Ladies Talkin’ Leafs

The Ladies are celebrating 50 episodes of the podcast and it’s been quite the ride since our first in September 2019!  We’ve been diehard Leaf fans since the late '70s/early ’80s and for this special episode, we give you some background on who we are and how the show came to life.  As long-time Leaf fans there has rarely been a dull moment in Leaf Land and the ups and downs of this regular season are definitely testing the stress levels of Leafs Nation!  In this instalment, we get the show started with The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!  Auston Matthews is taking over the segment coming up in a couple of categories.  Let’s just say the past couple of weeks haven’t been great for the Leafs and we break it all down for you with a discussion about bad reffing, blown leads, and the goaltending woes that nobody expected.It’s not all doom and gloom though, and there have been some bright spots in the Leafs' play.  We celebrate a couple of milestone moments in our Highlight Reel segment!  The focus of our Third Period

The NHL standings are tight and heading into March the games always get more intense! The Leafs went 7-4-1 in February and while the top line of Matthews-Marner-Bunting is one of the best right now in the NHL, the goaltending has been less than ordinary. These are a few topics we discuss in our segment the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Despite some of the ugliness, we actually found a bright spot! We also had flashbacks to a Leaf great, who used to take the puck end to end! Who was that Leaf great? Tune in to find out and to hear who made our LTL Highlight Reel! Another exciting moment that all of Canada celebrated was the Gold medal win for the Canadian Olympic Women’s hockey team! The Gold medal game was the most watched event of the Beijing games in Canada. We talk about the big victory over the United States and what many people are saying was the best Team Canada ever to represent the women’s game. We conclude the show by celebrating Black History Month, which is highlighted every year during the month of

As this latest game segment comes to a close, we're starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel with restrictions beginning to lift just in time for the hockey schedule to heat up. After a spotty few months, games will be coming fast and furious, and we can hardly wait!Before we get into Leaf Talk, we take a trip down memory lane to the close of Maple Leaf Gardens and the opening of the ACC in 1999. We share some of our favourite memories from MLG and the early days in the Leafs' current rink. In The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, we explore the decidedly positive trajectory the Leafs' stats are taking, and a couple of line mates that may not be showing up on the plus side of the column, but at least one player is finding other ways to have a positive impact on the game. Can you guess who?We have a couple of familiar faces in the LTL Highlight Reel this time around, and we've also honoured a couple of players for showing up when it counts, which we hope will set a standard for their teammates.In The Thir

January felt like an odd month for the Maple Leafs and their fan base. No fans at Scotiabank Arena, only 1 Saturday night game at home, and like most NHL teams, the Leafs had to deal with Covid. We got through it and it’s going to be busier, and hopefully a lot more exciting in February!It’s also the halfway point of the season for us, and the Leafs! We are in our first full, 82-game season covering the Leafs and we are loving it! In this episode we start off the show with our segment “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” and we talk about the goaltending and where we think Petr Mrazek fits in with the team. We discuss the return of the real Mitch Marner and we have some advice for Islander fans! Tune in to find out what that is.And we have a couple of firsts for the LTL Highlight Reel ! Two highlight reel moments from the same game, and  a tie for our top Highlight from the past couple of weeks!Lastly, in “The 3 rd Period”, we talk Olympic hockey--specifically the women’s game! Team Canada’s first game is Februar

What better day for Leaf talk than a blustery snow day in January! It's an all out blizzard here in the heart of Leaf Land, but it would take a lot more than an epic snow storm to keep us from our favourite pastime—talkin’ Leafs! We are approaching the halfway point of the season and the Leafs are in 3rd spot in the Atlantic Division, with games in hand on both Tampa and Florida. The schedule has been pretty light and the Buds continue to be on what seems like a never-ending road trip!In the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, William Nylander, Nick Ritchie and Petr Mrazek are a few players discussed, as we cover the highs and the lows.With 3 games vs some stellar competition, we had lots of fun deciding on this show's LTL Highlight Reel moments. There has been a lot of goal scoring, which gave the Ladies a lot of options.  Hint – one highlight reel moment involves a Leaf record 9-game goal scoring streak on the road!To wrap we take a deeper dive into the idea of “Killer Instinct”. Who has it, who doesn’t, and can th

