#babcock era leafs

[3416]

1634 primer (2015-2023)

since my brain refuses to let me think about anything BUT the toronto maple leafs these days, i've decided to compile info/links/photos/videos of the dynamic on the team i personally find most compelling, charming, heartwarming, hilarious: mitch marner and auston matthews (aka 1634 aka the heart and soul of this current leafs team in my humble opinion). this will cover the beginning of their nhl careers to the end of the 22-23 season. for anything from 2023 summer onwards, here’s part 2.

i will be citing my sources, but if any info needs corrected or there are things i've missed, don't be afraid to hmu. i've only been around for a couple months so 🫡 😘 ✌️ this is going to be long-winded (almost 4k kinds of long-winded...) let's DO IT:

2015-2017 (rookie era)

in june 2015, mitch marner is drafted to his hometown team, going 1st round 4th overall in more beginnings of an effort to rebuild the leafs franchise. here are photos from that day. here's an athletic article about why they picked him that makes me cry. 

in april 2016, auston matthews is drafted 1st overall and is basically deemed the savior of the toronto maple leafs from the jump. here are pics from that. (please look at the one below of auston putting on a 16 leaf jersey on draft day and tell me that wasn't fate of SOME sort... i know it's the year but. THE VIBES. the what's-to-come of it all) (here’s a sportsnet documentary on auston/his journey to the nhl).

they played against each other at the 2016 world juniors (dec 2015-jan 2016). here they are on the cover of world hockey news before they had even met... as boys to watch in the hockey world

according to mitch, the first time they actually met was when he said hi to auston in an elevator at world juniors. then mitch says the night auston was drafted, he was at a concert and everyone started an auston matthews chant that he was 100000% in on and excited about. and it was pretty early on in development days that they became instant friends. here's the vid @ ~4:21 and here's a gifset

during their very first day of training camp, auston broke a pane of glass off of a pass from mitch when they were just messing around (again.... fate). here's the vid and here's an article about it

here's them fighting each other for the puck at camp... there's something about it that makes me emotional... their tenacity as rookies...

one of the first ever hangouts recorded on social media... they went to a fair or smth august 2016 (gifs)

at first, they didn't play together very much. in fact, through a lot of the coach mike babcock era (2015-2019), they weren't linemates at all, as auston usually had willy on his right wing. (here's an article justifying that decision from babcock)

that didn't stop them from developing a lot of habits and routines together though. this whole half of a morning skate interview with mitch... "hopefully we're together for a long time and can build up some great chemistry" "that's a big part of what me and matts try to do when we drive together, just keeping it light and have fun with each other" (gifs... it kills me)

"Not only are Matthews and Mitch Marner clicking on their respective forward lines, they are having a good time in the car driving to and from practice and games."

they used to come into the the arena in the same ways on game days (watch any leafs blueprint ep from this time... they’re always getting off the bus together or walking into scotiabank together attached at the hip), went out of their way to greet the doormen and staff, sometimes showed up in matching outfits as evidenced here, here, here, and honestly.. so many more times. it’s about the coordination... the texting each other their fits.

the famous copycat hat moment (gifs).... their goofy responses and getting chirped on twitter about it by everyone and stamkos) (auston’s smile)

they started making sure they were coming out onto the ice together for warmups, always in line toward the back (still the same to this very day). here (x, x, x, x) are just a couple shots of that... they have a handshake they do on their way out (still to this day also), and i think this is the one of the first times it was recorded.

and on the rare occasion they DID get to play together... they were always the Most™ excited and cute about it. here's them talking about playing on the same line, here and here and here are some first moments of cellying that deserve to be looked at for 10000 years... just pure excitement and joy

here's mitch hopping right on into a ridiculous fight on auston's behalf. and here are their responses about it in the media afterward (cute, loyal, grateful).. and here’s auston pissed about an uncalled shove on mitch ... even though they’re not big fighters, they ARE big defenders of one another

2016 centennial classic where they were so cute (x x x x x)

there are lots of practice photos/vids and media of them around or mentioning each other obviously (like this hug at a scrimmage that kills me personally), but anther one of my favorite standout days was this practice when auston had mitch falling on the ground in laughter. gifs: "I think a lot of people don’t understand how big of a jokester he is at times. He’s always pretty serious, but that’s not his kind of personality at all" (pics)

so many bench shenanigans (literally too many to try to round up)

(what i assume is) a broadcast quote i can't seem to track down but so many ppl have used it for edits and gifs that i believe it: “They love him, clearly Auston Matthews loves him.” ... they're always saying the most ridiculous things about them as a pair

case in point.. they also said this: "Matthews and Marner together - their eyes light up […] They've been dying to play together." (basically confirmation vid here from auston.. his hopeful little smile, help)

one of the most iconic moments has to be the time the camera caught them singing 'livin' on a prayer' together on the bench and it became a whole thing in the media. here's the moment, their responses (gifs, gifs), and bon jovi's response too.

they used to play video games as a unit and basically annoy the shit out of everyone. thanks zach hyman for the confirmation: “They have this whole strategy, whenever we play. Auston sits in the back and snipes, and Mitch runs around and looks for you. They have this whole little strategy they put together. And then they laugh. They start dying laughing. They’re clowns.”

they have so many oddball social media interactions and a lot of them are probably lost to time but: here's a meme of mitch being part of both of their twitter profiles, here's some petulant mitch getting clowned on and compared to mickey mouse, here's more auston making fun of him for looking 12, “can’t be a boys week when your gfs are there...... but u look nice :)”, purp.... the joint ootd.. who was doing it like them?, “getty images”, “walking advertisement”

holding bozak’s baby together at the xmas party (gifs)

golfing, hanging out at the mall, shopping

despite their very complimentary talk of each other in media, they're also not afraid to razz each other. "he gets sensitive sometimes", "just kind of get him grinding", auston chirping mitch and the insurance ads he does, mitch making fun of his hair (pre balding era... wonder if that’s off limits now LOL)

here’s a vid of the 2016 leaf rookies at a christmas market... mitch and auston were very cute... mitch uploaded a story of them on the ferris wheel smiling their asses off too

auston recording him on his ig story here and here while they were filming this batting practice vid

here’s a goalie challenge video mitch and auston did with matt martin and barstool back in the day (”don’t take slapshots” “you took seven”)

here are some misc gifsets from this time period: x x x x x x

i'll end this section with a couple of my favorite and the most iconic game pictures from this era... 

if you're curious about more stuff from the rookie days, i highly recommend checking out this initial 1634 primer from @/zoehickel, @/thiccbrock's soft bros tag, and @/mitchski's auston x mitch tag (pro tip: add "/chrono" at the end if you want to see everything chronologically).

2018-2020 (not-so-rookie era)

nothing extremely important or concrete separates this timeline but mitch and auston clearly started to grow into their roles on the team and were no longer just rookies (altho i compiled some very basic stats from wikipedia and both of them have just been crazy talented and at the top of team goals/assists/stats almost every year since they were drafted.. they’ve never really been ‘just rookies’ but )

from what i gather, early 2018 was one of the first sightings of mitch's drawings on his gloves... a habit that auston had also been into since his rookie year... mitch started doing this toward the tail end of the hardass babcock days as a reminder that hockey is supposed to be about having fun (here's a not-official-seeming article about their clashes w babcock) (here are some pics of the doodled gloves of that era)

here’s an article talking about how much mitch and auston loved playing together and tried to take advantage of it and prove to babcock they should be allowed more often (also includes goofy bts content of them sharing a fantasy football team)

babcock got fired bc of nasty coaching tactics (here’s a story on what he did to mitch as a rookie), and in came sheldon keefe, who is more mild-mannered and is willing to experiment with auston and mitch playing together so they got more time as linemates these years.

auston and mitch developed a warmup routine together before games where they stayed on the ice a bit longer than everyone else and passed the puck back and forth (here are some vids from this time period: x x x x x)

the team did a big nhl video game faceoff early 2018, and mitch was auston's #1 hype man about it: gasin him up, helping him warm up, sittin behind him making commentary, and acting like it was his own personal victory when auston won

instagram teasing for mitch’s 22nd bday... “babe !”

they participated in this ‘need for speed’ challenge video with natalie spooner and laura stacey to promote the canadian women’s hockey league... competitive dorks is all i have to say about that.

at the end of 2018, mitch and auston took part in a real production of the nutcracker as cannon dolls... and it is as absurd and amusing as it sounds. famous quotes from the event include: “he couldn’t let go of me”, “that’s what friends are for”, “mitch could just sit around and pout the whole time which he’s so used to doing”...  here's the vid (gifs) (pics w ballerina) (more goofy pics) (ig story)

some cute practice pics

in 2019, apple had them film a commercial where auston just followed mitch around titled Mitch Marner Shot on iPhone by Auston Matthews... (gifs) (tumblr vid) (more gifs) just any excuse to talk about it forever... it's arguably one of the greatest things they've ever done... pov of dreams tbh. here's another snippet that didn’t make the cut of them laughing... here’s some gifs of ANOTHER snippet.. and here’s an article about auston with some quotes about how he and mitch are great friends and they were just going to “their” favorite places in toronto that day. (also THEIR favorite restaurant being sotto... the exact place mitch/steph go on very special dates apparently according to this pandemic leaf to leaf... food for thought)

another thing about auston and mitch... they WILL be forming unbreakable bonds with people on the team like it's a group activity, and the most formative for them was probably patrick marleau, who basically became their dad for the 2017-2019 seasons. they would always hang out on the road together, watch movies and go to dinner, etc etc. one time mitch n patty when on vaca without auston... ymca in the car with patty and his sons... “he’s obviously old but he acts even younger than me and mitch”... mitch and auston singing happy birthday to him... here’s a christmas party pic of them that kills me... that here's a video where they talk about their relationship... here's another long interview they did together during lockdown... here is an emotional gifset about the three of them, and below are pictures of the family unit (and one rather... interesting... see: the 3rd pic) (here are pics from 2023 when the marleaus came to a leafs game)

morgan rielly on mitch and auston: “[they] are like best friends. they’re different personalities... when you watch the dynamic with the two of them, whether it’s on the road or on a practice day, it’s pretty funny. it changes every year. it’s a unique dynamic for sure.” and him on mitch/auston/patty also

here’s mitch and auston honoring patty with an appearance from the truly wild jumbo

another case of the trio vibes would be freddie andersen, who was on the team 2016-2021. he was basically besties with auston and they spent lockdown together later, but during the 2020 all star game, all three of them attended and freddie, dedicated his goalie helmet to his best friendship w them. "you look cute?" "yeah, i look cute." ..... also here’s some pre-game high five rituals with the three

more all star content: failed attempted at a heart, the blueprint ep (gifs)

the style/clothes content continues... auston was featured in gq mag and here's mitch's giggly reaction to it. "he's a big style guy and i respect it" (gifs)

auston attended a marner assist foundation event in 2018 to support mitch's charity work (some sm pics from here and here)... also went to the marner assist invitational and got dragged for his tape job (here’s a selfie w them)

here’s some intense cellys from this era: like hello? .. SWEET PEAS... this bench moment....... whatever this was

“Marner and Matthews entered the NHL together in 2016-17 and remain good friends and road roommates now. Marner sounded genuinely enthused about his buddy’s new contract, and sent him a text once word broke Tuesday joking that they’re going to have to figure out where to be neighbours once they enter a higher tax bracket next season.” fellas.... is it gay to plan your future in the suburbs of toronto together 

here they are dancing at naz kadri’s wedding ... hand check

which teammate does auston matthews like to watch the most? the answer won’t surprise you!

mitch was planning to stream and play nhl with this random streamer during lockdown and auston literally asked to join and hang... “matts, i’ll talk to you.. in like an hour probably” aka mitch is a constant texter/talker (ALSO here is a twitter thread recounting to the experience since the streams gone forever... rip 2020-2021 mitch the streamer)

here are some of my favorite pictures from this time period:

2021-present (superstar era)

they're both alternate captains, very clearly leaders of this team, and basically recognized as superstars in the league too with continued individual success. they're the last ones out on the ice at warmup still, the first ones to cheer for their teammates milestones, the last ones to give the goalies big hugs after wins. they still don’t always play together 100% of the time, but they individually enhance the players around them and have played career high years when they’re at each other’s sides.

confirmation of their warmup rituals and the fact that it's something they've been doing together, to feel good about themselves, since the very beginning ........ the same as back then .... here’s very recent vid

still doing their little handshake too, with the added bonus of a behind-the-back one too sometimes (mitch does the handshake line for the whole team by this point)

"it really seems like we're not cellying really by ourselves. we're constantly going in to hug each other. i think that just shows the amount of joy and happiness we have going for each other right now."

mitch basically assisted on a large percentage of auston's goals these past few record breaking years that they've been allowed to play together. here's a video after the 21-22 season where mitch talks about how thankful and generous auston has been.

here is a tumblr compilation about their chemistry after they've gotten to play significant stretches as linemates (literally part of the most offensively dangerous line in the 21-22 regular season).

