The Brick Woll, Nylander² and Marner Magic.
With other musings from a Sunday night in Toronto considered.
Downtown Toronto, Sunday.
6:22, local time.
50 minutes before puck drop.
It is the classic Toronto conundrum. Holiday lighting, without the snow. Mistletoe on the air, if it ever even existed in the first place, replaced instead with the faint residue of smog, only partially-fulfilled dreams and that of twenty-two dollar Heineken.
In downtown, you have arrived, a moment of celebration chiefly anointed by the never-ending gridlock - case in point, in advance of tonight’s Toronto-Utah contest, it was bad enough that the Utah players were forced to abandon their team bus and make their way to the rink on foot.
And in similar spirit, from the catwalk leading out from Union Station, are those who form the GO Train mafia. Commuters, forever hoping to stand in solidarity, though it never lasts. Sure enough, they’re quickly falling into step behind those already moving into the under-renovation concourse of Scotiabank Area - duos, couples and larger parties all at once, identifiable only by the nameplates of their jerseys.
Sittler, McDonald, Williams. Gilmour and Clark.
Sundin, Tucker, Domi. Matthews, Marner, Nylander.
Eras, dividing lines, collapsing inwards.
It is a familiar feeling here in Toronto, if somewhat dashed with melancholy. Just last night, as the entire GTA can attest, from Etobicoke to the outer rim, pop superstar Taylor Swift concluded the second-to-last leg of her Eras tour in the city. Six shows in “The Six” (naturally), to be followed by a trio of dates in Vancouver. It almost seems dishonest then, disingenuous even - to go from what has (per Forbes) become the highest-grossing tour ever, back to business as usual.
But on game night? Don’t fool yourself. Even on an out-of-routine Sunday, expectation and anticipation both, linger.
Section 104.
6:39, local time.
32 minutes before puck drop.
Three rows up from behind the net, forward Alexander Nylander, as if utterly oblivious to the pandemonium surrounding him on all sides, is vigorously putting himself through a series of warm-up drills.
He is working a trio of pucks from the faceoff circle to the hashmarks and back again. Each movement, purposeful and precise, before he unloads them in rapid succession towards the empty cage, catching himself in a loop once, twice, thrice over.
The buzzer sounding, Nylander is the second-to-last Leaf to leave the ice, preceding only Mitch Marner.
Making his Toronto debut tonight, it has come with a level of fanfare that exceeds that of most journeymen - he is, of course, the younger brother of William Nylander, Toronto’s star winger. Together, they will become the 48th pair of brothers to play in an NHL game (following their father, Michael, who played fifteen seasons in the League).
Though as the elder Nylander has steadily evolved into perhaps hockey’s most unassuming All-Star, Alexander has never been able to establish a truly consistent foothold in the NHL - save for his pandemic-truncated season in Chicago nearly five years ago. Boosting a similar profile to his sibling, there is hope that he will be able to translate his early-season success with the AHL’s Marlies into third-line/power-play work. Not the be-all, end-all solution, no (he will finish the contest with two shots in just over ten minutes of ice time) but simply another option, as Toronto looks to keep themselves afloat. Their near-perfect record since Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews, most prominently, went down with injury, masking a noticeably depleted lineup.
While Knies is back on the ice and Matthews, after returning from a brief medical sojourn in Germany is eyeing a return to the lineup, the captain will watch once more from the press box tonight, as the Leafs continue their roll without him. Albeit, momentum they struggle to find until well into the second period, only by way of Markham’s favourite son - Mitch Marner.
Section 104.
8:12, local time.
Six minutes into the second period.
1-0 Utah.
If any one word could define Mitch Marner’s career as a Maple Leaf, let it not be conflict but rather, brilliance.
For a franchise that has existed, in numerous forms, for well over a century and as the Maple Leafs specifically for (as of this writing) ninety-seven years, raw individual success has been hard-pressed. It comes with the territory, naturally, an understood division that highlights the fact that their competitive windows have been sporadic at best. The ever present reminder that the last time they actively competed for, let alone won a Stanley Cup, was before both the first moon landing and the widespread advent of colour television.
The team’s statistical leaderboards then, are something of a hodgepodge of players from across the decades. Be it Mats Sundin at the top, the poster-boy for the lean years of late nineties/early 2000s or Darryl Sittler, he, who made something out of nothing during the darkest days of Harold Ballard’s reign of terror in the 1970s.
