TRENTON, ON – Dan Harris knows a thing or two about team building.
Having served in the Canadian Air Force for more than 20 years, the Lieutenant-Colonel from Prince Edward Island was thrilled when he heard the Toronto Maple Leafs would be visiting Trenton this week for a little team building.
"This is a very big deal for such a small community," Harris said. "As you can tell."
That’s for sure.
When the Leafs arrived at RCAF Flyers Arena Monday morning, there were a few thousand people waiting in line to get into a rink that seats about 800. And the crowd just kept on growing. In fact, fans stayed in intervals, for about 20 minutes per group, and then they were ushered out of the rink so another group could get in to see their heroes.
When was the last time you heard a full rink of fans cheering, "Go Leafs Go! Go Leafs Go!" during practice?
It really was quite a wild scene.
The Leafs have a five-game homestand to open the 2011-12 season and they did not have an overnight trip during the pre-season. With eight new players on the club, visiting Trenton is a great opportunity for the players to get to know each other a little better.
"Team building is an important concept for the military in general," said Harris. "We do it when we are going through our training to become an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. In a lot of cases we will actually go through an exercise to build your confidence. You feel good about yourself when you have accomplished a great feat.
"As of late the Canadian Armed Forces does this when we are deploying in an operation such as Afghanistan. Before we deploy our troops, we’ll bring them together as a team and do team building as a team to make sure they can work together before they go. Everybody knows its one team, one mission and the way we achieve that goal is to do exercises before they leave."
In the Air Force, just like in sports, teams have identified leaders.
In Toronto’s case, defenceman Dion Phaneuf is the captain. Still, when you do team-building exercises, other leaders often emerge.
"They definitely do," Harris said. "Of course in the Air Force we have a rank structure, so you graduate up through your rank, but in a lot of cases, especially when there’s pressure, you’ll see other leaders emerge. I think just the fact the Leafs are together and going through this experience, and even if it’s just fun, they are together and getting to know one another better so it’s worth it for them."
Phaneuf has a big hand in what the Leafs will do in the next few days, but other than admitting they have a golf date set on one day, he’s not letting the cat out of the bag.
It’s one of those, "If I tell you then I’d have to kill you," deals. Regardless, Phaneuf said it will be a good mix of work and play.
"People ask if this long break (between games) is a good thing or a bad thing, but I think it’s a good thing," the captain said. "It’s like we can have a mini-training camp and work on things that you otherwise wouldn’t get to work on when the schedule is tight.
"I think it’s great that we’re here with the military on the base. It’s going to be a lot of fun to hang out with some of the guys and to talk with them. We’re looking forward to spending time with the guys who have made great sacrifices for our country."
The Leafs players seemed genuinely excited at the opportunity to meet the men and women of the forces who have fought for our country.
For Colby Armstrong, being in Trenton brings back great memories.
"When I was in Pittsburgh we went to West Point for four days and we did different team-building exercises there," Armstrong said. "We had bombs going off around our heads and we were saving guys in simulated helicopter crashes, different things like that. We did different drills that the soldiers would do and to eat with them in their mess hall and to skate with them at their rink was pretty cool. You get a different perspective of what they do in their daily lives.
"We’re working just like they are as a team and a lot of stuff (they do) translates to hockey. Obviously what they do is much more serious and a different life, for sure, but we can take a lot away from them and apply it to hockey."
NOTES: Left winger Clarke MacArthur did not accompany the team to Trenton. "He has a bit of an infected elbow that should be OK by (Tuesday)," coach Ron Wilson said…Nazem Kadri returned to practice after missing nearly two weeks with a sore knee. "I’ve been told he could actually be ready at the end of the week," Wilson said. …Captain Dion Phaneuf was asked about the reception the Leafs received upon arrival Monday morning in Trenton. "We’ve got the best fans in hockey," Phaneuf said. "We’re grateful for that. Like I’ve said before, we’ve got unbelievable fans not just in Toronto, but throughout Ontario and, really, the whole country. It’s pretty special to be able to come and practice in front of a packed building. I hope they had fun." Added goaltender James Reimer: "I guess I was a little surprised, but I probably shouldn’t have been. We have such a great following with great fans all over the country."