“have you ever had this kind of chemistry with another teammate before in your life?” “no, not really”

they're so silly... so much goofy inconsequential content is out there but: mitch fighting the post that hurt matthews at practice.

here’s mitch checking on auston after he took a puck in the knee at practice

forgotten 2021 christmas vid i can’t track down but. matching mugs and whipped cream mustaches. also just look at them in THIS...

the fashion saga continues.. where here they anecdotally have the same spikey high top/low top shoes (they also have lots of random matching sneakers but i’m not knowledgeable enough to compile those)

this media day fashion trend video... where do you even start with this. “you better put some earrings in here for auston” like auston is the center of his fashion conscience. “i won’t wear one of those.. i don’t think... maybe.. we’ll see” you know DAMn well if auston recommended--- “matts has got those- he’s got a big frame”

they both wear chains with their numbers on them (recent fit pics of auston here and mitch here), and though they’re not exactly matching but the coordination, the knowing they talk about fashion and accessories... them having these chains dates back to 2018 btw

their mutual social media hype for each other's accomplishments never gets old: mitch breaking game point streak in 2022... random overtime winner in 2022... auston hitting 50 goals in 21-22 season... "@austonmatthews what an achievement. proud to be a part of this journey with you"... "congrats to my brother @austonmatthews on his historic night"... “couldn’t have done it without my boys”.... they were so extra just bc of a pic of them hugging... like sure ! ... “my fucking guy is a beast” YOUR guy?? .... mitch basically campaigning for individual awards for auston every time he scored a goal ... “well deserved my dog” “lets go baby” when he finally won them... “new range got that dawg in it”

“[auston’s] always very thankful. he’s done a couple really big thank yous for me already and given me a couple things that i’m just gonna keep between us two... he’s a great guy and obviously deserves what he got.”

in the same way they grow attached to people as a pair, michael bunting joined the team and auston and mitch's top line in 2021 and a best friendship blossomed between the trio.

they went to auston's home in arizona over the 2022 summer to "build chemistry", play golf, play tennis, and just generally hang out

they also potentially celebrated auston’s birthday there because here’s a photo of them at auston’s house with his fav chef and here’s auston with his bday cake in the same outfit ...... best friends

went to a jays game together right at the beginning of the season, this image..... a video of them chatting :’) 

here is bunting talking about what it's like to get to know them

iconic bench moment between the three of them... another cutesy one

the 2022 heritage classic costumes/entry together like usual, plus the new trio, plus practice pic

their 2022-2023 gloves where they are still drawing cute little doodles of hearts and dog initials and smileys to remind themselves to have fun

"i think the sky's the limit for [mitch]. i think he's just unbelievable. i love playing with him. i think after he came back, he was probably the best player in the world for the rest of the year. he's incredible to be out there with and watch."

commentators weighing in on their joint legacy and saying “they’re magic out there together. they are what they are because of each other” 

here are some more quotes about their impact on the franchise and the way their names are basically cemented in history... the modern day odd couple, they say

for auston’s birthday in sep 2022, mitch commissioned a drawing of auston and his dog felix as a gift

speaking of their dogs..... this goofy insta story 

auston feeding mitch a golf club at a charity event? or are they using it as a mic... who can dissect their weird antics

the blueprint episode about mitch has some cute bg stuff of them (gifs), as well as one of my fave little head bonks here

some cellys/bench moments these years too bc they don’t stop: big squeeze... he just lauched himself... i just love them... arms wide open... mitch is a cartoon character... what in the hell is THIS... iconic moment ... 22-23 season cellys so far.... this riveting convo

“all of this doesn‘t really happen without him.” okay another unverifiable quote but like. look at those images and tell me it’s not something he’d say... you can‘t

auston asked about mitch trade rumors: "Mitch is an unbelievable player, he's an unbelievable teammate. In this room, everybody loves Mitch; everybody loves everybody. We really have a tight bond. All the noise coming from the outside, you guys have fun with that." 

i’m getting derailed here bc half of these moments are not that significant but i fucking love these pics of yappy auston... like of course he’s talkin to mitch

plenty of ribbing is still going on.... or at least attempts: “those are loud flip flops”... though we have transitioned into blatant confirmation that auston can and will be bossed around by mitch when he says stuff like “mitch will assault me if i don’t pick him [to bring with me to a desert island], but i’d like to have him there too”

team bonding at a lake house but you only tag mitch? that vs the history of mitch complaining about not being included...

the importance of the content we received on the 2021 media day cannot be overstated. here’s 5 questions with auston and mitch, yearbook superlatives, career day (images: x x x), and then 2022′s who’s more likely? (all must-sees, i promise... even confirm themselves as the best bromance... if i spent too long on any single revelations this post would be 500k words more)

also the 2021 leafs call out video and the 2022 leafs call out video absolutely showcase how annoyingly endearing they are about each other... whether they’re trying to harp on one another or give genuine compliments... amazing that a dynamic can be captured so clearly when they’re not even in the room at the same time

“mitchelly marner, i’m grateful for my guy” (gifs) (the new nickname... the incessant use of my guy... mental breakdown inducing)

in november 2022, mitch tied a franchise point streak record (with a very valiant effort from the whole team to get him an empty net goal in the final 2 minutes, i might add) and auston was the first one to scoop him up in celebration and then (where he’s normally :| in media these days) was very :D and proud about it and him afterwards. “i’m so happy he got it” (mitch went on to set the new record at 23 games)

and as for extremely recent, both auston and mitch hit their 500 career points mark within a week of each other (1/3/23 and 1/7/23). here are screencaps, gifs of mitch getting to hit 500 with auston on the ice.. then auston collected the puck and pretending to throw it over the glass and prompting the broadcasters to say: “they’ve celebrated so many milestones together”

here are some teammates and coaches talking about their chemistry together and the fact that they push each other to be better players and enjoy it (tumblr vid)

there’s them being hype about the fact that they were SUPPOSED to go the 2023 all star game together on instagram (auston didn’t end up going bc of injury)

here’s a 2023 athletic article about how different they are in personality but how clear their leadership and friendship is (the athletic... tumblr)

mike johnson went on a podcast pre 22-23 playoffs and said “they like playing here, they like playing with each other, they care about each other, they want to have sex– success together” .... the freudian slip 

toward the end of the 22-23 season, mitch was nearing 100 points (never made it) BUT they kept showing this graphic about how mitch has assisted on 99 of auston’s career 299 goals up to that game (ALL DESPITE THEM NOT PLAYING REGULARLY TOGETHER TIL A COUPLE YRS IN)

mitch being asked if he prefers to drive his own line or play with auston... he says it’s always fun and special to play with auston bc of their chemistry and the way they're not afraid to “give it to each other” about where they need to improve. “that’s the kind of friendship and teammate you want. that’s something we’ve built a bond over” (vid) (gifs)

mitch marner got married on july 29th 2023, and auston came back to canada (after skipping OTHER weddings like his “favorite teammate” alex kerfoot and ex teammate tyson barrie) to be in attendance :’) here’s a video of him watching mitch n steph dance there way into the reception, here’s a picture nazem kadri generously posted, here’s a pic of him with mitch and willy, here’s gifs of mitch and auston singing shirtless at the reception, and most 👀 of them all... here’s a pic of auston watching mitch and steph’s first dance. ..

here are some of my favorite more current pics of them

i also gif or post pretty much every 1634 moment from current leafs content/games, so you can check out my hockeyedit tag for some goofy bench or ice shenanigans that didn't make the cut. or my 1634 tag in general.

TL;DR

mitch marner and auston matthews were basically drafted to the maple leafs to be two of the faces of the franchise, and they share a similar burden in that with the leafs lack of playoff success thus far being leaders on the team. they’ve accomplished so many records at an individual level in tandem because of their talents and their chemistry on the ice, and they play their best and happiest hockey when they’re allowed to play together. despite different backgrounds and personalities, they’ve developed an extremely charming relationship off the ice, one built from years and years of intense mutual support, playful teasing, and a shared vision for the team. they seem to be so much more outwardly excited for each other’s successes; it becomes so easy to root for them...... regardless of what the future holds for the current maple leafs team, the two of them have done enough to have their names in the hockey history books, and we are all so lucky that there’s much more ahead of them and that we get to WATCH.

if a single person made it this far, i love you, lol. i personally will never be getting over them and am always looking for more content or unseen stuff so lmk if i missed something crucial. edit (6/18/23): if you’re looking for more pictures of them, i have removed watermarks of 95% of their images together on getty and organized them by tags on this blog @1634archive​ if you’d like to peruse!

hopefully some people get some sort of joy out of this like i have in compiling it all!! cheers to much much more 1634 in the future too. ❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️

last updated: 9/12/23

[youblogzz]

Blue Jackets hiring Mike Babcock as coach

Sep 28, 2019; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock talks to the media after a win over the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena.Image: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports The Columbus Blue Jackets plan to name Stanley Cup winner Mike Babcock as their new head coach, Sportsnet reported Saturday Bass’ ERA stinks, but not compared to who he is off the mound | Worst…

[brockadoodles]

I think it’s really wild canucks Twitter is blaming Demko and Holtby for all of this when uh... have you seen the team playing in front of them? Pretty delusional to think signing markstrom would have mattered if that’s the team in front of you.

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 10

A/N:  The response to last chapter was so amazing and I have been LOVING answering your anons and comment questions!  I hope this chapter brings some much needed, uh, happiness to your lives.  We’re seeing them get closer and closer..........😊

November 19th, 2019

Aberdeen Bloom was eating Doritos straight out of the bag.  

It was a Tuesday night, and she was on the couch with Minerva in her lap and Kasha beside her watching TV.  The Leafs had lost to Las Vegas 4-2, and Aberdeen was ready to call it an early night – if only so she could put a facemask on before she went to bed.  She didn’t have to be in the office tomorrow until about 10, which meant that she could sleep in.  Plus, her eyes hurt.  She’d been reading like a mad woman during all her days off, researching everything she could and trying to learn the history of the Maple Leafs: all the different players, the eras, the iconic moments, the not-so-iconic moments – everything.  It was a lot to learn, but she knew that the second she typed the words into the Google search bar.  She also knew she wouldn’t learn everything in four days, but alas, she was trying.  She was doing what she knew she had in her.  She was trying.  

Kasha snuck one last Dorito before she rolled up the bag and put it back in the designated “snack” cupboard in their kitchen.  They folded up the blanket, fluffed the pillows on the small couch, and made sure Minerva had some food and water in her bowl before closing the curtains and retreating to their bedrooms.  Minerva hopped onto Aberdeen’s bed, and she scratched behind Minerva’s ears which she knew she liked before changing into her pajamas and going to her washroom to wash her face.  

“Do you mind if I phone Evan?” Kasha called out from her bedroom.  “I won’t be too loud, I promise.”

“Go for it!” Aberdeen said, truly not minding.  She’d hear a few mumbles at most – nothing more – and she knew because Kasha did this often.  It was sweet, and they were cute, and Aberdeen honestly didn’t mind.  Kasha’s dad still didn’t know, which meant they were in their own world, which was nice.  She and Kasha were still harbouring secrets for each other, as they always would.

Minerva meowed when she came back in the room.  Aberdeen sat on her bed and cradled her in her arms for a few minutes, scratching and kissing her all over.  Just as she was about to shut off her light and tuck herself into bed, her phone began to ring.  She looked over to see Brendan’s name flashing across the screen.  

She froze.  Brendan never called this late.  She picked up immediately.  “Good evening Mr. Shanahan,” she greeted him.

“You need to be ready in half an hour with a suitcase packed for four days,” he said, his voice stern but sounding somewhat preoccupied.

Aberdeen stood up immediately.  “Oh, okay.  Of course.  Um, why?” she asked.

“We’re taking a red eye to Phoenix.”

She felt like throwing up.  That had to mean something was wrong with the team.  A player was injured, or being traded, or maybe demoted?  What if it had something to do with Kyle?  What if it was about John?  Was his captaincy at risk because they had only won two games in regulation in the past sixteen games?  “Okay.  No problem.”

“I’ll be there with Lou in half an hour.  Tell nobody,” he said before he hung up the phone abruptly.  

Aberdeen began to freak out.  She changed into a pair of clothes and threw her suitcase onto her bed, Minerva meowing at her and watching as she stuffed outfits into her suitcase.  Minerva even tried climbing into the suitcase a few times, which made Aberdeen sad – all she wanted to be doing was cuddling with her cat, not thinking about the Leafs.  She grabbed her travel bags that had her toiletries and travel-sized skincare and makeup products and threw them in as well.  When she was finished, she zipped it up.  She took a deep breath.

Minerva meowed.

“I’m sorry baby,” she whispered, scratching behind Minerva’s ears again.  She grabbed her credentials off her dresser and put them around her neck.  

She exited her room and knocked softly on Kasha’s door.  “Give me a second,” Aberdeen could hear her say to Evan.  “Come in.”  Aberdeen opened the door, popping in about half way.  Kasha immediately saw that Aberdeen was wearing regular clothes.  The look of worry on Aberdeen’s face was a tell-tale sign something was wrong.  She put her phone against her chest.  “Oh my God Aberdeen, what’s wrong?”

“I’m taking a red-eye to Phoenix,” she whispered, making sure Evan wouldn’t be able to hear her through the phone.  Not that he’d say anything.  “Something’s happening.”

“What’s happening?” Kasha asked, her eyes wide.

“I don’t know.  Brendan hasn’t told me.  But this is very unexpected and I’ve just had to pack for four days which means I’ll be in Colorado too.  I’ll be back Sunday.  But can you please watch Minerva?  I know you weren’t supposed—”

“Aberdeen, of course, it’s not even a question,” Kasha said.  

“You can’t tell anyone I’m going,” Aberdeen said.  “I don’t know what’s happening, but you can’t say a word.”

“No no, of course not,” Kasha shook her head.  “Can you at least text me when you land?  So I know you’re safe?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aberdeen nodded, her mind running a mile a minute.  What if it was William?  What if it was Jason?  “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Aberdeen.  This is your job now,” Kasha said.  “I’ll take care of Minerva, don’t worry.”

***

Aberdeen waited in the condo lobby for the town car.  When she saw it pull up, she began walking towards it, pulling her suitcase behind her.  Lou got out and loaded it in the trunk for her, and she opened the back door to sit in her usual seat.  

Brendan was, of course, already there, in a pair of slacks and a comfortable looking sweater.  “Hi Mr. Shanahan,” she said, putting on her seatbelt.  It was then and only then that she noticed another presence in the front seat.  Usually, of course, it was just her and Brendan.  

“Aberdeen, the only people who know the following information I’m about to tell you are Larry, Kyle, myself, and Lou,” he began.  She nodded her head, not believing she was privy to this information before so many other people just by virtue of having to travel with Brendan.  She glanced over quickly to the man in the front seat.  She saw a familiar face smiling back at her.  “You know Sheldon Keefe,” Brendan said as he noticed them looking at each other.

“Of course,” she said.  He was head coach of the Marlies.  He was around often.  Had multiple meetings with Brendan throughout her time working there.  

“Well, he’s the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

***

November 20th, 2019

After boarding the MLSE private jet – not first class on a commercial flight, not even another chartered flight, the MLSE private jet – and everyone sleeping most of the way to Phoenix, they landed and immediately checked into the same hotel as the team without telling a single soul.  Everyone went straight to bed but were notified by Brendan that they had to “lay low” for the next day and would be leaving for the arena, where the team would hold their practice, at 1:30pm.  Aberdeen barely slept, and had to stay cooped up in her room so nobody would see her and know Brendan arrived.  It was torture.  

When she arrived at the arena with Brendan and Sheldon, Brendan told her to sit in the stands and wait.  That’s when she got really nervous, because she knew he was prepping himself to fire Mike Babcock right after the practice, even though it was going on as they spoke.  But she did as she was told, sitting and clutching her iPad in her lap so hard her knuckles were white.  

She noticed William first, of course, his blonde hair peeking through his helmet, as he kneeled on one knee in front of Mike Babcock as he addressed the team.  John, Jason, Auston, Tyson – they were all there, and she picked them out one by one.  Everybody was facing away from her, looking at the whiteboard.  Her leg bobbed up and down uncontrollably.  In a mere, what, thirty minutes, they wouldn’t even have to listen to him anymore.

When the team stood up and did some last-minute drills, Aberdeen noticed Kasperi look in her direction.  William was skating over to him, and when he stopped in front of him, William did a double take.  Her heart fluttered at the moment she knew he realized it was her.  He would have almost missed his cue for the drill if Kasperi didn’t tap him.  When he was finished the set-up drill and skated back to his place, he looked in her direction again, transfixed.  

That was when her phone buzzed.  She took it out and saw a series of texts coming through from Brendan.  

Kyle will be texting you soon.  Please go into the locker room with him while he speaks to the team about the coaching change.  Sheldon will be there too.  Let me know how it goes, as I will be speaking to Mike.  

