TORONTO – A priceless sum is withdrawn from Jake Muzzin’s memory bank on those days he pulls out that little turquoise box and opens it to take another peek at the Tiffany ring that sparkles with his name and number, the logo of his former team gleaming and 136 round diamonds.
The three Game 7s swiped on the road.
The pains and joys shared by the first and only group to require the maximum 21 games to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
The double-overtime championship-clinching goal, fired off the blade of a fellow defenceman.
His own six-goal, 12-point post-season contribution to the improbable run — no small feat from a mild-mannered NHL sophomore pegged as Drew Doughty’s security blanket.
“The older I get, the more I appreciate the opportunity I got to be on a good team, to take advantage of a good opportunity like we had in L.A.,” says Muzzin, 30, following his first full playoff preparatory practice with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I just want that here, too. I want guys to understand: It’s not always easy to be on a good team and have a shot at winning every year. It’s tough. When you have an opportunity, let’s make the most of it.”
Think there’s anticipation and anxiety in your house as hours to puck drop tick away? Try being Muzzin, who missed the last week of work due to an illness — “I don’t know what it was, but it was bad,” he says — while preparing to become a first-time father.
He’s also steadying himself for a top-four shutdown role against a Boston juggernaut after only 30 games of getting used to a new team and whatever pressure comes with being the reason why Kyle Dubas won’t have a first-round pick at this June’s draft.
“Lots of excitement going on,” Muzzin smiles through a beard that is likely the envy of his younger teammates.
“As far as looking at it like, ‘Let’s see what Muzzin can do’? Being ‘The Guy’, I don’t like having that on me. I just want to do my job and help the team win.”
Muzzin’s job, if Monday’s lines are an indication of Mike Babcock’s Game 1 deployment, is to build on his growing chemistry with Nikita Zaitsev on the Leafs’ second (and only lefty-righty) pairing, help neutralize the Bruins’ frightening top six and free up the offensive Jake Gardiner–Travis Dermott partnership to orchestrate scoring chances.
While Muzzin dealt with his share of the criticism levied at Toronto’s D corps after an eight-game honeymoon period wore off, Zaitsev’s underlying possession numbers are better with Muzzin than without.
Muzzin has only been a minus defender in two of his 15 games and is a plus-21 on the year (plus-11 with 11 points since the trade). Among all Leafs defencemen, only the more sheltered Dermott and Igor Ozhiganov have a better 5-on-5 Corsi for than Muzzin’s 53.9 per cent.
Add the fact Gardiner, taking shifts on the second power-play unit, and Dermott aren’t long removed from serious injuries, and the Muzzin-Zaitsev tandem should be key.
“They play hard. Muzzin moves the puck forward, and Z (Zaitsev) competes. Z closes better than anybody on our team, he’s got better edges and better defensively that way than anybody else. Gives less time and space,” Babcock explains.
“They’re both not going to be backed off by anybody, and as a pair, they’ve seemed to have moved the puck good enough that we’re not spending a ton of time in our own zone. So that’s critical for us to have success.”
Muzzin is upfront with the trail-and-error he and Zaitsev endured the past couple of months as they nail down their communication on reads.
“We’ve messed up, and that’s how you learn, really—when you make mistakes on certain stuff. You want me to go? You go? Or we both don’t go? We’ve had a stretch here where we’ve learned a lot and got some of the stuff ironed out,” Muzzin says.
“Mentally, physically, it’s hard. We need everyone in here 100 per cent buy-in to do what it takes to win, no matter what the situation is.”
Of all those with stalls in the Leafs room, only Muzzin and veteran Ron Hainsey truly grasp what that climb to the mountaintop takes and how delicious that view can be.
“Those guys are invaluable to us. It’s real important that they step up at this time with their play but more so with leadership, letting guys know what’s acceptable and what’s unacceptable,” Babcock says.
We ask Muzzin, a 526-game vet, who among this young Leafs core has picked his brain and tried to borrow a few lessons from his 50 playoff games.
“None. None. No,” he replies. “If they want to, they can. If not, then so be it. That’s fine too. I ain’t got no problem with that.
“If guys are feeling nervous or I can tell maybe they’re a little jittery, maybe I can talk to them.”
Unless, of course, Muzzin is bolting from the rink to attend the birth of he and wife Courtney’s daughter. She’s only due sometime around Game 5, but Muzzin assures that the house is in order and a contingency plan is in place.
“Friends and family are so close that we need help or we’re in a sticky situation, we have it,” Muzzin says. “We’re going to have [the birth] scheduled, so we’ll hopefully plan it so I don’t have to miss.”
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An April baby? In NHL circles, planned parenthood means counting backwards nine months from the post-season.
“This was obviously not planned,” Muzzin chuckles.
Such is hockey life at the most unpredictable page on the calendar.
That fond spring Muzzin earned his ring, Patrick Marleau’s Sharks didn’t plan on squandering a 3-0 series lead to the Kings in San Jose. The division champ Ducks and defending Cup champion Blackhawks weren’t supposed to be taken down by Muzzin’s team either.
No wonder the man with the two-lap head start on playoff beards believes underdogs about as much as unicorns or leprechauns.
“One thing I did learn is, you’re never out,” Muzzin says. “As long as there’s a game left, there’s an opportunity. What I learned is, whoever wants it the most, at the end of the day wins the games.”
He surveys a room in which the vast majority have never won Round 1, let alone have a ring they can pull out to remind themselves of winning Round 4.
“These guys are hungry, man. They want to win. They want to prove themselves, and so do I,” Muzzin says.
“Let’s go.”
