“What if I help bring a Stanley Cup to Toronto?” the text from the 32-year-old forward said. “Can you imagine?”
“I texted back and said, ‘That’s the right attitude to have,'” Brian said. “I mean, like Ryan said, can you imagine?”
For Brian and his wife, Bonnie, Ryan’s mom, the concept is almost surreal, much like it is for their son.
Both of O’Reilly’s parents grew up in the Toronto area, Bonnie in the east end and Brian in the west end suburb of Etobicoke. Prior to the team moving to Scotiabank Arena in 1999, Bonnie spent time working during Maple Leafs’ games at a concession stand in the corridor behind the green seats section at Maple Leaf Gardens, the third level of the arena.
As natives of southern Ontario, Ryan and his parents know all too well about what comes with playing for the Maple Leafs. About a passionate fan base that hasn’t seen the franchise win the Stanley Cup since 1967, let alone a Stanley Cup Playoff series since 2004.
And, most importantly, about the unreached expectations of a team in an omnipresent fishbowl that already boasts elite talent like forwards Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander, and defenseman Morgan Rielly.
Even after helping the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019, when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, O’Reilly admitted he thought about how cool it would be to wear the blue and white Maple Leafs jersey one day. He just never allowed himself to think it would become reality.
Until it did.
“Absolutely,” he said. “My parents grew up in Toronto. My wife (Dayna) is from here. I have a lot of ties here. Always thought about it, but never really thought it would actually happen.
“Just kind of shocked that I’m playing here.”
Others aren’t, including Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer.
DeBoer is a family friend of the O’Reillys and has a summer residence in the Lake Huron community of Bayfield, Ontario, where Bonnie and Brian now live. Brian has been a high-performance life coach for more than four decades and once worked with DeBoer’s kids at one of Brian’s so-called “boot camps” in nearby Goderich.
Although the Stars were fresh off a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, DeBoer did take a minute from his media availability on Sunday to discuss the impact the trade to Toronto would have on Ryan and his family.
“I believe some kids grow up in Ontario and are meant to play for the Leafs,” DeBoer said. “I think Ryan is one of those guys.
“When you are around his family and see the impact they have on everyday life, whether it’s raising money mentoring youth or bringing awareness to mental health in small town Ontario, the entire province should be cheering this guy on.”
At times on Saturday night, when O’Reilly made his Toronto debut, it seemed like that was exactly the case.
Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, for one, helped the cause by putting O’Reilly in the starting lineup. When the list of starters was read out loud in the Toronto dressing room, cheers erupted from the players. The same happened when they were read in the arena by the public address announcer.
Keefe said he understood what he calls “the moment” would mean to O’Reilly. It was his first game with the Maple Leafs. On Saturday night. A nation was watching on “Hockey Night in Canada.” And the fact that it came against the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto’s most storied rival, was the icing on the cake.
“That was pretty crazy,” O’Reilly said. “I’m just glad I won the draw. I had a lot of family here, so it was special for them, too.”
Just like it was for O’Reilly’s sons, Jameson, 4; and Declan, 2. Brian shared a video of the boys cheering when they saw their dad on TV in a Maple Leafs jersey accompanied by the tweet: “This is the best picture video ever. His kids are so excited to see their daddy playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs!”
So, too, were Brian and Bonnie. And when Ryan got his first point with the Maple Leafs, an assist on a goal by Michael Bunting in the second period of the 5-1 victory, Bonnie, who was seated in Section 112 of Scotiabank Arena, shrieked with joy, much to the chagrin of Brian’s hearing.
“He might be deaf for a while,” she said with a chuckle. “But I hope to do it more. That means Ryan’s doing really welI.”
* * * * *
Graham Nesbitt is choked up with emotion.
In a phone interview Sunday, he’d been talking about the excitement the O’Reillys, his longtime family friends, were having regarding Ryan’s trade to the Maple Leafs. He’s chatty, insightful, full of zeal.
Then the topic comes up about how Bonnie helped save his life. And all that changes.
“I can’t find the words,” he says, struggling to express himself. “I mean, such a sacrifice …”
He stops there, and understandably so. No more words are needed.
Nesbitt was the longtime manager of the Seaforth & District Community Centre in Seaforth, a town of 3,000 people about 116 miles west of Toronto, where Ryan, a native of nearby Clinton, grew up. He’d often go out of his way to let Ryan and his older brother, Cal, who’d go on to have 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 145 NHL games with the Nashville Predators, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, into the rink on snow days or during off-hours so the kids would have extra time on the ice.
Years later, Bonnie would pay Nesbitt’s generosity back in a big way for helping her boys on their path to professional hockey by donating one of her kidneys to him.
In 2011, Nesbitt was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger’s disease. Patients with the disease build up an antibody in the kidneys that over time can limit their ability to filter blood. Medication helped control Nesbitt’s condition until 2019, when it became clear he’d need a kidney transplant.
Enter Bonnie.