When we release the announcement expect crazy media.  I will speak to them.  Kyle will not.  If Kyle is not done speaking to the team by the time the announcement is sent out and media comes in, don’t worry.  Stay with Kyle.

I think the team will appreciate seeing your friendly face when this comes down.

You will have to help set up for a media press conference tomorrow but the Coyotes will also provide help.  Me Kyle & Sheldon.

Thank you for not leaking.

By the time she looked up from her phone, half of the team was already down the tunnel.  John, Morgan, and Auston had stayed out to speak with Mike a little bit more, but she took that as her cue to leave the stands and at least start making her way towards the locker room.  She knew the team probably had to undress, shower, and change into their regular clothes before Kyle said anything to them, but she was so anxious she couldn’t help it.

Another buzz from her phone.  This time, when she looked at it, ‘Head Empty’ showed – the name she put for William, so nobody would know it was him.

why are u here?

She had to resist every urge in her to reply.  She couldn’t.  Brendan had sworn her to secrecy, and had already thanked her for that secrecy.  If she typed even one word, William would know what was going on.  So she ignored him.

whats going on minskatt?

is everything ok?

pls answer me minskatt. what is happening

can i come see u?  where are u?

She put her phone on silent.  She couldn’t take it.  She held in every emotion she had as she walked through the arena and hallways, flashing every worker her credentials, before finally arriving at the visiting team’s area.  She walked through the doorway and saw Kyle.  He smiled and waved her over.  

“Thanks for coming,” he said as she approached him, still clutching the iPad to her chest.  

“Yeah, of course.  No problem.”

“You know Aberdeen, Brendan trusts you,” he said.  He could tell she was nervous by how white her knuckles were.  He thought that maybe saying that would put her at ease.  “That he made you come on this trip – that he made you privy to the information before a lot of other people…that says a lot.”

Aberdeen shrugged her shoulders.  She wasn’t so sure.  “I’m just doing my job Kyle.  He told me to be packed in thirty minutes and I was packed in thirty minutes.”

“But you didn’t leak it.”

Aberdeen furrowed her brows.  “I…why would I leak it?” she asked.  It was the most absurd concept to her.  “I would never do something like that. He thanked me for not leaking it too—”

“I know,” Kyle smiled slightly.

“But why?” she asked again.  “There’s nothing in it for me.”

“Really?  It’s interesting you see it that way,” Kyle said.  “You could have sold that information to any newspaper or reporter and they would have offered you a job.  A chance to write, which is apparently what you want to do, according to Brendan at least.  But you didn’t.”

Aberdeen hadn’t even considered that.  Sell the information for a writing gig at a national newspaper?  She didn’t even know the opportunity was there, truthfully.  What it revealed to her more than anything was that others had done it before – betrayed the team in some way.  She couldn’t even consider it.  She shook her head.  “This is my job,” she said, her voice small.  “I would never burn this bridge.  I’d never sell Brendan or the team out like that for personal gain.”

Kyle smiled.  “I’m going to chock it up to the fact that you’re young,” he said.  “You’re only twenty-one, Aberdeen.  This city is rife with opportunity for people who take advantage of others.  But you’re not like that – at least yet.”

“I’d never take advantage of someone.”  

Kyle smiled.  “Good.  I like a person with conviction.”  His eyes left hers as he noticed someone walking behind her.  He nodded his head at whoever it was.  “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

He opened the door for her, ushering her into the locker room.  As she turned a corner, she saw all the guys sitting at their stalls.  Quite a few of them noticed her come in and looked shocked.  When they saw Kyle follow behind her, they knew something was up.  

“Hey guys,” Kyle began, addressing the room.  “I know John let you know you all needed to stay back.  It’s because I need to speak to you guys.”  Aberdeen looked to her left and saw Sheldon lurking in the shadows.  He smiled at her and she smiled back.  “I want us to have a long, constructive conversation before you guys go back out there…because when you do, there’s going to be a big change,” Kyle continued.  A lot of the guys looked confused.  “That change being…well…Mike Babcock has been relieved of his coaching duties with our club,” he announced.  She watched as some of their jaws dropped.  “And your new head coach is someone many of you know very well – Sheldon Keefe.”

When Sheldon walked into the room and stood beside Kyle, the team broke out into a round of applause.  Guys like Zach, Travis, and Andreas were smiling and clapping for him so Aberdeen could only assume that they had played for him on the Marlies.  Jason seemed extremely happy.  Tyson looked like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders.  

She watched William.  She couldn’t tell what he was feeling.

***

November 21st, 2019

It was William who texted Aberdeen first that night, when they got back to the hotel after the game.  im coming over and u cant stop me.  At least he gave her warning this time so she didn’t have a sheet mask on and her hair wrapped in a towel.  When she heard the lightest knock on her door, against all her better judgement, she ran over and opened it.  

William slipped into her room, wearing trackpants and a Gucci t-shirt that probably cost more than her last paycheque.  She closed the door and locked it before turning around to face him.  “Hi,” she said, her breath caught in her throat.  Here he was, in her hotel room…again.

“Why didn’t you answer my texts after practice?” he asked, getting right into it, not bothering with pleasantries.  

“Will, I couldn’t,” she said.  “I knew but I couldn’t say anything.  I couldn’t risk it.  Brendan swore me to secrecy.  I was on my couch eating Doritos, and then one hour later I was on the MLSE private jet on my way here.  I still can’t believe I am here.”

William nodded his head.  He broke eye contact with her as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.  “I’m sorry.  I was just – I was just so worried when I saw you.  I mean I was happy, don’t get me wrong, but you know.”

“Yeah.”  She looked at him, lost in his own thoughts.  There was a moment of silence because, Aberdeen thought, he was still processing everything that happened today – and that didn’t include the game they won.  A good start for a new coach, she thought.  “Will?”

“Yes minskatt?”

“How are you feeling about everything?”

He let out a long breath – one he didn’t know he was holding in – as he pushed himself further onto the bed.  He rubbed his face with his hands as she moved to sit on the opposite side of the bed cross-legged.  “I don’t even know minskatt,” he finally admitted.

“I mean…I don’t mean to tell you what to think, but there must be some…I don’t know…relief,” she said cautiously.

He looked over at her, smiling slightly.  “Yeah.  Relief.”

“Because, you know…the backhanded compliments.  You don’t have to take his shit anymore.  You have a coach now who actually, like, values you and your skill and doesn’t throw you under the bus all the time,” she clarified.

“Yeah, I guess.  Conflicted that I feel relief, though.”

It was glaringly obvious that he didn’t want to talk about it – well, that, or he really didn’t know what to feel about it all.  He was hard to read; he didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve like she did most of the time.  And she didn’t know whether to blame him, the time of night they were having this conversation, or something else.  “Will—”

“Minskatt—”

“Can you just like…talk to me, please?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper.  She didn’t even look at him; she looked down and fiddled with the rings on her fingers nervously instead.  “I just want to make sure you’re okay, Will.”

His hand reached out and grabbed hers in her lap, making her stop fiddling with her rings.  Her skin felt like it was on fire as she looked up at him as he rubbed his thumb quickly over the back of her hand.  Her mind quickly flashed back to the first night they were together in her bed – how electrifying his touch was then, too.  Nothing had changed.  “I’ll be fine, minskatt.  You don’t have to worry about me,” he said, shifting to lie down on his side with her hand still in his.  

But she did.  That was her problem.  She was getting herself deeper into this mess even though she knew she had to get out.  Like, he wasn’t even supposed to be here, yet here he was.  Never mind just being in her hotel room – now he was on her bed.  Lying down.  “Will—”

“There’s been a lot of change in my life already, minskatt.  This is nothing,” he smirked, letting go of her hand.  

She knew that.  She remembered what he told her about his family moving around a lot.  It seemed like the only thing constant for him was change.  She thought maybe his long-term contract brought an end to that, but there were so many other variables in hockey she constantly forgot about.  “So long as you’re alright,” she said.  

“You know what would make it more alright?”

“What?”

“If you tell me how freaked out you were stepping onto that private jet for the first time,” he smiled.

Aberdeen started to giggle uncontrollably.  She shielded her face in her hands and shook her head, hearing William’s infectious laugh.  “Don’t even get me started.”

“Come on!” he beckoned.  

“It was torture.”

“Torture?”

“I’m not used to all that, Will,” she said, finding herself lying down on her side to face him.  She probably shouldn’t have.  “Like obviously it was nice – don’t get me wrong.  Beautiful.  But it was all so…crazy.”

“Crazy?” he just kept repeating her words.  

“Not all of us are accustomed to Gucci t-shirts and private jets,” she chastised.  “God, Will.  Sometimes I feel like the theme song to Murder, She Wrote is just playing in your head on a constant loop.”

“What’s it sound like?”

“Oh my God,” she mumbled, pulling her phone out from charging and opening the YouTube app to find the song.  She played it out loud for William, and the more the theme played, the harder William laughed.  His eyes crinkled and his smile stretched across his face; her eyes crinkled at the sound of his ridiculous laugh.  More than anything, she was just happy that he was laughing after everything that had happened.  

Will shoved his face into the pillow as he continued to laugh, the song ending not long after.  “Nobody roasts me quite like you do, Aberdeen.”

She thought about the list of the things she’d say he looked like whenever he asked “What do you think?” when he walked in with his game-day suit on, her most recent being, “You look like a medium pepperoni pizza with garlic dipping sauce.”  The guys got a kick out of that one when they heard about it.  Kasperi was even recording them all in the notes app on his phone.  “You love it,” she said without thinking.

“Of course I do,” he mumbled, his dumb smile still on his face.  “Tell me something Aberdeen.”

“What?”

He stretched out his hand again, one of them gliding over the skin near her elbow.  “What do your tattoos mean?”

It was her turn to shove her face into the pillow.  She knew this would come up one day, and truth be told, she wondered why it didn’t happen earlier.  “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got a lot of time.”

He did?  That was news to her.  It was late at night and he was in her hotel room instead of his own.  “This one…” she began, pointing to the first, “‘to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield’…it’s the last line of one of my favourite poems, Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.  Do you know it?”

“No.”

“Well, it's a good poem.  You should read it,” she quipped.  “It’s about, like, the need of going forward, despite challenges, despite tragedy, despite anything.  About being strong in will, pushing forward relentlessly.  You know…persistence.  Never facing life passively.  It’s an attitude that I want to have in my life too.  An attitude I want to try to embody every day.”

William’s warm smile made her nervous.  “And you’re other one?”

She paused.  “That one’s even more personal.”

“Tell me.”

“Do you promise not to laugh?”

“Of course.”

She paused.  “This one is from Seneca.  He’s a Roman philosopher.  ‘We are waves of the same sea’.  It’s…my family,” she began.  “Mom is Scottish but grew up in Northern Ireland, and my dad is from Iran.  And if you know anything about the history of those two countries, it’s, like, focused on people’s apparent differences with each other creating conflict.  But in Canada, when they met, despite the cultural differences, they came together.  So like, we’re all waves, but at the end of the day…we’re part of the same sea.  We’re in this together,” she explained, embarrassed.  “I don’t know.  I just thought it was beautiful.  We can have all these differences, but at the end of the day we’re part of the same sea.”

The look on William’s face was one of pure adoration.  He was biting him bottom lip trying to suppress a huge smile, and his eyes so blue and dewy-looking she thought she would faint if she looked at them any longer.  “What’s wrong?” she asked.  Maybe he thought the whole explanation was stupid.

“You’re just so adorable, minskatt,” he said, not trying to hide his smile anymore.  “I could listen to you talk for hours.  Sometimes I even just imagine you talking so I can hear your voice.”

“You do?  Really?”

“Aberdeen…I think about you when I’m not even thinking.”

Her heart stopped beating.  She felt a rush of blood warm her cheeks as she pushed her face into the pillow again.  God, he was really going there, wasn’t he?  As they were laying in the same bed together.  “You can’t just say stuff like that to me and think I’m gonna react normally.”

“I know,” he said.  She shot him a look.  “Aberdeen.  I could listen to you talk all day and night.  I’m serious.  And besides, who was Ulysses or Alfred, Lord Tennyson anyway?”

“You don’t know?!” she asked, flabbergasted.  

William shook his head.  Aberdeen began talking, and he began listening.  And to William, all was right in the world.  

***

November 22nd, 2019

When Aberdeen awoke sometime the next morning, her body still felt tired and fatigued.  She knew the day before was long and tedious with the press conference and the game, but she thought sleep would rejuvenate her.  Apparently not.  She brought her hand up with her watch and took a look at the time.  It was still only 6:30am, so no wonder she felt the way she did.  Why in the hell was she waking up now?  

She sighed.  

Then something moved out of her corner of her eye.  A body.  On her bed.

As if on cue, everything from last night came flooding back into her mind.  William coming over to her room.  Talking about Mike Babcock’s firing and how he felt.  Talking about her tattoos and what they meant.  “Sometimes I even just imagine you talking so I can hear your voice.” “I think about you when I’m not even thinking.”  Then he’d asked who Ulysses and Alfred, Lord Tennyson were and she’d fucking taken the bait hook, line, and sinker so easily.  They had ended up talking for so long they just fell asleep.  Together.  In the same bed.

Oh my fucking God.

She looked at how peaceful his face looked.  God, he was fucking beautiful.  Just…beautiful.  But he couldn’t be here.  He shouldn’t have been here in the first place.  It went against everything.  “Will…” she said softly, hoping he’d wake up.  He didn’t.  “Will,” she said more forcefully.

“Hmph?” he grumbled.

“Will, you have to go.”

He furrowed his brows at the sound of her voice, obviously not expecting it.  He opened his eyes slowly, only to see her staring back at him.  “Minskatt?”  

“Will, it’s 6:30, you have to go back to your room,” she whispered.

He looked around, realizing just like she did what had happened.  “I don’t want to.”

“I know you don’t want to but you have to go before everyone starts waking up,” she reasoned.  “If anyone catches you walking out of my room Brendan will have my head on a spit.”

He took her words into consideration before nodding his head and getting up slowly.  He looked at the time before running his fingers through his hair.  He looked back at her as she lay in the bed looking at him.  “I’ll see you at breakfast, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she nodded her head.  

“Good,” he said as he got up, making his way over to the door.  “I’ll see you in a bit.”

When the door closed behind him, Aberdeen sighed and brought her hands up to cover her eyes.

She was fucked.  

[circlho333-blog]

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[unknowableroom]

Full transcript of Scott’s Leave Your Mark podcast episode from last year below the cut.

Today, I’m honored to be speaking to Scott Moir, who’s an amazing human being. The main reason I’ve asked him to come on Leave Your Mark is not because of his accomplishments, but because of who he is as a person. He carries himself with humility, he’s friendly and caring about everyone he meets, and if he knows you, he always takes the time to make you feel his connection.

He’s a proud Canadian. He, along with his partner, Tessa, have won all there is to win in ice dancing, most recently two gold medals at the Olympics in Korea. They’re considered by many to be the best of all time and yet, when you meet him, you are nothing but impressed with the way he carries himself and how he treats you.

