TORONTO – Ask around and you’ll hear that Brian Boyle is a lot of things.
A big body. A vocal presence. A leader on the ice and in the room. A guy who can play up and down the lineup. A face-off beast. A veteran of 100 playoff games.
He’s also a fantastic quote.
“It’s time to close it out. It’s time to punch our ticket,” Boyle said Thursday morning ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ win-and-they’re-in game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team that decided they didn’t want Boyle on Feb. 27.
“You want to prove your worth.”
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Boyle left Tuesday’s loss to Washington with an upper-body injury but will draw back in tonight, centring the Leafs’ fourth line for Toronto’s biggest game in four years.
That the opportunity to clinch aligns with a chance to eliminate his former club adds a delicious little wrinkle to one of the most captivating stories of the 2016-17 NHL season.
Boyler the Spoiler?
“Facing your former team becomes easier the more you do it,” Leafs defenceman Matt Hunwick says.
“When it’s fresh like he’s experiencing now, it’s a little bit weird, especially with the success they’ve had and the runs they’ve had the last couple seasons. That bonds the team. The friendships are that much closer.
“At the same time, we’re fighting to make the playoffs. There’s certainly no friends out there tonight.”
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Injured Lightning captain Steven Stamkos made a point to catch up with his former teammate Wednesday.
“He was great for our team, such an important part to our runs,” Stamkos said. “We obviously miss him, miss his presence in the room. That’s the nature of the business.
“He’s on the other team now.”
Boyle has three assists in 18 games as a Maple Leaf. Tonight might be a good time for his first goal with the new team.
“He’s very good offensively and defensively and in the faceoff circle as well,” says linemate Matt Martin.
“He makes the game easier for his wingers because he’s always talking about where he is on the ice. He doesn’t cheat to offence, really. You always know where he’s going to be, and he’s always backing you up. He’s a guy who’s played a lot of important hockey, a guy everyone listens to.
“That communication is so important. At the same time, he’s a big body, can make plays, he’s physical. He’s added a lot to our team.”
When he left Tampa, Boyle took a chunk of that room’s hunger with him. Consider this Boyle quote from early February, when he was still a member of that other blue-and-white outfit.
“If you accept losing, then you’re a loser,” Boyle said. “That’s the bottom line.”