On March 3, 2021, the transplant surgery was done in London, Ontario, with the Blues subsequently sharing a photo on social media of Nesbitt and Bonnie giving the thumbs-up from adjacent hospital beds.
“What can you say? What is there to say?” the 67-year-old said. “She saved my life.”
Nesbitt had previously approached the O’Reillys asking if Cal and Ryan could use their social media platforms to find a donor. When Bonnie found out she was a match, case closed.
“I’ll always be grateful for what he did for my boys for their journey to pro hockey,” Bonnie said. “It was the least I could do.”
On Friday night, Nesbitt received a text from his son, Derek. The message: Ryan and teammate Noel Acciari had been traded to Toronto from the Blues as part of a three-team deal that included the Minnesota Wild.
“When I received the kidney from Bonnie, Brian warned my wife Pam and I that if I started jumping up and down during hockey games, that’s Bonnie because she runs around carrying on and screaming during hockey games,” he said. “So when I saw Ryan was going to Toronto, I thought ‘This is going to be crazy. I know they’re both going to be going nuts.'”
In some respects, all of Seaforth was doing the same Saturday.
“I bet every person in town was watching that game and celebrating that Ryan is a Leaf,” Nesbitt said. “I mean, when Ryan brought the Stanley Cup here in 2019, there were Blues T-shirts everywhere with his name on them. Count on those being replaced by Leafs jerseys all over the place.
“I bet by the end of the week there will be Toronto O’Reilly No. 90 jerseys in the local store, and going fast.”
Both Nesbitt and DeBoer talk about the humility of the family, as evidenced by the family’s count of there having been 47 foster kids from southern Ontario in their home over a 20-year period. The stints could be short, or as long as four years.
“I think it taught the boys humility,” Bonnie said. “It showed them to appreciate what they have and how not everyone is as fortunate.”
Traits that can be found in Bonnie and Brian, DeBoer said.
“Special family.”
* * * * *
O’Reilly grew up more of a Wayne Gretzky fan than a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, his parents said.
And when he did wear a Toronto jersey for one of the first times, it was a rather forgettable experience.
“I brought him to the rink when he was only two,” Brian recalled. “I hadn’t really fully dressed him. He had a Toronto jersey on, one of those bucket helmets … and he was in a diaper.”
The local newspaper thought the image of young Ryan was cute and ran a photo of him the next day looking like that. When Bonnie saw the published picture, she snapped.
“I gave Brian so much [grief],” she says now with a laugh. “I was relentless on him. I kept telling him, ‘How could you let him out like that without being fully dressed?'”
Ryan, of course, is all grown up now. And now it’s his turn to help kids.
On Friday, hours before the trade had been completed, 5-year-old Hank Walker was granted his wish of playing hockey with O’Reilly.
The young fan made the wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 2020. He was diagnosed with posterior urethral valves, obstructive membranes in the bladder, as a baby. The condition required him to receive a kidney transplant.
Hank started his day by signing a one-day contract with the Blues as St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong and O’Reilly looked on. He then took to the ice with the likes of O’Reilly and Blues forward Brayden Schenn, and even had a chance to practice his celebration skills.
Hours later, Bonnie was doing the same when Ryan told her he was a Leaf.
“It was bonkers, chaos,” she said.
It would have been a short flight from St. Louis to Chicago to meet the Maple Leafs for their game against the Blackhawks on Sunday. Instead, Keefe said both players were “adamant” they wanted to get to Toronto and play against the Canadiens on Saturday.
There was just one problem. Both players didn’t have their equipment, which was at the Blues facility when the trade was made official.
“O’Reilly might have found a way to acquire the keys to the building to go get his gear,” Keefe said, breaking into a wide grin. “And he grabbed Acciari’s while he was there. That just speaks to what those guys are about.
“There’s the on-ice things that everyone’s going to see. I got a glimpse into what they’re going to bring to our room.”
Following a 5-3 loss to the Blackhawks on Sunday, the Maple Leafs will continue their road trip at the Sabres on Tuesday.
O’Reilly played with the Sabres from 2015-18, getting 176 points (65 goals, 111 assists) in 224 games. After Buffalo finished 31st in 2017-18, he said he’d lost his love for hockey and added the franchise had adopted “the mindset of losing.”
He was subsequently traded to the Blues in a multiplayer deal that landed Buffalo forward Tage Thompson, who entered Sunday third in the NHL in goals with 36. Indeed, there will be no shortage of storylines for this game in Buffalo, which will see O’Reilly become part of the Golden Horseshoe Rivalry once again, this time for the despised Maple Leafs.
Which is exactly who he wants to be with, according to TSN analyst Carlo Colaiacovo. The former defenseman with both the Maple Leafs and Blues tweeted this weekend that the decision was made in advance by O’Reilly and his family that Toronto would be his destination of choice.
“And can you imagine if he could actually win the Cup with Toronto,” an excited Bonnie said.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
