The Toronto Marlies went to the locker room down 3-0 at the end of the second period on a cold November 5 night against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. This was meant to be a character-building game, one that the prospects can learn from early on in the season. The Marlies were down 3-0 but they were playing the right way, and the groundwork was being laid down for a successful season ahead.
It became more than just a character-building game. The Marlies battled back with three goals in the third period and the overtime winner to take the game 4-3 against one of the best teams in the American Hockey League. “We still haven’t found our true identity yet,” Marlies head coach John Gruden noted after the game. While they lacked an identity at the time, they showed the ability to battle back and fight to win games.
Fast forward seven months, and the Marlies defeated the same team in the same arena in overtime to punch their ticket to the Calder Cup Final. The Marlies have come a long way, yet the foundation for the run was set early in the season. They were building for a playoff run, and all the pieces fell into place at the right time. “Everyone’s done what they’ve had to do to put us here,” Logan Shaw added after the Game 6 win over the Penguins, an overtime win that proved this team can win it all.
Marlies Battled All Season & In The Playoffs
Every team in the AHL goes through the growing pains of the season. The dog days and long, cold winter nights can hit a team hard. In the Marlies’ case, it was the pile-up of injuries paired with the struggles of the Toronto Maple Leafs, their NHL affiliate.
The Maple Leafs were forced to call up many of the Marlies, including Artur Ahktyamov and Dennis Hildeby, at one point. It forced the Marlies to play with ECHL-level goaltending at one point. Yet, they played with the next-man-up mentality.
They battled all season just to remain in the mix in the North Division. It was a fight to secure the fourth seed, and then the playoffs rolled around, giving them no easy assignments.
The Rochester Americans pushed them to the brink. The series against the top-seeded Laval Rocket went the distance. They were down 2-1 in the best-of-five to the Cleveland Monsters, yet battled back to win in five games with a comeback victory in Game 5.
The playoffs were a different test for the Marlies. It demanded that they play a complete game and win in any situation. “They believe in how we need to play to give ourselves a chance to win, and they’re doing that,” Gruden added after Game 6, and it’s why the Marlies are in the Final.
By the time the Marlies faced the Penguins, they had the edge from an adversity standpoint. They entered the series with plenty of overtime and one-score games under their belt. It allowed them to go 2-0 in overtime against the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final with their clutch players stepping up.
The Prospects Learning The Playoff Lessons
Easton Cowan made a rookie mistake in Game 4. With the game tied with three minutes to go, he turned over the puck with a pass in his own zone that was intercepted and resulted in a breakaway goal for the Penguins. These mistakes happen, and it’s something he’ll learn from.
“In Game 4, Cowan made a mistake, and hockey is a game of mistakes. Then you look back to Game 5 and watch the way he played, and he was the best player on the ice,” Logan Shaw mentioned after the series. It wasn’t going to define the top prospect in the Maple Leafs system.
It didn’t define him. The playoffs are a time when every play is scrutinized from the highs to the lows. Cowan wanted everyone to remember him for his highs or his highlights. Game 5 and Game 6 were two of his best in the playoff run, and that’s saying a lot considering he scored seven goals in the run, including the game-winner in Game 5 against the Monsters.
Cowan isn’t the only player using the playoffs to improve as a prospect. The Marlies are watching a lot of their players learn and grow from the experience. “The adversity and the pressure of these kinds of games help in a big way,” Shaw added after the latest game.
Playoff hockey demands buy-in. It demands players to adjust and play a slower, heavier, and tougher game than they are comfortable with. “Sometimes guys might not buy in, but he’s been bought in since day one,” Shaw added on Cowan’s play in the playoffs, yet it applies to all the prospects.
William Villeneuve has played the tough game. So have the other rookies. They can get to the dirty areas and play a physical style of hockey needed for the playoffs.
Gruden & The Staff Set The Tone & The Vets Followed Suit
The job that Gruden has done with the Marlies is nothing short of incredible. He set the tone with the way he’s coached all season and got the most out of the lineup. The Marlies were the less-talented team on most nights, yet played above their weight and won games because of the leader behind the bench. “We believe in each other, trust our systems, our coaches have been doing great,” Alex Nylander added after the game.
It’s not just Gruden in the head coach position. It’s the staff the Marlies assembled, featuring Mark Giordano, who is an up-and-coming coach in the hockey world, someone who retired a few years back and has a great understanding of the young players and the game.
The coaches set the standards. Then they got out of the way. They let the veterans lead the room. Shaw, Benoit-Olivier Groulx, and Vinni Lettieri make up the top line. They are also the three leaders of the team and set the tone for the rest of the players to emulate.
It’s those players who feel the most rewarded from this playoff run. The veterans in the AHL might be in their early 30s or even their late 20s, which isn’t old by hockey standards. They’ve still seen enough to know how hard it is to win in the playoffs, even the Calder Cup Playoffs. “The biggest message I have for these young guys is that it’s not going to come every year, so make sure that you put the effort in right now to get the job done,” Shaw stated.
Nylander had a look of pure joy when the puck ended up in the back of the net, and then when he recalled the moment after the game. “It’s hard to describe, and then I just saw Danny right in front of me, and then all the boys came, and it was just a great celebration,” Nylander mentioned after the game. Who knows if the 28-year-old forward will be on a team that goes this far again?
It’s why this run is so special for the Marlies, who overcame the odds to make it this far. For many of the veterans, this is their last moment in the sun, the last run to highlight their careers while making a lasting impression on their team.
And that lasting impression might have a lasting impact on the Maple Leafs. In a few years, they might have a young NHL team with Cowan and Villeneuve playing key roles. The Maple Leafs can credit the Marlies and the playoff run as essential parts of their development and the process they went through to become pros.
