P.K. Subban pranked by Pat McAfee when discussing the Maple Leafs
Former long-time NHLer P.K. Subban was duped by the crew at the Pat McAfee Show this week and the results were absolutely hilarious.
During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Pat and the crew probed Subban for his thoughts on the upcoming Leafs/Bruins series in the 2023-24 Stanley Cup Playoffs. As Subban began a bit of a pro-Leafs section in his response, though, McAfee and the crew decided to mess with him.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs drawing the Boston Bruins in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there's a lot of belief in that Boston is the better matchup for the Leafs than the Panthers would have been. It's not hard to see why when you look at just the forward groups alone. On paper, the Leafs are twice the team up front than the Bruins are, boasting the likes of 69-goal scorer and 3-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner Auston Matthews. Behind Matthews, the Bruins also have William Nylander, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi to worry about. Meanwhile, in Boston, after a top line which features David Pastrnak and a 2nd line which features Brad Marchand, the Bruins are fairly void of star talent to support their top guys.
In their last meeting against the Leafs, the Bruins skated away with a 4-1 win, but they were bullied by the Leafs all night. In a single game, perhaps that doesn't matter. However, over a 7-game series, the Leafs are better positioned to be able to punish the Bruins, which sets them up nicely for a series win - if they can capitalize on their chances and keep the puck out of their own net.
While Subban, a former Montreal Canadiens defenseman, gave his thoughts on the series between two of his former bitter rivals, he appeared to be gearing up to go on a rant about why the Leafs were in a good position to beat Boston in Round 1. It was then that McAfee and company cut Subban off, claiming "technical difficulties".
After cutting the call and calling him back, McAfee once again asked Subban for his thoughts, but again, as soon as Subban began talking about the Leafs, he was interrupted for additional "technical difficulties". The scene was a funny one and should give you a few chuckles.
For Subban, even though he's a Toronto native, he has no horse in this race. He's simply offering his unbiased opinion on a series between two teams that he probably still hates from his time in Montreal. However, knowing that Subban is leaning Leafs here is quite the development and should have Leafs fans feeling pretty good coming into this one.
The Bruins may be coming into this series against the Leafs having gone 0-2-2 in their 4-game season series this year during the regular season, but as we all know, the regular season and the playoffs are two entirely different beasts - which is what Subban was alluding to here. The Leafs, again, on paper, appear to be better built for the postseason. The one advantage that the Bruins may have is that their coach, Jim Montgomery, is one of the very best in the NHL. Montgomery was not only able to get a lackluster roster into the postseason, but he was able to get them there having placed atop the Atlantic Division. That's pretty impressive when you consider the fact that Danton Heinen, Jake DeBrusk, Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie, and James van Riemsdyk and Trent Frederic are all featured in the top-9 in Boston.
The biggest mistake the Leafs could make, though, is selling the Bruins short just because they don't have as many stars on the roster. A good team can get by with solid role players playing their roles to perfection. In Toronto, sometimes it feels like there are too many cooks. All of Matthews, Nylander, Marner and Tavares want the puck. Perhaps splitting them up and spreading them across 3 lines is a big part of the answer, which Sheldon Keefe has already done. Still, it's tough to look at Boston's track record against Toronto and not have at least a little bit of concern.
| POLL | ||
19 AVRIL | 445 ANSWERS P.K. Subban pranked by Pat McAfee when discussing the Maple Leafs Do you agree with P.K. Subban that the Leafs are a tough first round matchup for the Bruins? | ||
| Yes, definitely | 216 | 48.5 % |
| No, the Bruins have our number | 133 | 29.9 % |
| It's going to be a close series | 96 | 21.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