I’m honored to spend some time with him today. Welcome, Scott.

Scott: Thank you, Scotty! I don’t know how to follow that up.

I love when I do intros that hit the person.

Scott: Now I’m hoping I do a whole interview that has no humility in it at all. (Laughs) I’ve changed since two months ago.

I know you love the Leafs, but who’s your favorite Leaf of all time?

Scott: Favorite Leaf of all time? Wendel Clark.

Why?

Scott: I just like the way he played. He was kind of all around. You didn’t know whether he was going to score a hat trick or fight Bob Probert, or… He just played with that edge. It’s also, I think, a lot to do with the time that you fall in love with the sport. For me, I was a young boy when Wendel Clark was the captain, so it was very natural that I kind of went towards liking Wendel Clark, Doug Gilmour, Dave Andreychuk. That was kind of my era when I first started, and it never gets better than that, I don’t think. Even with Auston Matthews: this kid is gonna be the best Leaf ever, but it just doesn’t have the same connection to me as Wendel Clark.

Well, how do you feel about how they’re doing?

Scott: They’re doing great! They’re a special team. They’re gonna be tough. They’re missing some big pieces still, but… We’re Leafs fans, Tessa and I both, and it’s nice to be able to go down to the ACC and just have them in it a little bit. It’s been a long, hard road here the last ten years or so.

Everyone knows about our friendship with Mike Babcock and even with Brendan Shanahan. They’ve always been so great to us. It’s been fun to get into the rink a little bit more now. Even in the last two months since we’ve been retired, we’ve been there a couple of times. Looking forward to seeing them do some things, but they’re farther away, probably, than they want to be at this point but at least they’re always in the game. They’re so explosive offensively.

You know Mike relatively well. What impresses you about him?

Scott: What I like about Mike is that there are no secrets for him. There’s no secret to success, you know? His big thing is living by the code. You wake up every day, you try hard, you dedicate yourself, you care, you go home, you love your family… It’s a very simple formula for him but he follows it relentlessly. From our discussions – obviously I’ve never played for Mike and will never pretend to know him in the way that his players do – but from what he says to me, if you give him everything you have, he’s gonna take great care of you.

What has been a powerful conversation you’ve had with him?

Scott: The biggest thing that I’ll always take with me for the rest of my life is when Mike said to me, “The scariest thing about life is that you can have everything you want.” And just to go for that and not shy away and not to limit yourself. Even as a young adult at that moment – and this was after Sochi, when I had already won an Olympics and I was a silver medalist in Sochi – even then, I found that in parts of my life, I was putting limits for no reason. So that kind of opened it back up and allowed me to chase after a couple of things I hadn’t been.

That’s awesome.

Scott: Yeah!

What is, for you, easy to do, and what is hard to do?

Scott: That’s a good question. It’s changed as I’ve gone on. Early on, as a male in my sport, I struggled a little bit with self-confidence. I don’t think that’ll read in the way that many people would think. It’s more about how, when I started a new project with choreography or with movement, I was never trained to dance. I was never trained to move in a specific way. I’m more of a feeling person, so when I was young, I was always really insecure about the first thing that was going to come out of my body. I knew it was going to be compared to Tessa because she was right there beside me and, most of the time, nailing it right away (actually, all of the time, nailing it right away).

But that kind of changed as I got older. Now, mostly the thing that I am not so good at would be controlling my emotions, making sure that I’m using it in the right way. It’s also, I think, what makes me a very powerful athlete, a very powerful performer, but it can be my worst enemy if I let it get in the way.

But my strengths… I hope that my strengths are personal connections. I love people. Right now, we’re on tour. I like making connections with the crew, the person who does wardrobe, the person who’s doing the lights. I like creating that family and that – I guess, for lack of a better word – culture. Being the team captain really motivates me. I’d rather do that than… I’ll help other people before I help myself, I guess.

Is that an energy in for you?

Scott: Yes. Absolutely.

What’s an energy out for you?

Scott: Energy out for me is when people don’t respect each other’s time. A huge energy out is when we’re just kind of going through the motions. I can’t do that. Most of the time, I will snap.

But I don’t have too many energy outs. I just need to make sure I check in. I have a lot of energy to give, but I have to make sure I take care of myself, that I spend time with my family, that I spend time at home, or else I run out of gas.

So who in your family is a grounding point for you? Your mom, dad?

Scott: I’m really, really fortunate. I think the grounding point for me has always been my brothers. I’m the youngest of three and I’m very, very proud of my brothers. They’re both firefighters. They were kind of in the sport – well, not kind of. They were in the sport, but never really to the level that I pursued. It wasn’t that they didn’t care about how I was doing skating, because they did and they were so supportive, but I really needed to rely on them to just be my brothers and they were always there for that. I always felt like they had my back no matter what. And how important is that in life when you can walk out the front door of your own house and know that, no matter what, these guys have your back?

One of your brothers competed fairly significantly in ice dance. Was that an influence for you?

Scott: Absolutely. I think that’s when it clicked for me that I could do this and travel the world. For him, that was a big part of it. He was on the junior circuit and a little bit on the senior circuit, but he talked a lot about the connections he made, the friendships, how neat it was to travel to Europe and meet people from America, from Asia, from Poland, and have a great time. That’s what I think drew me into the sport. I thought, “Oh, okay. If I’m successful a little bit, then I’ll get to go to Austria, Croatia, and Japan.” That was kind of the first thing that hooked me, and then once I got to these competitions, it didn’t take long before I just wanted to win them.

I want to broach one topic with you that’s probably a little difficult to a degree. Ice dancing isn’t something that most guys (when they’re kids) look at and say, “That’s what I want to accomplish.” The reason I want to bring this up is for young people who are listening, how did you manage the perception of that versus your character, you as a man, etc.? And now, I think, your being successful is a really powerful thing for some younger person who wants to do that. How did you manage that growing up?

Scott: That took a long time for me to fully understand and it’s only been in the last four years that I have truly started to be more comfortable with it. At the beginning, it wasn’t typical like you would think. I played hockey and I skated. I never got bullied in school. I mean, there was teasing among friends, but all of my buddies and my good friends have always been really supportive of me being a figure skater. I look at some of the teasing and bullying that happens in school and it breaks my heart, but I can honestly say that I’ve never really had to go through that to that extent because my friends did it for me. I had really great friends and they were allowed to tease me, and I teased them about stuff, but if someone who wasn’t one of our friends said something, then there was a real problem.

The other thing I had going for me is that I did play hockey with these guys, so they could make fun of me for being a figure skater all they wanted, but they knew that I’d be playing on the first line against them or with them that night and they’d be sitting on the bench watching me go, so they kind of understood that skill. I was never that great of a hockey player, but I could always get to where I needed to be and was a good playmaker and a competitor.

That’s the very beginning of it, but mostly with my image as I came up, I always wanted to be known as this hockey player who figure skated. I thought that because I went into figure skating, I had given up on my dream to win the Stanley Cup. When I was a young boy, I wanted to win the Stanley Cup and beat Joe Sakic. That was pretty much it. It took me awhile to realize that that actually wasn’t my passion, that wasn’t what excited me. When I look back now, I see the way I feel when I perform with Tessa, the way I feel when I’m doing new choreography, doing a dance…it doesn’t add up, isn’t as fulfilling to me as playing hockey or winning hockey. I know that I never did it at that level, but even at a young age… It took me awhile to break the mold of what I thought was socially acceptable or what I thought was supposed to be “normal.”

And that was very interesting for me. Because now when I look back… I love to dance, I love to move with Tessa, I love to be out there. These last two years of performing have been very fulfilling for me because I’ve really connected with the material and we’re taking that into touring, but it took me awhile to admit that to myself. So that was an interesting journey and now, because I’ve done that, I think it’s made me a more powerful performer.

What would you say to a young person who’s maybe dealing with some resistance inside themselves about reaching that because of some of those social things? What would you say to them in terms of helping them past that?

Scott: I would push most young people to be interesting and to not fit into the mold. I know it’s tough, especially when you’re in the school system and when you’re in this little world where peer pressure can become overwhelming. But it’s a huge world. Push yourself to be interesting and follow your passions because there are tons of people who are into the same things as you, and it’s really about what makes you happy. It’s really, really tough, but those interesting people are the ones who rule the world in the end. I believe that.

I love that. You were forced, in a way, because of what you were doing to leave home earlier than most kids would. How was that hard and how was that easy for you?

Scott: Well, it was easy for me because I knew it was necessary in order to accomplish my goals. Even as a 15-year-old – Tess and I first left home when she was 13 and I was 15 – we got third at Novice Nationals and I didn’t want to be third at Novice Nationals. We wanted to move into Juniors, and we knew that we had to train five days a week and we couldn’t live at home anymore. It was an easy decision. I mean, I think I did realize but I didn’t care that it was going to cost me my normal high school life per se. I wasn’t going to do prom, I wasn’t going to be able to go out Friday or Saturday, be a normal high school kid. I didn’t care about that. Still, I guess I don’t.

But I always had a very supportive family and it was tough to be away from that, to not be there when my brothers were getting engaged, married, having kids. That was the tough part about being away from home, but I’ve always had that great support and I really make sure to take advantage of the time that I get when I am home. But it’s been worth it. I don’t know what it is about me, but I think I would have left home early no matter what.

How did you keep connected? You talk about your good buddies. How did you foster good relationships that you still carry today?

Scott: What’s interesting about me is that I went my high school (that I still consider my high school) only for ninth grade. Medway High School, which is at home. All my best friends from that part of my life, I still have friendships with today. We have a really tight group of guys – and girls, for that matter – and… I don’t know, it’s just people that I connected with.

I was lucky because it was only an hour away, so I would come home on the weekends whenever I wasn’t competing. I’d try to work on those friendships, but I actually think I owe that to my friends. They understood that I was trying to do something. They always supported me and they always understood. I can’t remember getting backlash once because I couldn’t make something. They understood. I’ve missed best friends’ weddings and their kids being born now, and they just seem to understand, which is something I don’t want to make a habit of, but I really appreciate it.

Now, I’m going to read you something. There’s a book I fell in love with a number of years ago called “The Day You Were Born”, and it basically combines numerology and astrology, and I fell in love with it because it connected me to my purpose. In that book, it talks about the day you were born and basically gives you a purpose statement. I want to read yours to you: “To use your acute sensitivity, feelings of difference, and fears of abandonment to gain insight into yourself, become creative, and bond with others.” Pretty cool, huh?

Scott: That’s crazy!

There’s a tagline that goes with it: “The spiritual self must never lose its sense of utter dependence on the invisible.” That’s from Carl Jung, who is a famous psychologist.

Scott: I love that.

And certain signs align with other people’s signs. You align with Michael Jackson.

Scott: Really? That’s hilarious. We’re doing a Michael Jackson thing on this tour.

I think I really underestimated what that feeling of performance and creativity and having that outlet means to me. We are so lucky to have had this support our whole career, but it’s a different type of fun. It’s not like the fun you have when you’re relaxed, hanging out with your friends, but I have no other rush that is like the rush in my life when I either stand in my opening position or stand in the tunnel right before I go out. That’s what I live for. I know what to do when I get into position, but I love that excitement.

You exude a certain level of creativity that is very cool. I remember watching the documentary of you guys before the Olympics on Roxanne, and I could see what it meant to both of you, but to you especially as well. Tell me about the creative process for you. How do you come up with something? Does it just ping you in the head one day? What is that process like?

Scott: I think I need to be inspired a little bit before I can really find my stride, but I plant seeds. Now I’ve learned that there’s not a bad idea, you know? You throw ideas onto the table and the best idea wins.

A lot of the stuff that Tessa and I do, we do as a team. We can collaborate. In some ways, we rely on each other. I feel like I’m just picking through the ideas and highlighting the best ones. I love Tess. I love watching her move. She’s a magician. It’s very easy to watch her do something and pick. It’s very natural. But when I’m creating or getting into the headspace of a character, I like it to be real. A lot of the programs we’ve done have been based on my own experiences. Not in the way of method acting or pretending, but more so putting myself in that position. If I want to be jealous, I remember what it’s like to be jealous and really understand why. That’s a big part of me coming to terms with my character.

But other than that, I think I’ve been a little bit blessed with the fact that I’m emotional. I’ve always loved to tell a story and act, and I bring as much energy as I can. When I give 100% and go (what I think would be seen as) over the top, that’s when Tess goes, “Yes. That’s it. I love that. Give us that.”

What’s the difficult side of being emotionally connected to what you do?

Scott: Um, the difficult side is understanding the yin and the yang. It takes energy and there will be a time when you come down.

And also, collaborating is huge. I don’t create alone. I don’t wish to create alone. I love when Tess and I do things together, and we love when we work with a professional who can bring something different, who can pull little strands of – hopefully – brilliance out of us. But… (Sigh) It’s a good question.

Well, I know working with…Marina – is that right? – there were some difficult times. Now, what did you learn from her that was positive about yourselves?

Scott: Well, there were a lot of difficult times and when we look back at it now, I think it was her trying to help us mature, help us grow up. In 2010 and also 2009 and 2008, it was there for us. She told us almost exactly what we were going to do and helped us create as well. But she choreographed most of the programs. When we started to mature and have more input, that worked. But I think in the last year, we expected a lot more input [from our coaches]. We expected it to be very similar to 2014, but because we didn’t get that input, we had to be very independent.

We had to go down that path of maybe having some material that we didn’t like, but we wouldn’t have had our 2018 material if we didn’t have the 2014 experience. And we were very, very proud of the performances we had – maybe not so much the programs (the free dance in particular). The short dance, we really liked in 2014. But we needed that, and we created it all and we’re very, very proud of that.

Are the two performances from this Olympics the most empowering performances of your career?

Scott: I think so. And not for the reasons that I think people would guess. I’m not so sure that they were… Well yeah, they were our best performances. But what we’re most proud of – and I talked a little about this with Tessa not that long ago – is the fact that we were able to capitalize when we were completely trained. In 2010, we were trained well and we were in great skating shape, but Tess was very much still injured. We were in Canada, and there was some sort of energy that lifted us up and got us past her legs being sore. Tessa kind of just willed her way to the finish line.

In 2014, we had it a bit more down to a science, or what we thought was mechanically sound. We didn’t quite have the programs; we performed well and trained well, but they just weren’t up to the level.

This year, we were so ready. It’s very neat as an athlete to look back and wonder what we could have done differently and actually not have an answer. We left no stone unturned. We really were trained. We committed to absolutely every part of it, and that was exhausting at times, but standing in that opening position, the only thing we felt was pressure to not perform like we had the thousands of times before. I mean, that was really cool. We did execute and that’s what we’re proud of: that training before.

I asked this question to Mik and I’m curious how you feel as well. In society, you often hear, “That’s the best pizza. That’s the best restaurant.” But that’s always somebody’s opinion, right? But you compete in sport, and there is a “best.” There is a moment of “best.” What does that feel like, in the sense that you know that you are the best at something in the world? What’s the weight of that and what is the exuberance of it?

