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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs, who held a practice at the Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday. 

Justin Holl didn't just establish himself as an everyday NHL player this season, the 28-year-old earned a spot on Toronto's shutdown pairing alongside Jake Muzzin. And Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has confirmed the plan is to have Holl and Muzzin resume those duties when the playoffs begin.   

"It's going to be a big role," Holl said. "Obviously, Muzz has been there before and this will be my first Stanley Cup playoffs, but I'm very excited."

"Two big guys that have got good sticks," Keefe said. "Holl defends really well with his skating and his reach and then Muzzin has those pieces as well, but has the extra physicality to it. We use them in a lot of defensive roles with some tough matchups and they did really well with it. It’s just been something that we've found a good level of consistency with and we don't see a reason to mess with that."

Holl's emergence during the regular season was crucial for a Leafs blueline lacking depth, especially on the right side. The turning point for Holl, who was scratched 71 times last season, came on Dec. 14 in Edmonton when he held his own against Connor McDavid. 

"Holl took a real large step for me when we were out in Edmonton and he had to play a lot against McDavid," Keefe said. "That was a real big test and challenge, of course, for anybody in the League, but he did really well with that. I think his confidence really took off from that point. He did a really good job against an elite player."

Holl played 11 and a half minutes at even strength against McDavid and Hart Trophy nominee Leon Draisaitl with the Leafs maintaining an edge in shots (9-5) and goals (1-0) in that stretch. Holl ended up logging a career-high 26 minutes and 10 seconds in that nationally televised Saturday night showcase. 

In an up-and-down Leafs season, Holl was able to establish a strong baseline level even with Muzzin sidelined with a couple of injuries at different points in the year. Holl finished +13, tied for third on the team in that category. 

"He was able to find a level of consistency in his own game to be able to stay with it and have a number of positive games," Keefe said. "Everybody is going to have bad nights or what have you, but the difference from his best to his worst wasn't massive. He was just finding himself. Given his age and how long he's been around and all those things, you lose sight of the fact that he's still gaining experience and as that sample grew, you just learned to trust him that much more."

The challenge against the stingy Blue Jackets in their best-of-five qualifying round series will be much different than against the explosive Oilers. The Columbus forecheck will be ferocious and there won't be much open ice. 

"They're a team that doesn't give up a whole lot defensively, which means they kind of wait for you to make a mistake so we have to be prepared to take their counterpunch, basically," Holl observed. 

There won't be a McDavid-level talent on the other side, but Holl will be keeping an eye on a certain Jackets forward. 

"I just remember early in the year when we played them, [Cam] Atkinson is always dangerous," Holl said. "Whenever you give him time and space, he's very dangerous."

Atkinson picked up a goal and an assist in two games against Toronto way back in October. He fired seven shots on net in the first game.  

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​Holl is getting set for the playoffs by battling the Leafs' top forwards in a training camp scrimmage series. Team Frederik Andersen features Toronto’s top two defence pairs while Team Auston Matthews is home to the top two forward lines. Team Andersen won the first game of the best-of-five, but got blown out in a pair of losses – 6-2 and 5-0 – over the weekend. 

"They're on another level," Holl said of Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander. "There's no question about that. They're difficult to play against, but we expect more from ourselves on Team Andersen. We have a lot of pride on our team and we know we can shut them down, too."

While his conditioning is fine, Holl admits the timing and execution hasn't been entirely there in the scrimmages yet. Also, the Leafs are still adjusting to Keefe's systematic tweaks designed to help the group improve defensively. 

"As we're making minor adjustments everyone has to know their role and exactly what they're doing in order for it to be done properly," Holl said, "so it’s all of us trying to get on the same page and refine what we're trying to do."

The next couple of scrimmages will be in the mid-afternoon as the Leafs get used to those start times. Game 2 against the Blue Jackets will be a 4 p.m. puck drop with the potential for a noon start down the line as well.

"Coming from the American League, I love it," said Holl, a big part of the Marlies 2018 Calder Cup championship team. "A noon game is like a school-day game, you wake up and play and it’s awesome and same with a 4 p.m. game."

The Leafs played almost all their games at 7 p.m. local time this season. 

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Last week, Tavares mentioned he may bring some books with him into the bubble to pass the time. The Leafs captain revealed he is almost done reading 'Stillness is the Key' by Ryan Holiday. It's about how the great thinkers and leaders in the world are able to be "steady while the world spins around you." 

Tavares, who became a father for the first time in September, said he's learned in recent years how important a work-life balance is.

“I've always been curious and always wondered what's made great hockey players or great athletes or why people have been successful, but I think now, especially having a family and where I'm at in my life, having a better sense of improving all aspects of my life and how they kind of work together and have that synergy [is important]. I would say that's really come around for me the last couple years. You get more and more perspective with the experience you have and things you go through and your outlook on life.”

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One element of bubble life that may take a while to adjust to is filling the down time between games and practices. 

“The positive thing that will come out of it is you're forced to spend so much time with your teammates," Holl said. "We're spending time together and only us together, no one has their families or wives there ... that's the boat we're all in and we have to make the most of it.”

Matthews and Alex Kerfoot may be able to provide some entertainment. 

"Me and Kerf have been exchanging card tricks and trying some different things and trying to rattle each others minds and stuff like that," Matthews revealed.  

“There's not as much to do as we'd like," Kerfoot explained, "so you try and keep busy and entertained and Auston's picked up a couple card tricks and gotten pretty good at them lately so we’re trying to look up some new things.”

What sort of tricks do they have lined up? 

“Really easy ones," said Matthews. "I mean, I'm no magician. I was bored one day and started looking up a couple card tricks and then I saw [Kerfoot] and he's a pretty smart guy so I wanted to see if he could figure it out and he happened to have a couple card tricks up his sleeve so we exchanged card tricks and here we are.”

“They're pretty basic," said Kerfoot, a Harvard product. "We got all the math ones down, all those ones where you don't need to manipulate the deck at all. The sleight-of-hand ones are more difficult so we're trying to advance into those ones.”

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Lines at Tuesday’s practice: 

 

Hyman - Matthews - Marner

Nylander - Tavares - Mikheyev

Robertson - Kerfoot - Kapanen

Clifford - Gauthier - Spezza

Engvall

 

Muzzin - Holl

Rielly - Ceci

Dermott - Barrie

Sandin - Marincin 

 

Andersen 

Campbell 

 

Power play units at Tuesday’s practice: 

 

Barrie

Marner - Tavares - Matthews 

Nylander 

 

Rielly 

Kapanen - Kerfoot - Spezza 

Hyman 

 

Participants in reserve practice: 

Agostino, Brooks, Gaudet, Hollowell, Kaskisuo, Kivihalme, Korshkov, Petan, Rosen, Woll

 

Unfit to play: 

Malgin