The hurricanes that ravaged Florida the past few weeks didn’t treat NHL players any less harshly.
The storm surge pushed four feet of water into winger Jake Guentzel’s garage, ruining a lot of possessions he’d stored there after his move from Carolina. Winger Brandon Hagel fared a little better with minor property damage.
“Nothing I can’t replace, but some people lost everything,” Hagel notes. “It’s sad, tough to see. The way camp went (with a delayed start to the regular season), that’s the least of our worries. People are hurting way worse.”
Coach Jon Cooper said the team hasn’t used the staggered start of their season as an excuse in winning three of four prior to facing the Maple Leafs on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
“It’s definitely been trying, “Cooper said. “We could’ve easily made an excuse. But to sneak out (a win) in Carolina when we’d been there a week … I have to tip my hat to our owner (Jeff Vinik) who brought the families to Carolina.
“When we came back and saw the devastation in Tampa, it was tough. But the home game against the Canucks was a big lift for ourselves and the city.”
NATION BUILDING
Cooper is also head coach of Team Canada for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, while his general manager, Juien BriseBois, is part of Canada’s executive group. That makes matches such as Monday’s a lot more interesting for Toronto defenceman Morgan Rielly, who could be in the running to be picked for the tournament. BriseBois was also at Saturday’s Leafs — Rangers’ game.
“I think it’s cool to be in the conversation,” Rielly said. “But for me, it’s just about getting into a good rhythm with teammates here. You want to really get rolling and the rest kind of takes care of itself.
“If I’m in the conversation, that’s wonderful, but ultimately, this team is most important. I have work to do, our team has work to do.”
CAT SCRATCH FEVER
Spicing up this Tampa Bay – Toronto rivalry is the added presence of three Stanley Cup champions from the Florida Panthers who are now on the Leafs; goalie Anthony Stolarz, defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and winger Steven Lorentz.
“We played (Tampa) so many times,” Lorentz said. “Two great hockey clubs with a lot of success in the past few years, a team from Florida always in the Cup final.
“They have skill up and down their lineup. They’ve obviously lost some bodies, but they’ve done a good job continuing that run. Playing against them down there, you could feel the rivalry. There was a good chunk of each other’s sweaters in the crowd in both barns.
“Having also played in Carolina, I just feel I’ve seen Tampa more than any team in the league.”
LOSS OF LIGHTNING ROD
For the first time since 2008, the departed Steven Stamkos was not a talking point before a Leafs — Lightning game. Victor Hedman is the new captain, the GTA-born Stamkos now a Nashville Predators.
“If there’s one thing, there are probably a lot more (dressing room) voices now,” Cooper said of moving ahead. “The addition of (defenceman) Ryan McDonough has helped. When Stammer was here, he was one of the (main) voices and a good one. There wasn’t a better ambassador for our team. Now there’s a collaboration.”
CROP DUSTING
Berube says he has kept track of the farm team Marlies’ crisp 5-0 start, that Alex Nylander has five goals in as many games, Roni Hirvonen five points, Alex Steeves four goals and rookie Russian Artur Akhtyamov has a record of 3-0-0 with a .964 save percentage. Matt Murray has done well, too in his two games.
“I haven’t seen them live yet, but great to see they’re doing well and their goalie’s doing well,” Berube said. “They have a good team right now.”
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