Scott: Well, we’ve felt both. I think at an early age, we felt the weight of it as pressure to repeat, or pressure to prove that it wasn’t just lightning in a bottle.

After 2010, the most pressure we felt was at a summer competition the next year. We felt like we had to prove to everybody that the Olympic champions were in the building and that they brought a special something, something different, that we were going to be untouchable forever. But that was just such an unrealistic energy and not where we were skating, even at the Olympics a year before. We never skate with that energy. So to try and figure that out was really difficult.

But Marnie McBean is one of our greatest mentors and we’ve leaned on her a lot in our life, and her point was that you’ve won the Olympics. They can never take that away from you. And now that we’re older, we were so happy about winning this Games, but we know there’ll be someone who comes along. It’s a personal journey, I really believe that. It was nice to win the Olympics, but it’s kind of just a measuring stick. If we had had those performances and come second, it’s not quite the story that you want to read in the papers and it doesn’t help Canada’s medal count – and we always want to help bring that medal home for Canada – but our journey would have been the same. And our journey would have been, for us as athletes and people, just as beautiful.

I think that’s a really important piece to pick up, actually.

Scott: Now that we’ve won, people say, “You just seem so down-to-earth.” Well, it hasn’t changed us. I would really hope that it hasn’t changed us.

I was going to play off of that, because one of the things in my learnings most recently is a concept that was taught to me as “object reference vs. self-reference.” Object reference is essentially being focused just on a goal, on achieving something and not necessarily connecting with the process of getting there. And so, a lot of times in society today, we’re like, “I want that car. I want that medal. I want that job.” So people go after that and one of two things happen: either you don’t get it and so there’s this loss of sense of self and you’re despondent because you didn’t get it, or you get there and there’s a kind of hollowness. And it’s that connection to the process that’s really powerful. What I just listened to you say is that the whole thing that resonated with you in this last Olympics was your connection to process. It didn’t really matter what happened in the end. It was wonderful that it all worked out, but you were connected to that process deeply, so you could reflect back on it and say, “That was really powerful.”

Scott: And that’s absolutely right. I think when you chat with Tessa, she’ll have a very interesting insight on that hollowness when you accomplish your goals. I think she felt the weight of that many times in our career, in particular after the 2012 Worlds title. It just wasn’t at all what she had envisioned it being like.

We’re very lucky to have had these three cycles because we’ve learned very, very different lessons in of each of them, but when we came back – and you were a part of our team, and JF Menard, our mental coach as well – our first message was, “We’re doing it for the process. We’re not done. We want to feel the rush of competing, but we also want to see what we can do to push ourselves to train differently and be the best that we can be, but in training, not to win titles.” And our team constantly reminded us that in the past two years.

And at the Olympics, a really interesting thing happened: when we went to compete, we took it in a very similar fashion. A lot of people know the pressure that comes with such a huge event. The natural human instinct is that you want to just get through it. You just want to be done. You just want to be at the finish line. But for us, a big part of these Games was to push that aside and really be present, and we kept saying to each other in the moments before we skated, “This is exactly what we wanted. We came back for these moments. Let’s not wish them away. Let’s take advantage of them.” Being present in that process was what was different between us and our competitors.

What have you learned most about yourself between gold medal 1 and gold medal 2?

Scott: (Laughs) Oh my gosh, how do I narrow that down? Uh…

We’ve got a little bit of time.

Scott: (Laughs again) I don’t think you have enough time for that. I’m just trying to think of all the…

I’ll frame it differently for you. If you went back to that guy in 2010 and you’re facing him right now, what would you say to him?

Scott: I don’t even know if we could have a conversation. I do love that guy and when I look at kids who remind me of 2010 Scott, it just makes me laugh. I just think, “You have no clue and you think you do.” That’s the joys of being 22.

A lot of coaches and judges will say, “Here’s this kid coming up. He’s cocky. You’ve gotta go and tell him and advise him and get him away from that.” And I just say, “No, that’s all part of it. He’s got to walk his own course.” I think that’s a lot of the magic of it.

The difference between 2010 and 2018, for me… I was probably more confident on the ice [in 2018] than I’ve ever been, but it was more sincere. It was confidence from preparation and confidence because we really believed in our material, and it was confidence because we wanted to share what we love to do with the world. I think there’s a sincerity to that. We’ve gotten some great feedback from Canadians across the country and from ice skating fans around the world that people really connect to that. And you can’t really fake that. In 2010, we were playing characters. We were so young and so innocent. We loved to skate and, I mean, we were in our home country, so how could it not be magical? But there was a sincerity, I think, to this 2018 experience that’s very different.

How do you transcend that now, going forward in your life, to what you want to do next? This whole process, this whole growth experience, achieving something you really wanted to achieve: what do you take from that, and how do you leap forward?

Scott: Well, this is a very interesting time in my life, a couple of months after the Olympics. A big reason why I came back was how poorly I transitioned after 2014. I wandered away from the sport. A lot of people don’t know, but I went and tried to…we’re still in the process of renovating a house with my brother. But I was also running from sport, from my life, from figure skating. I didn’t transition well. I was doing things that didn’t make me happy. I lived my 18-year-old life at 26. I was drinking a lot. It took me a long time to realize that that wasn’t what made me happy.

So this part of my life, this six months or two years after the 2018 Olympics, were actually the time I had circled for most improvement. When I’m in as an athlete, I’m always all in. I really enjoy that process, but it’s the transition part. It’s not just about making the most of that, but also about bringing my best self – everything I’ve learned in sport – to the next chapter of my life.

And the next chapter of my life, for the short term, will be show skating. We really are excited about the show that we’re doing right now, Stars on Ice, that’s going across Canada. We really would like to create something that goes into smaller cities, not just the twelve major markets in Canada. We want to pour work into that. Tess and I, what we’ve found about ourselves in our chats about next steps, is that we love to work. We love to be involved in projects where we can be all-in. Doing skating shows where we just walk out, do our two minutes, and leave…it wasn’t enough for us. We’re trying to create a platform where we can be all-in, trying to create an experience for the fans.

That’ll be the short term, and then I’m looking to give back what we’ve learned in working with B2ten and professionals (whom most people don’t have access to), creating a system that takes care of younger athletes a bit better in the way that they come up and talent identification, and making sure that our elite athletes aren’t just getting by just because they’re successful. I want to help them push themselves to the next level, because this is the biggest thing I’ve learned in 2017-2018: I thought I knew what I was doing in 2010, and I thought I knew what it took to be a champion. And I was a champion. We did win the Olympics, but I wasn’t a professional in my preparation. And the same thing with 2014: we were much more into our mechanics, we started to see a psychologist, but that pales in comparison to the preparation and types of professionals we worked with in 2018.

I think that the skating world and even most of the athletic world has to remember to keep pushing themselves, so I want to give that back. So those will be my long-term goals. For me, how do I parley it? That’s a good question, but I like to work so I have to keep myself going, or else I will just kinda hang out on the couch.

What or who do you source for feedback or the opportunity to bounce where you want to go or what you’re struggling with in your life?

Scott: There’s a lot of people now. It’s been pretty crazy with this tour, but I will continue to work with my mental coach. We’ve had a really great personal connection and I think with the work that we’ve done and the goals that he’s set, he would be great to help me moving forward.

Having a mental coach or psychologist is an interesting thing for many people. A lot of the top athletes do it, but people think it’s too expensive. For me, it’s worth it. It’s the thing that’s like a mattress: you can’t cheap out on that, because you’re going to spend so much life. A half hour with my mental coach JF changes my whole perspective on the next month of my life. So I’ll continue to work with him, but I’m lucky to have Tessa. I can bounce ideas off Tessa.

I will continue to use my team. There are some really great friends, some mentors that I really respect, one being my coach, Patrice Lauzon. I still bounce things off him, and I just try and create a network of people that I can pick up the phone and call at any time. And I hope they feel that they can do the same with me.

You mentioned your mental coach. You’ve probably bounced into sports psych in your career before. What was it about JF that really resonated with you and helped you see the light that you just expressed?

Scott: Well, that’s a great question. I was pretty fortunate in my career to work with professionals, but most of the time, it was all about managing Tessa and my relationship.

Most people know this, but we don’t have an off-ice romantic relationship. But we do work together many hours a day, and we have an extremely intense personal relationship that can’t be compared to any other relationship because it’s so intense and because of the nature of what we do on the ice. We love to skate together. A lot of the love that people see on the ice is real, to a certain extent. So we spend a lot of time doing marriage counseling, doing management of that, just because of the pure hours we put in communicating, understanding. I think we’re some of the best ice dancers in the world for communicating, but it’s still something we have to work on. It’s not [a given] that because you work on communication that it’s going to be good forever. We communicate better at different times, so we’re trying to constantly work on that in order to be successful in what we’re trying to do.

But then when we started to work with JF, not only were we managing that, but we started to work on performance and how to perform not just at competitions but every day: how to be as efficient as possible. He talked a lot about reminding people in our life that are doing a good job. A lot of it comes down to communication; not leaving things to chance and taking advantage of every moment of every day was a huge thing JF did with us. Then when we did get to competing, we had a formula. We perfected it every time we went out, we tweaked it, we communicated afterwards, and by the time we got to the Olympics, we just knew what the steps were. As a performer, to not have to think and to just find the comfort in that routine, I think that was one of our strongest assets at the PyeongChang Games.

What are a couple of tools that you learned that you think are really valuable skills to know, when you look at performance in general?

Scott: The biggest one that comes back to me right away is cueing. I have a crazy mind. Anyone who has every worked with me… I’m super emotional, super passionate, but I also can go off in 18 different directions. What we started to work on with JF was making sure that we’re cueing with simple cues of what we’re supposed to be thinking of. A lot of times in a skater’s performance, they’ll think about having a clean 4-minute program. First of all, perfection doesn’t exist and it’s probably not gonna win you an Olympic medal. It hasn’t in history. But you can be really excellent, and the way you get to be really excellent is by having these moments of simple cues along the way.

I would have moments in the program when I would think about the twizzles that were coming up in 30 seconds. I’d think, “Oh, perfect. There’s my cue to remember what my actual cue is supposed to be,” whether that’s bending my knees or looking at Tessa or breathing through it or exploding. That cueing probably was the most important thing. Because I used to think during programs, “Oh sh—oh crap, I’m not thinking about the right thing right now” and then I’d start to freak out and snowball. Instead, we’d just use that as a simple cue to bring us back and off we go.

The other thing that we talked about was just believing in our performance and our training. One of our sayings at the Games was, “Just get to our opening position.” Once we get to the opening position, we’ll know what to do. And that took a lot of the anxiety away. Not all of it: we had butterflies, we were terrified, but in a controlled way. Those are probably the biggest ones.

I like the cueing piece –

Scott: We stole that from Mik, by the way. We stole a lot from studying Mik. Mik worked with you and JF. We would study him. I mean, he competes all the time and he’s consistent more than anyone else in the world. When he won in PyeongChang, that was a huge confidence boost for me. All I could sit there and think was, “That’s my team. I know who works with that kid, and they work with me. There’s no way the other kids are gonna beat me.”

One of the reasons why I’m interviewing you and other great performance athletes I’ve worked with is because this is where the rubber meets the road. A lot of people don’t recognize that they spend a lot of time in their life doing things that have absolutely no connection to what it is they purposely want to achieve….They don’t recognize where they spend a lot of their time, energy, and effort on things that are really not taking them where they want to go. What you just talked about was essentially focusing and understanding what it is you want to do and becoming very dialed into, “Is this contributing or is it not?” Because if it’s not, you’ve really got to think about why you’re doing it. That’s high value.

Scott: Even when we built our off-ice program, we built a lot in April and May and we were doing a ton of things, but I would say, “Well, what about this?” And you’d just say, “Does that make you a better ice dancer?” and I’d say, “Okay, that makes sense.” It doesn’t make sense for me to bench press when I don’t have to bench press.

I didn’t want to talk a lot about the two of you, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to speak to you alone, but I am curious what you feel Tessa balances in you, in your character. What are your counterbalances for one another?

Scott: I can tell you what I see in Tessa. I don’t have a great view of myself. I don’t think my perspective is as good.

But on her? What I need from her and what she brings… I’ve never met anybody like Tessa in my life. She’s such an unbelievable woman. I’ve never met someone so consistent. She can get grumpy, but that’s about it. It never goes past the grumpy stage. The problem with us is that we’re very, very sensitive. So when she’s grumpy, I always think it’s my fault, and when I’m a little… I get to the angry stage, so she thinks it’s her fault.

But what she does is that she’s so consistent but passionate. I don’t quite understand how that works, because my passion and emotion is always a roller coaster ride, but she brings this level of consistent and clear-headed thinking and decision-making as well as that passion and movement. And I really needed that consistency, because I would go up and down, and she would bring me back like, “Okay. Maybe that’s a little bit much.”

(Laughs) We’re very different styles. Tessa brings the sophistication that I don’t have. Tessa brings the dance knowledge, the principles of dance that I just don’t possess. There’s just so much that technically, we rely on her for. But I think her biggest part is how emotionally stable she is.

One final question: All of us are going to perish from this lovely planet at some point. What would you like to be remembered for?

Scott: That’s a great question. I had a really good friend who passed away last year, and I did a lot of thinking about that. What is the whole purpose of this? How far along does it go? What is my legacy? For me, I always say I want to be remembered as a good person. Tessa will probably say the same thing, because that’s what we always say in interviews. But I think what I want to be remembered for is my passion and not being afraid to go after something. I know everyone says, “Don’t be scared to fail” and that you have to go after it, but few people actually do that. I want to be one of those people who maybe loses their shirt or goes after something that’s a little crazy but who lives in that rush and lives with that excitement. That’s what I want to be remembered for.

[mimicofmodes]

Last month, I attended the 2018 CSA Mid-Atlantic/Southeastern Biregional Symposium in Shippensburg, PA. It was quite a trip! I was so happy to meet up with so many fashion history scholars, and particularly to meet Ann Wass (of Riversdale House Museum), Mackenzie Anderson Sholtz (of Fig Leaf Patterns), and Lydia Edwards (author of How to Read a Dress). You can see all of my photos of the exhibition at the Shippensburg Fashion Archives and Museum on Instagram! I delivered a paper of my own, which I hope to turn into a podcast episode/blog post soon, but what really thrilled me was the presentation Mackenzie gave, "A Transitional Corset and its Companion Gown c.1804 from the Collection of the DAR Museum". Said transitional corset is available as a pattern from Fig Leaf, for illustration.

At first, I was interested because it was based on actual garments and their construction, and because Mackenzie is an authority on that kind of thing, and because you know that transitional period is kind of my Thing, but when I was watching it, I realized that I recognized these stays - although not this particular version.

