Steve Simmons on Leafs’ Lottery Win & His VIRAL Press Conference Moment

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]What was your immediate reaction watching the draft lottery last night?

[00:00:03]>> Fantastic for the Maple Leafs. That's uh >> you know it it's they needed some good news from somewhere and that was the good news they got and and what it brings them right now is I think a number of options and so from that point of view I think John Chica walks into the job and one day after walking into the job the job got better.

[00:00:28]>> Yeah. And how much weight do you think just that simple pick could have? You talk about options. Um, you know, does it have the ability to to really write the course of this franchise?

[00:00:41]>> No, but it certainly brings in a a quality piece that they otherwise may not have had. And considering that, you know, they have two draft picks that now are owned by other teams, two first round picks, that that kind of a selection doesn't come easily or and if it turns out to be a great player, if he turns out to be a great player, then then fantastic for that. So, um it's a uh it's it's you know, the sport is all about having options. And right now if you walk into the Maple Leafs and you don't know what Austin Matthews's situation is and you don't know what the future is bringing for your club and now suddenly you have a player that you can add into your top six forwards probably immediately and you have a different looking lineup probably immediately in some ways but you also have the ability do I now think of maybe trading Austin Matthews. Do I think of maybe trading William Knander? And you come up with four or five parts for those two to go along with if it's McKenna or whomever, you know, as that player. So, you can do an entire rebuild here if you choose to, you know, sort of on fast forward. Um, depends how you make those deals and how you trade and whether those guys want to be traded. Um, but there's so there's so this is kind of like chess. There's so many different moves that you can make and and now you know he has more options. M Ja and Matt Sundine have more options today than they had yesterday.

[00:02:24]>> I can't get over the last week specifically and just everything surrounding the press conference which we'll get to of course but how big do you think this truly was for like Chaikica and Sandine to start this way?

[00:02:35]I called it a tone setting night for the Maple Leafs. Well, I mean it's it's it's mana from heaven is what it is. It's you know the sky is is falling and it's falling with gold. You know how do you get I mean you look at M take Mlin Celibbrini as a player and you I'm not saying you're getting Mlin Celibbrini.

[00:02:51]I'm not saying you're getting Bard. I don't know I don't know what they're getting. I have not seen frankly I have not seen any of these guys play. So I don't have an opinion as to who is what and anything. I'll listen to the scouts that I trust, that I know and and take their views. Um, but what I'm saying is is you have an again an option on something fantastic. The last three first round picks have changed franchises or are in the process of changing franchises. Bedar hasn't had that yet the impact in Chicago wins and losses wise that many thought he might but Celibbrini's done it now in San Jose and we saw what Schaefer did with the New York Islanders and you know I don't I don't remember one player coming in and changing a team in his first year the way he did in in very many years and and here's the next guy and maybe the next guy isn't of that level but if if it's of somewhere between Alexis Lafrrenier and and Mlin Celabbrini. I think that's pretty good, too. So long as it's not closer to, you know, Leaf Renier.

[00:03:59]>> Yeah. And Steve, you know, going to the press conference here where they announced Sean Chica and Matt Sundine.

[00:04:04]Obviously, Chica specifically, a very controversial hire. Your question got a lot of buzz throughout social media and elsewhere in hockey circles. Some thinking it was too harsh, other thinking that that's a question that needs to be asked by the media. After all of the response that you got from the question you asked, would you do things any differently or are you satisfied with how it all went?

[00:04:26]>> Well, I I I'll look at it this way, Jay.

