Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs Biggest Improvement

The single most frequently used term surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs and their upward climb towards respectability has been the word improvement.

Little by little, the Toronto Maple Leafs organization has worked tirelessly to improve its relationship with former players. The improvement of their scouting and player development departments have proven to be a top priority. Yet, there is one distinct area in which the organization has undergone its most dramatic improvement.

That area is seldom mentioned in these types of discussions. In fact, the most improved area in the Leafs organization is by far, their sports health division.

Dropping the Ball

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Few people would say I’m in the wrong were I to claim that, since 2004, the Leafs had been an absolute embarrassment. I mean, we’re talking about a team that once genuinely thought that Jarred Smithson was an acceptable NHL centre.

In 18 games as a Leaf, Smithson registered two shots on goal. Two. You could put a new born puppy on the ice and I’m convinced it would take more shots in those same games than Smithson did. Plus, it would be adorable. You know what? Now I’m mad that no one’s tried that.

Anyways, the organization, from its on-ice product, to its off-ice dealings, (ask Dave Keon how much he liked the Leafs before last season) was a league-wide embarrassment. And yet, the one area in which the Leafs truly, truly dropped the ball was in their handling of injuries.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

Old School Thinking

There are so many examples of the Leafs alleged mismanagement of player’s injuries that it could likely fill a novel. In fact, I bet that book would be a bestseller. Ok, nobody steal that idea.

One fantastic (and I say that with as much sarcasm as possible) example of the organization’s failure at injury assessment can be found within any quote on the subject spoken by former head coach Randy Carlyle.

On a crisp April day in 2013, Carlyle strode confidently to the podium at the front of the Leafs media room. It seemed like any other day in Leafs land. Oh, how wrong we would be.

Atop the podium, Carlyle addressed the media and proudly declared that he had a theory about concussions. Step back everyone, Randy’s got a theory.

Randy’s Theory

"I think the reason there’s so much more of them, Carlyle philosophized, flexing his medical degree (he doesn’t have a medical degree), — obviously the impact and the size of the equipment and the size of the player — but there’s another factor: everyone wears helmets, and under your skull when you have a helmet on, there’s a heat issue. Everyone sweats a lot more, the brain swells. The brain is closer to the skull. Think about it. Does it make sense? Common sense?"

The coach of the National Hockey League’s most lucrative and important franchise had just said publicly that he believes, with no proof other than his own uneducated opinion, that protective helmets actually cause concussions.

Say you were a Leafs player at the time and happened to hear that. How terrified would you be? Your boss just told you that, essentially, if you suffer a concussion, it’s your helmets fault. Good God.

Carlyle’s quote garnered a surprisingly scant amount of media coverage, especially from local outlets. Curiously these are the same outlets that reported on such hard-hitting topics as the different hats Dion Phaneuf would wear in post-game scrums. I guess they didn’t think Carlyle’s theory was newsworthy. What a time to be alive.

Oh, you didn’t think that was an isolated incident, did you? Well buckle up, there’s more.

Colby’s Secret

When power forward Colby Armstrong signed a three year, $9 million contract with the Leafs on July 1, 2010, it was met with mild approval. Armstrong seemed like a perfect fit for a Leafs squad that Brian Burke was desperately trying to pump copious amounts of ‘truculence’ into.

However, with a lucrative contract, so too come expectations. And by the 2011-12 season, Armstrong was not living up to them.

He suffered a concussion during a game against the Vancouver Canucks in December of 2011. After colliding with Ryan Kesler in open ice, he groggily made his way back to the bench.

Armstrong had only just recovered from an ankle injury that sidelined him for 23 games earlier that season. Needless to say, he was desperate. Desperate to stay on the ice and desperate to live up to the contract that many fans were now criticizing the organization for.

So, he made a decision that only a desperate athlete in his situation would consider and failed to inform his team about his concussion.

This article is not about whether or not Armstrong was right to hide his concussion from the Leafs. Toronto heaps a ridiculous amount of pressure on the shoulders of its athletes. Acknowledging that, I can sympathize with his rationale, as misguided as it was.

The fact is that the Leafs, hockey’s richest franchise, employed a team of trained medical personnel whose only purpose was to assess whether a player was injured, and treat them accordingly.

So how did a team, not just one person, but a team, of highly paid medical professionals fail to notice that a player, was concussed? Especially when that player had just been involved in an open ice collision? It boggles the mind.

Professional Failure

There is a reason why teams employ these medical teams. Professional athletes, such as Colby Armstrong, cannot be trusted to properly diagnose themselves. Expecting an athlete withdraw themselves from a game they are sweating and bleeding for is a recipe for disaster.

There exists an unfortunate reason. This is attributed to the misguided mantra permeating hockey culture, which preaches that playing while hurt is commendable. Perhaps, even the right thing to do.

Well, there is a distinct difference between being hurt and being injured. A sprained ankle hurts. A concussion is, unequivocally, an injury. For a team’s medical staff to fail to perform the basic component of their job and acknowledge such an injury was inexcusable.

And yet it was standard procedure for the Leafs.

Steps Forward

As the 2014-15 season mercifully concluded, Brendan Shannahan purged the organization of anyone related to the prior regime. That purge included the medical staff, a move that kick started the clubs transition from embarrassment to leading standard.

With the medical staff gone, Shannahan began flexing MLSE’s financial muscle, which included installing a performance sports science division. This division’s task was to redefine how Leafs players performed, recovered and most notably, properly addressed injuries.

Good golly has it worked.

Healthy Dose of Results

The Leafs had nine players suit up for all 82 regular season games in the 2016-17 season. Nine. That is an absurdly high number. Impressive indeed, as the game has never been played at a faster or more demanding pace than it is now.

William Nylander played in 81 games, missing only a single early season contest due to a minor injury. One can only wonder if such an injury would have prompted the prior medical staff to insist he play through it.

For the Leafs to be among the NHL’s healthiest clubs, while also having played games on back-to-back nights an absurdly high 18 times last year is remarkable. More than anything this new–found health speaks to the immense success that the performance sports science division is continually achieving.

As long as I can remember, Leafs neglected to use their financial capital to provide themselves with an organizational advantage. That neglect came at the cost of their player’s health. As fans can see now, that culture of neglect died alongside all traces of the former regime.

Next: Faceoffs Matter

It’s safe to say the days of ‘theories’ are over.

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