The shape of things to come
Matthews, Nylander back, but need time to reach full stride
BOSTON— His full lineup — almost a dream team — finally assembled, all Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock needs to do is find a way to keep his players healthy.
With William Nylander and Kasperi Kapanen involved in a car accident on their way to the airport Friday, and Auston Matthews physically manhandled into the boards on Thursday, it may be easier said than done.
While some within the locker room made light of the accident, Nylander took a serious tone.
“Just happy everyone was OK after,” said Nylander, whose Volvo S-60 was severely damaged on the passenger side. “Everyone is feeling OK. Me and Kappy are good.”
Nylander said the other driver and passenger were OK as well.
“We were just driving to the airport and it was just one little second it took to get into one little accident. A car just turned into us. It happened from behind. I didn’t have time to react.”
Babcock made light of it. “Sounds like he did some good driving so Kappy didn’t get hit.”
The coach said the accident reminded of a time when Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom showed up late for a Detroit Red Wings game. “Tommy comes running in my office and says: ‘We had a big accident, but don’t worry. We knew were going to get hit, so I dove in front of Nick. He didn’t get touched.’ ”
Still, it’s a lesson into how quickly fortunes can change. For Matthews as well; the Leafs’ star centre has developed a habit of putting himself in harm’s way on the ice.
His aggressive move to the net — always encouraged by coaches — in a game against Winnipeg resulted in a separated shoulder and cost him a month of action.
On Thursday, Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall pounded Matthews into the end boards. It winded Matthews and — briefly — took the air out of the crowd at the Scotiabank Arena, now getting all too familiar with seeing Matthews on the injured list.
As for Babcock, the coach didn’t seem worried about it.
“It was two guys bumping into each other,” said the coach. “It probably wasn’t even a penalty. Those things happen. But when you’re just coming back from injury, you’re not in sync the same way. And you end up getting blown up a few times.”
Both Nylander and Matthews are key cogs for the Leafs and they’ll both need time to get into tip-top playing shape after having missed so much time.
Nylander has the most catching up to do, one of a handful of players who took part in an optional workout Saturday prior to the Leafs-Bruins game in Boston.
“The biggest thing was getting the practice in (on Friday) was a real positive,” said Babcock.
“In saying that, just getting back and getting playing and being part of the team is important. The jokes, the amount of abuse you take. Just getting in. It’s going to take him time when you haven’t been here every day.
“He’s an important part of our team, and we’ve got to get him going.”
Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly said patience is key regarding players returning to the lineup following long layoffs.
“For him (Nylander) to jump in 28, 29 games in, you’re playing against guys who have been at it for a while,” said Rielly. “We’re happy to have him back. With each game that goes by he’ll be more and more comfortable. We’re looking forward to watching him get into his groove.”
The Leafs can be thankful they’ve only lost 17 man-games to injury. Their sports science team deserves some of the credit for the way they monitor the players, recommending days off or optional skates because the belief is a tired body is more prone to injury. It also helps with peak performance.
As talented as the Maple Leafs are, it will take some time for the team to reach its peak level.
“We haven’t had our team together all year,” Babcock said. “I think I’ll know about our team better in three weeks. Any time we’ve changed our roster, we haven’t been quite as good right away for a bit. We’re trying to find the best image of ourselves for 60 minutes that we can turn into a blueprint to do it over and over again.
“We’ve got to get everyone on deck first. And then I think we can find that. We have a group that believes we’re pretty good. To be really good and to be a champion, you’ve got to do it every day and you’ve got to do it with detail. You’ve got to do it hard. You’ve got to have people step up. We’ve got a long way to go. This is Game 30.
“The season goes by quick.”