Leafs notebook: No snow day for team

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A week earlier the Maple Leafs were enjoying a day off in the desert; Monday they were shovelling mounds of snow to get to the practice rink on time.

Surprisingly, there was full attendance at the Ford Performance Centre, for some players a tougher commute than reaching Scotiabank Arena, made more difficult for all when major roadways were shut down before the noon workout began.

Coach Sheldon Keefe considered cancelling the practice as a local blizzard warning was issued, but he and his assistants had come in early and the intel was that all players were en route, albeit at a safe pace.

Some arrived after the pre-practice meeting, others hopped on the ice a few minutes late. There was lots of car pooling, while captain John Tavares and defenceman Jake Muzzin took an hour or more to clear out their driveways just to leave.

“Lucky enough I have a truck,” Tavares said. “We all found a way. Not a typical morning, but nice to see some snow on the ground.”

Alex Kerfoot’s small car didn’t get far on the streets before he gave up, drove home and phoned an Uber.

“A bit of an adventure,” said Kerfoot, who knows snow   as a B.C. native and former Colorado Avalanche. “I got here a little late. I’ve never seen the roads that bad since I’ve been here.

“Normally, if you’re running late for practice, you’re nervous. Today was a unique circumstance. But we got our business done.”

The only absentees were the three Leafs in COVID-19 protocol, forwards Ondrej Kase, Nick Ritchie and defenceman Justin Holl.

MUZZIN VOWS TO DO BETTER

With Holl out a few days, Muzzin has partnered with Timothy Liljegren. The Swede netted his first NHL goal Saturday in St. Louis, but hearing that he wasn’t satisfied with his overall game through almost 20 minutes in the uneven 6-5 victory, Muzzin owned up.

“I wasn’t very good either, I have to be better for him, for sure,” Muzzin said. “Especially an older guy trying to help out a younger guy. He was fine, most of it was on me. But I was happy for him to get his first one. There are many more to come.”

Muzzin, coming off a bout of COVID, said he’s one of many trying to adjust on the fly to the lineup changes necessitated by pandemic protocols and long stretches of inactivity on the schedule.

“It’s just not your normal, but a lot of teams are going through this, with different road trips, different personnel in the lineups, injuries. There’s no excuse, you have to keep on battling.”

Keefe has observed that Muzzin is not quite where he was prior to the December pause.

“Not to the level that he has shown in the league. He has some inconsistencies in each game, particularly with the puck and that’s where things have gone bad for him.

“Yet he’s still a very valuable player, a huge part of our penalty kill, our most physical defenceman by far. There were a lot of great moments in the St. Louis game, with him knockin’ guys on their ass and getting us moving the other way. We’ve won a lot of games and that doesn’t happen without Muzz taking those hard minutes.

“He’s as committed and as aware as anyone about improving and as aware of what he’s going through and the fact he has more to give us. I’m not worried about that aspect, but it’s certainly something we’ve continued to talk about.”

MARLIES MOVING UP

There is lots to like on the farm these days, a season-high six-game winning streak for the Marlies, who are now on a 10-game, nearly 5,000 kilometre road trip against seven teams. On Monday, the American Hockey League named defenceman Filip Kral player of the week. The 22-year-old Czech had two goals and four assists in Toronto’s past four games, including his first goal of the season, though he eventually lost the assist on a scorer’s review that would’ve given the fifth-round pick from 2018 a franchise record four in a single period last Monday against Springfield. The Marlies didn’t practice Monday after Sunday’s win in Lehigh Valley, thus Keefe had no update on goaltender Joseph Woll’s knee injury from the game before. Also hurt Sunday were defenceman Kristians Rubins and forward Josh Ho-Sang.

lhornby@postmedia.com

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