Morgan Rielly touches on last year's disappointment and the Leafs' expectations for 2022-23
In round 1 against Tampa, the Leafs were a completely different team than the one that had lost in the playoffs previous years. They didn't play with the fear of losing and they employed a much more physical style of play. Many don't see another first round exit as progress, but with the way the Leafs played, there was progress and it was noticeable, for the fanbase, the coaches, management and the players themselves.
"After that series, I heard that a lot," Rielly said. "The only thing is, it really doesn't make you feel any better. It honestly doesn't give you any more pride or anything in relation to how you handle it emotionally. It's almost worse because you're right there."
on Friday while in Vegas for the NHL/NHLPA media tour, Rielly was asked how the Leafs will measure success this season. "We're in a position where we're wanting to win the Stanley Cup. That's our goal and that's how we're going to measure it. But if we have a great regular season and win a couple of rounds, go to the Final and lose or something, I think that there are good things happening there. But the end goal is to win a Stanley Cup."
The Leafs received a ton of praise across the league after taking the Bolts to game 7 in round 1 and even Roman Josi picked them to win the cup this year at the same media event on Friday. With less than a week til training camp, the Leafs will once again enter a season where "nothing matters until the playoffs".
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 18 | 212 ANSWERS Morgan Rielly touches on last year's disappointment and the Leafs' expectations for 2022-23 Will Morgan Rielly exceed 60 points again this season? | ||
| Yes | 167 | 78.8 % |
| No | 45 | 21.2 % |
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