Happy New Year Leafs Nation!  The Ladies have been away for what seems like forever, but we've been working hard and if you follow our social media you may have seen the launch of our brand new website ladiestalkinleafs.com !  We are really excited about this and  plan on updating the website frequently with new content, so be sure to check it out on a regular basis!In this first episode of 2022 we say goodbye to 2021! But before we do, we each give our top 3 LTL Highlight Reel Moments from the season past, recounting a few of our favourite memories from the North Division of the 2020-21 season!  To get the New Year going we, of course, have a Leaf Talk warm-up to get you updated on what's going on with the team.  From the schedule, to the return of injured players, and  the NHL bringing back the taxi squad!  Things have changed quite a bit since our last episode on December 15th!In the 3rd Period, we give our thoughts on the cancellation of the World Junior Championships and discuss which Leaf prospects we s

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays LeafsNation! This is our final episode before the New Year and for this show we have some hockey talk and festive fun!The Leafs have been slipping a little bit in their defensive play in the past couple weeks and that is something we focus on in our segment The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. As always, we roll the Ladies Talkin’ Leafs Highlight Reel and one player not named Matthews, Nylander, Marner or Tavares, is making a big impression on us as he makes the highlight reel for the second time this season! For the Third Period we got some Maple Leaf Christmas trivia, where you can test your knowledge of Maple Leafs Christmas cheer! We also looked through our archives and found a Christmas poem from 1984 that is a Maple Leaf variation of a song for the season! Chris didn’t sing, but you won’t want to miss this story of good cheer from Maple Leaf Gardens!One final item to highlight, as we celebrate the holiday season, for a second year in a row we have a Holiday Giveaway contest

In this episode, we are pleased to welcome veteran sports journalist and author Damien Cox, for a very special 3rd period segment! Damien was kind enough to join us to talk about his new book "A League of Our Own", which is about the historic, all Canadian North division, that played during the 2020-21 NHL season. We dive into the book, and talk lots of Leafs, and even get to know Damien "the fan" a bit better. It was an honour to have the opportunity to talk hockey and Leafs with him on our show!Of course we've still got you covered with the highlights and low lights, from this latest segment of games. With everything so rosy with the Blue and White, we're hard pressed to find any negatives to talk about. It’s been a really good month of November for our Leafs! Just past the quarter pole of the season, and the Leafs have a 7 game win streak on the road and are 12 and 2 in November! We'll discuss and celebrate the top performers in this latest block, and get you set for what's coming up next. Could be a coupl

We are closing in on completing the first quarter of the NHL season and with American Thanksgiving coming up, the Leafs are in a pretty good spot! Over the past couple of weeks the team got a couple of big wins vs. Tampa and Boston and a shutout in Philly! But with the success comes some concerns on the goaltending front and with the depth scoring, prompting Keefe to crank up the Line Blender once again. We discuss these issues in The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, as well as a certain player that keeps coming up in this segment, and not in a good way! In the LTL Highlight Reel, a few players have caught our eye and one player will make his debut! It’s a positive sign when we can recognize contributions from someone not part of the  core-4!Finally, in the Third Period, we get a little nostalgic talking about the 90th Anniversary of Maple Leaf Gardens. A lot of special memories of the grand old building at Church and Carlton! We'll also get into the rumours surrounding the Leafs shopping a defenseman and let’s just

A lot has happened in a couple weeks and there is still concern in Leafland. But after the OT win vs the Hawks, a tight win vs the Wings, some lost chicklets, and heightened emotions, the tide may finally be turning toward the positive. As the saying goes, it’s still early, but the hope is that the changes in the line up and some much needed  internal accountability will spark some momentum, so that the team can start stringing together some wins!If this isn’t enough to ignite the Buds, perhaps Morgan Rielly committing to the team long term can add some stability. We'll discuss the deal in detail and much more in our first segment, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.Then it's time to roll the LTL Highlight Reel and celebrate what is rolling right with the Buds.To wrap things up, we have a Third Period segment that takes the temperature of LeafsNation. Are the Leafs losing their hold on the fanbase? Can they win them back? We’re not shy about our opinions. Go Leafs Go!https://www.buzzsprout.com/903751https://www.n

