the Senators will never beat the Mayple
Leafs after this. Ever, Yeah, and the series make the
conference final the very next year. They beat the Islanders,
they beat the Flyers, and then they lose the Devils
in seven. They're one game away from the Stanley Cup
after one hundred and thirteen points season and still as
(14:55):
a maple LEAs fan, I'm just like, I'm not taking
this team seriously well to us. The next year they do,
they lose in seven in two thousand and three, two
thousand and four, and then they continue to be a
President's Trophy contending team that nobody cares about, that no
one's ever afraid of.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Yeah, it's it is funny. They're like the Senators are
like two bounces away in different years of being like
cup winning dynasty franchises.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
It's wild. It's I feel bad, I truly do.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
I don't at all.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
That's also fair. You're still feel bad?
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yeah, fuck them, of course, fuck them. It's only it's
only I've had things to enjoy in that time, and
that it's any better or worse than it's a good
piety it's been for us for many team that I
cheer for. The Sins really don't get much going in
that Game seven. They only get nineteen shots on Kujo
that mayple lice cruise and they are going to face
(15:55):
the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final. I remember,
like I couldn't believe it. And they places are going
to make the Stanley Cup was my assumption here.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Absolutely my biggest memory from the Carolina series's game one,
like five minutes in I was watching on the couch
and living with my dad, and my dad just very
quietly under his breath went, oh, they're really fast. I
read that movie being like, oh no, maybe this confidence
(16:29):
I've had for the last three days that the Leash
are going to the final.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Perhaps not perhaps Arthur's irbe and ye noodles, yes, your boy, noodles,
bats Spattaglia Ron Francis. Boy, what a series. And I
remember watching so many of these games.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
An underratedly legitimately great playoff series.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
And you know what, Jake, it's such a good series
that he should continue on this road of the two
thousand and two Maple Leasse Playoffs. The next Sports Felt
story time is going to be about the Mayple Leae
against the Carolina Hurricanes. How about that?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
How about that? Looks love us just finding a storyline
We're so good at that.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
We did it. We did Mattheunden will come back. I
guarantee you well, I mean, I mean yeah, is that
a spoiler? Is that a spoiler, that's Sundean.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
I feel like, are there spoilers in sports, especially when
they're eighteen years old? I don'tink spoilers exist in sports.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That's a great question. But there's many questions for the
Maple LEAs right now. We don't know the status of Sundean.
We don't know those status of Darcy Tucker. He's been
knocked out by the villain Daniel Alfredson. Matt Sundean is
still dealing with a fractured wrist. Can Gary Roberts continue
to chew the league up and spit it out as
(17:53):
he had in the first two rounds. A lot on
the line here as the Maple Leafs stare down, first
Stanley Cup final appearance in a very long time, and
I staring down, turning seventeen and passing my driver's test,
which was a very big deal as I failed Grade
eleven math again that was a big that's also going on.
(18:17):
So I had a lot going on at the time.
I was busy, busy guy.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Yeah, I wasn't staring down much.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I was.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
It was thirteen. I had already had my ber mitzvah.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
We're coming towards summer here because it was that that
game three or part of me the game too. We
just did three episodes about is the first week of May.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
That's true. I guess we're just we're just waiting for
school to be done. Those Houseyon days been finishing. My
first who was thirteen.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Game seven of maple Leae Senators was May fourteenth, two
thousand and two. Game one of Carolina Hurricanes Toronto Maple
Leafs Eastern Conference Finals was May sixteenth, two thousand and two,
which would go on to be the anniversary of me
me going my first date with my wife. There you go,
(19:11):
look at that, and that's where we'll pick it up
the next time we do this, the maple Leafs doing
this big run. We're not gonna pick it up in
game one. We're believe we're doing game seven. If I'm
uh six correct on that game six, pardon me, sire.
Going right only makes sense anyway, Two happy ones in
(19:34):
a row. We don't have access to two good memories
back to back thoughts has never happened. There's no reason
to expect it to start happening just because we're looking
back at two thousand and two. So I digress. That
is where we leave things we are feeling good coming
off another win against the Ottawa Senitors and now we
(19:55):
look forward to the next episode of Sports Felt Story
of Time that is Toronto Maple versus Carolina Hurricanes and
you can hear that on Sports Felt next week, Sports
(20:49):
fl
They saw.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
One Charles Gots and sometime a series one place.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
If we get an indication tonight.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
This is going to be a long, tough series versus
what people thought after Game one.
Speaker 5 (00:18):
Well, I think so. I think both teams obviously know
what's at stake, and I can see a long series
ahead of us.
