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Maple Leafs Notebook: Shanahan takes ’em outside; Quillan’s ironic debut
The Maple Leafs’ annual outdoor practice — which took place is Shanahan’s old stomping grounds — provided a chance to fans to get close to their heroes and a nice break from a relentless practice-game-fly schedule.
TORONTO — Brendan Shanahan, who grew up in Etobicoke, caught himself reminiscing to those days when he was all bundled up on a west-end outdoor rink on a crisp January day like this.
“It’s hard to come here and not think about my dad bringing me here in 1974, 1975. It hasn’t changed that much, to be honest with you,” Shanahan smiled.
As the Toronto Maple Leafs president stood on Mimico’s Prince of Wales rink, the wind was whipping across Lake Ontario, and young fans were cheering loudly for the team he runs.
“What a full circle it’s been,” Shanahan said. “So, feel really blessed to bring the Maple Leafs here.”
The Maple Leafs’ annual outdoor practice — a fun, free community event highlighted by a 30-minute casual 3-on-3 mini tournament — migrated west from City Hall to Shanahan’s old stomping grounds. (Instead of hopping the subway, the balaclava-covered players took a bus.)
The sunny event was well attended by giddy Leafs fans who probably should’ve been in school but instead played hooky in the name of hockey.
Something prodigy-turned-pro Auston Matthews did many times.
“It’s the best. It’s a good feeling, so I can only imagine today has been a good day for these kids,” said Matthews, whose Team Clark captured intrasquad bragging rights. “Chief said something about the losing team buying us lunch, but who knows if we’ll ever see that.”
How’d they do it?
“Find a way. The elements were against us, but we didn’t take no for answer,” said teammate Morgan Rielly, wryly.
Rielly looks forward to the lighthearted skate, a fun way to connect with starstruck fans who seldom get so close to their heroes and a nice break from a relentless practice-game-fly schedule.
Mitch Marner brought his beloved pooch Zeus onto the ice, while Jake McCabe and Ryan Reaves’ kids ripped around.
“Great little event,” enthused Craig Berube. The coach thought back to playing many a preteen game outdoors in Calahoo, Alta., which didn’t have an indoor rink until he got older.
“A lot of cold feet,” Berube smiled.
We imagine Shanahan’s feet were a little chilly on Monday. As he soaked in the nostalgia, the president didn’t have blades buffering his boots from the ice.
“I’m sure it means a lot,” Matthews said. “I’m surprised he didn’t bring his skates and gear up with us.”
Quillan’s whirlwind debut
Acertain irony is at play in Leafland.
Jacob Quillan earned his callup and made his NHL debut Saturday night in Ottawa as a direct result of Wednesday’s injury to Matthew Knies, who is sidelined by an upper-body injury.
The undrafted Quillan, you may recall, scored the overtime winner to clinch the 2023 NCAA championship for Quinnipiac, crushing the hopes of Knies’ favoured Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Knies, of course, turned down the Maple Leafs’ offer to turn pro early because he wanted one more shot at a crown with his beloved Gophers.
The kid who dashed Knies’s fairy-tale college ending got to soak in a buckets-off rookie lap, in part, because the first-liner got hurt.
“We trained together in the summer, and I’m starting to get to know him a little bit,” Quillan explains. “So, that’s past us at this point. It doesn’t matter now. We’re teammates.”
Small world, huh?
Moreover, Quillan’s parents just happened to move to Ottawa a handful of years ago, so Mom and Dad were able to serve their younger son a homecooked dinner before his NHL debut.
Here was the undrafted Quillan inviting 15-some friends and family members to see him debut in the same arena, Canadian Tire Center, where he first saw an NHL game live — Senators versus Bruins, about five years ago.
“I mean, this is what every kid dreams of their whole life. They wake up at 6 a.m., put the put the skates on and go to work. So, I have to thank a lot of coaches, family, teammates to get here,” Quillan said postgame.
“It’s been a ride.”
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Captain Auston Matthews was impressed by the prospect’s energy and aggression at camp. Quillan is fast and big (six feet fall, 200 pounds) for a 22-year-old. In other words, well suited to the fourth-line role.
“A lot of intensity,” Matthews noted.
Bobby McMann — who earns a promotion to lop-line left wing in Knies’s absence — played with Jacob’s older brother, Nick Quillan, at Colgate University and believes the siblings share the competitive gene.
Big brother Nick flew in from New York just in the you-know-what of time to watch Jacob and Bobby lose a tight one to Ottawa.
Unfortunately for Jacob, his most memorable highlight was getting kneed in the neutral zone by Nick Cousins, who left injured after the frightening collision.
Berube called for a penalty on the play, but Quillan himself brushed it off: “Stuff happens like that. Just gotta keep going.”
What’s concerning is that Quillan, who finished the game, did not skate Monday.
What stood out most from Quillan’s first taste of NHL action?
“Oh, just the pace. And how good these guys are with their sticks. And the speed is just next level. So, it was definitely a good learning experience,” Quillan said. “The adrenalin was running high.”
High enough to push through a sore knee, perhaps.
“A whirlwind of a day for your first match. And I know he had a lot of family and friends here,” McCabe said in Ottawa. “A night he’ll never forget. It’s always cool when you see a kid live out his dreams. We all remember those days. I remember my first game, too. So, it’s good stuff.”
Injury roundup: Tavares takes step in right direction
John Tavares did not participate in Monday’s outdoor shinny and has not been traveling with the club since he suffered his lower-body injury at practice a couple weeks back.
The good news is that the centreman has now skated twice since the fluke injury and is hopeful rejoin full team practice later this week.
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The recovering Knies and Max Pacioretty (upper body) also hung back to skate indoors with all the Maple Leafs goalies.
“He’s in good spirits,” Dr. Steven Lorentz assures of Knies, who has been skating regularly.
“He’s built like a brick you-know-what house. He’s got that muscle, that added layer. He’s a little banged up, but he won’t be out too much longer.”
Connor Dewar (upper body) did not skate.
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