Mar 1, 2019
Tavares' return met with vitriol, little help from teammates
John Tavares knew that Islanders fans who felt jilted last summer wouldn’t embrace him in a Maple Leaf jersey Thursday in a playoff-like atmosphere at Nassau Coliseum. What he could not have anticipated was his teammates’ performances in a 6-1 defeat being almost as poor as the reception he received, Kristen Shilton writes from Long Island.
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – John Tavares knew it would be ugly.
He knew New York Islanders fans who felt jilted and deserted by their former captain bolting for Toronto last summer wouldn’t embrace him wearing a Maple Leafs jersey in Thursday’s tilt between the clubs.
What Tavares could not have anticipated was the Leafs’ performance being almost as poor as the reception he received in a 6-1 drubbing by the Islanders.
“I feel bad that we didn’t show up, we didn’t play,” Zach Hyman said. “We wanted to win this game for [Tavares] and we didn’t even give ourselves a chance with all the turnovers and nonsense. And everyone was included in that, everyone was at fault.
“Really frustrating game that we need to learn from.”
For nine seasons, Tavares was the beloved face of the Islanders’ franchise, practically from the day New York selected him first overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. And then last summer, Tavares delivered a gut-punch when he chose to sign a seven-year, $77 million contract with his hometown Leafs instead of an extension with the Islanders.
Nearly eight months after the fact, Tavares was prepared for vitriol in Long Island and Islanders fans at Nassau Coliseum rose to the occasion with an impressive stream of boos and chants – ranging from kid-friendly to obscenity-laced – up to a final crescendo of cheers as the Islanders soundly beat the Leafs.
“I expected it was coming,” Tavares said of the hostility directed at him. “No one’s walked in my shoes, I know that. I just tried to be open and honest. No one has to like my decision, I just tried to explain my decision and how I got to that point. It is what it is, I’ve made my decision, I’ve moved forward.”
Tavares was halfway through that answer when a fan, spying him mid-press conference, yelled “John, you suck!” But Tavares didn’t flinch, same as he didn’t when one fan threw a plastic snake at his feet during warmups (a talisman for how he deceived fans and management before leaving) or when another spectator threw a jersey at him post-warmups.
The Leafs emerged for the first period with a soundtrack of more boos and a round of cheered obscenity. Next it was chants of “JT sucks,” followed by more jeers for Tavares’ first shift. The crowd was merciless, even during a planned video tribute for Tavares that they booed through and chanted “We Don’t Need You."
“They’ve always made it tough on the opponent,” Tavares said of Islander fans. “The tribute was nice, especially from the organization and the guys on the other bench, nice to give a token of my appreciation for my nine years here.”
Tavares tried to salute the crowd with a brief skate at centre ice when the video ended, but the boos continued.
“It would be nice to take a moment to recognize [them],” he said. “But obviously they have their feelings and that’s out of my control. I just tried to show my acknowledgement of the support I had here for nine years.”
If anything, Tavares could have used more support from his new teammates against his old ones. Quite suddenly an offence that had produced 17 goals in its previous three games went quiet in New York, while the Islanders’ feasted on the Leafs’ turnovers.
Toronto was in good shape after the first period, tied 1-1 after goals by Hyman and Anthony Beauvillier. Anders Lee made it 2-1 Islanders early in the second but Hyman responded with an equalizer in short order – only to have it called back on a successful offside challenge by New York.
That seemed to drain the Leafs of their momentum, which is at a premium on the second night of a back-to-back. The rest of their game was fraught with poor puck management, anemic defending and giving up too many odd-man rushes to rely on backup goaltender Garret Sparks to be able to stop.
Casey Cizikas added a shorthanded goal five-hole on Sparks with eight seconds remaining in the Leafs’ second period power play to make it 3-1, followed shortly by Valtteri Filppula’s goal to make it 4-1. Nick Leddy and Brock Nelson then scored in the third to drown the Leafs and end their three-game win streak.
When Tavares left the Islanders for the Leafs, he was saying goodbye to a more veteran group in favour of a younger dressing room, and big stages can still seem to intimidate Toronto. Thursday gave them a taste of what raucous, hostile postseason environments feel like, and the result didn’t suggest Toronto is quite ready to succeed in that domain.
“It’s a good learning experience,” said Hyman. “This is what playoff hockey is like, it’s loud, fans are in your face, it’s passionate, it’s exciting. We were embarrassed tonight, but we’ll learn from it.”
As for Tavares, he said he wasn’t looking for closure on his Islanders’ chapter, and didn’t feel much different now that the game has come and gone.
“I’m just trying to play hockey,” he insisted. “For everyone else, I can’t speak for them. I made my decision, I move forward.”
What might be tougher to swallow is the way Tavares’ teammates failed to show up and defend his honour against an onslaught of insults, but the fact Islanders fans still care enough to harass Tavares says a lot about his impact on the franchise.
“You must be a real special player and real special person for them to honour you like that, because they only boo you if you’re important,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said.
“Obviously, he made an impression on the fan base,” added Patrick Marleau. “If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t do anything. Knowing John and knowing all the hard work he puts in day in and day out, you can’t take that away from him.”