Tavares kept his ‘C’ a secret from Leafs teammates
John Tavares needed his best poker face for two days, knowing he’d been named captain, having gone through the surprise ceremony with his wife and baby son on Monday night, yet sworn to secrecy until Wednesday night.
“Knowing what was coming for a couple of days, I made sure to enjoy the whole day up to being introduced to the fans,” Tavares said. “It was nice to let those feelings and emotions out.”
The club caught him offguard on Monday. He believed general manager Kyle Dubas had asked him to SBA that day as a member of the leadership group to talk about season logistics. Aryne and three-week-old son Jace were waiting for him, Jace wearing a tiny sweater with a ‘C’.
“I had no idea they’d be there. She said she was going shopping for her mother’s birthday,” said Tavares, who agreed mom kept mum perfectly for a whole day before the announcement, in cahoots with Dubas. “I saw the video, it was beautiful.”
While former captain Wendel Clark was at the game, Tavares heard from one of the low-key Leafs ‘C’s, predecessor Dion Phaneuf.
“I got a really nice text from Dion,” he said. “I met him at the world championships a few years ago and we spent time together after it. It was a message about how special it is to be a captain and in this city.”
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
Head coach Mike Babcock said it was a team effort that determined that the Toronto bench had enough video evidence to challenge the Ottawa goal that was turned over and denied the visitors a 3-2 lead. Toronto scored the next three goals. Jordan Bean is the video co-ordinator and Andrew Brewer the staff’s eye in the sky.
“Bean Bag and Brew did that for sure,” Babcock praised. “We had a really good replay, too. It was a big play in the game.”
Being absolutely sure these days with so many more penalties assessed for unsuccessful challenges has made such a call from the bench more impactful.
“Just think about the heat in there,” joked Babcock. “You know in Toronto, if we get it wrong, there’ll be no beatdown right? We have decisions to make and sometimes we’ll be wrong. But have enough jam to tell us (upstairs) and we’ll make the decision.”
COMING BACK, SLOWLY
There was a welcome sight for the Leafs at practice on Thursday, Zach Hyman a regular participant. The left winger had knee surgery after a tear during the p[layoff series against the Bruins and has mostly been working out on his own. He hadn’t been able to comment on his progress until now.
“Today was an encouraging day to get back with the main group,” he said. “You have the mentality that you want to be playing all the time, but we have a great medical and support staff here and I’m just taking it day by day. And today was encouraging.”