BOZAK ISN’T SINGING BLUES ABOUT MOVE TO ST. LOUIS
Former Maple Leaf made right decision in free agency and is now three wins from Cup
Tyler Bozak spent nine years living and playing hockey in Toronto, so naturally he was watching Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.
Well, the parts that his kids let him see.
“I watched a little bit of it when I wasn’t chasing them around,” he said. “I was obviously excited. I was cheering for the Raps. I’m a Raptors fan, so that was pretty cool for them to get the first one.”
Beyond the win, the thing that stood out for Bozak was the atmosphere surrounding the first NBA Finals game in Canada. The whole country seemed to be paying attention. Heck, all of North America was paying attention. Bozak’s former teammates, such as Mitch Marner, Nazem Kadri and Travis Dermott, were in the stands. Celebrities, from former prime minister Stephen Harper to pro golfer Bubba Watson, were also on hand.
Then there were the fans. While crowds of supporters had been lining up since the early morning to get into Toronto’s Jurassic Park located behind the arena, viewing parties were also set up in nearby cities such as Brampton, Burlington and Mississauga. Even Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, had thousands of Raptors fans watching on a screen outside.
As Bozak watched from his house in Clayton, a suburb just outside of St. Louis, a part of him had to be wondering what it would have been like had the Maple Leafs got the chance to play in a Stanley Cup final during his time in Toronto.
Then again, Saturday night’s Game 3 in St. Louis is a pretty good consolation.
Like the Leafs, who have waited since 1967 to play in the final, the Blues are hosting their first Stanley Cup final game in nearly 50 years. And while the whole country won’t be watching, most in the city will be.
“It’s not really comparable. It’s two different cities,” he said of Toronto versus St. Louis. “But yeah, it’s going to be crazy. I’m pretty sure people have been waiting a while for this and are just as excited as we are. Hopefully, we play our best for them.”
St. Louis filled the Enterprise Center for Games 1 and 2 with fans watching the away game on the arena’s big screen. During the national anthem in Game 2, the video feed cut out and the sold-out arena broke into song, a moment that went viral within the city.
“Yeah, I saw those videos,” said Bozak. “That’s pretty cool. I mean, we’re not even here and it’s sold out and it’s loud. We’re excited. We’re really excited to play in front of these fans. They’ve been nothing but great to us all year long.”
This is why Bozak signed in St. Louis in the summer. For years, he experienced the craziness of playing in the centre of the hockey universe. But he never experienced the craziness of a Cup — he never even got out of the first round — even though the Maple Leafs were trending that way at the end of Bozak’s tenure.
Bozak would have liked to remain in Toronto, where he had been on a line with Mitch Marner and James van Riemsdyk last season. But he wasn’t the team’s first choice. Once it became clear the Leafs were trying to sign John Tavares, Bozak and van Riemsdyk looked at their options and signed July 1 deals to play elsewhere.
While van Riemsdyk returned to Philadelphia, Bozak chased a championship and ended up in St. Louis, where he’s now three wins away from achieving that goal.
“I’m getting older, so if I wasn’t going to Toronto I wanted to go to a team that I thought would be a contender and make a long run at it,” he said. “There were other teams I was talking to. But I just thought St. Louis was the perfect fit for me.
“When St. Louis called, I was really excited. I took a look at their roster — the core pieces they had — and thought about everything about playing against them over the years. It was an easy decision.”
Bozak didn’t say what other teams he had been talking to, but for the first three months of the season, it seemed that he had made the wrong choice. The Blues were dead last in the entire league on Jan. 2. But, as everyone now knows, the team saved its best for last, finishing the season with the NHL’s best record in the second half.
Bozak, who had 13 goals and 38 points during the regular season and has another five goals and 11 points in 21 playoff games, has been a big part of the Blues’ success. As a No. 3 centre on a line with hometown forward Pat Maroon and now-injured rookie Robert Thomas, he’s given the team scoring depth.
It’s the kind of depth that is only possible because of a teamwide salary structure that may not be possible in Toronto next season.
Though Bozak received an $800,000 raise from the US$4.2 million he was earning with the Leafs, the Blues have the NHL’s 16th-highest payroll mostly because no one on their team is being paid more than $7.5 million, and only three players are being paid more than $5.75 million.
Compare that to the Leafs, where Auston Matthews and John Tavares are each earning $11 million or more — with Marner expected to join them this summer in the double-digit club — and William Nylander and Patrick Marleau are making $6 million or more.
Essentially, Toronto could have signed both Bozak and van Riemsdyk for the same amount as Tavares is making. Not that the Leafs nor Bozak is complaining about how things have turned out.
“It’s been awesome here,” he said.
“It’s a good group of guys and a pretty crazy season with the way it’s gone on. I’m kind of just enjoying the moment. But it’s been an awesome transition. We love living in St. Louis.”
Three wins away from a potential championship, it could get even better.
I’m pretty sure people have been waiting a while for this and are just as excited as we are. Hopefully, we play our best.