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Early Trading: Darren Dreger on Matthews’ exclusion against the Bruins
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Early Trading: Darren Dreger on Matthews’ exclusion against the Bruins

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins host Gino Reda to discuss TSN Hockey’s upper body injury Auston Matthews, Connor HellebuyckSunday’s remarks on the failed goalie interference challenge against Tampa Bay and the NCAA’s decision to lift the ban on CHL players will take place later this week.


Auston Matthews came out. Now that opens up a whole host of other questions. To discuss this and much more, here is our Hockey Insider, Darren Dreger. So, Dregs, we know Auston Matthews is absent for at least one match. The question now is: how extensive is the injury? Do we have any idea what exactly this is about, and is it something new or something that holds it back? And maybe that’s why he has trouble scoring?

Darren Dreger: Yeah, I mean, I feel like from the source that this issue Auston Matthews which he is currently facing – this will prevent him from participating in at least one match, this evening against the Boston Bruins – it’s something he struggled with a bit. And this happened quite recently. So to determine exactly where and what the incident occurred, we cannot do that given the level of information we may or may not have. But I can understand Leafs Nation’s concern, but that’s not how the Toronto Maple Leafs I feel before this game against the Bruins. They say they’re not worried and it shouldn’t be a long-term problem. And really what they’re doing is taking advantage of the calendar. Now it’s aggressive this week. So they have a tough game against the Bruins tonight. But they won’t play again until Friday in the Hall of Fame game against the Detroit Red Wings. Then immediately after, they have the Montreal Canadiens SATURDAY. So, again, they’re managing this upper body injury as best they can and hoping it stabilizes. They sit him down for a game. He gets some rest for the rest of the week. And then they will reassess the situation on Friday and the weekend.

Let’s get out of difficulty Toronto Maple Leafs to the top flight Winnipeg Jets. 11 to 1 from the start, but not everything is perfect. Connor Hellebuyck is still a little mad about something that happened this weekend. Maybe even a larger problem?

Drège: There was controversy over goalie interference on Sunday. Imagine that. How many times have we talked about goalie interference and the gray area that seems to plague this problem? Look, it’s not simple, there’s no doubt about it. But if you go back to Sunday’s match against Tampa Bay Lightning – the first goal of the match, attributed to Brandon Hagel of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The goalie interference was challenged by Scott Arniel, the team’s head coach Winnipeg Jets. The Jets will tell you they will challenge on this play ten times out of ten. That’s how confident they were. That’s how confident they are. But wisely, Connor Hellebuyckwho as we know can be very vocal, he’s very opinionated, but he can also gather his thoughts before giving his opinion. He wisely waited until his meeting with the media on Monday to discuss it further. I thought he was respectful. I thought he was straight to the point and what was most remarkable was the fact that he acknowledged his presence on the competition committee and the fact that he used his concerns about the video evidence to support his claims to that committee competition. And yet there still appears to be some level of inconsistency. So, I have no doubt that the (NHLPA) will speak directly with Connor Hellebuyck. Maybe, maybe representatives from the Situation Room who participated in this decision-making on Sunday. But it doesn’t look like this will come to fruition any time soon.

Elsewhere, it appears we could see a seismic shift in junior hockey and Canadian university hockey, NCAA hockey, where for the first time we could see the NCAA open its doors to players who played in the Canadian Hockey League. hockey. And the decision could come very soon?

Drège: Listen, there is a discomfort based on uncertainty and it will come at the end of the week. The NCAA Division 1 Council is expected to make its decision on Thursday or Friday at the latest. Everyone associated believes the ban on CHL players will be lifted with this decision later this week. This could be very important and impactful, not only for the three Canadian hockey leagues, but I’ve had conversations with people deeply associated with youth sports. Normally, this is where major junior hockey graduates move on to university hockey in Canada. Well, the NCAA Division 1 will now have access to these graduated players. The only thing that remains intact is year after year. So if a graduating major junior player plays a youth sport and is in their second year, well, both years of eligibility are now gone. So that means this player only has two years of NCAA college eligibility left. You mention any league relief system in Canada or internationally and it’s going to have an impact, there’s no doubt about it. I’m a little surprised it hasn’t gotten more attention from the world’s media.