Speaker 6 (00:30):
I'm Rod Smith and this is the early edition of
Sports Center for Tuesday, the fourteenth of May. Six games
between the Sins and Leaves now mean nothing. Only the
final game matters. Tonight it is Game seven of the
Battle of Ontario. The winner goes to Carolina to decide
who will play for the Stanley Cup. That should be
incentive enough, but Ottawa has more at stake. You'll have
to make do without their steadiest and most physical defenseman's
(00:53):
a Dan o' chara, who clearly was missed in Game six.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Historically, at least over the last ten years, teams that
have a chance to plich at home in Game six
and don't do well in game seven, they're four and
eleven over the stretch of time, and begs.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
The question, Pierre, where's the killer? Restink Ferrata.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
If you guys make a big deal experience and stuff
like that then it really is.
Speaker 6 (01:10):
I mean, everybody has.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Their first Game seven they play in and I'll tell
you what. If Ottawa does lose this game tonight, the
dragon is still out there.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
It needs to be slain by the Senators, and people
are questioning this team's heart.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
A great chance for the Senators tonight to really put
that to rest.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It is sports Field story time. We are wrapping up
the story of the two thousand and two Eastern Conference
semifinals Maple Leafs first Senators, the Battle of Ontario, the
triple overtime game where Gary Roberts goes five to hole
on Patrick Lalim with no Matt Sundeen, the Maple Leafs
somehow keep little Brother at bay for another day. The
(02:14):
Ottawa Senators couldn't get past that hump, couldn't get past
the Maple Leafs, the big bad monster under the bed
when it became playoff time the Battle of Ontario in
the series, the sends immediately after the triple overtime loss,
they win game three three to two.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, I think that was sort of the That was
kind of the funny thing about the Battle of Ontario
series in that as a Leaf fan, especially as a
young Leaf fan. We're always very confident, justifiably so, but
never comfortable, Like I don't really recall ever being that
(02:56):
worried about this series after Game two, but I do
remember it being always like that what if of like, oh,
we can't lose to the Senators. It added added a
little bit of stakes to it.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Ottawa in Game three jumped out to a three nothing league.
They scored in the second and then two more and
the third maybe Leaf sort of came back. Travis Green
scored with thirty seconds left to make it three to two,
and that was sort of it felt like something had
been salvaged with that late little comeback.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Yeah, but if.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
You're a Senators fan, you can look at this and say,
we're one bounce away. Maybe we score in the first
minute of Game two, one bounce away from being up
three to nothing, and we've been the better team. You
could say in all three games if you wanted to.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I think you could say the Signers were the better
team in all but five periods of this series, and
that was happened to be the last five periods of
the series. That's a good take, I mean, like that, Yeah,
they punched the leaves in the mouth pretty well in
a lot of these games, sometimes literally totally.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Game four also a very tight one two to one game,
which we will affectionately call the Alan McCauley game. Two
goals from McCauley, a starmaking performance. He was man. He
was the man after.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
This, Oh man. He had fifteen points in nineteen games
in these playoffs. Him and Roberts, I remember were like,
we touched on this a little bit earlier, but they
were I still can't. I know, he had like a
decent career and went to play in San Jose, but
it's wild to me the amount of love he had
from Leaf fans this time. And he only played one
more year here, which fair enough, and like, it's not
(04:41):
that he ever became like the guy anywhere, but you
would have thought this was the makings of like a
folk legend story.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
It's hilarious because, yeah, he gets traded the next season,
He gets traded within the year, scores twenty the next
year for San Jose and his third in SELK voting,
but only scored in double digits twice in his career
twenty three, twenty four, and then twelve the next year.
And he's in the league. So yeah, interesting little study
(05:11):
there played nine years in this playoff run, I think
is his NHL peak. And he is also a captain
after this, so he got half the season of ultimate
captain before. That's trade to San Jose for oh and
no one must say.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Of course, which look that was fun as hell, all
good trade. I'll always back there one Nolan trade. I
remember that. I will remember that day for a long time.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Well, it's not like, as we said, it's not like
Alan McAuley becomes this huge regret. He scores twenty goals once. Anyway,
we move forward the game five, we get more drama.
Finally we finally get some like real versus Senators garbage
drama shot.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
This is the league the hit star, Tunny Pews hurting
the pens right on.
Speaker 7 (06:04):
Nice star, all the scores a goal.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
In the league where nailed along the boards from a
check from behind is still down and this crowd is
pretty asty.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
That's Tucker who's.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
On the boards on the Hicks.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Play continued and a goal was scored.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
When the Leafs are screaming that this was a hit
from behind and Tucker did not get up and before
before the leaf could get the puck back, it was
in with two.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
H one to go, and they.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Got a call that that was a hit from behind.
They were usually quite strict in calling it.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
And you can see that.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Alfredson ended up with the puck, no doubt about it.
He's through the hit. Then he goes to the net
and he's rewarded with the pass right here in a
nice play by Yolonan and Alfredson puts it up.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Tucker still down when alperson scored the.
