Both Canada and the United States are getting some much-needed rest before the medal round gets underway on Wednesday.

To kick off the latest edition of Leafs Morning Take, we discussed the Milan Games and what’s ahead over the next few days. Just like the women, it really feels like Canada and the U.S. are on a collision course to clash in the Gold Medal game. Connor McDavid leads his squad with nine points, Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk have five points apiece to top America’s leaderboard.

Meantime, the hockey world’s still buzzing over the altercation – don’t call it a fight – between Tom Wilson and Pierre Crinon on Sunday. Jay Rosehill broke it all down. What a circus. In case you missed, the French Ice Hockey Federation booted Crinon from the rest of the tournament for “provocative behaviour,” even though the IIHF decided no further discipline was necessary. It was fun to see the gloves come off. Don’t bad they didn’t actually dance. Oh well.

After that, we zoned in on Canada as they prep for quarterfinals. Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett didn’t practice on Tuesday, but according to Jon Cooper, there’s no reason for panic. It was just for maintenance. Over and above all that, Cooper said Brad Marchand is “available” for Wednesday. Josh Morrissey, who hasn’t played since the opener, is trending towards playing on Wednesday, too. This is when it gets fun. Canada’s 3-0-0-0 through three outings, outscoring their opponents 20-3. McDavid’s been McDavid. We’ve been thoroughly impressed with Macklin Celebrini, who was eligible to play for the World Junior squad this past December —if you can believe it.

As mentioned, Leafs captain Auston Matthews is having himself a very solid tournament. In fact, he made some headlines when he initiated a scrum 1-on-4 against Latvia, something we haven’t seen much from in Toronto. Any way you sliced it, we loved to see the fire and passion from him. Furthermore, his teammates have been complimentary of their captain. It’s been nice to see. Of Toronto’s three players in Milan, Matthews hasn’t been the most noticeable. Oliver Ekman-Larsson has barely played, William Nylander has mustered just two points as he continues to deal with the groin injury that forced him to miss several games last month.

Let’s get the party started! Now’s when it gets fun.

Leafs Morning Take will return with another episode later on this week.

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