The Toronto Maple Leafs face the Colorado Avalanche this Saturday, October 10, at Denver’s Ball Arena.
The Canadian franchise is coming off a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights despite taking a 3-0 lead, with the game eventually ending in a 3-4 shootout defeat.
After the game against Vegas and ahead of their matchup with Colorado, Avalanche analyst John-Michael Liles appeared on the latest edition of The Leafs Morning Take, where he warned that star forward Nathan MacKinnon is even more explosive than last season.
‘More Explosive Than Last Year’: Warning Issued to Maple Leafs on MacKinnon
Alberga first said, “This is a compliment, but MacKinnon looks miserable this season, dude. Like, the snarl on that guy; he is so horny to win another Stanley Cup. What is it like to cover MacKinnon every day, man?”
Michael-Liles responded, “It’s awesome. Listen, Nathan is who he is, and what I’ll say is, like, Nathan, day one of training camp came in, and he was, you know, when he scored, he’s cheering, he’s high-fiving guys. So it’s not all miserable in terms of, you know, the outward appearance. I think he just, he’s intense, and, you know, like that’s just kind of how he is.”
“Like you go back to Game 1 against L.A. It was a national game, but, you know, we were there watching, and, I mean, like he was physical. He threw some big hits. I think that, for as devastating as playoff losses are, Nathan probably takes them even harder than anybody else.”
“And don’t get me wrong, I took it as hard as anybody, and some guys just take it harder. And Nathan wants to win. First and foremost, he wants to win. And so that playoff loss – you breeze through the first two rounds, for lack of a better word.”
“That Minnesota series was definitely closer than five games, but you get through the first two rounds in nine games, and all of a sudden Vegas sweeps you. Like that’s a really tough playoff loss, and I’m sure Nathan took it harder.”
“He’s 31 years old. He doesn’t seem to be slowing down. And I said to, you know, the strength coach for the Avs the other day at practice, I said, I don’t know if it’s possible, but he looks almost more explosive than last year, which is crazy.”
Maple Leafs Handed Nathan MacKinnon Warning Before Avalanche Game