The Toronto Maple Leafs have something to prove in their Stanley Cup Qualifier series against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Morgan Rielly said Thursday.
The defenseman said he and the Maple Leafs were not satisfied with an inconsistent regular season.
"We're very motivated …" Rielly said. "I think that as players we want to be as prepared as we possibly can be because we understand that there's a chance to come back and prove some people wrong."
The NHL on May 26 announced its Return to Play Plan, which includes 24 teams, 12 from each conference, competing for the Stanley Cup. The Maple Leafs (36-25-9, .579 points percentage) are the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and will play the No. 9 Blue Jackets (33-22-15, .579) in a best-of-5 series when the NHL season resumes. The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The qualifiers will be held at two hub cities to be identified and begin at a date to be determined.
Rielly said Toronto wasn't playing up to its own expectations, let alone those of critics, when the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
"I think going into this break, we didn't feel all that good about where we were in the months leading up," he said. "I think that we've all had some time to think about that and we have a chance to change the narrative a little bit."
The Maple Leafs were off to a 9-10-4 start when Mike Babcock was fired as coach Nov. 20 and replaced by Sheldon Keefe, who was coaching their American Hockey League affiliate in Toronto. The Maple Leafs went 27-15-5 under Keefe but lost three of their final four games.
Eager for a fresh start, Rielly was one of the first players on the ice Monday when team facilities opened for on- and off-ice workouts under Phase 2 of the Return to Play Plan. The workouts are to consist of groups of no more than six players. At least a dozen Maple Leafs players have already participated, a turnout Rielly said shows how determined Toronto is to turn things around and make a run at the Stanley Cup.
The NHL and NHL Players' Association announced Thursday that training camps will open July 10 as part of Phase 3, but Rielly said the Maple Leafs have already begun focusing on the Blue Jackets.
"I think that play-in round will be extremely competitive," he said. "There will be a lot of teams that understand what's at stake and don't want to be gone in just a handful of games. They're going to compete very hard to keep their chances alive. The Columbus Blue Jackets is a team that is deep.
"They play hard and they're well-coached, so I think there's a challenge there for us. But I think as we get closer to training camp and we get closer to the play-in series, we'll do our homework and when that time comes we'll be ready."
That preparation will involve looking at how the Blue Jackets swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning last season in the Eastern Conference First Round. Columbus had finished 30 points behind Tampa Bay in the regular season.
"You're going to have to be at your best right away," Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas told Sportsnet last week. "Our benefit is that we know our opponent is going to be extremely difficult. They're a very good team. They've built a very strong identity and culture in the way they operate, the way they play in Columbus … We know what they're like, we know how good they are in the playoffs and the damage they're capable of doing. Our major focus is on our own conditioning and being up to the test ourselves."
No comments:
Post a Comment