[00:04:29]I've not written a column in in 45 years that I don't look back at the next day and want to change a sentence or want to fix a paragraph or want to look at say, "Boy, I wish I had said this instead of that." And and that's part, I think, of being a writer. Uh when you're in a press conference, you're asking a question. Would you change a word or two? Probably. Uh, did I want to ask that question? Absolutely. Um, and did I expect an explosion? No. Um, and so things happen sometimes that you don't expect and you're not sure of. And that's part of um doing what I do for a living. My job basically is not to be liked. My job is to be read. And the column I wrote out of that press conference was the most read piece on our website in a 24-hour period. Not only was it the most read piece, it was the most read piece five times more than the second most read piece. So clearly, you know, people can say all they want about hating me or liking me or loving me or thanking me or I'm a I'm this or I'm that. My only concern are you reading me? That's the only thing that I worry about. and and at this stage of my life and this stage of my career I'm I'm rather amazed at the kind of you know sort of constant readership that I get and and and we can track that now on a daily basis and you know at a time when I thought maybe it would start to diminish it's actually going the other way.

[00:06:03]So, Steve, now that you've had a chance to decompress uh what transpired, the the press conference, what was your read on everything? Like, can you set a a tone or a mood of like what it was like in that room, not just with your back and forth there with P, but an overall press conference?

[00:06:18]>> The before the press conference began, uh there was like a gathering, as there is at every press conference, a gathering of the media people and and sort of a feel of the room and there was a tension there. There was a natural tension which you don't normally feel at the hiring of a general manager. This is usually like a happy day kind of circumstance. But leading into this, there wasn't a whole lot of happy day coverage about John Chica and Matt Sundine getting the positions that they were getting. And so there was um I think Chris Johnson used the term it was uncomfortable. Uh it was an uncomfortable press conference and that was before you know it began and um and so then it began and there were questions that needed to be asked and typically in in in those kind of circumstances there are two kinds of interviews that happen. They're the interview that you see on television that is the press conference part that's you know now it's it's become theater over the years and then you go into scrums with the individuals and that's where the real questions tend to get asked and the real answers tend to come from and uh and also in this case not only that the the guys like Chaiken and Sundine did a bunch of one-on- ons afterwards with the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star and Sports Net and whoever else and so there was a lot of um um a lot of different ways to get information and find out things, but there was a there was an overriding sort of tense feeling about the day. And it was funny because one of the people who was very involved in all of this um turns to me as he walked into the press conference as I looked outside and and the bomb squad wasn't there. So, I think everything's all right today.

[00:08:08]Now, you know, one of the hires obviously was Matt Sundine. Some of the questions were, "What are the roles?

[00:08:14]What's the power dynamic within this?"

[00:08:17]Um, from what you've gathered, does it sound like Matt Sundine is going to have his hand in a lot of the decisions?

[00:08:23]Immediately, people thought he might just be kind of a figurehead or or or a super alumni or something like that, but do you get the sense he's going to have a lot more uh to do in the day-to-day, in the decision-m with his role?

[00:08:34]>> I suspect so. knowing Matts, I don't think Mattz would have left Sweden and brought his family. And he's being paid a lot of money uh for this job. Uh he wouldn't have taken it without having sort of specific um goals or specific uh a role in mind. And so, yeah, he's not the boss, which I which I was a bit surprised by because I thought he might be, and he's not in charge. But I suspect if if John Chica is smart, and we know that he is, um, that he will take advantage of Matt Sundine's hockey acumen and his ability to deal with people and his ability to maybe do some of the things that John isn't particularly good at himself. And so this is a nice counterbalance, if you want to call it that, for the Leafs. Now whether it works out, we don't know that. Um, often you can put, you know, we see it in musical bands all the time.

[00:09:33]You know, they make the greatest music in the world, but they can't live together. Um, and I think it's the same thing here. You know, let's see how they do. Let's see how they work together.

[00:09:43]Let's see if they can. Um, and and one thing that Chica wasn't known for very well in Arizona was communication. He was considered to be poor at it, uh, internal and external. And so we're going to see how that changes in a in a in a sort of crazy market like Toronto where communication means everything.

[00:10:04]And so uh in Sundine's case, I think they would be foolish not to involve him. But what I don't know, and a player agent called me on on the other night and said the question he wanted someone to ask Max was, "Can you name five members of the Anaheim Ducks?"

