MARLIES LOOKING FOR CUP, TOO
Leafs’ farm team closes out record season with 54th win, Utica on deck in playoffs
Marlies goalie Ian Scott, the Prince Albert Raiders product making his pro debut, tracks the play through traffic in Sunday’s 4-3 win over Belleville at Ricoh Coliseum, where a lot of AHL hardware was handed out. The Marlies finished with the league’s best regular season record, and high hopes.
Marlies goalie Ian Scott came out of the dressing room unable to suppress his smile after a 4-3 win over Belleville at Ricoh Coliseum on Sunday.
Scott deserved at least a moment of enjoyment: playing in his first professional game, in the last game of the Marlies’ regular season, Scott notched his first pro win by stopping 27 of 30 shots.
For the Marlies, the win was their third in three days, an effort typical of the consistency the club has shown in winning an American Hockey Leaguebest 54 wins (54-18-2-2). But with the playoffs opening against Utica next weekend, the mindset was to “turn the page” on a record-setting regular season and focus on what the Leafs organization expects will be a deep post-season run for their AHL franchise.
“I was nervous at the start, but that went away by the end of the game,” said Scott, whom the Leafs selected 110th overall in 2017 out of the Prince Albert Raiders.
Scott, 19, from Calgary, was also appreciative of his teammates, who put up a solid 60 minutes in their third meeting of the season with a bigger, aggressive Senators team.
For Scott, there was reason for nerves. The Marlies sat nine regulars. They often play twoand three-game weekends and often shuffle their lineup, a reflection of the fact that the team is mandated to develop future Leafs as well as chase the Calder Cup.
After the game, Garret Sparks, recognized as the AHL’s top goalie after winning a Marlies record 31 games this season, skated out and gave a big hug to Scott.
“He said (before the game): Just have fun with it, no pressure, go out and be yourself and you’ll be fine,” Scott said of Sparks, who also teamed with Calvin Pickard to win the Harry Holmes Memorial Award for the tandem that allowed the fewest goals over the course of the season.
In a pre-game ceremony in front of a Ricoh crowd of 4,534, AHL commissioner David Andrews also presented the Marlies with the MacGregor Kilpatrick Trophy, indicative of the AHL’s regular-season champions. Andrews also recognized the team’s all-stars: Sparks, Andreas Johnsson and Ben Smith.
Scott proved a solid backbone on a rest day for the regulars, and that spoke volumes about what was expected all season long from the Marlies roster, which not only fluctuates regularly, but maintains a development group under the guidance of former NHLer Scott Pellerin. For instance, the team brought in Scott after his Western Hockey League junior season ended last week, and bluechip prospect Carl Grundstrom from Sweden, to work with the club and absorb some playoff experience.
“We feel our team is in a good place, and we feel we’re ready for the playoffs,” Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We’ve accomplished a lot of good things, things to be proud of, but we’re turning the page on the season and focusing on the playoffs … and we’ll go with the deepest team that we can.”
On the final day of the season, it came down to first-year player Adam Brooks, who gave Toronto a 3-2 lead late in the second period, and Jeremy Bracco, who scored the winner with just under three minutes remaining. Andrew Nielsen and Pierre Engvall also scored for the home side.
Keefe and his coaching staff are now tasked with preparing a deep roster for a playoff run that starts against Utica.