Cup more than a whisper
Leafs look similar to last season, but they’re starting to sound different
Morgan Rielly came right out and said it. “Our goal will always be to win the Stanley Cup, and anything short of that will be a failure.”
Rielly, a veteran defenceman and the Maple Leafs’ longest-tenured player, said it Wednesday when he and his teammates reported for physicals, the first full day of training camp. The were poked and prodded by fitness and medical staff, posed for promotional photographs, and participated in promotional videos. And, of course, they subjected themselves to the media queries.
Rielly was the second interview of the morning, after new captain Auston Matthews, but the first to utter the words “Stanley Cup,” which became a refreshing topic of conversation.
He was more or less prodded into it when it was pointed out that the Edmonton Oilers’ leadership group last year volunteered that their 2023-24 season was “Stanley Cup or bust.” It became Edmonton’s rallying cry. They didn’t win, but they did make it to the final.
Leafs players have seemed reluctant to utter the words “Stanley Cup” when talking to the media. They usually use terms like “ultimate goal” or phrases like “working toward what we’re all working toward.”
But not Wednesday. The Stanley Cup was a clear topic of conversation. Former captain John Tavares said the words in an answer to a question about his contract status.
Like Marner, he is eligible to sign an extension.
“All I can control is to go out there and play at a very high level and help our team focus on trying to win the Stanley Cup this year,” Tavares said. “That’s what our goal is, and what our goal has been since I’ve come here.”
It may be that Tavares is thinking more about his legacy than his contract, and that a Cup win in Toronto would be the best way to cap off his career.
Much has been made that this team — a core led by Matthews, Rielly, Tavares, William Nylander and Marner — hasn’t had much by way of playoff success. Just once in eight years have they made it to the second round. It’s almost as if fans would accept a long run to the conference final.
But more should be made of the fact that the franchise hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967, the longest drought in hockey. What would getting to the conference final mean if you didn’t win the Stanley Cup?
“I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with players or teams coming in and saying, ‘Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup,’ ” Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said. “We’re certainly aware of the results we’ve had in the past, and we’ve come back with the determination to get that job done.
“I’d be more concerned if our players were coming in here and saying our goal is to get to the second round or to get to the third round. We know that there can only be one winner. There are several teams that are in the situation where they’re coming in here and saying the goal is to win the Stanley Cup.”
Shanahan, who won the Cup three times as a player, circled back to the topic later.
“I’m not afraid to talk about the Stanley Cup. I think you have to have that goal. I know that there’s a day-to-day job and steps to take to get there.”
Matthews hadn’t been pressed specifically about the “Cup or bust” theme that Rielly was asked about. But Marner was asked directly if anything less than a Cup would be deemed a failure. He really didn’t say.
“We can’t look ahead. I mean, that’s the problem,” Marner said. “We’ve got to be in the here and now. We’ve got to be ready. There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs in the season. There always is. There’s injuries that happen. You’ve just got to be ready for the ups and downs for the season. Nothing’s going to run smoothly all the time.”
Marner took a great deal of heat for the team’s first-round departure to Boston and, of the group made available to the media Wednesday, he was the one trying to choose his words carefully.
GM Brad Treliving picked up on Marner’s theme, though.
“It’s about getting better every day,” Treliving said. “It’s not worrying about winning the Stanley Cup. You can’t do that September 18th. We have to be process-driven. We have to worry about trying to get better and be great each day. If you if you take care of those details, you’ll get to where you eventually want to go.”