Maybe it is Cecil “Babe” Dye, who still leads Toronto in points-per-game, despite having played the bulk of his career for the then St. Patricks in the 1920s.
Or, perhaps, it is Marner.
The hometown kid who came out of the London Knights program with skill and pure energy to burn, as he immediately became a lynchpin, next to William Nylander and Matthews, for what was envisioned as a championship era for the ages - well, not quite, not yet. The duality of Marner, present in everything he brings. From the 90-point average and Selke-nominated two-way game to the trade rumours and oft-disenchanted fanbase who hound him closer than a penalty-kill defender.
But six minutes into the second period, he reminds Toronto of just who he is at his very best: an offensive dynamo with very few equals.
As John Tavares corrals the puck from behind the Toronto goal line, he springs Marner, who has slipped between the Utah defense just past centre ice for a clear-cut breakaway. The crowd, in response, builds to crescendo as Marner, who never slowed down, takes four hard strides before wiring a quick, no-doubt wrister past Karel Vejmelka.
1-1.
And while the resulting applause is for Marner, try though he might to redirect it towards his former captain, it doesn’t work.
The moment, firmly, is his to lose.
Unexpectedly then, one can almost see the gears turning, just four minutes later, as he leads the Leafs power-play effort in the Utah zone.
After keeping the play onside with a recovery at the blue-line, the puck on a string, he pushes through into the corner, the read, revealing limited options.
Blanketed by two defenders, he can’t bully his way forward or to the right, towards the net, any further. Instead, he spies (who else?) Tavares in the slot: kickstarting a seven-second, one-two-three, tic-tac effort that goes from Tavares, to William Nylander to Fraser Minten and then, back to Marner, who bags his eighth of the year and second of the game, on a deflected shot from well behind the goal line.
For those who can see it, there is a poetry in the chaos - even for this writer, who, with their phone in one hand and a beer in the other, knows better than to defy such fundamental convention (always keep your eye on the puck) but can’t argue with the end result: not bad.
2-1 Toronto.
The goal, the 202nd of Marner’s career, sees him leapfrog the great Syl Apps for fourteenth on Toronto’s all-time list.
Undeniable proof that yes, this era of Leafs hockey, for all its playoff inability/disappointment has paradoxically produced the greatest bevy of singular talent to ever grace Leaf ice, either on Bay or Carlton street.
Marner will end the game with 667 career points, seven more than an inactive Matthews - he is now, just 46 away from George Armstrong, at 713, for sole possession of fifth on the all-time Leafs leaderboard.
But William Nylander, seemingly not to be outdone by either his long-time teammate or the excitement of his brother’s Toronto debut, finds himself on a breakaway of his own less than a minute later and promptly buries a sliding shot-deke past Vejmelka. His fourteenth goal of the season, it ties him for fourth, League-wide, with Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen
His celebration, as-ever, cool, casual, collected, as he raises his stick upwards:
“Surprised? I’m not.”
3-1 Toronto.
Section 104.
9:33, local time.
Thirteen minutes into the third period.
3-2 Toronto.
While Utah will get one back early in the third, in the Leafs net, Joesph Woll stands tall, holding the fort against a few notable sequences of Utah pressure, highlighted with a stretched-out toe save on Michael Carcone deep into the period, preserving the Toronto lead.
The scattered chants of “Woll! Woll! Woll!” are a confirmation on various fronts. For one, as the Leafs hold on and close out the win, Woll’s fourth-straight, it will keep them atop the Atlantic Division and put them at 7-0-1 over their last eight. For another, it allows the crowd to begin their time-honoured tradition: having enough confidence to leave early.
But nothing, particularly in hockey, lasts forever.
The Leafs will have two days off, before their showdown against Florida on Wednesday - the Panthers, just a game back of the Leafs for tops in the Atlantic. Meanwhile Utah, as they head to Montréal, continue to try and find their footing. An expansion team in technical terms yes but also the byproduct of a larger relocation effort brought on by years of mismanagement: as they look to establish an identity outside of what remains of the now former Arizona Coyotes.
Their joint effort, accenting that wholly unique experience.
A night with the Leafs.
Nice article Ryan. Great you saw the game with your dad. Go Leafs Go!