Speaking publicly for the first time in 3 years, Joel Quenneville dishes on the Maple Leafs & his coaching future: Leafs Morning Take

Here’s hoping that the Leafs were granted the full green light special on the Vegas strip Thursday night.

The boys are buzzin’! You can make it six straight wins and 10 of 12 after Toronto’s 7-3 beatdown of the Golden Knights. Most importantly, they proved they can actually win with Morgan Rielly in the lineup, too.

We kicked off the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take by discussing a pair of fights —one off the ice, one on it. Firstly, in case you missed it, Seattle’s Brandon Tanev pumped the wheels off of Vancouver’s Conor Garland. Rosey broke it all down. After that, we dissected a fan fight in Newark as the Devils/Rangers rivalry soared to new levels. A head butt was involved. Wild stuff.

Presented by Door Dash, in The Appetizer, we combed through the impressing showing in Vegas. Toronto put up seven goals, five of which came from complimentary pieces. Chalk that up to things you love to see. On top of that, the fourth line ran the Golden Knights out of the building. Yeah, you read that right. It really was one of the most dominant efforts in the Sheldon Keefe era. Period. Full stop. Oh, and Auston Matthews potted No. 52 —that’s 10 goals in his past five outings. Utter insanity.

Brought to you by the Wendy’s Daily Faceoff Survivor, we previewed Saturday night’s tilt in Denver. Indisputably, it will be another measuring stick game as Matthews goes head-to-head once again with Nathan MacKinnon. Furthermore, the Leafs are looking to finish off a perfect sweep of their four-game road trip.

Meantime, courtesy of BATL Axe, we caught up with three-time Stanley Cup champ Joel Quenneville for an exclusive. Incredibly, it was the first time the 63-year-old has spoken publicly in three years. Obviously, the majority of the conversation focused on the Maple Leafs. Surprise, surprise, Q is a big fan of Auston Matthews. Of course, Quenneville was drafted by the Leafs in the 1978 Draft.

That will do it for this week. Be sure to join us on Monday for a full recap of Leafs/Avs plus a preview of Toronto’s upcoming five-game homestand.