Better late than never for Corrado
It’s been more than nine weeks since the Maple Leafs acquired Frank Corrado via the waiver wire.
And for the 22 games since, Corrado has done nothing but watch as a healthy scratch. But come Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre, the GTA-bred defenceman is expected to be granted the privilege of his Maple Leafs debut.
After slogging through what Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello has called “an unfortunate set of circumstances” — chief among them the fact coach Mike Babcock didn’t want him in the lineup — Corrado looks like a lock to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
And while Babcock has said previously that when Corrado is put into the lineup it’ll be for a string of games, there have been no promises made beyond Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t guarantee anything to anybody. Because the truth in hockey today isn’t the same as tomorrow,” Babcock said. “He’s going to play (Tuesday’s) game.”
Corrado said finally playing for his hometown team “pretty cool.”
“It might take a few shifts to get back in your rhythm,” Corrado, 22, told reporters on Saturday. “(But) once I get out there, it’s the ACC, hometown team, lot of friends and family in the building . . . I feel like that’ll take care of itself.”
Corrado’s time spent languishing as a practice player has led to plenty of questions about the wisdom of acquiring him in the first place. Vancouver general manager Jim Benning, who waived Corrado back in October, said back then that for Corrado to develop “he has to play.”
But Babcock has been unapologetic in taking his time to work the fifthround pick into the rotation.
“When we talk about how hard it is (for Corrado not to play), it sounds like he’s not in the NHL every day and not getting paid and not flying on the nice plane,” said Babcock on Saturday. “I have a hard time feeling sorry for guys playing in the National Hockey League myself. Now, do you have a better lot in life if you’re playing 20 minutes a night? Absolutely. But if you work hard and you compete hard and you do good things, even coaches catch on after a while.”