Speaker 6 (07:05):
Goal and that gives on a Wall the lead again
with only two minutes in one second remaining in the
third period.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Were you surprised he was a player?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Like Alfred said to me to hit. No, he's been.
Speaker 6 (07:20):
Pretty active in those sets, usually from behind, but been
pretty active.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
There an infamous game that it took me a long
time to not be mad about.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
The Sens win this game. But day Alfredson man, he
was not a liked guy.
Speaker 7 (07:39):
I would say he like he he was so good
at like playing it up though you remember this, the
fake stick toss, this hit.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Obviously he loved he loved playing the heel in Toronto.
He was great, great.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
He was the perfect foil to Sundean and the fact
that they were both Swedish, like really funny. It's theft
looking back at it, like it's the perfect little guy
to have if you were going to also be a
captain of an Ontario team, that you would pick another
Swedish guy and he would know Matt's well enough and
(08:16):
would be like his total opposite in every way. Really funny.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah, And like I think we can all look back
now and be like, oh, this was funny and great,
and like I have a huge appreciation for Daniel Afferdson
now as an adult, but like, oh I hate him
into like my early twenties. I feel, oh, for sure,
this one play like had so much ill will for
(08:40):
so long.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
He sneaks up, he hits Darcy Tucker from behind, which
we've been over in every episode Ottawa hated Darcy Tucker,
and for good reason. But he hits Tucker from behind,
knocks him out, and then turns back towards the play,
sneak in the back door and scores the game winning goal.
(09:03):
It's a meltdown. It's a meltdown.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
This is like I know, we've seen a few, like
Toronto sports meltdowns, mostly in baseball. Surprised this one didn't
turn into something ugly, and it did from the crowd.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
To be honest, had the Internet been around for this one,
that would have been an Armageddon Twitter day, because for
sure it would have been. Because you can look at
the video now of Alfred's and hitting Tucker. You can
look at that video now and there are people commenting
(09:36):
that Tucker deserved it because he hit Pekka. That's still
going on. It's been eighteen years, people are still having
that argument.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
You're right, it's good that Twitter didn't exist in the
early two thousand May leafs years total. It's a good thing.
That's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Game six list are up against the wall now, it's
elimination is they're on the brink and the sens Maybe
this is peak confidence. I talked earlier in this series
about thinking that coming into game two of this series
was probably peak confidence. Maybe it was after Game five,
having them on the ropes, having everyone fired up about
(10:26):
the the Tucker thing about Alfredson. That's probably as good
as they would ever feel in the Battle of Ontario
in this era.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yeah, I think so. But I also had, like I
remember having sort of the opposite reaction, and like after
the Tucker thing happened, like being convinced that the leaves
are going to come back and just like smoke them.
In game six.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Well guess what, buddy, there's a sports karma to it. Well,
they managed to the maple leafs. I wouldn't say they
smoked them, but man Alfredson SCORESS seventh of the playoffs.
McCabe scores, Roberts scores, so it's two to two after
one in game six. Roberts scores again in the second.
Todd White scores late in the second, so it's three
(11:11):
to three going into the third period. Alex mcgilney, no problem,
early third period goal. We're going to game seven. This
one had one two, three, four, four roughing majors and
a four roughing miners and a game misconduct for boarding
from ricard person. A lot of penalties in this game.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The card person sounds like a fake player. It sounds
like a person that like that's the default name in
Create a player.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Thirty six minutes and penalties in this game.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
In the game six, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
A lot of it. In the second period, things got
a little chippy. But we go forward to game seven
and this was I think Ottawa, I mean, how are
you feeling going into Game seven.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
I guess I'm so so confident. Like it was like
the Cenators had the Sator's had him in Game six,
they had the lead, They're at home, they couldn't close it. It
was and like Game seven back in Drow. I was
obviously You're never like this is over at that point,
(12:24):
but I was not concerned.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Well, you had ever right to not be concerned.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
I will say, though, this game does have an underrated
Leaf's moment. I think it's mcgilney's second goal where le
Leam sort of has to dive across the net and
just like can't get there in time. I think that's
the two nothing goal that sort of had that similar
(12:49):
feeling to Do you remember twenty fifteen Blue Jays against
the Yankees when Russell hit the home run in the
regular season.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Of course, of course I remember that, and it.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Was a one nothing game then everyone could just kind
of breathe. This had sort of a similar feeling of
like there it is, now, we're done with this, and
then obviously looking ahead, feeling good, feeling confident.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
I heard us so said those sport team seconds away
in a sport teams career by all shut up the
second the season. Like, that's seven seconds, that's m off, Robert,
let the crowd take them one.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Let un all on. Yes, as you said. Mcgilney scores
too his sixth and seventh playoffs and then Brian McCabe
adds his fourth for a good measure, scoring in the
(13:51):
in the second and third. So it was a pretty
tight game. All these games with the like aside from
Game one, these are all really tight game. They're mostly
one goal games, except Game five, which had an empty
net goal in it.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah. I think the whole Leafs all three series the
Leafs play this year are insanely tight that obviously, the
Islanders went seven games, the home team winning each game.