In 2011, I visited Historic Cherry Hill, a home once owned by the Van Rensselaers in Albany, NY, to do research for my qualifying paper (thesis). I came across this pair of very plain stays that have confused me ever since. The shapes of all the pattern pieces are so quintessentially eighteenth century, but the overall shape of the stays is basically a tube. Even when I scaled it up and enlarged it to fit me, trying to get it to not be a tube was a struggle - and they were so short in front, even though the back fit. The boning was also weird, not just the normal half-boning of Diderot-style stays but completely vertical in the front.

In the end, I never found them satisfactory. They didn't come up to the proper height at the bust, and when I tugged them up they left my stomach completely unmanaged. They just didn't give me the right shape. Who knows what's wrong with them, I thought, and set them aside. Well, Mackenzie's contention is that during that late 1790s-early 1800s transition period, many women wore stays that hugged the ribcage, pushed up the underbustline, and created tension with the shift to provide a certain amount of support for the bust without either the actual cups of 1810s-style corsetry or the conical shape of 1780s stays. (The bodice linings that pin at center front, which are so common during this time, then provide another light layer of support and coverage. People have been speculating for some time that these linings were used as the only bust support, which I never fully bought - but being supportive in conjunction with something else does make sense.) You can recognize them by how low-cut they are in the front, and that vertical boning.

As I was watching the presentation, it hit me that this is what I made back in 2012! Unknowingly, I had reproduced a set of transitional stays and tried to use them for a purpose they weren't designed for, which is why they failed so badly at it. I could have used these for my thesis project instead of trying to engineer my own version of the famous V&A short corset. I tried on my version of the stays with the rest of the 1790s outfit I made for the project, and was delighted to find that they worked perfectly.

(I included a picture of me and the stays and my chemise and my boobs without the dress in my blog post, but it just feels weird to plaster that up here, so you can click the link if you want to see how that looks.)

This silhouette is quite in line with what we see during the transitional Neoclassical era. We should really be thinking more about this middle option between full stays/a corset with cups and the fabled “women just didn’t wear any foundations between the 18th century and the Victorian era!” viewpoint.

"Mrs. Martha Hubbard Babcock", Gilbert Stuart, ca. 1806; Clark Art Institute 1994.14

[torontoarenas]

in a way, this recent stretch of games is even more frustrating than the Randy Carlyle era was. the difference is that now the Leafs actually have the talent to be a good (dominant, even) team, yet Babcock is sabotaging their chances by making terrible lineup and deployment decisions night after night after night. there’s no excuse for a team this good to look so awful!!

[movisaki-blog]

Babcockian System (11/3/17)

Toronto Maple Leaf Head Coach Mike Babcock is an asshole. Just putting it out there. Ever since he was the coach of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the early 2000’s, he has been a thorn in the sides of NHL teams with the way his teams play his system.

As an observant fan of the game for decades now, I hate the way Babcock teams play. I understand when teams want to play a physical style or a finesse style or a mix of the two, but Babcock is something out of an international soccer game. His players will clutch, grab, agitate it’s opposition into taking retaliation penalties which those player embellish, or ‘take a dive’ to make it seem like they’re gonna die. It’s one step away from rolling around on the ice as if you got shot in the knee vs taking a tiny swap of the stick. It agitates the fuck out of me for one; I could only imagine being on the ice when players flounder and flop like that.

During his stint with the Detroit Red Wings, his players were ‘masterful’ at running his system. He led the 2007-08 Red Wings to the Stanley Cup and led every Red Wings team to the playoffs during his tenure. Going into Detroit during that era was like going into a circus without the clown face paint. Obviously I’m exaggerating a little bit. His coaching style within the game itself is top notch. He wouldn’t even be in the league if he wasn’t a top 5 coach, arguably the best in the game right now. But for every great team he gets playing his system, those same players play the victim shit way too much. I, for one, am tired of it.

His current Maple Leaf team is turning into a juggernaut, both offensively and floppily. I understand trying to get calls to gain an advantage, or going above the rules in order to get away with more shit than the other team, but come on. At some point something bad will happen and the ref might turn the other cheek because of reputation vs reality. This ‘boy cried wolf’ bullshit needs to stop, Babcock.

These are just the opinions of an LA Kings fan and have nothing to do with the league, teams, or it’s writers in any way. Any comments, questions, agitations towards this are welcome any time!

(11/3/17)

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON'S CORNER: WOLF PACK OFF-SEASON VOLUME 4

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Calder Cup playoffs have their final four teams set to battle to for an opportunity to win the 2018-19 AHL Championship. On Friday, the Charlotte Checkers and Toronto Marlies will do battle in the East while out West, the San Diego Gulls and Chicago Wolves will each meet in a 2-3-2 format. Charlotte hosts Games One and Two against Toronto on Friday and Saturday before the series switches over the Canadian border to Toronto on Tuesday. Charlotte, the AHL's regular-season best team, winners of seven of their eight postseason matchups face the Toronto Marlies, who are a perfect 7-0 since the season ended. Toronto features ex-Pack, Chris Mueller, who has nine points in seven playoff games. Mason Marchment, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler Bryan Marchment, and ex-Sound Tiger, Steve Olesky, and former New York Ranger, Josh Jooris. Charlotte features a pair of ex-Pack members from different era’s in Bobby Sanguinetti, who has seven points in six games, and goaltender, Dustin Tokarski. Chicago hosts the Gulls before they head out West from the Windy City for Game 3 on Wednesday. San Diego has former Wolf Pack center, Adam Cracknell, who's third in AHL post-season scoring race with 12 points in nine games. He's having a strong playoff as is Max Jones, the son of former Nighthawk, Brad Jones. Behind the bench is former Beast of New Haven alumni, Dallas Eakins. He's the head man and his assistants are ex-Wolf Pack players in Sylvain Lefebvre and David Urquhart. The Chicago Wolves have defenseman ex-Sound Tiger, Griffin Reinhart, and Jake Leschyshyn, the son of ex-Whaler, Curtis Leschyshyn. ECHL MONARCHS FOLD Sad hockey new to report the ECHL Manchester Monarchs are no more after 18 years in New Hampshire. The team announced Wednesday there ceasing operations after four years at the ECHL level after the NHL LA Kings moved their AHL affiliate to Ontario, CA to help build the new AHL West Coast-based Pacific Division and flip-flopped the teams and leagues. There many great Wolf Pack-Manchester meetings over the years and the SNHU Arena (formerly Verizon Wireless Arena) was sterling hit with many a packed house, but the drop down in league levels met with a corresponding reduction in attendance and Kings sold the team to a private group in Boston three years ago. Read it HERE MEMORIAL CUP The quartet is all set as the Prince Albert Raiders scoring late in the first overtime edged the Vancouver Giants 3-2 to advance to the championship tournament for the first time since 1985. They will kick off the Memorial Cup playing the host team the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday night (8 pm NHL Network). The other teams are the OHL champion Guelph Storm and the QMJHL postseason champs, the Rouyn Noranda Huskies. Guelph features two assistant coaches with CT connections. Ex-Pack Chad Wiseman and ex-New Haven Senator Jake Grimes and the Huskies have former New Haven Senator teammate of Grimes in Claude Savoie on their scouting staff. The Raiders feature two former Springfield players as coaches in Marc Habscheid (Springfield Indians) and Jeff Truitt (head coach with the Springfield Falcons) and have former Whaler, Dallas Guame as one of the senior scouts. NEWEST CT JUNIOR HOCKEY TEAM The Danbury Ice Arena added a second hockey tenant within two days. The Danbury Colonials announced their birth as the 31st team in the Tier 3 NA3HL that spreads across the US from Wyoming to Maine. The team’s managing partner is none other than former Ranger and NHL enforcer, Colton Orr. He is a part of the ownership for both squads. Orr played 13 NHL season with 477 games with 12 goals and 24 points and 1,186 well-earned PM and was one of the fiercest fighters in NHL history. His total career including the AHL and junior WHL career is 817 games with 34 goals and 31 assists and 2,364 in the penalty box. The FHL announced a third return to Danbury with Danbury Hat Tricks for 2019-20 earlier in the week.   PLAYER MOVEMENTS -Ex-Wolf Pack and CT Whale Jordan Owens who played with the Sheffield Steelers (England-EIHL) this season signs for some summer hockey with the Melbourne Ice (Australia-AIHL). Ex-Pack Caleb Herbert signs with HC Innsbruck (Austria-EBEL). -Some AHL players to Europe has begun to pick up the latest is Bridgeport Connor Jones is joining his twin brother Kellen as both have signed with HC Thurgau (Switzerland-LNB) for next season. Kellen played on Sweden last year leading Vasterviks VIK (Sweden-Allsvenskan) in scoring. Connor played 300 AHL games all with Bridgeport. Both played for the Quinnipiac University Bobcats (ECACHL). The two are grandsons of former New Haven Blades player, Terry Jones. Jens Looke heads from Tucson to Timra IK (Sweden-SHL), goalie Anthony Peters from Wilkes Barre/Scranton to Iserlohn (Germany-DEL) and Springfield’s Vincent Praplan currently playing for the Swiss World Hockey championship team will stay in is Switzerland and play for NLA league SC Bern squad next season. Adam Ollas Mattsson of Stockton is in talks with Malmo IF (Sweden-SHL) a city on the Norway-Sweden border to return home to play according to Swedish Hockey News.se As we reported last month is now official Ludwig Bystrom is leaving Springfield for Karpat Oulu (Finland-FEL). That makes now 16 AHL’ers to sign for Europe. -Three more college players have signed North American pro deals Jack Ramsay from the University of Minnesota (Big 10) who played a few games for Indy (ECHL) at the end of the regular season signs with the Rockford for 2019-20. Joining him in Rockford is Liam Coughlin from the University of Vermont (HE). Kasper Bjorkqvist, Providence College (HE) signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins. -The first player to go from college to Canadian major junior has happened as Sean Comrie leaves University Denver (NCHC) to the Kelowna Rockets (WHL). -The college players to Europe has picked up as UCONN Husky rearguard Philip Nyberg 22, heads home after his junior season to play for Mora IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan) which is the second highest league in Sweden. -The college players heading to France continues at Division 1 level as Michael Babcock son of the Maple Leafs head coach Mike completed his four years at Merrimack (HE) and has signed with Amiens (France–FREL) and Michael Floodstrand Harvard University (ECACHL) to Marseille (France Division-1). Then two players from Division III Hobart College Tanner Shaw and Matt Pizzo signed with Strasbourg (France Division-1) and Alex Corvi Nazareth College (UCHC) signs with HC Brest (France Division-1). That makes it 171 Division I players that have and a total of 204 collegians who have signed North American and European pro deals. -Several prep school players are off to the Canadian Junior A ranks in Moe Acee from Avon Old Farms to Alberni Valley (BCHL) and Noah de la Durantaye from Deerfield Academy to Coquitlam (BCHL). -Chase Stillman, grandson of ex-Nighthawk Bud Stefanski who was drafted by the Sudbury Wolves in the 2nd round in last month’s OHL’s Priority Draft. His father Cory is the head coach and grandfather is the assistant coach of the team has signed a commitment letter with the Wolves. That also makes him ineligible to play NCAA hockey and he gave a verbal commit Providence College (HE) for 2022-23. -Dan Petric makes a commit to Sacred Heart University (AHA) from Madison (USHL) for the upcoming season. Read the full article

[3416]

Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews: Two very different personalities leading the Maple Leafs

By Jonas Siegel | Feb 6, 2023 | The Athletic

Matt Martin played alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner during their first two seasons in the NHL.

What he quickly came to realize about the two talented players at the forefront of the Maple Leafs: “They’re two very different personalities,” Martin said in an interview last spring.

“When people would ask me about the two of them, I’m like, ‘Mitchy’s your fun-loving, always happy, always wanting to be around, always a smile on his smile, just loves to play the game, loves to be a part of it, loves to be with the guys.’

“And Matthews,” he added, “is just power-hungry. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. Like, if he scores a goal, he smells blood and he’s coming for three or four. That’s just kinda who he is. He’s just got a completely different demeanour than Mitchy. And I think those two personalities really play well off each other, especially when you think about where Matthews is the elite goalscorer and Mitchy is the elite playmaker. So you have the fun-loving personality playmaker and the elite goalscorer who kinda has that eat-your-heart-out mentality.”

Matthews and Marner are both 25 and often linked as the Leafs’ two best players — both All Stars in 2023 (Matthews was unable to attend because of injury.) But as Martin and other current and former teammates have observed, they couldn’t be more different as people.

The ‘bubbly’ one

Chatty, energetic, and a social butterfly who wants to be involved in everything. That’s Marner.

“He thinks it’s crazy we’re not going for lunch today,” Morgan Rielly said. “I can’t (do lunch today). He thinks that’s bananas.”

Marner is outgoing that way.

After he took his splashy All-Star weekend skates for a spin at practice last week, Marner excitedly showed them off to teammates. “Mark-o!” he yelled across the dressing room to veteran Mark Giordano. “Come see these things.”

Moments later, Marner pulled David Kämpf in to have a look.

“He wants to know what everybody is doing,” Rielly said. “He wants to make jokes about everybody, have everybody make jokes about him, and be very involved.”

James van Riemsdyk, another former teammate, put it this way: “Mitch is a bubbly person in general and I don’t think a lot of people would describe Auston that way, from the outside looking in.”

“(Mitch) is almost like your little brother drinking sodas, eating candies,” van Riemsdyk said.

“Mitch is just very energetic,” Rielly added. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a trainer or a coach or a player, if they’re wearing a bad pair of shoes he’s gonna say something. He feels the need to poke and prod and be involved in the conversation and be involved in the joke.”

Marner leads with his energy. He’s one of the loudest voices in the Leafs’ dressing room.

“You can always hear him chirping back and forth,” Alex Kerfoot said. “He’s just got that youthful, exuberant personality that kinda draws guys in and makes it fun to be around him. He almost has that attitude of a young kid that would do anything — nothing’s really gonna make his day any worse. He’s feeling good and you can see that with the way that he plays on the ice. He just has so much confidence in himself. He’s always having a good time.”

Marner stands by the door to the Leafs dressing room just before they hit the ice for games, giving each and every teammate a pound and word of encouragement. With many, including Matthews, there are even special handshakes.

That outgoing demeanour tends to make its way onto the ice.

Martin and Marner became close pals during Martin’s brief stint in Toronto. Martin once memorably played alongside both Matthews and Marner for a game or two during the Mike Babcock era. Marner will “talk to you and tell you things” on the bench, Martin said.

“The special thing about him is he tries to use your strengths to his advantage, if that makes sense,” Martin explained. “So, he would say, ‘If I have no play, I’m (putting the puck) in your corner and I’m coming and I’m following you up.’ So I would go in and I would hit somebody and then just tap the puck back to him. So he was using your strengths to the advantage of the line.

“And then he’s not just gonna go out there and try to do it all by himself. He wants to get everybody involved.”

Marner’s playmaking talents, Martin said, were fueled by his hockey smarts. “It’s almost like he’s playing a video game,” Martin said.

