Head down, one foot in front of the other, do not look too far forward. Learn from a painful past, but do not dwell too much on the ugly reality of the mirror. Under the intense, endless forefront of the larger hockey market, and combined with the overwhelming weight of playoff baggage, it was the only way forward for a roster marked by recent failures. As players set individual career records and franchise records fell in 2021-22, Toronto never seemed to stray far from the collective heartbeat at rest, even at the start of the program. “We’re just trying to get out there and give ourselves the best opportunity on a daily basis,” said Captain John Tavares. “Whatever it is, we just want to deal with it head on.” “There are always issues to discuss,” added sniper star Auston Matthews. “There is only so much we can control.” The Leafs will seek to continue on the same path with blinds still in place as they spin to meet their most daunting mission to date – two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the season. “A huge challenge,” said Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe, whose team hosts Game 1 of the best-of-seven on Monday. “But when I look at our team, I think the harder the better. “This is what we need.” The Leafs finished the program with 115 points – 10 more than the previous franchise high – while their 54 wins exceeded the old benchmark of 49. Matthews became the first Toronto player to score 50 goals since 1993-94, then scored five more to set a new Leafs record for a season before finally reaching a staggering 60 in 73 games. Mitch Marner, meanwhile, scored 97 points, William Nylander scored the best of his career 34 times and goalkeeper Jack Campbell won his first all-star appearance. But those numbers and distinctions, including the glittering Leafs special teams, will not mean much if Toronto still can not advance to the first round – despite the fact that their opponent scored 110 points and completed his eighth best record. NHL. This is just the reality for a club that has not won a playoff series since 2004 or has not won the Cup since the NHL Original Six season. “We know we are in a special market, a special fan base that will add a lot of fuel and push us,” Tavares said. “This is the special part of being here.” The most recent playoff disaster, however, came last spring, when the Leafs had a golden opportunity to change the story, allowing outsider Montreal Canadiens to return from the 3-1 deficit in the first round and make a stunning seven-point upset. games. . Toronto defender Morgan Rielly said the players talked a lot over the summer and at the training camp about what happened, but did not seize the nightmare. “It’s a bit of a balancing act … you want to tackle it and you want to learn from it, but you also want to move on,” he said. “I do not think it is something that someone in our room will look back with affection, unless we fix the ship and achieve the ultimate goal. We hope we can look back and say, ‘You know, that was a big turning point for us.’ “But until that happens, you almost want to block it and deal with it later.” Before the collapse of the Canadians, Toronto did not play against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2020 qualifying round after the season. This was followed by seven consecutive defeats by the Boston Bruins – including 2019 when the Leafs had the opportunity to close things on the ice at home in Game 6 and failed to do so. “Everyone has experience and learns from the past, good or bad,” said Tavares, who suffered a horrific injury at the start of the playoffs last spring and lost the rest of the series. “You have to grow from it, either as a hockey player or even as a human being.” Lightning, meanwhile, know little about the pressure their opponent faces in the first round. Tampa and its roster led by Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy won the presidents’ trophy in 2018-19 before being swept four times by Columbus. Instead of blowing things up, the organization reorganized, creating the background for successive titles. “There will be a lot of publicity campaign this round,” said Stamkos, the Lightning captain. “But our team is a mature team. We know how to handle many different situations that come in the playoffs. “We have to rely on our experience.” Something Toronto hopes to finally win. “They understand how to play and how to win the playoffs,” said Riley, who leads Toronto’s improved blue body. “And we’re trying to figure it out.” Veteran striker Jason Spezza, one of three Leafs along with Mark Giordano and Wayne Simmonds who played more than 1,000 games without winning a Cup, praised Keefe’s approach. “With the failure we had last year, it would be easy to look beyond the regular season,” Spezza said. “Sheldon did a great job of keeping us at work, really game by game, week by week, finding key things in the games, especially afterwards. “We were not looking forward to it at all.” Keefe said that what the team did this season – every detail – was to prepare for the playoffs. The page is ready to turn. It remains to be seen if the Toronto scenario is overturned. “We have full respect for Tampa Bay Lightning for what they have achieved and who they are,” said Keefe. However, we have great faith in our team. “We are ready for battle.” This Canadian Press report was first published on May 1, 2022.
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