Maple Leafs-Blue Jackets debated by Clark, Nash

The Stanley Cup Qualifiers will use eight best-of-5 series and two four-team round-robins to determine the field and seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

NHL.com will preview every series with an alumni roundtable, featuring a former player from each team debating key points.

Today, former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Wendel Clark and former Columbus Blue Jackets forward Rick Nash take a look at the series between Columbus and Toronto, to be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto beginning Sunday (8 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, TVAS, FS-O).

Clark scored 564 points (330 goals, 234 assists) in 793 NHL games, 441 (260 goals, 181 assists) in 608 games with the Maple Leafs, and was their captain from 1991-94. He's a special ambassador for the Maple Leafs and is one of 14 Toronto players to be honored with a statue as part of Legends Row, located outside the west doors of Scotiabank Arena.

Nash, who played 674 NHL regular-season games for the Blue Jackets from 2002-12, is their leader in goals (289), assists (258) and points (547). He's a special assistant to Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.

HISTORY

Nash: "There's not a lot of history between these two franchises but there is a chance for us to make some here. For our guys, we're going up against the team representing the hockey capital of the world. I grew up just outside of Toronto in Brampton, so I lived it. In my opinion it's the organization with the most history and the one everyone wants to play for when you talk to guys around the League. So when you get the chance to go up against these guys, you can prove to yourself that you can play with them and put another stamp on that Columbus Blue Jackets history. That's important. To take down an organization like the Toronto Maple Leafs would be a big deal in Columbus. For us to grow the game and make it bigger and fill the seats, this is a huge deal for us. I think it's a huge opportunity to get the Maple Leafs, one of the best organizations of all time."

Clark: "We've never played them in the [Stanley Cup Playoffs] before, but you can study recent history to see how dangerous they can be. They swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round last year and (Tampa Bay) was such a skilled team. Not many people believed they could do it, but they did. And that's all that matters. We know it too."

DIFFERING STYLES

Clark:"Columbus showed last year against Tampa they are going to win with physical, defensive hockey. They know they can win in the playoffs. That's our biggest learning curve. We've had a ton of talent for three years but ended up losing in the opening round in a Game 6, then two Game 7s. We have to prove when the game changes from regular season to playoffs we can adapt. We have all the skill in the world. The skill doesn't have to change, we just have to prove we can play in traffic. You're not going to get quick goals in the first minute of a period. We just have to settle in. If we learn to win the qualifier series, I think something will click and the guys will say, 'Hey, that's what we have to do.' The playoffs are different. Nobody's giving you the middle of the ice, but you have to learn how to get in there. It's very tough in the playoffs to score goals if you keep staying to the outside."

Nash: "You have to go to the dirty areas, kind of the way you scored your goals when I was a kid watching you on TV and wearing your jersey. Right Wendel?"

Clark:"Look at the size of you. Wouldn't fit you now and probably didn't back then."

Nash: "(Laughing) Actually it did! But to Wendel's point, I always found Columbus a tough team to play against. It wasn't a night you looked forward to, especially after (coach John Tortorella) got there. I played for Torts in New York. You knew they were going to get in your face, you were going to face some tough checks and they were going to grind you down. Those nights aren't fun. It worked against Tampa. Now, in a quick best-of-5 series like this, the talent of the Leafs stands out. They can put up a lot of points quickly in a short amount of time. I played against them with the Boston Bruins in the (Eastern Conference First Round) two years ago. I know how hard it was, how skilled guys like Mitchell Marner and Auston Matthews are. Now they have John Tavares too. You have to be hard on their skill. We tried that with Boston, and it didn't completely work because we went to a Game 7. We won but it wasn't easy."

COACHING

Clark: "I think you've got the experience of (Tortorella). He's got a real track record including a Stanley Cup. For [Maple Leafs coach] Sheldon Keefe, he's had a great learning curve and won at every level. Junior, (American Hockey League), you name it. He learns quick on his feet. You see how the team reacted when he took over midseason. It's another quick learning curve now. It's his first NHL season and his first Stanley Cup Playoffs. Both are great coaches, but the Jackets might have the edge in the experience part. This is the NHL, the highest level of hockey in the world."

Nash:"Guys want to go to war for Torts. Guys want to go through a wall for him. But don't shortchange Keefe. You don't win at every level like he has without understanding that guys perform for him. There's a reason for that. Now he's got the top job everybody wants one day and he's going to have to show results. Otherwise it's not going to last."