Former Leafs enforcer reacts to this year's 1st round win over Tampa
One member of the Toronto Maple Leafs alumni who was very happy with the first round victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning this spring was Colton Orr. The rugged forward was apart of the Leafs team that blew a 3-goal third period lead in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals against the Boston Bruins in 2013.
The Bruins took Game 1 before the Leafs tied up the series heading back home. The Bruins took both games on the road, looking to finish things off on home ice. The Maple Leafs stormed back with back-to-back 2-1 victories to force a Game 7.
After taking an early 1-0 lead, Boston found themselves down 4-1 after 2 quick goals early in the third period by Phil Kessel and Nazem Kadri had them on the ropes.
Nathan Horton cut the deficit in half with 10:42 left in regulation before Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron scored 2 goals in 31 seconds to tie the game with only 51 ticks remaining. Bergeron then finished it off in overtime, propelling them to second round, and eventually all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost in 6 to Chicago.
For Toronto, that was their first playoff trip in 8 years and they ended up missing the post-season in the next 3 years that followed. The Leafs then ended up falling on their sword in round 1 each and every year between 2016-17 and 2021-22 before finally breaking through in these playoffs.
Orr took to the Squid & Ultimate Leafs Fan show to discuss how he chose Toronto and what it was like playing for the Leafs during a tumultuous time for the franchise:
"Having the conversation with Burke right off the bat in free agency, it was exciting. I remember I really felt wanted for what I did in my career and my toughness and what I did and I was gonna come in and have a real kind of role with the team to help try and rebuild an organization that wasn't really in the best place at the time."
Talking about the post-season experience and how it lingered on for years before the Leafs finally got over their bugaboo this spring:
"Obviously we didn't get to where we wanted to and I still think we had some really gritty teams along the way. We did make the playoffs, it was an unfortunate one losing to the Bruins. Obviously great to get out the first round this year so I don't have to hear that anymore particularly during this time. Around the playoffs, I would get calls from Toronto media going "so what happened that game?" and I was just like "guys I don't wanna relive it anymore" so it was just nice that we finally got out of that first round and hopefully we can make some noise next year again."
Orr finished off on his experience in Toronto and likened the experience as unforgettable with the market as hot as it is and the fans as passionate as they are:
"It was a great market to be in, you can't beat Toronto and just how much they love hockey and love their team and it was great to be able to go out there and have fans appreciate what I did as well, which was awesome."
| POLL | ||
19 JUIN | 188 ANSWERS Former Leafs enforcer reacts to this year's 1st round win over Tampa Do the Leafs need another Colton Orr-type on the team? | ||
| No, the game has changed | 55 | 29.3 % |
| Yes, those guys are always important | 133 | 70.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
