TORONTO — On the first official day of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ new post-season march, the first chance for the team to reconvene with the regular season firmly in the rear-view, the message was clear: Embrace the opportunity.
“A lot of work’s been put into this year, and the journey to this point,” captain John Tavares said on the heels of an hour-long skills session at Ford Performance Centre Saturday. “We get a chance to compete in the playoffs. … You can just tell, the energy and the vibe around the building today. We’re getting extremely close, so we’re excited about that.”
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Surely tugging at the sleeves of that excitement is the undeniable pressure that sits on these Maple Leafs’ shoulders as they approach another brutal first-round test. On Tuesday night, Tavares’ club begins yet another best-of-seven rematch with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the latter looking to reach their fourth straight Cup Final, the Leafs fighting to avoid falling in the first round for the seventh consecutive year.
Add to those everything-on-the-line stakes the bigger-picture weight of this franchise’s post-season history, the decades since it’s won a playoff series, the eras since it lifted the Cup, and it all seems a bit daunting. For those in the room, the only way forward is tunnel vision.
“All we can do is prepare for what’s in front of us, and the opportunity that we have at hand,” the captain said. “We know we have an incredible fanbase, an organization that has a tremendous, rich history that is really special. So, you know, don’t let the pressure outweigh the pleasure of this opportunity, and the excitement that we have to go out and compete, and everything we’ve done to earn this.
Tavares on Maple Leafs’ playoff history: ‘We’re aware of it, no doubt’
“All we can do is prepare for what’s ahead, and be at our best when we meet this challenge.”
Even after a near-decade of Leafs Nation’s hopes falling flat in the post-season’s opening round, there is hope still in the newest iteration of this group. Another year older, wiser, with another year of hard post-season lessons burned into them, Sheldon Keefe’s squad looks ready to take another swing.
And this time, they might just have the help they need, starting with netminder Ilya Samsonov — the roll-the-dice backup option GM Kyle Dubas brought in alongside Matt Murray in the off-season, who’s emerged as the team’s clear No. 1 heading into the games that matter. Through 42 appearances in blue and white on the year, the 26-year-old finished the regular season with a career-best .919 save percentage, collecting four shutouts along the way.
‘You need to live day-by-day’: Maple Leafs’ Samsonov on how to approach the playoffs
“He’s just been really composed all season long,” Keefe said of Samsonov, who appears a lock to man the net in Game 1. “It hasn’t been a perfect season for him. It’s been a great season, but it hasn’t been a perfect season. At times, he had to deal with some adversity, he had to regroup and reconnect with his structure and the foundation that he put in place in the off-season and early in this season. He’s had to find his way in the season to get success on the road, and closed out the season tremendously in that regard.”
“And our team’s played well in front of him. Guys are confident and comfortable playing in front of him. I think with all those things combined, he’s ready.”
It’s been an unexpected ascent for the former Washington Capital, who came in as somewhat of a question mark as the Maple Leafs rebuilt their goaltending corps in the wake of Jack Campbell’s departure. While both newcomers were offered an even shot at the No. 1 role for much of the season, injuries and steady play slowly pushed Samsonov to the head of the pack.
“He came in just trying to get a sense of things, get a feel for his surroundings, and I think he’s just really blossomed,” Tavares said of the netminder. “His personality, his confidence on and off the ice, and just the comfort level he has with his game, how he’s fit in really well in the locker room, and the respect that we have for him just as a competitor — I think you’ve seen that really grow. Just the competitive fire that he has, and the ability, no doubt is great.
“All that has kind of meshed together really well. When challenges have come, he’s faced them extremely well and has responded great, and that’s a great sign for him and his growth here this year. He’s an important piece of our success.”
What makes this season’s Maple Leafs better suited to face Lightning in playoffs?
There’s no question he’ll be a vital piece of it, particularly given the behemoth of an opponent Toronto must get by if they hope to finally break their first-round curse: a veteran Lightning team that’s proven to be one of the hardest outs in the game for three years now. A Lightning team that proved just a little more savvy, a little more composed, as they outlasted Toronto last year.
The Maple Leafs hope they’ve made up that ground with the addition of Ryan O’Reilly, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner bringing his own Cup-lifting experience to the fold this time around.
“Having a deep run before, I think that can help for sure,” the veteran pivot said Saturday. “Every year’s different, the team’s completely different, but still I think it just gives me confidence going in. I know what it should look like. … It’s something that I don’t even know how to explain — it’s decisions that you make at the right times. Obviously going up against Tampa, they’ve been the best team in hockey for three years. They know how to win. It’s going to take our best.”
Luke Schenn, who joined O’Reilly in the group of trade-deadline acquisitions the Maple Leafs brought in to bolster their chances, knows the test ahead well, the weathered defender having suited up alongside the Lightning for their two recent Cup runs.
And while some among the Maple Leafs faithful might be writing off his former squad after a season that’s seen Tampa navigate a slew of injuries and look a slight step below their usual level, Schenn cautioned against paying too much attention to how they got here. All that is important is what happens next.
“In the playoffs, it’s mind over matter,” the defenceman said. “You look at different paths and schedules and how many games guys have played, but at the end of the day, each individual’s gone through their own things. Some guys are healthy, some guys are banged up.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. It’s a grind, whichever way you look at it.”
For Keefe, all that matters now is ensuring his group is ready to endure the mental battle that comes with that unending grind. That these Leafs are able to be the team they’re capable of being, the team they have been of late, with everything on the line.
Keefe on playoff expectations: ‘There’s a lot that goes into being a Maple Leaf’
“Right now it’s about making sure we remain connected to [our] identity,” the coach said Saturday. “That’s really what the regular season’s about, particularly for a team like ours, is to develop that over the course of the season. … You develop it during the regular season and in the playoffs, it’s about adhering to it. Being confident in who you are.
“We’ve established ourselves as an elite team in the league. We need to go out there and be respectful of our opponent, and know what the challenge is, but remain connected to what we do well.”
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
