Don’t let desire become distraction
Robertson’s comments come at the wrong time for a team looking to make a deep playoff run
With the NHL trade deadline behind us, the Maple Leafs have reached a point in the season where they can look around the room and see what they’re really made of.
The lockers are filled with the teammates they will go to battle with in the Stanley Cup playoffs and it’s essential that everyone is on the same page.
A third-place standing in the Atlantic Division seems almost inevitable with 18 games left to play, so Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe’s No. 1 objective may be as simple as getting his roster in the right headspace to buy into team success.
It starts at the top of the lineup and goes down to the bottom, including players who may find themselves on the outside looking in by the time Game 1 starts in April. Nick Robertson would be on that list.
Although he’s 22 years old and still in a development phase, Robertson’s comments this week about his unhappiness with his current situation were ill-advised.
“I understand it, but I’m not going to sit here and say I’m happy. I want to play,” said Robertson, who found himself demoted to the AHL Marlies earlier this month in part because he doesn’t require waivers to be sent down when roster issues arise. “But I understand my contract situation. Obviously, if it wasn’t the way it was, maybe it’d be different situation.
“I’ve been in plenty of situations here where the waivers have kind of screwed me. So, like I said, I’m numb to it.”
You’d be hard-pressed to believe he completely understands what this time of year should be about.
Each spring, when a champion is crowned, it’s apparent that no matter how big or small certain players’ roles may be, winning a Stanley Cup over a two-month run takes the entire village.
Robertson’s frustration with his playing time is understandable, and something I can relate to from my playing days. The fact that he has played just 72 NHL games since debuting in 2020-21, mostly due to injuries, surely adds to it.
He has been healthy and has found success this season, with 19 points in 41 games in limited minutes, but he has been passed on the depth chart by the likes of Bobby McMann, who was rewarded with a two-year contract extension Wednesday. Recent deadline addition Connor Dewar only adds to the congestion. But it’s not about Robertson,
and his public comments are a show of selfishness at a time when the Leafs need to galvanize over the next 18 games.
This June will mark the 30th anniversary of our New York Rangers’ Stanley Cup victory. Remembering how many times our season could have unravelled over the course of nine months still feels like yesterday. Most of those challenges derived from the obvious power struggle between general manager Neil Smith and head coach Mike Keenan.
But what I remember most was how committed every player was to team success no matter whose personal feelings were bent out of shape. There were a few players on the roster whose names are now engraved on the Cup that, at times, felt the same way Robertson did this week in regard to playing time — and they had more established resumés than Robertson.
Start with Ed Olczyk. He had played in more than 600 games by the time he was traded to the Rangers for Kris King and Tie Domi. An Olympian and a 40-goal scorer with the Leafs, Olczyk was relegated to fourth- and fifth-line duties
with the Rangers.
Doug Lidster, a former captain of the Canucks, also had 600 career games when he was traded to the Rangers for John Vanbiesbrouck. He often found himself as the seventh defenceman on the Rangers’ depth chart going into the playoffs.
Glenn Healy was the No. 1 goalie for the Islanders the previous season, one that included a heroic effort in eliminating Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins in one of the biggest upsets in playoff history. Healy found himself a little forgotten, too, watching starter Mike Richter from the bench.
I had played regularly in Hartford the year before, scoring 17 goals, and found myself on the outside looking in.
We were all disappointed with our ice time that season, as much as Robertson hates his right now. But not one of us would mention it to the media so close to the playoffs or dare drag it into the dressing room.
It would have been the worst decision of our professional lives to think of ourselves first when the mission all season long was to end a 54-year Stanley Cup drought, knowing that it doesn’t take much
to derail a season, one that also included the Presidents’ Trophy. We knew we only had so many cracks at competing for the Stanley Cup and that, ultimately, playing a small part in a Cup championship was better than not playing for one at all.
The Stanley Cup doesn’t show the number of games played or goals scored, simply a first initial and last name for everyone on that roster who played a part in hoisting it. Each of us were called upon at various times throughout the 1994 playoff run.
I played in the opening round against the Islanders and not again until Game 7 of the final against the Vancouver Canucks. Fifty-one days between games — 51 days to prepare myself and be ready for when and if they called my number. And, yes, it was hard for those of us sacrificing for the greater good, but it was the only way it could have worked.
The one thing that remains constant with every championship club from decade to decade is the hyper focus of the players as a oneunit team. It needs to be unflappable despite distractions. The Leafs have 18 games to get there.