"Start marketing this body" - Ryan Reaves offers to go half-naked in interview to give NHL an edge over other major sports leagues 

By Abhishek Dilta

Modified Apr 02, 2024 05:46 GMT

Following an intense matchup between the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night, Leafs' Ryan Reaves suggested a bold marketing strategy to enhance the NHL's visibility compared to other major US sports leagues.

In the post-game interview, Reaves cheekily proposed the idea of going shirtless for better marketing during interviews. He pointed out that if the NHL wants to increase its popularity and compete with the NFL or NBA, there might be a need to consider marketing strategies that involve showcasing players' bodies.

Here's what Ryan Reaves said:

"My question for you, though: Whose rule is it? I can't wear it. I gotta keep a shirt on here. It's not my rule; you can. If we want to start catching the NFL and NBA, we're going to have to start marketing his body a little bit."

In the same interview, Reaves acknowledged that the Panthers are a high-intensity team and said it was important for his team to match that intensity and style of play:

"I think it was, you know, a point of focus that, you know, they're [Panthers] a high-intensity team. You know, they play hard, they play physically play in your face and very direct and that was something that we had to do right back to him."

He added:

"I thought, you know, we came up with that exact way that we talked about, obviously, a good team's not gonna go away in the third but we did a lot of good things in the second period, the first and second to pull it off."

Ryan Reaves shares his thoughts on Auston Matthews scoring 60 goals

Auston Matthews scored twice against the Florida Panthers in the Leafs' 6-4 win on Monday night, bringing his season total to 62. Matthews set a new career high and leads the league in goals this season.

With eight games remaining, Matthews is projected to put up big numbers, and Ryan Reaves is confident that even 80 goals are possible for Matthews at his current pace (via The Hockey News):

“I think 80 is possible," Reaves said. "Anything is possible with that guy,” he added.

With 95 points, the Leafs are third in the Atlantic Division and are on track to make the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2024. The Leafs face the Tampa Bay Lightning next on Wednesday.