Minor leagues but major investment
Leafs getting the most from first-class approach to farm
It’s the food: breakfast, lunch, a takehome dinner.
It’s the equipment: the right stick, the right curve, the right lie.
It’s the training: the same staff and treatment that the Toronto Maple Leafs get.
It’s, well, everything. The Toronto Marlies are a minor-league club with a major-league attitude.
"Everything is first class," said Marlies captain Andrew Campbell. "Everything from hotels and meals to staff."
The farm team is no longer a place just to put prospects and wait, which used to be how the Maple Leafs did things. Now the organization is on the leading edge of player development, investing in the growth potential of their young charges.
"From the time I’ve been with the Marlies, it doesn’t feel like an American Hockey League team," said forward Seth Griffith, who played in the NHL with the Leafs, Bruins and Panthers in the 2016-17 season. "You get treated so well.
"There’s an unlimited amount of resources. If you need something equipment-wise, they get it for you right away. It makes you feel wanted."
The shift started when the Leafs moved their top farm team from St. John’s to Toronto for the 2005-06 season, mainly as a cost-saving measure. The commitment from ownership has grown through the years, but it is only in the past couple of season that the team has been properly stocked with prospects while al- so developing its unique fan base that -- more or less -- fills the Ricoh Coliseum with average attendance over 6,100 a game.
"It’s the right thing to do," said Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello. "The thing I was most impressed with when I came here to Toronto was the ownership allowed the hockey department to have a minorleague team with the resources to develop players, which means complementing them with veterans, help them improve, help them to become competitive every year.
"If you want to be a successful organization in the NHL today, you have to develop players."
Coach Sheldon Keefe, for example, says everything he needs it at his disposal, from staff, to player development programs.
"There’s a lot of resources here for the development of the players to create a positive environment in which the players can come to the rink knowing they have everything they need, that they will be well taken care of," said Keefe. "That in itself has players feeling they’re getting better. They’re not feeling down because they’re in the minors but they feel they part of something."
Seeing players make the leap to the NHL this year -- and an impactful leap at that -- certainly helps the organization’s reputation as a developer of talent.
It’s impossible to know where the 2016-17 Leafs would have been if William Nylander, Connor Brown and Zach Hyman had been rushed to the NHL, or had their development ignored or neglected. But if the Marlies had been treated as an afterthought, the Leafs probably wouldn’t have made the step forward they did.
"When you’re in the same city, there are more eyes on you," said Keefe. "You feel like you are a part of something. The commitment from the organization has been terrific. It makes our job easier in terms of dealing with the players and having what we need to make them better."
Surrounding young prospects with good people -- both as teammates and in support roles -- only makes sense.
"If you have children, who would you want them studying with? Or going to movies with? Or working out with?" said Lamoriello. "You want quality people to help them become better, not drag them down."
Living off a minor-league salary -especially in a city with expensive housing like Toronto -- is not necessarily easy. So to have meals taken care of at home is a big help, something that doesn’t happen with other AHL teams.
"It’s very NHL," said Campbell. "A lot of NHL teams have meals for the players. There are only a handful of teams in the American league that do it. We’re very fortunate."
The veterans have heard the night- mares.
"It’s funny seeing some of the rookies, they don’t know how good they’ve got it," said Griffith. "You hear stories about struggles in the ’A.’ Some teams, they don’t have the money, so you don’t get your curve. You take somebody else’s stick. You struggle with that." Campbell adds to that list. "Or they stay at budget hotels, or eat crappy meals. We stay at first-class hotels," said Campbell.
It might sound like a pampered life, but it goes toward producing a better hockey player. Making the Marlies a top draw for the best veteran AHLers is in turn best for the young Leaf prospects by creating a winning and competitive environment.
"The two go hand in hand," said Campbell.
"If you’re an American league veteran like myself, I can’t think of a better place to be with the way you get treated."