Nazem Kadri doesn’t have to dig too deep into his memory bank to recall the spring of 2013.
Of course, the month of May that year represents the lone Maple Leafs playoff appearance since 2004 and Kadri badly wants to experience that again.
“I just remember the feeling when (the race to the playoffs) was all said and done, being able to get into the playoffs, it was something I won’t forget,” Kadri said on Thursday.
“I think we are starving for that, not only as a team but as a city. We are focused on bringing that back.”
With the NHL trade deadline a thing of the past, the Leafs now know what kind of team they have going into the toughest stretch of the 2016-17 regular season. It looks much like it did when the club travelled to California last weekend to begin a three-game trip, one that ends with a game on Friday night in Anaheim against former Leafs coach Randy Carlyle and the Ducks.
Brian Boyle has been added to take key faceoffs and bring some savvy knowledge into the dressing room, while Eric Fehr’s trip to the Stanley Cup final with the Pittsburgh Penguins a year ago and the resulting ring that came with it, the hope goes, will rub off on the youngsters.
Otherwise, it’s on the shoulders of the same group of players that got the Leafs to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference (before games on Thursday) to ensure there is no slipping in the standings between now and the end of the regular season on April 9.
And that group is one that believes in itself.
That view was unanimous in the room at the Staples Center after the Leafs held their morning skate in preparation for facing the Kings on Thursday night.
“We’re in a good spot mentally and in terms of the standings we have put ourselves in a position where we can make a push and be right in the mix,” defenceman Morgan Rielly said.
“We are very comfortable with who we have and moving forward we have lots of confidence. All the teams (in contention) are trying to find another gear and they are going to try to make a push. We have to be one of those teams who are able to do that on a yearly basis.”
For Rielly, the last-place finish of last season is not a motivating factor.
“You can reflect on (the progress the Leafs have made), but I think you want to save that until after the season,” Rielly said.
“Right now, we’re focused on the group we have in here, the push we have coming up in the next few weeks. We are focused on being a new team, just looking forward and not looking back.”
That the Leafs were buyers at the deadline for the first time in recent memory — modest as the buying was — is an indication of what future deadlines could represent for this team.
It’s not as though the Leafs are playing with house money, as they want to win just as badly as any other club. Still, the days with the most potential have not arrived, a fact coach Mike Babcock acknowledged on Thursday.
“This year it’s a different kind of buying, let’s be honest,” Babcock said.
“You’re being real careful you’re not getting ahead of yourself and yet you are trying to acquire things you think you need to help your group grow so you can be a contender year in and year out. That’s what we are trying to do. Ideally, we helped our group.”
Babcock is as confident as he is intense. So yes, he shares the mindset of his players, the one that says this Leafs group can be opening a playoff round some time in the second week of April.
“It’s good,” Babcock said of the belief he has in his players. “But it’s always good. I would tell you in my heart and in my mind when I walk into the rink every day I expect to win, and it has never been any different.”
MAXIMIZING VETERAN OUTPUT
To what extent will Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock lean on veterans such as Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk as the team makes a final charge to a playoff spot?
“That’s up to them, right?” Babcock said. “Whoever is playing the best gets to play the most. Everybody has the opportunity to lead and we need those guys to be at their best, we need everybody to be at their best because the games are way tighter.”
Going into Thursday night, van Riemsdyk had not scored in 12 games, his longest drought of the season. Bozak had two points in his previous six games.
“We know these games are always the hardest down the stretch, so you have to make sure you are focused on the details,” van Riemsdyk said. “I feel good about my game right now. It’s only a matter of time.”
Toronto Sun
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