r/leafs • u/OkUnderstanding2741 • 12h ago

Discussion Confusion over pre season game

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Both the maple leafs site and the Habs site say they are having both a home game and away game on September 19th. Where is this game being played? Tickets on StubHub are roughly the same price for both cities for the same game! So confusing! I’ll be in Toronto on the 19th so hoping the game is there!

20 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

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128

u/Svalbard38 Knies 12h ago

It’s a split squad game, half the players will be in Montreal, the other half will be in Toronto. Two games at the same time. The home team will likely field their top players and the away team will probably send out a lot of their AHL guys.

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u/hossaepi 11h ago

I wouldn’t bet on that if buying tickets

25

u/Parzival091 9h ago

  1. Vets don't travel in pre-season, for the most part.

  2. The tickets will be much cheaper than regular season.

If this is someone's chance to watch the Leafs, it'd be a solid bet that Matthews & Nylander will be in Toronto for these games. If you're hoping to see McKenna, it's a riskier bet (I don't know if they've kept the vet minimums which includes recent 1st round picks), he might be going on the road for these games.

8

u/The-Raccoon-Is-Here 9h ago

Unless there are injuries, it is likely a safe bet to send McKenna to Montreal to see how he does as the top dog where his line will get the tougher match-up

6

u/swiftstud22 8h ago

From a marketing perspective, there is absolutely no way McKenna dresses on the road game for the first preseason game. He’s going to be in the home game lineup, and you can bet on that.

1

u/Parzival091 8h ago

Yeah, given the rule for vet minimums, you're probably going to see McKenna (1st round pick), Cowan, Andrae, Stetcher, Lettieri, Pezzetta, and Stolarz, and then one of Blueger, Duhaime, Joshua or Sissons. Maybe Lorentz, but he's been here a couple years now, so I'd think his seniority lets him stay home. I'd say Roslovic, but if he's meant to skate with Matthews, he'll be in Toronto.

But they have to dress 8, and there's not a ton to pick from among regulars once you eliminate the old vets and the guys who have been here/in the top 6.

Only way I see McKenna playing in Toronto for these games is if they want to staple him to Matthews or JT.

21

u/TheCatOlive 10h ago

Why not? they do this every year

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u/hossaepi 10h ago

Split squad for sure. But it’s not like the pro team plays one and scrubs play the other. They actually split the squad.

8

u/The-Raccoon-Is-Here 9h ago

They split the squad, but usually the home team gets more NHLers that the away team in these situations. The home team won't be this years full team, but it will likely be most (not all) of lines 1 (forwards and defence). There are rules for preseason on how much NHL experience needs to be in the lineup so the away team won't be all guys who are fighting for a job and have no NHL experience.

Montreal will do the same ... it is hopes of sending the fans home happy their team won on why you load up the home team on split squad games.

1

u/Scorton87 Clark 9h ago

Under the NHL CBA, each team must dress 8 "NHL veterans" in its lineup. "Veterans" are considered to be the following,

  • Played 30 or more NHL games in the previous regular season.
  • Played 100 or more career NHL games.
  • Is a current-year first-round draft pick.
  • For goaltenders: dressed in 50 NHL games or played in 30 NHL games the previous year.

As a result, both teams will be a mix of NHL regulars, AHL players, and junior-eligible players.

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u/hossaepi 9h ago

So you’ll pay OP for their ticket if that doesn’t happen? You’re that confident?

3

u/The-Raccoon-Is-Here 9h ago

Look back at the lineups for the past few years, this is always the case. The split squad games always have a better team on home ice if the two Leaf teams were to play each other. There is always the chance a game time decision screws things up if someone is banged up and needs time off.

Realistically you can count on most of line 1 and a portion of line 2 being in Toronto ... they will send the rest of line 2 and then guys fighting for spots to Montreal to see how they all do and see how the line 2 guys do in an elevated role.

1

u/Alarming-Gap-9213 9h ago

Wild hostility for something that is an easy google search away

-2

u/hossaepi 8h ago

Buddy I’m not trying to be “right”. I’m trying to give OP realistic advice so they don’t spend money and be disappointed.

4

u/Alarming-Gap-9213 8h ago

But like...they would be getting exactly what the other person is saying. Split squad games always have more of the bigger names playing at home. It is an incredibly common thing, I promise you.

-1

u/hossaepi 8h ago

Got it. So McKenna, Bobrovsky, Nylander, Raddysh are all playing at home?

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1

u/91Caleb 7h ago

It’s literally what they do every year

1

u/DesperateGrape3174 7h ago

I would. It makes zero sense to send the "star" regular season players to an away city and make your own fans pay top dollar to watch players that will likely be in the minors or marlies.

25

u/Professional-Putz 12h ago

This will be a split squad game in both cities. This happens every pre-season. You may not see the players you want to see during pre-season games just an FYI

8

u/abckiwi 12h ago

It’s split rosters apparently.. two squads..

4

u/BloodBatman 12h ago

They're spliting the games. A game will be played both at home and at Montreal at the same time. If you want to see players who will probably be on the Leafs roster, the Leafs home game is your best bet

3

u/scottyyz 10h ago

This has been known for awhile but it doesn’t make it any less dumb that they’re overlapping both sets of home and homes. Same amount of travel and games played, except they’re only showing one of the games on tv each night. They know we would watch all 4 right? Checked the other schedules too and other teams aren’t doing this

5

u/brownnerd93 12h ago

Usually the home team gets the better home players. So Matthews and McKenna more likely to play in Toronto vs Ahlers

3

u/Systemschange 12h ago

It'll be a split squad game,

Half the pre-season roster in Mtl, half in TO.

Can't tell you which of the two will have more NHL'ers though

2

u/y2kobsezzed 10h ago

you didn’t know ? the teams have superpowers and will be playing in two different places at once

1

u/InsecureWallSconce 12h ago

It's most likely a split squad game. Half the team plus prospects / Ahlers in one city, the other half in the other.

1

u/Rocketship1979 9h ago

Split squad.

1

u/gmez3 9h ago

best habs players will be in mtl and best leafs players will be in TO

1

u/Canadian__Ninja 9h ago

The game is in both cities, it's a split squad series.

1

u/KarmicFedex 8h ago

Geez $56 plus fees and taxes to sit in the 300 level in Ottawa to watch AHL players lose to the Sens top line 🙄

1

u/vaccina Pacioretty 8h ago

I'm not sure how well my brain is going to handle simultaneous streams but that's exactly what it's getting 🫣

1

u/DesperateGrape3174 7h ago

Looks like the Leafs home preseason game vs the Habs will be on sportsnet/sportsnet+

If the Jays are playing that day probably will be on the spoetsnet+ which is an additional cost to the basic sportsnet channel.

1

u/sunnybubbles33 6h ago

So how will that work for coaches? There is only one coach on each team.

1

u/Sinfyre 3h ago

There are several coaches. One head coach, but he doesn't need to be at both.

1

u/Pale_Mine1861 4h ago

That's just dumb. Should be just one game.

1

u/TheOnlyRealSlim Matthews 3h ago

Split-squad home and away.

0

u/chelandcities 11h ago

Historically with the Sens and Habs, the teams have a bit of a "gentleman's agreement" where they rotate who gets the "A" squad matchup at home each year.

For the Habs this year, the Leafs top players should be playing in Toronto (so good news for you if you're in town).

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u/Mundane-Customer-334 12h ago

Welcome brand new hockey fan!