The Leafs first week of the regular season is in the books and it's been a decent start for the Blue and White!  The NHL is back to normal with an 82-game schedule and the Ladies are ready and are excited to get to work and talk Leafs for a complete regular season!  Like the Leafs, we are returning to our regular season podcast format starting with the Good, The Bad and The Ugly, where we each choose a player or topic for each category and discuss.  Next we will spin the LTL Highlight Reel. Just a hint... we open this season segment giving some love to Chris' hometown of Scarborough!  Finally, we enter "The 3rd Period", where we talk about any hockey related topic that may be Leaf or hockey related.  Since the U.S. border is opening soon we thought our listeners would enjoy our travel segment, "On the Road with Chris & Syl".  We will have you ready to hit the road to watch our Leafs in action!Last, but definitely not least. You will want to stay tuned to the end of the show as we announce the winner of ou

NHL  training camp is winding down and Sheldon Keefe & Co. have some tough decisions to make, ahead of confirming the Leafs opening night roster. In this episode the Ladies give their thoughts on who might make the cut and be in the lineup on opening night vs. the Habs!  From the forward lines, to the D, to the goaltending, we cover it all, and some of our picks may surprise you!We also get into Sheldon Keefe’s contract extension and talk about his new assistant coaches - Spencer Carbery and Dean Chynoweth.  It’s going to be a bit crowded behind the bench this season as they will join current assistant Manny Malhotra, who was kept on in a support role.As a bit of an aside, we've heard that a lot of fans and media are sooo over Hall and Oates' "You make my dreams come true" as the Leafs goal song. Stay tuned toward the end of the show, as we have some insights on the possibility of a new goal song.The Leafs are going into their 104th season and we are a passionate fan base that just wants to win! The fun g

It's a new season for the Ladies, and a fresh start for our Leafs is just around the corner, with NHL camps set to open this week. Hockey's Back! After a quiet off-season, NHL and team news is now trickling in daily and anticipation is building for the coming season. It's been pretty quiet on the Leafs front, but as usual we found plenty to talk about in this episode. As mentioned the big camp is set to open, but last week we had our first glimpse of some new prospects at the Maple Leaf's development camp (run by Hayley Wickenheiser), and the   Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. Depth is going to be crucial for the future of this team, and we'll give our early impressions on which prospects stand out to us.Next we have some fun with a Q&A based on the Athletic's Annual Leaf Fan survey. I (Syl) asked Chris some questions to see where she stands compared to the rest of LeafsNation.Lastly, we have a few thoughts on the NHL Player Media Tour and Kyle Dubas's Interview on the Bob McCowan Podcast.

Hello LeafsNation and welcome to September! Sadly, Patio Season is almost over and it's just about time to store the chairs and umbrella for another year. But as those first leaves start to fall, that means the NHL season is just around the corner and opening night for the Leafs is only 5 weeks away. So exciting!To add to the excitement, September is also our Anniversary month! Yes, we released our very first episode on September 5th 2019, and we can hardly believe how much we've accomplished since that day. We so appreciate all the support that you, our wonderful listeners have shown us, and we can't wait to show you all the cool stuff we have planned for you in Season 3!While it's been a little quiet in Leafland over the last few weeks, as usual we still found plenty to talk about in this episode. We review the Leafs regular season schedule and highlight some games we are looking forward to. We've also got some Leaf Talk for you which includes discussion on various players, including Auston Matthews and Ily

Welcome listeners and thank you for joining us as we continue to enjoy our off-season patio! A lot has happened since we were last together. The Seattle Kraken officially have a team, the Leafs invited 3 new prospects into the fold, and at the NHL Draft Kyle Dubas has spun the roulette wheel of Free Agency, bringing in what feels like a completely new roster of players, that will hopefully serve as support for the Core 4. We'll discuss it all, and I (Syl) will hopefully convince Chris that all is not lost. In addition, we have a little surprise for all of you too! We're coming up on our 2nd Anniversary so we want to show our appreciation to all of our listeners and followers by giving you the opportunity to win a fantastic Prize Pack in our 2nd Annual Anniversary Giveaway. Listen to the very end for the details! A heartfelt thank you goes out to all of you. We couldn't do this without you!We have a jam packed show this month so grab your favourite beverage and join our conversation as we talk about the past f

