The Toronto Maple Leafs kicked off the 2019-20 NHL season today.
Though it was unofficial, the Toronto Maple Leafs began their quest for the Cup by holding an informal practice today.
With training camp set to begin in just over a week, a some of the Leafs regulars skated today in Toronto.
Of course this hardly counts as news, but it’s the most we’ve gotten in a month! Plus, there were a few interesting things to note.
Informal Skate Notes
The most interesting thing about the practice was the defensive pairs. Several people tweeted out the news that the Leafs had Tyson Barrie with Jake Muzzin today, while Morgan Rielly was with Codi Ceci.
The Leafs should obviously pair Rielly with Barrie and give him the first good partner he’s had in his NHL career, but that would be too easy. Instead they started Rielly with Ceci, who has no business playing top four minutes on a contending team.
Then again, it’s day one, this is unofficial and who knows if Cody Ceci even makes the team, or is even on the team when games get underway. With Jake Gardiner remaining unsigned, there’s still a chanc the Leafs could bring back the legend and move Ceci.
And if that is the plan – or even a possibility – it makes sense to act like he’s a top four guy.
Muzzin and Barrie of course played together before on Team Canada, and they will make an outstanding pairing. Let’s just hope Travis Dermott isn’t out too long.
It's back to school for everyone, including the #Leafs. Morgan Rielly, (#88) William Nylander, Tyson Barrie, Kasperi Kapanen, Timothy Liljegren, Alex Kerfoot and Frederik Andersen all among the new arrivals at today's informal skate
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) September 3, 2019
Another interesting note, courtesy of Shilton, is that Barrie is wearing jersey number 94 while Alexander Kerfoot is wearing jersey number 15.
She also made an interesting point, saying that Kerfoot does not like to be called Alex, and prefers Alexander. I have never understood why people care about things like this.
As a “James” I usually go by “Jimmy,” but I could not actually care less about people choose to call me. That’s just me though, if you want to be the kind of person who is constantly correcting people for shortening their name, that is your business.
Then again, we all aren’t blessed with the coolest name possible, so maybe I should cut the guy some slack.
Anyways, this obviously isn’t a life changing development, but it’s nice to see the team back on the ice, even if is just in an informal setting.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will officially open training camp soon, and I will try to recover from the shame of being excited by an informal practice.