‘The past is the past’: Leafs wrestle with the best lineup to battle Senators — and place a call for more muscle

The Maple Leafs took Friday a bit easy — just an optional practice — as they prepare for their ninth straight Stanley Cup playoff appearance, hoping this one will go longer than the previous eight.

 

“The past is the past,” said general manager Brad Treliving. “This is a different group. Every year there’s new people. Every year you’ve got experiences from the year past.

 

“We’re focused on this group of players. The things that we’ve done here this year and all that, all that now gets parked. At the beginning of the season, everybody starts from zero; it’s the same thing now.”

 

Given their opponent starting Sunday night will be the Ottawa Senators, much of the chatter for the first round will be about provincial bragging rights and the Battle of Ontario rather than the Leafs’ woeful record in elimination games.

“Playoffs are great regardless of who’s playing,” said Treliving. “But when you can have a rivalry that’s got a history like this does, I think it’s great for the province. I think it’s great for the game. Two good teams going at it. It should be a lot of fun.”

 

What might not be fun is trying to glean information about players. Like they say, truth is the first casualty in battle.

 

On that note, Treliving was the only member of the Leafs to speak to the media on Friday. Coach Craig Berube and the players were given a day off from such onerous activity, and even the GM wasn’t exactly forthcoming.

 

The newsiest item was the recall of veteran tough guy Ryan Reaves from the AHL’s Marlies. Among the players who skated were Reaves, Jake McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, David Kämpf, Max Pacioretty and Jani Hakanpää. On the Leafs’ most recent injury list, the specifics of each ailment were reduced to “upper” or “lower” body.

 

So will any or all of them be available for the opener at Scotiabank Arena?

 

“We’ll see come Game 1,” said Treliving.

 

Defencemen Philippe Myers and Dakota Mermis also took part, a sign they are headed toward healthy scratch territory if, as expected, McCabe and Ekman-Larsson return to the lineup. McCabe has missed seven games, Ekman-Larsson the last four.

The Leafs have been hamstrung by the salary cap — which doesn’t apply in the playoffs — and unable to activate Pacioretty off long-term injured reserve even though he’s looked ready to go for some time. He was the first on the ice Friday.

 

But if Pacioretty (who missed the last 27 games) and Kämpf (who missed the last seven) get back in for Game 1, it raises the question of who comes out. The Leafs finished with five straight wins, part of a 13-2-1 stretch, and the most likely candidates, Nick Robertson and Pontus Holmberg, have performed well. Robertson can score, while Holmberg has a knack for drawing penalties (28, tied for 17th in the NHL in that category).

 

“We talked about this last stretch,” said Treliving. “It hasn’t just been one, two or three guys. It’s been everybody, and that’s what you need at this time of the year.

 

“You need a lot of participants doing all sorts of different jobs … Craig and the coaches will have lots of discussion over the course of the next couple days.”

 

“But, at the end of the day, you need lots of guys available. Bumps and bruises are going to happen.”

 

 

 

 

 

This article was first reported by The Star