The Bob McCown Podcast

It’s been six days since the Toronto Maple Leafs lost yet again in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and just one day since Maple Leafs Management decided to let go of Head Coach Sheldon Keefe. Steve Simmons was at their Press Conference today where he saw Brendan Shanahan, Brad Treliving, and Keith Pelley all address the media and assure Leafs fans everywhere that they have everything under control. But do they really? Steve, Bob, and John break down some comments made at the press conference, debate on who of their “big four” is out the door, and more as the three end the week with a question: What do the Toronto Maple Leafs do now?

After 5 seasons as the Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sheldon Keefe has been relieved from his duties. Joe Micheletti comes on the show to talk about it with Bob and John as the voice of the New York Rangers shares his opinion on the firing, gives us his perspective on the this Toronto Maple Leafs team as an outsider looking in and fills us in on everything we need to know about this Rangers team as they vie for the Stanley Cup.

Finding ourselves in a similar situation to many years before, the Toronto Maple Leafs cleaned out their lockers yesterday and Mike Zeisberger returns to the show to break it down with Bob and John. The three break down some of the answers and acknowledgements from the players and coaching staff in yesterdays interviews but the same question still remains: Is this the offseason of change that Leafs fans have been waiting for?

Building off their conversation from Friday’s episode with Adnan Virk: Richard Deitsch, Bob, and John start the week reacting to a disappointing outcome in Boston for the Maple Leafs and the bleak showing of baseball seen from the Blue Jays over the weekend. The Toronto Blue Jays aren’t good, and it’s obvious. The three spend the first half of the show talking about the disappointing progression the Blue Jays have shown over the last few years and try to figure out what the team has to do to course-correct and when. After the break, it’s all Maple Leafs. Bob, John and RIchard try to figure out whats next for this organization after a strikingly familiar end to yet another year of unmet expectations and frustrating results.

With a few of the 1st Round Matchups already decided and a few more on the edge of completion, Mike Futa joins Bob and John today to talk about them. The three focus on the series that have ended already and some of the teams who are waiting patiently for their second-round matchup to be revealed for the first bit of the show before dedicating the latter half of the conversation to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins, and what he thinks will happen tonight as the Leafs try to force game seven in Boston this weekend.

The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan joins the show today for some hoops talk as the trio shares their opinions on what they have seen so far in the first round of the NBA playoffs, focusing on the Boston Celtics, but making sure to cover all of the action and storylines that have emerged already in the post season.

Already, a few NHL coaches have lost their jobs, so who better to bring on today’s show than a man who knows what it’s like to get “relieved of his duties”? Doug MacLean joins Bob and John today to discuss potential hires for the new vacancies behind the benches of various teams around the league, look into the dumpster fire that is the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, and more on this hockey edition of today’s show.

It’s Deitsch Monday with Richard Deitsch joining the show to start the week with Bob and John. A conversation about the Toronto Blue Jays’ series against the LA Dodgers quickly gets taken over by the disappointing performance from the Maple Leafs in game 4 of their first-round matchup against the Boston Bruins today, and it stays there. Bob, John, and Richard try their best to figure out who the heck this Toronto Maple Leafs team is after another disappointing showing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this weekend. After seemingly trying the same thing for years with no improvement, the three try to determine what Brad Treliving has to do this offseason to turn things around after another first-round series exit seems all but imminent.

President of the Toronto Blue Jays, Mark Shapiro, is on the show today to end the week with some insight into the Jays and their plans for the season. Bob and John don’t give much time to get comfortable as the two question Mark on the performances of both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alek Manoah. Bob and John try to get a sense of where the organization is at with the two underperforming stars and pick Mark’s brain on the team's patience and plans for them moving forward. After the break, and with the Dodgers in town, Bob and John get some information on just how close the Blue Jays were to landing Shohei Ohtani and why they elected not to pursue other big names on the free agent market

At the age of 90, and after a broadcasting career that spanned more than half a century, Bob Cole, the legendary play-by-play caller, passed away Wednesday night in St. John’s, Newfoundland. On today’s bonus episode of the podcast, Bob and John welcome John Davidson, and then Mark Askin, two men who have worked closely with Cole, to share memories and reminisce about their time with the most recognizable voice in the game of hockey.

Some more hockey talk today as Ken Hitchcock joins the show to give Bob and Job a coaches perspective on the Stanley Cup Playoffs and his philosophy on what makes a good hockey team in the post season. After the break, the three focus on the hockey that’s being played right now as Bob and John pick Ken’s brain on why the Vegas Golden Knights look so good, what Toronto needs to do to win their series against the bruins and more.

Dave Hodge joins the show today as Bob, John, and Dave focus on the two active Toronto sports teams - the Blue Jays and the Maple Leafs. Starting with baseball, Bob, John, and Dave focus on the Blue Jays first as they try to figure out the identity of this ball club. The three struggle with the question of whether or not the Blue Jays should try to make a big trade or stick to what they have right now. After the break, it’s all hockey with Bob, Dave, and John reacting to the first two games between the Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. William Nylander’s absence, home-ice advantage, and more are touched upon before ending the show with a brief look at a few of the other compelling series taking place right now.

With both the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs generating more buzz than ever, April could very well be the best time of the year for sports fans. Richard, Bob, and John react to some of the games in both the NHL and the NBA last night before discussing the inevitability of streaming’s takeover of live sports. With all signs pointing to the NBA following in the NFL’s footsteps when it comes to hosting their live events on a streaming service, Richard, Bob, and John discuss the impact that will have, both good and bad, on viewership and reach before ending the show with a brief discussion on the Toronto Blue Jays.

Coming off of a 9 year stint with the DP World Tour as their CEO, Keith Pelley is back to Canada to lead the charge With Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment as their new president & CEO. Known for his business acumen and his penchant for change, Keith plans on bringing exactly that to MLSE. Bob and John spend today’s show catching up with Keith and find out what immediate plans the new CEO has for the Entertainment Group, and learn how Mr. Pelley plans on fitting with some of the other bigger names and even bigger personalities within MLSE.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs start tomorrow, and it wouldn’t be The Bob McCown Podcast if John didn’t bring on Kevin Paul Dupont & Eric Duhatschek to the show to talk about them. In this bonus episode of the podcast, the four take a look at each of the 8 series, giving us their in-depth analysis on how they think the Stanley Cup Playoffs will play out this year.

Paul Jones & Doug Smith are on the podcast today to talk about the Raptors and playoff basketball. Not much has changed in Toronto regarding the Raptors as the four break down Masai Ujiri’s end-of-season press conference and set expectations for a long off-season for the club. With Raptors talk out of the way, Bob, John, Doug, and Paul discuss playoff basketball as they take a look at some of the favorites entering the postseason and talk about why no one should be sleeping on last year’s NBA Champions, The Denver Nuggets.

Based in Los Angeles, Bill gives us his perspective on the fallout, if any, from the Shohei Ohtani investigation before focusing on Shohei’s performance so far, then takes a broader look at the play of the Dodgers as a whole. Bill also shares his first impressions of some of the other teams around the league, including the Blue Jays, as the three discuss baseball on this Thursday installment of the podcast.

After signing a one-year deal to stay in Minnesota, Marc-Andre Fleury is set to play in his 21st NHL season, and his agent, Allan Walsh, comes on the show to give us the details on how the decision was made and why the goaltender insisted on staying in Minnesota. Allan also takes some time to discuss the roller coaster that is the Arizona Coyotes and the decision to relocate the team to Salt Lake City. With Allan representing a few players within the organization, we get some insight into how a relocation will look for the players and the process they will go through once the season ends before the end of the show.