#Leafs goalie David Rittich talks about the emotions of playing against his former team, the weirdness of it all and his new teammates that he calls "a bunch of beauties" si.com/hockey/video/t…
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Page 6ix Wednesday, April 14th: The post-trade deadline era
Apologies for the missed column last week – if you follow me on Twitter you are probably aware that I had a doggy emergency, and sadly hockey drama took a backseat to getting our furbaby healthy again. But here we are! Back in action, post-trade deadline, with all the fun fallout of the weekend plus some more news to touch base on. Let’s dive in.
Leafs-land
Well, Kyle did it. He made some big-ish moves! There were a few names added to the Leafs roster over deadline weekend, but the big ones are obviously @Nick Foligno and @David Rittich.
Rittich made his debut in blue last night against his former team, and yes, he did fly into Toronto with them. Talk about awkward breakups…
Interestingly, David Rittich in fact flew with his ex-teammates on the Calgary Flames plane to Toronto to join his new Maple Leafs teammates. Lucic says that there were some chirps on the plane & that he appreciated getting to say a proper goodbye to Rittich.
To make matters worse, the exes had a bit of a mid-game spat:
It does not get more soap opera than this, and I love it so much. Rittich was unable to pull off a W his first game minding the Leafs net, but wasn’t it fun to watch anyways?
Meanwhile, Foligno has decided to come to Toronto solo, leaving his family behind because, you know, pandemic and stuff.
TRADE: We’ve acquired forwards Nick Foligno and Stefan Noesen in a multi-team trade with Columbus and San Jose. #LeafsForever Details » tml.hockey/3tbkaJU
Hard to say goodbye to my 3 biggest cheerleaders!! They know Dad’s got a job to do for the @MapleLeafs! 🍁Can’t wait to get to work with my new teammates! 💪 See you soon #leafnation!! Hard to drop the Red but PUMPED to don the Blue and White!!!! Quarantine here I come! 😩.
Can’t really blame him! Interestingly, I saw a tweet earlier that said the Leafs now have something like 13 players who have worn an A or a C on their jersey at one point or another in their career. That’s a lot of leadership.
Also of note, the current man wearing the C hit a milestone:
#️⃣8⃣0⃣0⃣ 🔥 Congrats @91Tavares! #LeafsForever
And @Auston Matthews leads the league in goals. By, like, a lot.
Finally, @Morgan Rielly and Tessa Virtue continue to be the cutest. I will not be taking comments at this time.
Connor Calls Out the League
Over in Edmonton, @Connor McDavid was not happy with the way the league rescheduled games for the Oilers.
To recap: the Oilers held a memorial for Colby Cave on Saturday morning – a day that was meant to be off for the team. When the league rescheduled games postponed due to COVID, they added one that evening. The Oilers were shutout, and McDavid was quite upset at the way it was handled – rightfully so.
Bad Blood
Another blockbuster trade happened this weekend:
BREAKING: Taylor Hall ➡️ the Boston Bruins. 👀
That’s right! The talk of the town is @Taylor Hall driving on down to Boston in a hurry to get the hell out of Buffalo.
But then! He also had to play his new ex the following night. El oh el.
While it wasn’t easy, and took them to the shootout to do it, Hall and his new teammates got the W against the Sabres. Insert “what, like it’s hard” meme here.
Bits and Pieces
Some quick hits around the league:
Felicia Weeren and her fiancee Alex Wennberg announced today that they were expecting their first child.
Um, WOAH. Per Stars PR: Dallas Stars Head Coach Rick Bowness will not return to the bench for the third period due to COVID protocols. Assistant Coach John Stevens will assume head coaching responsibilities for the remainder of the game.
And, The King is out for the season:
Henrik Lundqvist says inflammation around his heart has ended his comeback bid with the Capitals this season russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2021/04/11/hen…
We wish Hank all the best on his road to full recovery, and applaud him for putting his health first.
That’s all she wrote, folks. Catch ya next week!
Breaking News
- Maple Leafs shouldn’t be picky with trade return for Morgan Rielly
- Maple Leafs reportedly interviewing Peter Laviolette, Patrick Roy for head coach
- Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky dives into process behind recruiting Gavin McKenna
- Guy Gadowsky thinks Gavin McKenna is perfect for Toronto: Leafs Morning Take
- 2 Maple Leafs draft picks go unsigned, will re-enter 2026 NHL Entry Draft