The Maple Leafs like their new slogan.
“Play Right. Play Fast” has gone up in the Leafs dressing room in both the MasterCard Centre and the Air Canada Centre.
“It’s right, it’s what we need to do,” said rookie winger Mitch Marner. “That’s what we need to do. We need to play fast. We’re a fast-paced team. We have to play like that every night.”
It replaces the grammatically challenged “Heart and Drive Lives Here” which had been in place since training camp.
Read more:Game day: New York Islanders at Toronto Maple Leafs
“What I did this summer, what I often do, is coming up with something and then the team forms an identity for themselves. Slap that baby up,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock. “That’s what we did. It gives you something to talk about.
“Now that I know it’s a big deal, I’ll change it more often.”
The Leafs have had several slogans over the years, unlike the Montreal Canadiens who have stuck with “To you from failing hands we throw the torch be yours to hold it high” for as long as anyone can remember.
Some Leaf slogans through the years:
- “Burn the boats”
- “Entitled to nothing; grateful for everything”
- “If you are not in, you are in the way’
- “Blue Noise”
- “Success is hard work”
The slogan “Defeat did not rest lightly on their shoulders” is the one associated with the Leafs the most, going back to founder Conn Smythe.
TAVARES ROCKS: Leafs winger Matt Martin played with John Tavares for the first six years of his career, and developed a great deal of respect for the Islanders captain.
“He’s the hardest-working guy in practice, after practice, off the ice, and drives everyone else on that team to work that much harder,” said Martin. “He’s a humble guy as well.
“He hounds the puck. He wants the puck on his stick and wants to make plays. Playing with him that long, I’ve seen him grow into the player he is.
“He’s definitely made a lot of good wingers, and made a lot of guys a lot of money. He’s a top-end talent. It doesn’t matter who plays with him, guys have success with him.”
SHARP ENOUGH: The Leafs did not have a morning skate on Tuesday, a surprise move given Monday was a practice day. Typically, the Leafs only skip morning skates if they played the night before.
“Why didn’t we skate? Because I liked our practice (Monday). I thought we worked hard. I thought we were ready,” said coach Mike Babcock. “We’re trying to handle the situation. We’ve got a back-to-back (Islanders on Tuesday, Blue Jackets in Columbus on Wednesday). We are just trying to handle the situation. We thought it was the best thing for us.
STANDINGS WATCHING: Coach Mike Babcock is paying attention to the standings more this year than he did last year.
“I know what they are daily,” said Babcock. “I didn’t pay much attention to them last year. Just never looked at them. This year you pay more attention to them because you have an opportunity. Right now, we’re in a really good spot. Two-thirds of the schedule is gone. We’ve got one-third left. We have to play our way in.”
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Rookie centre Auston Matthews says the team shouldn’t get up for any one game more than any other game, that the effort should be the same regardless of the opponent or the position in the standings.
“We should be focused every single game, especially now with the position we’re in,” said Matthews. “We feel good. We’re in that timeline of teams pushing to make the playoffs. We don’t want to have any setbacks. We want to continue to move forward.”
YOUTHFUL JOLT: Centre Nazem Kadri says the entire Leafs team feels energized by the seven rookies on the squad this year. “It’s been fun, very exciting. It’s re-energized the whole group, seeing new faces, young faces. They’re been great for us, a big part of our team. The balance in scoring throughout our lineup has been the difference this year.”
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