Leafs rely on process, real life, veterans to decompress

The Maple Leafs are entering the middle-third of their season - and staring down a particularly grueling December stretch that will have them playing 12 games in the next 25 days - so decompressing is important. Not easy, mind you, but important. Head coach Mike Babcock has always made it known how important it is to compartmentalize the pressures and rigours of professional hockey by enjoying life away from the rink. But when you're in the middle of the grind, constantly playing a demanding sport and devoting your energies to being at your best on the ice, it's a challenge to not be swept up and away by the job.

"It's funny, sometimes I find myself getting on the elevator on the road, and it's like, 'What floor am I on?', 'What room am I in?'," said Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk. "That's kind of funny when that sort of stuff happens. But you get into your routine with stuff you like to do, and that predictability is good, just because things can be changing around so much, so it's nice to have stuff you can depend on to put your mind at ease."
Finding that balance between your profession and your home life is paramount to any NHLer's success, either as an individual or as a team member. If the scale is tipped too far to one side, the other will suffer, and eventually, both will be affected. So keeping players grounded and focused is a major part of Babcock's job - and team events like the visit the Leafs players made Monday to Toronto's Hospital For Sick Children does a lot to put everything in proper perspective for everyone on the roster and in management.
"We try to talk to our guys every day, and obviously you're trying to make sure life is good," Babcock said Tuesday after the team practiced. "There's your life at the rink and then there's your life at home, and they're no different than anyone else - they're worried about what room their baby's sleeping in, and they're worried about their families, and lots of different things. Everybody's got something going on.

"I thought that's what was great about yesterday - when you go to Sick Kids, Number One, you realize even those little things you've got going on in your life aren't very big. The second thing is, when you listen to a kid and he's telling you he's got treatments for nine more weeks and he's all jacked up about it, and you're having a look at yourself, geez, that's a good slap for you…so to me, we're in a great situation: we play in the greatest hockey market in the world, we're covered big-time, we've got a good team, we've got a good thing going, let's keep it going."
Keeping everyone level-headed falls not only to Babcock, but to Leafs veterans, including first-year Toronto forward Patrick Marleau. The 38-year-old has been one of the game's most accomplished and respected competitors over his 20 NHL seasons, and he's quickly endeared himself to his new teammates, particularly youngsters Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. On Toronto's recent road trip, Marleau bought a pack of playing cards to help kill the time, and he and Marner taught Matthews how to play euchre. And the friendship that's developed between the trio hasn't gone unnoticed by his fellow Leafs.
"He's been unbelievable, actually," van Riemsdyk said of Marleau, who has 10 goals and 17 points in 28 games this year. "It's been really great getting to know him better, and I can't say enough good things about him, obviously as a player, and even as a guy off the ice, he's been great. I think he's really fit in well with our team. And him, Auston and Mitch seem to be hanging around a lot on the road, which is kind of funny to see."
"He's like, 38 going on 20," added Matthews. "It's fun hanging out with him. He's been great to us. He watches movies with us, plays cards…He's an unbelievable guy. To get to know him, he's a pretty special person. It's awesome."
Leafs brass always knew the type of impact Marleau would have on the ice, but it's his effect in the dressing room, on the team airplane and at the slew of functions they attend that add such great value to the package he delivers on a daily basis. Babcock paid Marleau the highest of compliments by associating him with a Hockey Hall-of-Famer he coached for a long time in Detroit.
"It's a home run for us, obviously," Babcock said of Marleau's all-around impact. "I had Nick Lidstrom (with the Red Wings), and now I've got Pat Marleau. Those are fine, fine, fine human beings, to say the least. They don't say nothing; they just do what they do every day, they do it better than everybody else. Pretty soon, you look at 'em and you say, hey, they've got 100-and-I-don't-know-how-many game-winners, he's been in the league for 1,500-and-whatever games, he's been doing what he loves to do, and he comes every day and he doesn't say nothing. He just works hard. Not a bad concept, so you're hoping it rubs off."
Toronto's next game takes place Wednesday at Air Canada Centre against Calgary, and after that, they head to Pittsburgh for a road tilt Saturday against the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins, and quickly return home to take on the Edmonton Oilers at ACC Sunday. The Buds then embark on a three-game road swing that takes them to Philadelphia, Minnesota and Detroit, come home to battle Carolina Dec. 19, and finish off the calendar year on a five-game road trip that includes stops in Columbus, New York City, Arizona, Colorado and Las Vegas.
If you got exhausted just imagining that, imagine how prepared you have to be to put yourself through that mental and physical wringer. This is why it's crucial for Leafs players to have other places to invest their time and energy in.
"It's something you find out over the years - you need to have stuff like that to get away from the rink," van Riemsdyk said. "For me, that's just going home, watching TV shows, watching movies, laying low, stuff like that. Obviously, getting a great meal is always good. Lots of great restaurants in Toronto. That helps you take your mind off things a little bit."