Nielsen ratings high, Marlies shoot for Cup
Ricoh adds seats with AHL championship just one win away
Andrew Nielsen played 65 regular-season games for the Toronto Marlies, the most among defencemen. He played the first four games of the playoffs, then was shunted aside when Travis Dermott was returned by the Maple Leafs for the Calder Cup run.
“It’s tough, because you play all year wanting to play in the playoffs and help the team however you can. You think you can be out there helping them,” said Nielsen.
“You’ve got to be ready. They still have faith in me. They still believe in me. They can only put six guys out there on the ice at a time, and at this point I wasn’t high enough on the depth chart. You have to stay ready and know it’s nothing person- al. Just a business decision.”
Nielsen got into a couple of games in the second round against Syracuse, but only because of injuries. Dermott is now out — day-to-day with an undisclosed injury — and Nielsen’s ability to put his hurt pride aside and just play is a big reason why the Toronto Marlies are just a win away from the franchise’s first AHL championship.
Nielsen stepped into the lineup in Game 5 — a 6-2 win over the Texas Stars — after having not played for a month and fit right in.
“It took me a few shifts to get going like it was a normal game,” said Nielsen. “I stayed ready. I worked on the ice and off the ice with the training staff to stay prepared. I’m ready to go back in Tuesday if Trav can’t go.”
That will be the big question for coach Sheldon Keefe ahead of Tuesday night’s Game 6, the possible clincher at Ricoh Coliseum.
The Marlies have more or less dodged major injuries through the playoffs, though Andreas Borgman remains out with a lower-body injury suffered in the second round.
“Travis is still day-to-day,” said Keefe. “He didn’t skate today, but everybody at this stage is day-to-day. We’ll see about the game-time decisions — we have other guys who are game-time decisions — and see what we can get out of them at this stage.”
Centre Frederik Gauthier is also nursing an injury, but played through it during the three games in Texas. But depth, especially on the Marlies blue line, hasn’t been an issue.
“We like our depth,” said Keefe. “Andrew Nielsen played a lot of big games for us all season long. Full confidence he can step in and play some minutes for us.”
Keefe said once Dermott returned from the NHL and Calle Rosen got healthy, his six-man defence — with Martin Marincin, Justin Holl, Vincent LoVerde and Timothy Liljegren — was set.
“We played really comfortable with the six that were playing and from Travis Dermott’s arrival, we decided on the six for that game. And we didn’t lose for five weeks and we were healthy, so it was difficult to make any changes,” said Keefe.
It was hard to hear for Nielsen, a 21-year-old third-round pick from the 2015 draft who was finishing his second full year in the pros.
“It’s never easy being scratched,” said Nielsen. “You want to play every game. Me, when I was told I was getting scratched, you … look at your game, you do more video, you work hard in the gym to show you want to be out there, and when the time comes you’re ready.
“It’s a roller coaster. You’ve got to be ready. We’ve got a deep team on defence. Any time you can get in I’m going to take it.” His teammates were impressed not just with his play, but his team-first approach to being scratched.
“It’s extremely difficult to be out of the lineup for a month, or as long as he was, to sit there and practise and not play and work out,” said LoVerde. “It’s tough mentally, it’s tough physically. I thought Andrew did an amazing job.
“It’s very hard to come into (Game 5) like that, with the stakes so high. I thought he competed well. I though the played great for us.”
Now, of course, there’s a chance to hoist the Calder Cup on home ice in front of a record crowd. The Marlies were installing more seats in the north end to accommodate demand.
“It’d be amazing,” said Nielsen. “To come home and have the opportunity to do it beside our fans who have been with us all year and to give them that championship would be unbelievable.”