Marner, Simmonds talk about staying present and not focusing too much on the past
As the Leafs kick off the playoffs at home tonight against Tampa, one thing has been made abundantly clear by the players. The past is the past and they're not worried about it. Or so they say at least. The biggest hurdle for this year's Leaf team is themselves and forgetting about the past playoff disappointments.
After a record breaking season the Leafs got rewarded by playing the two time defending champs. What a reward that is right? For the past week all the talk has been about exorcising past playoff demons from the media and whether this team will be able to do it or not. Mitch Marner had a very simple statement when asked about the Leafs' spotty postseason history, saying, "can't think about those. Gotta be here in the moment. Gotta be ready for what comes tonight ... The past is the past".
He could and is likely saying that because that's what they're supposed to do, but at the same time he's right. They can't dwell on past series and get into their own heads.
Wayne Simmonds was only around for last year's series collapse against the Habs but when he was asked about the guys that have been here for a while he echoed similar sentiments. "All our top guys have been different players this year. That stuff's in the past. We're not going to look at the past. We look to the present & the future & that's all I have to say about that."
Down the stretch the Leafs stars were on a different level. All of them set new career highs in goals and points and Matthews and Marner set career highs in hits. They're not shying away from the physical game this year and it's a message that Keefe had been drilling into their heads all season - particularly the last 20 games or so. They can say all they want about the past being the past, but they need to show up and prove it against the defending champs.