[00:10:23]It sounds like a silly question, but I thought it would give you a sense of how much does he follow the league, how much does he know about the league, you know, how much is he paying attention? Um, and that's what we're going to find out over the next while is is how tied in is he?

[00:10:38]Uh, and and where are, you know, where are his strengths >> and what happens with the first disagreement that happens? Like for example, we brought it up like I Stenberg who could go second overall as a second top prospect as Swedish and maybe Matt Sanin's got a tie into that as well. But uh a lot of moving parts to this. I wanted to ask you about Keith P and obviously you're back and forth, but uh what's your sense of like Py's role in all this? Like we we me and Rosie both agreed like keep this guy the hell away from a mic anytime soon, but like is he going to have like autonomy or say in like what happens? Like that's what scares me. I don't care who's in charge.

[00:11:14]Where does Keith P fall in the conversation?

[00:11:17]>> I've known Keith P a very long time.

[00:11:20]I've worked with him. I'm not going to say he's a friend of mine, but he's kind of close to a friend of mine, and he's treated me extraordinarily well over the years. So, for everyone who can look at what happened at the press conference, I look at look at Simmons attacking P. Um, well, I probably it's kind of like attacking someone in your own house, you know, if you verbally, you know, it happens and the next day you go on and live, you know, family lives their life kind of thing. uh in in in the case of of Keith. I think if Keith was being brutally honest and and he is most of the time, especially away from microphones, um he would like to hire people who run their teams and let them run their teams and he'll run the business and and and and be involved like any CEO would be involved in the, you know, these the Maple Leafs and the Raptors are huge components of MLS um more so than the other teams.

[00:12:20]but they're huge components and um and so it's very important to Keith for those franchises to succeed and for the most part it's very important that he doesn't have to stick his nose in there and he I guess he found this season he didn't like what was happening and so yeah because he didn't like what was happening he did stick his nose in and he did wind up firing general manager Brad Tree living and why how and why and how Craig Craig Buby has survived any of this. I have no idea. But um um you know, there's strange stories out there.

[00:12:56]But but to be honest, I like Keith. I've always liked Keith. I will probably like Keith even if he doesn't want to talk to me ever again. Uh kind of thing. You know, he's I have a lot of history with the guy.

[00:13:09]>> And you mentioned Craig Brew. I think surprisingly to some the sentiment over the last few weeks is that he's more than likely coming back to coach this hockey team. Do you think unexpectedly getting that first overall pick last night change anything to do with his role?

[00:13:23]>> It wouldn't for me if I was making the decision and it should and it really shouldn't for John Chica who is you know he's a numbers guy and he's a stats guy and that's his background. His background is you know you know analytics and and this is what Py wanted. Py wanted someone in that role who was very technical in his approach and and if you look at the Maple Leafs statistics from last season in almost every important category they were near the bottom of the NHL if not at the bottom. Worst in in t zone time in the offensive zone. Worst in having too much zone time in the defensive. Like you can go through a whole bunch of things.

[00:14:09]There's not anything you can point to is that this was this other than penalty killing. This was the Leaf's strength last season. And so to me, it's obvious that you fire him because he doesn't fit anything that Chaika believes in. Now, here's the problem.

[00:14:27]He does make $3 million a year for each of the next two years. So to fire him costs Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment $6 million. Now, this is where business and sport intersect.

[00:14:41]Do you fire the coach because you need to replace him and because you want to find someone better? Or do you not fire him because you don't want to pay you don't want to be stuck the company paying $6 million for a guy not working for you? Especially when now you're paying tree living whatever he was making too um for another year. It's uh that I think factors in unfortunately and it really shouldn't but it does in this case and as coaches salaries have gotten significantly higher than they used to be um you know firing them has gotten more expensive over time and so you know in the case of Chica I think it would be obvious you you replace it and you find your own guy. Also, the whole thing about a GM should should hire his coach. When a GM inherits a coach, rarely does it work. Um, and so, you know, you're you're in that situation.

