Despite their many years away from the game, Toronto Maple Leafs legends Darryl Sittler and Doug Gilmour know that hockey clubs don’t hang banners in the rafters to celebrate regular-season records.
No matter how well a team plays between opening night and early April, it’s what happens in the NHL playoffs that cements legendary status on the ice, the Canadian Hockey Hall of Famers say.
“Fans and media do not remember the regular season, they remember the playoffs,” Gilmour said this week as he and Sittler met fans inside the Leafs dressing room. “People want to see what you do in the playoffs … You step on the ice, everyone’s got zero points. The teams that have success, everyone has to accept their role. Whatever your role is, whatever the coach wants you to do, you do it.”
Gilmour played 393 regular-season games for the Leafs across two stints, but his lone Stanley Cup win came with the Calgary Flames in 1989.
“I played 20 years and I won it once,” Gilmour said. “No grit, no win.”
As the puck drops on a new season Wednesday night in Toronto when the Maple Leafs take on the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena, it’ll be the players’ on-ice effort in the post-season that determines whether this year’s club is a success.
Led by captain Auston Matthews, winger William Nylander and veteran John Tavares, the new-look Leafs will feature four new forwards: Nicolas Roy, Dakota Joshua, Matias Maccelli and Sammy Blais.
Joined by Sittler at a fan event in which MLSE unveiled its plans to give away up to 250 free tickets to every Leafs and Raptors home game this season, Gilmour said the new injection of talent raises Toronto’s odds of hoisting the Stanley Cup, despite losing forward Mitch Marner, who had been a key member of the franchise for the past nine years before inking a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights this summer.
After finishing first in the Atlantic Division with 108 points last season, the Craig Berube-coached Leafs were bounced from the NHL playoffs in Game 7 of the second round by the Florida Panthers (who also dispatched the club in 2023).
Gilmour, 62, thinks the only way the Maple Leafs can get over the hump of beating Florida, who are looking to threepeat as Stanley Cup champs, is by “playing harder.”
“I believe they’ve got the bigger bodies to do it now,” he added, nodding at Roy, the newly acquired 6-foot-4, 201-pound centre who also was on hand meeting fans. “Look who they faced last year. A pretty physical Florida Panthers, well, these guys can match it. You still have a lot of skill, but you have a bit more size and a little bit more grit.”
Terri Mattucci, VP of Fan Engagement for MLSE, poses alongside winners of MLSE’s Fan Access program, as well as Leafs alumni Darryl Sittler and Doug Gilmour and current players Nicolas Roy and Scott Laughton.
Sittler, who played for 12 seasons with the Leafs before retiring in 1985, said “now’s the time” for Toronto.
“We gotta do it,” the second all-time leading Leafs point-getter said. “Auston’s at his age and John Tavares isn’t getting any younger. We’ve got Willie … We got a good coach. We were right there last year. To lose to Florida like we did in the seventh game was disappointing, but it shows you what type of hockey club we have. Now’s the time. Hopefully those hockey Gods will be with us this year.”
Marner finished fifth in NHL scoring last season and notched a team-high 102 points (27 goals, 75 assists) in 81 games. But a knock against the Toronto native was his disappearing act during the playoffs, recording just 13 points during the Leafs’ 2024-25 run.
Sittler said the Leafs will miss the star forward, but thinks the newcomers the squad has added will give the unit some needed toughness.
“When you get in the playoffs, it’s a little different style hockey,” the 75-year-old said. “We do have a team with a lot of leadership and character … The guys they brought in … are a little bit bigger, stronger, more physical … tough players you have to have in the playoffs.”
Gilmour is hoping the Leafs’ start to the season can match the Toronto Blue Jays’ post-season run. With the baseball team on the cusp of eliminating the New York Yankees, it reminds him of his 1992-93 campaign when the Leafs faced the Los Angeles Kings in the conference final.
“The Jays are really good and when we had two good runs in the early ’90s, this town was electric,” Gilmour said.
He too said Marner will be missed, noting that he had been a sounding board on occasion for the three-time NHL all star.
“Even though Mitch is gone, this is a really good hockey club and there’s a lot of people picking these guys No. 1 in their conference and it’s well deserved,” he said.
“You’ve got to play harder. I believe they’ve got the bigger bodies to do it now. Not to say Mitch couldn’t do it, but they’ve added more grit.
“When you get into the playoffs, you see guys like Sam Bennett that might get 60, 70 points a year, all of sudden, he’s MVP in the playoffs. That’s because he plays with a lot of grit in the playoffs. You’re whole team has to do that.”
The Leafs open their 2025-26 season against the Canadiens on Wednesday night with puck drop at 7 p.m. at Scotiabank Arena.