The ‘laidback’ one

And while, as Rielly observed it, “Mitch kinda operates up here, just at a high frequency,” Matthews was far more laid-back. “He kinda takes it as it goes, he goes with the flow a little bit more,” Rielly said.

Don’t underestimate that Arizona cool, teammates say.

“He definitely knows how good he is – and we all know how good he is,” Michael Bunting said. “He’s not the type of guy that would go around flaunting it. He has that calm, cool (demeanour) about him.”

“And nothing affects what he does day in and day out,” Kerfoot added. “He just tunes it all out and goes about his business and is extremely focused on being the best possible player that he can be.”

Martin said he was struck by that in Matthews’ very first NHL game, when he made history by scoring four goals.

“Most guys would be jumping around,” Martin said. “And he was just – he expected to do it. It wasn’t surprising to him. He wasn’t going crazy on his celebrations.”

Martin said that game, back on Oct. 12 2016, was “one of the more impressive things” he had ever been a part of. “He just buries four and it just seemed like another day’s work for him. In a lot of ways, we were like, ‘Oh my God,’ and he was just like, ‘What’d I do?’”

Martin described Matthews as something like a shark when it came to goal-scoring.

“There was moments in games where he scores a goal and it ends a slump – and a slump for him is like three games or two games, not like my kind of slump – and then you just see this switch goes off,” Martin said. “And then the next shift he’s coming and he gets another big scoring chance, and then it just seems like he’s coming and coming and coming and coming. It’s like as soon as that opportunity presents itself and he starts to feel it, it’s like, good luck stopping him.”

Matthews stepped into the NHL at 19, but seemed a lot older than that from Martin’s standpoint.

“He had leadership qualities the first day he stepped in that locker room,” Martin said. “As a fourth line guy and somebody that plays a completely different game from him, he just always appreciated what I think everybody brought to the table.”

Matthews was first to celebrate a teammate for blocking a shot, for instance. He made it known just how much he appreciated the job of each individual.

Zach Aston-Reese made note recently of Matthews’ encouragement that way.

“When one of your best players, or in this case, the best player on the team, is recognizing the things that other guys bring to the table, that’s the type of stuff that just brings a team closer and closer together.

“It’s maturity. Some guys, it takes a while for them to grow into their skin, to be comfortable being vocal and talking to some veteran players.”

Matthews and Marner both share a fondness for their dogs — Felix for Matthews, Zeus for Marner. Both enjoy hip-hop (Marner also has a fondness for country) and along with Bunting, devoured the Netflix show “You” last summer.

“They have a lot in common obviously with their games,” Rielly said. “They’re both extremely talented. They both like certain things. But ultimately, their personalities are a little bit different.”

[yahoo-puck-daddy-blog]

Who's closer to the Stanley Cup: Leafs or Oilers?

Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid are the cornerstones of the rebuilds in Toronto and Edmonton. (CP)

The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers have a lot in common.

The salary cap era has not been kind to either club on the ice. Since the 2005 lockout, Toronto has appeared in the playoffs just once, falling to Boston in the first round of 2013. Edmonton too has one appearance, which while more successful (they went to the Stanley Cup Final) is also far less recent (in 2006). Poor management and failed rebuilding efforts have been the shared experience of both teams.

Now the two clubs are turning the corner at the same instant in time. The Oilers will make the playoffs and perhaps even own home ice in the first round. The Leafs’ postseason hopes are less certain in the tougher Eastern Conference, but as of this moment it is probable that they will win one of the two spots being vied for by three bubble teams.

Yet there are differences, too.

Edmonton’s turnaround was driven more by luck than anything else. With their surprise win of the 2015 draft lottery, the Oilers landed Connor McDavid, the NHL’s best player since Sidney Crosby. With the arrival of McDavid, Edmonton overhauled its front office, turning the team over to former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. Chiarelli’s task was to take McDavid and then build a team around him using the remnants from failed rebuilds past.

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The approach in Toronto was more deliberate. The architects of the 2013 playoff appearance were given some time to build on that modest success. After one bad year, Brendan Shanahan was hired away from NHL player safety to oversee everything. After the second bad year, Shanahan cleaned house, installing a hybrid management team that combined experienced hockey men (Lou Lamoriello, Mike Babcock, etc.) with an exceptional analytics group headed by Kyle Dubas.

That group conceived and executed a deliberate rebuilding strategy which has come together more quickly than could realistically have been anticipated. 2016 first overall pick Auston Matthews has played a leading role in the recovery, but the Leafs’ rise is far less unipolar than that of the Oilers.

Which team is closer to winning a Stanley Cup today is a question which can only be definitively answered in retrospect. What we can do now is find some of the identifying marks of contending teams and see how the Oilers and Leafs stack up to them.

Even-strength shot metrics like Corsi and Fenwick have gained currency in recent years as ways to evaluate and predict performance at both the individual and team level. The downside to using them is that goals, rather than shots, determine the winner in any given game. The upside is that shots are far more frequent than goals and are thus predictive of future scoring over a much shorter period of time than goals themselves are.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Hockey contest now]

Over the analytics era (starting in 2007-08), the best shot metric guide to playoff success has been a weighted one: event, score and venue adjusted Fenwick. Fenwick includes shots and misses, but excludes blocks, giving the defending team credit for getting into lanes. The adjustments are an attempt to compensate for some common distorting factors within games.

Since 2008, the average Stanley Cup finalist has had a 54 percent weighted Fenwick rating during the regular season. Only one club has won with a weighted Fenwick less than 53 percent, and there’s a caveat there. The 2009 Penguins had a midseason coaching change and over the 25 regular season games Dan Bylsma coached the team had a brilliant 57 percent weighted Fenwick rating.

There are no hard and fast rules here — a team with strong goaltending and superb finishing ability could conceivably perform well enough to win despite mediocre shot numbers. Over the last decade, though, the minimum has typically been around 53 percent and the average is over 55 percent.

Neither Edmonton nor Toronto is particularly close to that number right now, though the Oilers are currently in the lead there:

Goals are less frequent than shots, but have some obvious advantages as far as predicting the future goes. Goaltending, obviously, shows up in this kind of an analysis. It’s also helpful here to look at special teams, where shot quality tends to be more exaggerated than it is at even strength.

The numbers are pretty similar to Fenwick. Since 2008, no team has won without scoring roughly 53 percent of all goals during the regular season. The average is closer to 56 percent. When we look at these two teams, again we find the Oilers ahead of the Maple Leafs:

Edmonton is actually inching into potential champion territory here, thanks in large part to having three different seven-goal outings in their last six games.

Right now, neither team matches up statistically to past champions, but Edmonton is quite a bit closer than Toronto. Both teams need to improve, though, and the Maple Leafs would appear to have a little more room for growth.

Toronto’s core skews slightly younger than Edmonton’s does. The Maple Leafs have a strong prospect system and an AHL team led by up-and-comers. The Oilers’ pipeline is thin outside of Jesse Puljujarvi, while their farm club leans much more heavily on minor-league veterans.

The Leafs also have more cap flexibility. They have no long-term deals with a cap hit higher than $5 million, and the oldest player on a long-term deal is 27-year-old Matt Martin ($2.5 million through 2020). The Oilers have four long-term deals in the $5.5-$6-million range. They also have three veterans older than Martin signed to 2019 or beyond.

Both clubs have bright futures. Edmonton is closer to a championship right now, and in McDavid has the best player on either club. Toronto’s a little further back, but has the advantage of greater youth and financial flexibility. It’s close enough that this is a real race.

[paradoxicalca]

Megathread: Player Allegations of Abuse by Coaches: Babcock, Peters, etc.

Akim Aliu alleges that former IceHogs' coach Bill Peters referred to him by the N-word and asked John McDonough and Stan Bowman to demote him to the ECHL when he rebelledAkim Aliu's allegation:Not very surprising the things we’re hearing about Babcock. Apple doesn’t fall far from the Tree, same sort of deal with his protege in YYC. Dropped the N bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn’t like my choice of music. First one to admit I rebelled against him. Wouldn’t you? And instead of remedying the situation, he wrote a letter to John McDonough and Stan Bowman to have me sent down to the ECHL. 20 year old on pace for 20 goals in his first pro year with zero PP/PK time was off to a great start in his Pro careerhttps://twitter.com/Dreamer_Aliu78/status/1199119380774359045?s=20https://twitter.com/Dreamer_Aliu78/status/1199119524513165312?s=20https://twitter.com/Dreamer_Aliu78/status/1199119569576767491?s=20Original threadLinkOutletFlames GM Treliving says team is aware of accusations of racist comments by Bill Peters, will not comment until he can discuss w/ Peters. - threadWes GilbertsonFlames did not make Bill Peters available for comment tonight. - threadAdam GretzA statement from Flames GM Brad Treliving. - threadCalgary FlamesHaving touched base with Flames GM Brad Treliving and Akim Aliu this morning I can report the two had a conversation regarding the latter’s racism allegation leveled at coach Bill Peters. You can bet the Flames investigation into this will be thorough. - threadEric FrancisNHL statement on last night’s social media posts by Akim Aliu. - threadNHL PRIf you think Mike Commodore had harsh words for Babcock you are in for a treat to hear what I would have to say about Bill Peters ... Worst human being to ever coach me ... treated me terrible on a AHL team (IceHogs) where I won a League Award for Community Service. - threadSean McMorrowThe Blackhawks released the following statement regarding the allegations made by Akim Aliu - threadJimmy GreenfieldAkim Aliu speaks publicly on allegations against Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters - threadTSNAfter touching base with various stakeholders in this ugly situation, I can no longer see any scenario in which Bill Peters remains coach of the Flames. - threadEric FrancisOn Hockey Central @JeffMarek reporting he has heard that Bill Peters has been removed as Head Coach of the Calgary Flames - threadDavid AmberIf/when Bill Peters is shitcanned, who will be Calgary's coach?RedditFlames Associate Coach Geoff Ward is running practice. - threadDerek WillsFlames GM Brad Treliving tells TSN that no determination has been made on Bill Peters' job status at the moment. Peters is not on the ice for practice. - threadFrank SeravalliBrad Treliving addressing the media - threadStreamableAsked if he’s ever experienced racism with Flames, D Oliver Kylington replies: “Never in this organization. I’ve been treated fairly.”Wes GilbertsonFollowing Mike Babcock's firing, a number of players have spoken out against himMike Commodore:Folks....I have been dreaming about this moment for years......Hey Mike Babcock....The entire Maple Leaf organization has had it with you....The Players & the entire Front office are sick and tired of your arrogance...#PackYourShit and beat it you piece of shit.Hey Mike Babcock....you are a total failure in Toronto....let that sink in you arrogant prick.Hey Mike Babcock....your daily National TV time is over. Finished. You are a fraud. Nobody gives a shit what you have to say anymore. Let that sink In you arrogant prick.Let the Sheldon Keefe era begin!!! Go Leafs! #FuckBabsHey Mike Babcock....simply put your players quit on you. They quit on you because you are a terrible human being. You are an average coach with an extremely oversized ego. You finally got exactly what you deserve you selfish prick. The hockey world is ecstatic.LinkOutletSource: ~90% of the Leafs were relieved to see Mike Babcock go. - threadJames MirtleKadri: "I personally think Babs is a great coach." - threadJames MirtleExcerpt from article on Babcock's firing - threadToronto SunWhy the Maple Leafs Needed to Fire Mike Babcock - threadIan TullochFormer Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg opened up to The Detroit News in 2018 about his relationship with Mike Babcock - threadThe Detroit NewsMitch Marner on Mike Babcock sharing his list of hardest/least hardest working Leafs when he was a rookie: "It was just surprising. I was lucky enough that the guys that were there with me, none of them took it to heart and they knew it wasn't up to me." - threadKristen ShiltonI reached out to Mike Babcock today about the Mitch Marner story, as reported by Terry Koshan. Via text, he replied, “I was trying to focus on work ethic with Mitch — focusing on role models — ended up not being a good idea. I apologized at (the) time.” - threadElliotte FriedmanMarner on Babcock's controversial motivational tactic: 'It's just surprising' - threadTSNColaiacovo discusses his experience with Babcock in Detroit - threadTSNMike Babcock healthy scratched Mike Modano and prevented him from hitting 1500 games played by 1 game before Modano retired - threadSports NetMitch Marner, speaking about his incident Mike Babcock, and others that might still come out involving other players and other coaches: "If people want to share their stories, do it. If they don’t want to hold it in, it’s your story to tell."Chris JohnstonGeneral/Other Allegations of AbuseLinkOutletSwitching gears to abusive coaches like Mike Babcock, Bill Peters & Jeff Perry. My breaking point came when I was sat at the front of the bus in the coach’s seat after an OHL game in Guelph. Jeff sat ditectly behind me & was whispering his abusive rhetoric for 4 plus hours - threadDaniel CarcilloWhat should be apparent right now is that there are likely many, many other versions Akim Aliu out there we don’t know about, people who remained silent in the hopes of achieving their dream despite running into bullshit like this along the way. - threadArpon BasuConsidering what's come out about Babcock and Peters, what's other examples of NHL coaches treating their players like sh*t?Reddit Megathread: Player Allegations of Abuse by Coaches: Babcock, Peters, etc. Source

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Insanity in San Jose, The Bruins 2nd Line, & Impact of Coach Q in Florida

  It's the greatest day of the year. Seventh game great. Tuesday evening featured four clubs playing for their lives and that always brings the best/worst out of each player. Some rise to the occasion, others crumble under the pressure. As someone without a rooting interest, it's a very pleasurable experience. For all of you Leafs/Bruins/Sharks/Golden Knights fans out there, I apologize. I hope you tried some deep breathing exercises. I hear they can be helpful. Take note, Caps and Canes fans.

  Boston kept their barn rocking with two first period tallies off of two terrible defensive plays by Toronto. One off the stick and Travis Dermott, the second off a Jake Gardiner turnover. With that minus, Gardiner now owns the dubious distinction of the worst plus-minus rating in game 7 history. Yikes. Do you hear that sound? That's the sound of his UFA contract dropping in value. 

  "Last year, Jake Gardiner was a minus-5 in Game 7. It's been a tough 1st period for the pair of Dermott-Gardiner. The reverse to nowhere…& a good job by Johansson to find the far post." @NHLonNBCSports analyst @BrianBoucher33 on Marcus Johansson's goal, 2-0 Bruins. #TORvsBOS pic.twitter.com/JVVH8aDUcV

— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) April 23, 2019

    John Tavares cut the lead to one with a second-period goal – his second of the series, but that was as close as they would come. The Bruins would tally three more goals in the final frame – two via the open cage variety, and sent the Leafs packing in game seven for the third time in the last seven seasons. Needless to say, the Bruins appear to have their number. 

  It didn't take long for pundits to call for Mike Babcock's head. To criticize his deployment, his inability to shuffle lines, or match up successfully while at home. These are all fair criticisms, but at the end of the day, Toronto's backend wasn't good enough, Freddie Andersen let in a soft one to begin the game, and outside of Auston Matthews, the big guns didn't do enough. 