[00:15:38]But I still think, you know, P is on he's not on the hockey side here. He's on the business side. And and and my understanding is he's also quite friendly with Craig Barubi. So, you know, who knows if that factors into any of this either. The other thing is also the internal audit. Like if Chica and Sundine go to the players and for example a guy that's really big in this market obviously is the captain Austin Matthews and he's not a big fan then maybe they try to go a different direction. That leads me to the final question about Austin Matthews's future.

[00:16:10]What are you hearing on that front? What do you think happens down like the next couple years?

[00:16:15]>> I think Austin Matthews is no different than most Maple Leaf fans right now.

[00:16:20]He's waiting to see what's going to happen. He wants to This is year going to be year what 11 and 12 for him in the NHL.

[00:16:30]11 and 12 with the Maple Leafs. And for the first nine it was like they're heading towards a Stanley Cup and then everything crashed in year 10. And so where are they now? And what are they going to do to get better? Well, they just got better yesterday by by winning the lottery. So you can turn to Matthew saying that guess what? We're going to play you on a line with Gavin McKenna and and and Matthew Ny and see if that works.

[00:16:59]Although that's two left wingers on the same line. We'll figure we'll figure that out after the fact. If you understand what I'm saying, you can now do that. You couldn't have done that yesterday. It doesn't excite him to say, "Oh, we're going to put Eastston Cowan on your line." I don't think that would would excite Austin Matthews. Austin Matthews wants to win. And Austin Matthews loves He loves Toronto and loves the market. And that's the strange thing. He's not a he's not at all like Matt Sundine in that I am the captain and I am the spokesman and I am he he's not he's not external that way the way Sundine I thought was Sundine really handled himself nicely in his time as captain of the Leafs. Matthews is like apparently if you talk to players they really speak highly of him as a captain.

[00:17:44]Um, but you don't see it externally. So, you don't really ever know. In 10 years of covering this guy, I don't think I've ever known anyone less.

[00:17:54]Um, normally after I knew Doug Gilmore after two years, I knew everything about him. I knew what he was thinking. I knew what was was having a good day or a bad day. You always knew what was going on.

[00:18:06]I I was the same with other leafs along the way.

[00:18:10]Austin Matthews is a mystery. He is a mystery unto himself. He keeps his thoughts to himself. He doesn't speak much to the public. He doesn't sneak out. He doesn't leak stuff. You know, once in a while something comes through his agent, often through Chris Johnson.

[00:18:29]Um, you know, that's, you know, if you want to figure out what's going on with Austin Matthews, read Chris Johnson because you, you know, you'll get a sense of of that better than anyone else. Um, but that's that's the way he operate. I don't know what his future is. I don't think he knows to be honest until he has his meeting with Check and Sundine and and he gets an sort of a breakdown of what their plan is to do.

[00:18:57]Because here's what's interesting about what happened yesterday.

[00:19:01]It was the belief of PY and it was the belief of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment ownership, which essentially is Edward Rogers and Tony Stafiieri, that this team should compete for a playoff spot next year. That's the belief. So, they're now a step ahead of that competing because they have a player they never expected to have. It's like, as I said, it's like mana from heaven. So they have that first pick and now let's see what else this new management team can do to you know upgrade the defense for example to possibly you know alter your goalending.

[00:19:41]Uh there there's there is there is a need in every position on almost every line and almost every pairing of defense a need to upgrade. and uh we're going to see what happens, but they're going to have to sell their plan to Matthews.

[00:19:58]He's going to have to buy it because if he doesn't buy it, he's going to say, "You know what, guys? Why don't you trade me?" And that and then that gets interesting because that changes the whole the whole uh dynamics of of the Leafs.

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