This one wins seven games, a lot of one goal games,
triple overtime game. The Hurricane series has three games go
to overtime. Half the series goes overtime. It's a This
(14:28):
is like a long, long, tight, stressful year for the
Maple Leafs.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
I was like, the Senators will never beat the Mayple
Leafs after this. Ever, Yeah, and the series make the
conference final the very next year. They beat the Islanders,
they beat the Flyers, and then they lose the Devils
in seven. They're one game away from the Stanley Cup
after one hundred and thirteen points season and still as
(14:55):
a maple LEAs fan, I'm just like, I'm not taking
this team seriously well to us. The next year they do,
they lose in seven in two thousand and three, two
thousand and four, and then they continue to be a
President's Trophy contending team that nobody cares about, that no
one's ever afraid of.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Yeah, it's it is funny. They're like the Senators are
like two bounces away in different years of being like
cup winning dynasty franchises.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
It's wild. It's I feel bad, I truly do.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
I don't at all.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
That's also fair. You're still feel bad?
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yeah, fuck them, of course, fuck them. It's only it's
only I've had things to enjoy in that time, and
that it's any better or worse than it's a good
piety it's been for us for many team that I
cheer for. The Sins really don't get much going in
that Game seven. They only get nineteen shots on Kujo
that mayple lice cruise and they are going to face
(15:55):
the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final. I remember,
like I couldn't believe it. And they places are going
to make the Stanley Cup was my assumption here.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Absolutely my biggest memory from the Carolina series's game one,
like five minutes in I was watching on the couch
and living with my dad, and my dad just very
quietly under his breath went, oh, they're really fast. I
read that movie being like, oh no, maybe this confidence
(16:29):
I've had for the last three days that the Leash
are going to the final.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Perhaps not perhaps Arthur's irbe and ye noodles, yes, your boy, noodles,
bats Spattaglia Ron Francis. Boy, what a series. And I
remember watching so many of these games.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
An underratedly legitimately great playoff series.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
And you know what, Jake, it's such a good series
that he should continue on this road of the two
thousand and two Maple Leasse Playoffs. The next Sports Felt
story time is going to be about the Mayple Leae
against the Carolina Hurricanes. How about that?
Speaker 3 (17:11):
How about that? Looks love us just finding a storyline
We're so good at that.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
We did it. We did Mattheunden will come back. I
guarantee you well, I mean, I mean yeah, is that
a spoiler? Is that a spoiler, that's Sundean.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
I feel like, are there spoilers in sports, especially when
they're eighteen years old? I don'tink spoilers exist in sports.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That's a great question. But there's many questions for the
Maple LEAs right now. We don't know the status of Sundean.
We don't know those status of Darcy Tucker. He's been
knocked out by the villain Daniel Alfredson. Matt Sundean is
still dealing with a fractured wrist. Can Gary Roberts continue
to chew the league up and spit it out as
(17:53):
he had in the first two rounds. A lot on
the line here as the Maple Leafs stare down, first
Stanley Cup final appearance in a very long time, and
I staring down, turning seventeen and passing my driver's test,
which was a very big deal as I failed Grade
eleven math again that was a big that's also going on.
(18:17):
So I had a lot going on at the time.
I was busy, busy guy.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Yeah, I wasn't staring down much.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I was.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
It was thirteen. I had already had my ber mitzvah.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
We're coming towards summer here because it was that that
game three or part of me the game too. We
just did three episodes about is the first week of May.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
That's true. I guess we're just we're just waiting for
school to be done. Those Houseyon days been finishing. My
first who was thirteen.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Game seven of maple Leae Senators was May fourteenth, two
thousand and two. Game one of Carolina Hurricanes Toronto Maple
Leafs Eastern Conference Finals was May sixteenth, two thousand and two,
which would go on to be the anniversary of me
me going my first date with my wife. There you go,
(19:11):
look at that, and that's where we'll pick it up
the next time we do this, the maple Leafs doing
this big run. We're not gonna pick it up in
game one. We're believe we're doing game seven. If I'm
uh six correct on that game six, pardon me, sire.
Going right only makes sense anyway, Two happy ones in
(19:34):
a row. We don't have access to two good memories
back to back thoughts has never happened. There's no reason
to expect it to start happening just because we're looking
back at two thousand and two. So I digress. That
is where we leave things we are feeling good coming
off another win against the Ottawa Senitors and now we
(19:55):
look forward to the next episode of Sports Felt Story
of Time that is Toronto Maple versus Carolina Hurricanes and
you can hear that on Sports Felt next week, Sports
(20:49):
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