Leivo knows score in waiting game
Spare forward pumped (weightlifting will do that) for whenever coach calls
On most days after practice, Leafs winger Josh Leivo quietly removes his equipment while teammates are surrounded by reporters and cameras.
Leivo’s story is one of a player waiting for the chance to show what he can do in game action this season.
For a while on Wednesday it looked like that chance would come in Thursday night’s home date with the Carolina Hurricanes. Leivo worked with the fourth unit on line rushes in practice, while veteran James van Riemsdyk didn’t take part — after missing a shift late in Monday night’s win over the Los Angeles Kings with a suspected leg injury.
After practice, though, coach Mike Babcock said van Riemsdyk will likely face Carolina.
“We won’t know 100 per cent until (Thursday’s morning skate), but we expect him to play,” he said.
If not, Leivo’s ready to move on to the fourth line, with Connor Brown replacing van Riemsdyk on the third with Tyler Bozak and Mitch Marner.
When you’re the 13th forward in a 12-man unit, you learn to keep things in perspective and work hard — on the ice and in the gym — until your number’s called.
In Leivo’s case, though, there’s more to it than that. He’s also caught Babcock’s eye with his positive approach.
“He’s been great,” the coach said of Leivo. “We had players here in the past who were disgruntled, and when they went somewhere else they found out they weren’t NHL players.”
Ex-Leafs Frankie Corrado (now with Pittsburgh) and Peter Holland (Montreal) — who expressed dissatisfaction after long waits for playing time in Toronto — are now in the AHL.
Leivo entered this past off-season with a plan to make the roster, which he did by beating out top prospects including Kasperi Kapanen and Nikita Soshnikov. He made a habit of hitting the gym every day, going to the Leafs’ training facility regularly and working out — hard.
The results showed up in camp when the training staff began logging the results from strength tests. When it came to the dead lift, Rich Clune was the strongest player in the organization. Leivo came a close second.
That was important to Babcock, who stresses “getting better” in the summer and is dedicated to weight training and running himself.
“Just lifting weights,” Leivo said of his summer. “I tried to get stronger, and conditioning . . . on and off the ice, just so you can keep up in practice.”
Leivo has all the jump and competitiveness of the Leafs’ regulars. He’s also in a contract year, so being ready is more important than ever.
“I’ve been playing for long enough, so I know my skill set,” said Leivo, a 2011 third-round pick who played 41 NHL games in the past four seasons, including 13 last year. “It’s the conditioning that has to stay the same.
“I did this last year and made the most of it. Whatever the coaching staff wants me to do, I’m ready to do it.”