Matthew Knies faces the Maple Leafs for the first time tonight, and the Blue Jackets forward says the chirps are already loaded.
“There's honestly a lot of them (to chirp),” Knies said. “When you spend three years with some guys, it's pretty easy to come up with some material.”
The goodbye wasn't all jokes, though. “Almost all of them called to say their goodbyes, wish me well and say we'd keep in touch,” he said.
“My first call was Morgan Rielly,” he added. “He was one of the veteran players who helped me when I was a young player.”
“Johnny T, Auston and all those guys called right after. It was sad saying goodbye because of how close you get over three years.”
Facing old teammates is like bumping into your ex at a wedding. Everybody in the room knows everybody's stories.
The chirps are fun. But Knies needs points more than punchlines right now, because he hasn't registered one in his last five games.
Morgan Rielly made the first call, and Auston Matthews arrives red hot
Kirill Marchenko, the man Toronto got in the deal, has 10 points and picked up an assist in last night's 3-1 win over San Jose.
That win snapped a three-game skid. Auston Matthews scored once and set up two more, pushing him to 10 points over his last five games.
Gavin McKenna and Nick Paul also scored for the Leafs.
Rielly, the first to call, will be on the other side tonight. He's sitting at -6 on the season, so he might want to keep the chirps friendly.
John Tavares won't be there to hear any of it. He's on injured reserve and isn't expected back until at least Nov. 27.
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Columbus needs more than emotion. The Blue Jackets are 3-4-0, though they've been better at home, where they're 3-2-0.
Knies carries a $7,750,000 cap hit, and Rick Bowness needs that money showing up on the scoresheet, not just in the trash talk.
Can he back it up? Toronto is on the second night of a back-to-back, and if Knies stays quiet again, the chirps will come right back at him.
Will Matthew Knies back up his chirps with a point against the Leafs tonight?
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