BOOK OF LOU ABOUT LIVING IN THE NOW
Leafs’ general manager plays it close to the vest about expectations in Toronto
Lou Lamoriello is as cold as the ice the Maple Leafs skate on.
It’s part of his charm. It’s part of his success. It’s part of what makes him Lou. He won’t allow himself to get emotional about almost anything including the expectations for this Leafs season with this remarkable group of Toronto youth.
On Wednesday night in Winnipeg, a new Leafs season begins and he’ll talk about Wednesday night, but not beyond that. He’ll discuss Thursday on Thursday, Friday on Friday. Next season? That’s a million miles away for Lamoriello, the third-year general manager with an expiring contract, who won’t talk about the future in anything but general terms.
“As far as thinking about the end of the year, that’s the worst thing we can do,” said Lamoriello. He almost always says we. He never says I or me. That’s another of the Lou principles.
“If you do the right things, day in and day out, you do all the things you need to do, you feel good about your teams.
“You don’t think what’s the next step? You don’t think how much progress will we make from last year to this year? And you don’t think of the end result. I’ve never thought that way. I don’t believe in it. We feel very good about our training camp. How it’s just coming together.”
That’s as far as he’ll go. The enthusiasm ends there for public consumption. Every day and every game is a work in progress. “They (the players) speeded up the process (of development) last season. I don’t think you ever take anything for granted in this game. I don’t think about other teams, I think about us. You should come to work each and every day with the maximum commitment and the maximum drive. I don’t worry about the end result. We’re competing against ourselves to be the best at what we do.”
There are tangible areas in which the Leafs need to improve upon from a year ago, but Lamoriello doesn’t share my analysis. The Leafs finished 22nd in the NHL in goals against a year ago: most of the teams between 20-30 in goals against didn’t make the playoffs. When he last won a Stanley Cup in New Jersey, the Devils were first in goals against.
“I’m a goal differential person,” said Lamoriello. “You have to be careful looking at things like total goals for or against. You can’t take anything out of context.”
In context, the only time Mike Babcock won a Cup, his Detroit Red Wings were first in the NHL in goals against.
“I’m not worried about statistics,” said Lamoriello. He won’t share exactly what he’s worried about.
Last season, the Leafs were the worst shootout team in hockey. They were 1-8 after overtime. The points lost in penalty shots almost cost them a playoff spot. The normally dependable Frederik Andersen had a .522 save percentage in shootout situations last season, just .500 the year before in Anaheim.
“One year in New Jersey, we couldn’t get a shootout win, the next year we couldn’t lose a shootout. It’s like that a lot,” said Lamoriello. “I’m very comfortable with us in shootouts going forward.
“It’s not just about the goalie. It’s about scoring more. You still have to score more than the other team.”
What Lamoriello does talk about a lot is the changing face of the NHL, more specifically the parity within the league. Making the playoffs is probably more challenging than it has been. There is no obvious favourite to win the Stanley Cup, to finish first in divisions. What he says without saying, the door is open for his Maple Leafs.
The door is open for just about every team in the NHL.
“We’re in a league with parity,” he said. “And parity means everybody is pretty close. It means we have to get better in all areas of our game. I have total confidence (in that) because of Mike (Babcock) and his staff and the preparation done and we have talent here, some exceptional talent, who want to be good every day, who want to have success. To see them put in all that work at all levels of the game, that’s very encouraging.”
That’s about as effusive as Lamoriello will get. He stops himself before going any farther.
He looks back at arriving in Toronto in the summer of 2014 and the kind of team he was joining. He has talked so much about culture and process and all that he believes in since coming here.
“If you go back a few years ago, we went through 47-50 players that year,” he said. “We had some young guys take a run at the Calder Cup. We had veterans who bought into Mike’s system and more importantly bought into our program. That was a start.”
This isn’t a finish. It’s the next step. He’ll let fans and media get excited about the Leafs. He’ll stay working at it and say “I’m fortunate.
“When you work with the type of people I work with, with a common goal, with no egos, everyone wants to play their role, you enjoy that . ... Then you feel good.”
Then and only then.
As far as thinking about the end of the year, that’s the worst thing we can do.