Ryan O'Reilly's dad reveals why O'Reilly is the ultimate teammate, delivers amazing quote about the psychology of winning

When the Leafs pulled the trigger on a late night blockbuster deal with the St. Louis Blues that brought Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly and depth forward Noel Acciari to the Toronto, it instantly created a ton of excitement that was felt all throughout Leafs Nation. Yes, the cost was great, and yes the Leafs still have some work to do here to close out the season on a strong note to secure home ice in round one, but for a brief moment in time, Leafs Nation came together in celebration, knowing that GM Kyle Dubas finally brought in an impact player at the deadline who may actually be able to help this team get over the hump.

As excited as Leafs Nation was, it paled in comparison to Ryan's parents, Brian and Bonnie O'Reilly, who both grew up massive Leaf fans and could barely believe that their son was actually playing for the team they adore so much. On Monday morning, Brian O'Reilly joined Ailish Forfar and Justin Cuthbert on SN 590 The FAN and gave an excellent interview and a glimpse into the heart and the mind of the Leafs' newest addition.

The first affirmation that Brian made was that he truly believes in his heart that this Leafs team already had what it took to win when it matters. However, he did emphasize that he believes his son can help this team with who he is, how he was raised and the type of work ethic, compassion, understanding and patience that he'll bring to the locker room.

Brian is a performance coach for the Windsor Spitfires and has done some incredible work throughout his career. As you can imagine, Brian has helped his son develop some amazing skills over the course of his hockey career, but perhaps the most valuable lesson he has taught Ryan is about the psychology of winning - something called "internal psychology".

"What [internal psychology] basically states is that any human endeavor that humans do, the success of the endeavor is determined by how the people doing the endeavor get along. When there are immaculate relationships - that you have people in the organization that are unselfish and the organization breeds an environment where the most important part that we give to our players is we want their creativity and their work commitment, but they won't give it to you unless they know you have their best interest in mind. They have to like you.

You can put the best talent in the world and not succeed, because of the relationships between the players and management - or the players themselves. You can have great management but if the players don't get along and like each other and play for each other, then success falls apart. When there's unhappy people, unhappy people become selfish and they think about themselves.

I think that curse is everywhere. In every sport, in every organization - everything comes down to your capacity to be compassionate, loving, caring and hold each other accountable. What's unique about [Ryan] is that he had to learn that it's not all about you... the happiness and success you're going to have in your life is coming from what you do and give to other people. And the more you make it about them and find ways to support people, regardless of where they're at, find a way to connect with them, support them, care about them - that's where your success will come. I believe he really understands that and he really believes that. I think that's why he's had the success."