Thank you, Toronto Maple Leafs.
It turns out they’ve provided a playoff spark after all. Look no further than the leading scorer in the Toronto Marlies’ (so far) undefeated Calder Cup run, Jerry D’Amigo.
Marlies head coach Steve Spott, in an interview Wednesday with Sportsnet 590 The Fan, credited the Leafs for igniting the left winger after a 19-game call-up to the big club last December.
“He needed that,” Spott told Greg Brady and Andrew Walker. “I think early in the season this year, [he] maybe expected to start in Toronto [and] he didn’t. And then I think there was a process where maybe he felt down and not confident in his own game. That call-up was great, and I’ll tell you what: Since that call-up, guys, he’s been one of the best players in this league.”
D’Amigo put up 11 of his 33 regular-season points for the Marlies in February, following his stint with the Leafs. And the sixth-round draft pick of the Leafs in 2009 has been especially deadly when it counts. The 23-year-old from Binghamton, N.Y., has 12 points—four goals and eight assists—through seven post-season games with the Marlies, who are undefeated heading into the AHL’s Western Conference final. He trails only Ryan Spooner (13 points) in playoff scoring, and Spooner’s Providence Bruins have played four more games than the Marlies.
Spott also pointed to the play of D’Amigo’s linemates, Peter Holland and Carter Ashton, who each played more than 30 games with the Leafs this year, calling it “a big shot of adrenalin for our club.”
“It’s nice that we’ve had some help from the Leafs down the stretch, here,” Spott said.
The Marlies completed a four-game sweep of the Chicago Wolves on Friday to earn a match-up against the top-ranked Texas Stars in the Western Conference final.
“They’re the No. 1 team,” Spott said. “We’re an underdog going into this series, but we’ve been underdogs all year. Not many people have given this Marlie team a chance, so we’ll play off that. We’ll use that as motivation, and we’ve done that so far.”
The Western Conference final opens Friday in Texas. The series returns to Toronto for Game 3 on May 28.
