Leafs’ Tavares gears up for Mcdavid, Nassau
Matchups with one of the game’s elite, and old Islanders mates on their home turf
A couple of fun evenings at the office await John Tavares.
On Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena, it’s a date for the Maple Leafs with Connor Mcdavid, who is bound to be in a greater mood to inflict offensive destruction after serving a two-game suspension.
Though Leafs coach Mike Babcock didn’t confirm as much following practice at the Mastercard Centre on Tuesday, count on Tavares drawing the Mcdavid matchup when the Leafs play host to the Edmonton Oilers, something Tavares was expecting.
“It’s the way (Mcdavid) uses (his speed),” Tavares said. “His ability to read the play, anticipate, is arguably the best in the league.
“Being able to make plays at that top-end speed and being able to see the play two or three steps ahead, that’s what really separates him.”
Once the Oilers’ lone visit of 2018-19 to Toronto is done, Tavares and the Leafs will head to Uniondale, N.Y., where Tavares will make his first return to Nassau Coliseum on Thursday night to face the New York Islanders, the only other National Hockey League club he has known.
A faction of Isles fans remains extremely bitter (understatement alert) that Tavares left the club last July to sign a seven-year, Us$77-million with the Leafs, spurning the Isles and several other NHL teams to join his hometown team.
There’s the belief on Long Island that the Isles’ former captain led fans to think he wouldn’t be going anywhere else on the open market, only to choose the Leafs after team pitches were made at the offices of his agent, Pat Brisson, in Los Angeles.
Tavares is aware of the hostile reception that’s all but guaranteed.
“You have a sense of what it might be like,” Tavares said. “Whatever reception I get, I’m going to try to go out there and play and do what I have to do to help the Maple Leafs.”
No matter what may fall on his ears, Tavares is looking forward to playing in the Isles’ old barn again.
“It’s great being at the Coliseum, no doubt for myself, starting there, my first game, first goal, a lot of great memories,” Tavares said. “It’s a big part of Islander history and who the Islanders are. Being at the Coliseum, it will be fun to be in that environment again.”
What would Tavares want his legacy with the Islanders to be? The team didn’t win in his nine seasons after taking him first overall in 2009, going to the Stanley Cup playoffs three times and advancing past the first round once. Still, during his tenure with the club, Tavares mostly was revered by the Isles’ fan base.
“I really embraced being an Islander, I loved it, it was a great place to play, I never didn’t enjoy my time there, even when things weren’t going well,” Tavares said. “I did everything I could to help the team hopefully win a Stanley Cup and unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that.
“I take responsibility, especially being the captain, of not doing a good enough job consistently. I gave it everything I had on a daily basis and tried to do the best I could for the Islanders and was really proud to be one.”
We’re sure Tavares will have conflicting emotions in the hours leading up to the game and will take more time to reflect.
On Wednesday, however, the centre of attention will be Mcdavid.
The Leafs will attempt to win their third game in a row, while the Oilers arrive having won two of their past three, but just three of their past 15.
“You do the best to get on top of him and not give him any room,” Tavares said of Mcdavid. “He is a hell of a player. You just try to make him work without the puck, slow him down and make him have to earn everything he gets.
“He has missed the past couple of games and we expect him to be shot out of a cannon. Got to be aware of his game and what he can do out there.
“These are great opportunities to challenge yourself against a player like him.”