John Gruden, head coach of the Toronto Marlies
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Toronto Marlies head coach John Gruden discussed the performances of the Maple Leafs prospects in a 6-5 win over the Detroit Red Wings in the final game of the 2023 prospects tournament in Traverse City, Michigan.

Gruden on his impressions of the prospects group over the whole weekend:

First impressions of being around these young men: For the most part, out of the nine periods, I thought they gave us eight really good periods. Mistakes are always going to be made. What I like about mistakes when they are made is how you respond. I thought the response was outstanding by the whole group, which to me is the most impressive thing about the whole weekend.

Gruden on the team coming together and achieving some good results in the last two games:

Any good team — doesn’t matter what league — finds a way to make the third period their best. That is a staple that we are going to want to have with the Marlies. No different than here.

I liked our third period. It might have been our best. Maybe not so much after we got that two-goal lead, but again, it goes to the mindset of keeping going, not stopping, and doing it as a group. You will get the results that you want.

Gruden on getting to know his coaching staff in game situations:

The staff that we have I really enjoyed. We already enjoy working together. We work as a unit. It is exciting moving forward.

Post-Game Reaction: Brandon Lisowsky after his hat-trick performance vs. Detroit

Game 3 Lineup

Forwards
Cowan – Minten – Ellis
Hirvonen – Tverberg – Ovchinnikov
Lisowsky – Greenway – Mastrosimone
Weiss – Frasca

Defensemen
Kokkonen – Villeneuve
Tychonick – Sova
Chadwick – Miller
Leslie

Goaltenders
Hildeby
Peksa

Game 3 Clips

2023 Maple Leafs Prospect Tournament Schedule

DATETIMEOPPONENTResult
Thursday, Sept. 143:30 p.m.Columbus7-3 Loss
Friday, Sept. 156:30 p.mDallas5-1 Win
Sunday, Sept. 172:00 p.mDetroit6-5 Win

2023 Maple Leafs Prospect Tournament Roster

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