  The Leafs remain one of the brightest, youngest teams and will continue on the rise in 2019-20. That said, their inability to win a playoff series is bordering on ridiculous and is clearly eating the fanbase from the inside out. Since the salary cap era began in 2005, only the Leafs and Panthers have yet to win a series. That's one ugly stat. 

  They've also now wasted the entry-level contract of Matthews and Mitch Marner. Things will only become more difficult from here to fit everyone in. So what kind of changes can we expect heading into next fall for the Buds? Well, Gardiner and his four million will be gone. They'll need to find 10 million for Marner, hefty raises for Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen. Things will need to be shuffled to keep the core together. Do the William Nylander rumours resurface? If so, there will likely a few teams standing around tossing boat anchor offers to Kyle Dubas. 

  **

Many pundits have been calling David Pastrnak out for his less than stellar play in the first round of the playoffs – this despite him producing six points over the seven-game series. That said, I've really enjoyed the David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk and Pastrnak combo on the second line. DeBrusk and Krejci have found some strong chemistry this season and adding a dynamic finisher like Pasta really opens things up. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand are strong enough to drive a line without Pastrnak and still put up gaudy totals. 

  Don't be surprised if we see these combinations more next season. It's not ideal for fantasy owners as a complete top-line stack can be dynamite, but it's only a minor downtick for the big three and a nice uptick for DeBrusk and Krejci. I'll put this out here right now, DeBrusk has my seal of approval for a breakout in 2019-20.

  **

Out west, the Sharks and Golden Knights met in Northern California. This series looked all but finished when Vegas dummied San Jose 5-0 in game four to take a 3-1 series lead. However, the Sharks came out and took games five and six to push it back home for a chance to eliminate the reigning Western Conference champions. 

  San Jose played well early, leading the shot count 11-4 through the first frame. However, as has been the case for much of Martin Jones' tenor, the Sharks found themselves down on the scoreboard. William Karlsson tallied to make it 1-0 before Cody Eakin found the back of the net in the second frame. 

  The third period came along and Max Pacioretty scored his fifth of the postseason to make it 3-0. He and Mark Stone continue to lead all playoff producers with 11 and 12 points respectively in seven contests. That appeared to be all the boys from Sin City needed to advance to second round and date with the upstart Avalanche. 

  UNTIL THIS HAPPENED! 

https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/SJ-WOW.mp4

  Eakin takes a 5-minute major that ended Joe Pavelski's night with a scary incident as he lands on his head and needed help off the ice.  It did not take long for the Sharks to rally around their fallen captain. Four power-play goals in 241 seconds with Kevin Labanc getting in on all of them – recording a goal and three helpers. That tied an NHL playoff record for the most points in a single period.

  This is why you never change the channel too early!

  But but but.. I had already written the Sharks obituary for tonight’s Ramblings when they were down 3-0 with half a period to play!

My poor words. They never had a chance.

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) April 24, 2019

  I should've known better. 

  Labanc continued to play a role as he took a penalty with four minutes remaining but his mates picked him up – including the goaltender as Jones channelled his inner Trevor Kidd on this one

  https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/Jones-Kidd.mp4

  However, the Golden Knights would not go quietly into the night. With the goaltender pulled and SIX forwards on the ice, Jonathan Marchessault scored to tie the game with 47 seconds remaining to force overtime. I absolutely love that Gerard Gallant rolled out six forwards with the season on the line. Hazah for creativity! 

  Timo Meier was an absolute beast in this one. He played X amount with an assist and nine shots on goal. He almost ended it in OT with these sweet moves only to be stymied by Marc-Andre Fleury

    Timo Meier with the filthy dangles. But no one gets by Fleury's poke. pic.twitter.com/u7x4A50LEV

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) April 24, 2019

  All that was left to do was see who would play hero…

  https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/Apr-23-2019-22-28-13.mp4

  Barclay Goodrow in his second shift of overtime. The man with just seven minutes played on the evening completed the comeback in the game and in the series for San Jose in fabulous fashion. The Sharks move on. 

  Of course, Vegas will have a difficult time recovering from this one – especially Cody Eakin. But this team is loaded with nearly all of its players signed through next season. William Karlsson will need another deal, but it’s unlikely he pulls much of a raise on his current 5.25 million. They have one of the top prospects in the game in Cody Glass coming as well.

  This is not the last we’ve heard from them.

  **

On a less adrenaline-induced note, there have been several coaching changes already this spring and we have yet to conclude the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The odds say we’ll see at least one more before the calendar turns over to July. With a new man at the helm, there will inevitably be changes afoot. And with deployment acting as the literal lifeblood of the fantasy world, the implications can be massive.

  In Florida, Bob Boughner is out and three-time Stanley Cup winner, Joel Quenneville is in. Quenneville will have no shortage of offensive firepower to deploy in South Florida (this remains true even if they don’t land Artemi Panarin in free agency), and he’s proven quite successful in finding elite minutes for elite players.

  Under Quenneville, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews never witnessed their average ice-time drop below 18:30 – with a high-water mark of around 21:30 in 2016-17.  We can rest assured that Sasha Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau will likely live in the same ballparks, but this represents a slight decrease for the 23-year-old Finn. Barkov has averaged over 22 minutes in each of the last two seasons. Huberdeau lives in the 17:00-18:30 arena and should comfortably be pegged there. We’ll have to wait and see if the new coach leans on the team’s superstar as much as his predecessor did.

  As far as club achievements, clearly his 10+ season resume with the Hawks is chalked full of accomplishments. Outside of the three rings, he brought the club to 100-plus point seasons in seven of the campaigns, and a 97-point season tossed in as well. The concern was the stagnation that happened towards the end of his tenor in Chicago. The team immediately found their offensive prowess once he left town in November 2018, after many of the top guys witnessed career-lows the season prior. Successful franchises have steadily gotten faster and faster with each passing season, and this may not jive well with Coach Q’s penchant for airtight defensive schemes.

  Here’s the thing though, losing a few goals to save a bucket more is exactly what this team needs. Their 267 tallies this past season was fifth most in the East and good for ninth best in the league. Florida also boasted the second most lethal power-play, clicking at 26.8 percent for the campaign. For reference, that mark is the third highest we’ve seen in the last 30 years.

  However, it’s the 280 goals against that are the real problem. That mark landed them 14th in the East and 28th overall. Like I said, perhaps they can afford to lose a few goals for more team success – but that’s not exactly what fantasy owners want to hear.

  Florida has a bright, young, fantasy-filled roster. Barkov is an elite pillar. Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, and Keith Yandle each bring upper echelon value to specific leagues. Mike Hoffman, Evgeni Dadonov, and Aaron Ekblad are above-average. Additionally, they boast some of the brightest young prospects in the game with Henrik Borgstrom, Grigori Denisenko, Owen Tippett, and Aleksi Heponiemi coming up the pipe.

  However, expecting a replication, or a continuation, on the career-high seasons by Barkov, Huberdeau and company may be foolish. Shave 5-8 points off of each skater, bump up the goaltender value (whomever that ends up being) and go about your draft preparation.

  **

Over in Sweden, the World U18 Championships are underway. The Americans are destroying the competition thus far. At the top of the heap are linemates, Jack Hughes and Cole Caufield. You've likely heard all about Hughes by now. He's an explosive and creative skater who brings the entire buffet of offensive skills. Thus far, he has five goals and 12 points through four games and is pushing Alex Ovechkin for the most all-time points at this event. Hughes had 12 in seven games last year. 

  But it's Caufield I wanted to talk about. Standing just 5-6 and 157lbs, he's certainly not your prototypical first-round draft choice. Hell, most years a player that sized won't hear their name called at all. But Caufield is special. He's up to 69 goals in 61 games this season and recently broke the all-time goal record for the USNTDP. Sure, he lives next to supreme passers in Hughes and Trevor Zegras at the Program, but his ability to find the soft areas and quickly and efficiently put the puck into the back of the net is special. 

  It's a record breaking 10th goal of the tourney for Cole Caufield and a 2-0 Team USA lead.

A gorgeous pass from Trevor Zegras sets up Caufield for the pretty finish. #U18Worlds #NTDP pic.twitter.com/0bA59wTIvA

— Stars n’ Stripes Hockey (@StarsStripesHKY) April 23, 2019

    Clubs surely regret allowing Alex DeBincat to fall to the second round in 2016. There is much more risk in selecting a player his size in the top-15, but that appears to be exactly where he'll go. At this rate, I'd be somewhat surprised if he's still sitting there at #10. If Caufield were an elite skater, he could be making a very real case for third overall. 

  All this said he's a player you should have earmarked in dynasty drafts. One capable of filling the net and the shots on goal ticker. 

  **

Follow me on Twitter @Hockey_Robinson

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-game-7s-bruins-2nd-line-impact-of-coach-q-in-florida/

[latestcanadaposts]

Andersen vs. Anderson in another Battle of Ontario

Andersen vs. Anderson in another Battle of Ontario

A warning to Frederik Andersen and the Maple Leafs not to look at the standings ahead of Saturday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.

As low as Ottawa is sitting at present, they still hold a hex over the Leafs, especially at the Air Canada Centre where they’ve taken all five times in the Mike Babcock era.

“They’ve won two in a row,” Babcock noted of the Sens beating New Jersey and Nashville…

[plms-hockey]

Coyotes @ Leafs - Game 22 - Nov.20.17

KEY NARRATIVES

Toronto Maple Leafs (14-7-0) vs. Arizona Coyotes (4-15-3)

Right off the bat, I'll be upfront in admitting that I have a large soft spot for the Arizona Coyotes. A decent part of that can be attributed to their role in the creation of our Savior Auston Matthes, child of the desert and future King of American Hockey. If not for Matthews' uncle taking the Scottsdale native to Coyotes games (and an interest in Zambonis, so the story goes) Auston Matthews could have ended up a baseball player.

The horror.

Also working in Arizona's favor is young general manager John Chayka who actually came out of an analytics company before taking the job. He's has been branded as the canary in a coal mine of the analytics movement which means I can only root for him and his team. The twenty-eight-year-old GM made a number of great moves over the summer, including the obtaining of center Derek Stepan and goaltender Antti Raanta from New York and right-handed defenseman Jason Demers from Florida.

They also had a few young stars that seemed ready to break out, including center prospect Dylan Strome, who was drafted 3rd overall in 2015, just before Mitch Marner (both played in the Ontario Hockey League and had a friendship and rivalry that included a head-to-head race for the OHL scoring title in 2015, due to a hand injury that knocked Connor McDavid, Strome's BFF, Erie Otters' Captain, and soon-to-be Hockey Messiah, out of the competition. And the answer is yes, I am still and will continue to be obsessed with every narrative around the 2015 Draft masterclass, including the fact that Auston Matthews would have been a part of it if he'd been born only a few days earlier — I mean can you even imagine the ripple effects of that alternate timeline? Anyway, moving on.) The Coyotes also had potential firepower young winger Max Domi and prospect Clayton Keller who was picked 7th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft.

While nobody expected them to be a contender or even make the playoffs, this seemed like the year the Coyotes were going to make some noise at least. We were going to start to see some payoff from the Chayka Era, evidence that the league shouldn't just be an old boys club making player decisions on grit and outdated stats like +/-.

So, of course, it took the Coyotes twenty games to get one regulation win. Yes, you read that right. The Coyotes have had a single regulation win in twenty NHL hockey games. 

Strome was quickly sent down to the actually successful AHL Tuscon Roadrunners to get some pro-level development. Max Domi can't buy a goal, and while Clayton Keller is the early Calder Trophy (rookie trophy) frontrunner, it hasn't been enough to save the Coyotes from a truly, historically horrible start to the season.

The Hockey Gods are both merciless and cruel.

Only Montreal, who, lest we forget, has given Arizona their only regulation win, has a worse PDO at this point in the season. The Coyotes are only getting a save percentage of 88.35 out of their Goaltenders this year and an under average shooting percentage is nowhere near enough to make up for it. While they are underperforming in a few categories, the difference is like expecting one rotten apple and getting two instead.

It's still, for the most part, all rotten apples.

The Leafs, who did play season-starting lines this morning at practice, are the dominant statistical favorites for this game. I haven't looked up any of the numbers yet or anything, but it's definitely true.  Sorry, 'Yotes.

Key Numbers

9 - Clayton Keller - Left Wing 23 - Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Defenseman 16 - Max Domi - Left Wing 55 - Jason Demers - Left Wing

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE POST GAME

Score: L 4-1

First off, I'll simply summarize my own failings in this morning's google search history which notably includes "quotes about hubris". I'll also say that this game was utter horseshit.

It's actually kind of surprising but, while the Leafs have stolen a couple games this season, they've yet to have a game so completely ripped from their deserving hands this season. But there's nothing more Leaf-y than breaking a win streak over the worst team in the league. So what happened?

Well, the Leafs showed up ten minutes late to the game again, which is sort of baffling considering they had the most first period goals in the league by a wide margin for a while, and got shelled before their alarm clock finally went off. From that point on the Leafs utterly dominated the Coyotes at evens. They owned possession with 61.36% CF. They crushed Arizona with a staggering 67.59% of the 5v5 expected goals for.

Unfortunately, the Leafs also took four penalties in this game, two of which resulted in Coyotes goals. It was not a good night for the penalty kill unit. The other two goals were empty netters, so the score doesn't clearly represent the balance in this game, of which most was spent at 1-1 and 2-1.

The most frustrating thing about this game, of course, was that the Leafs should never have had to pull Freddie to try to tie it up in the first place. Because the score should have been 2-2. In a move hilariously contradicting his own morning comments, Babcock deployed Matthews and Marner together again. Marner, to Matthews, and in the puck went in. What a nice way bow on Matthews 100th game in the NHL versus the team credited with inspiring a desert boy’s love of the sport. 

Then Rick Tocchet, former Penguins assistant coach and new head coach of the Coyotes, called for a review.

I'm so tired of nebulous goalie interference calls. It's clear at this point that nobody, including the officials, knows exactly what it is. Did Hyman's stick push Raanta out of position? Yes. Did Raanta have enough time to recover from the already bad position he was in that allowed him to be moved so much before Matthews shot (like... he was already halfway in his own net)? Should that matter? If it does, how much time should goalies get to reset after an interference before a goal counts? Should the fact that Hyman was pushed into Raanta by his own defensemen disqualify an interference call?

We've seen it before and we'll see it again. The answer to all the unanswered questions above varies from game to game. In this case, the goal was reversed, and the Leafs lost.

While this game was debatably decided by dicey officiating, the fact is that the Leafs need to get their penalty kill back in order and figure out how to come out of the gate hot or at least present instead of sleeping for the first ten minutes. If they can figure that out they'll get to spend more time defending leads again instead of chasing them.

The effing Coyotes... because of course.

Statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockey, hockeystats.ca and hockey-reference.com.