Thanks for joining us on our off-season patio! There's a lot of positive things happening in our home province of Ontario, which gives rise to the hope that the 2021-22 NHL season will be looking a little closer to normal, and that we might actually have the opportunity to see some Leaf hockey live!We are on the precipice of a very busy summer for the Maple Leaf's brass though, and it feels like there's still a mountain of paperwork to get through before we can all truly kick back and relax. With that in mind, we have tackled it all in this episode, so you don't have to! From Expansion to NHL Draft, Free Agency and more, we've got you covered!Yes, patio season does lend itself to relaxing and daydreaming, so go for it Leaf fans, dream of a brand new season full of hope and promise. We promise to keep refreshing your drinks, and delivering all the best Leaf content, so rest assured you'll enter the 2021-22 NHL season cool, rejuvenated, and ready to cheer on our Buds once more. Cheers!https://www.buzzsprout.com

It’s been just over 2 weeks now since the Leafs were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs and it still stings! Some of that is because the Habs ended up coming out of the Scotiabank North Division and are now facing Vegas in the Semi-Finals. In the past, we've taken a bit of time to reflect on the year and have given the Ladies' Grades for the team and players, but after a mostly A+ season, what can you really say when the Team fails the big exam?Given that there's not much to celebrate for our Leafs, in our end of season show we get into the message that Shanahan, Keefe and Dubas had for LeafsNation in their end of season media availabilities, as well as some of the player's comments from their locker clean-out Zoom call. Then, as there are a lot of big decisions for the Leafs going into the off season, we`ll get into some of the questions and concerns that need to be addressed before the drop of the puck next October. Yes friends, it's been another sour end, but while its difficult now, together w

Well, LeafsNation we definitely didn't expect to be in this situation but, here we are again, heading into the offseason and continuing the team's sad streak of not winning a playoff series for 17 years now!  In this episode we dissect the Leafs latest epic collapse vs, the Habs.  What went wrong this time?  Is it the players? Coaching? Style of play?  We cover it all in this, one of our most difficult shows to do, after a very disappointing and abrupt end to the season.  We feel the pain with you, LeafsNation and together we will get through this!https://www.buzzsprout.com/903751https://www.nhl.com/mapleleafs/schedule/2021-01-01/EThttps://www.youtube.com/torontomapleleafshttps://ko-fi.com/ltl1917https://www.nhl.com/stanley-cup-playoffs/2021https://editorinleaf.com/2021/05/30/toronto-maple-leafs-killer-instinct/https://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/koshan-maple-leafs-capable-of-winning-game-7-and-its-on-them-to-prove-ithttps://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/framing-mounting-pressure-oppor

The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs typically delivers all kinds of drama and this series between the Leafs and Habs, had all the makings of a historical matchup. No one could've predicted what would transpire in the opening period of the game one. So, how are we doing LeafsNation? If you're still recovering, we feel you. Seeing what happened to our Captain had everyone holding our collective breath. On the ice and up and down their bench, his teammates appeared visibly shaken.  But they rallied, and we prayed, and so far things are looking up. In this episode we're looking at how things have unfolded, beginning with John Tavares' injury, and giving you our thoughts on the Series so far. We're also delving into how the Team has responded and which players we feel have elevated their play. We'll wrap things up by looking at the strategy and possible adjustments on the Canadiens side of things. As an extra bonus, we're giving you the results from our Playoff Poll questions from games one and two. It's b

Well LeafsNation, we got through it! The regular season is done and we are now at the most wonderful time of year for hockey fans! That's right, its playoff time, and we couldn't be more excited! It's time for this Team to take the next step, and we're here for all of it. In fact, we are so fired up, that for the entire playoff run, we'll be bringing you weekly Podcast Episodes, every Wednesday!First up, The Ladies kick things off with our Playoff Preview, looking at the Leaf's first round series against the Montreal Canadiens, an Original Six matchup 42 years in the making. We break down our keys to success, and who we're looking to, to take it to the next level. Finally, since we're enjoying hockey every night, we close out the show by discussing some of the other incredible first round clashes that have peaked our interest. As former Leaf Captain, Darryl Sittler said earlier this week, "It's our time", and we couldn't agree more. For Kyle Dubas and company, it all starts now. It's time to take all the prev