Tanks for nothing: Leafs not laying down, Pelley insists

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On one hand, Keith Pelley put a premium on protecting future draft picks.

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On the other, he wanted no part of any attempt to undermine his own players on game nights by endorsing a planned “tank” of remaining games that could help the Maple Leafs retain a traded draft pick.

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“I’m almost offended by the question,” Pelley said Tuesday, a day after his club’s emotional effort in a 5-4 overtime win against the Ducks in Anaheim. “There is zero chance – zero – the Toronto Maple Leafs will tank. I don’t believe in it, ownership doesn’t.

“It changes the integrity of sports, the integrity of the Leafs. If fans are angry, I get that, but we will not tank.”

His club has seven regular-season games remaining. Much to the dismay of some, the Maple Leafs have won three of their past four games to halt a slide into the bottom five of the NHL standings, where their first-round pick would not revert to the Boston Bruins. In 2015-16, there was some subtle roster twists in the final games that kept the last-place Leafs’ draft lottery chances high.

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This dressing room, tired of hearing that it didn’t respond to a season-ending hit on captain Auston Matthews, has gone overboard at times in the ensuing nine games to correct that, when not getting big games out of AHL call-ups and others playing for jobs next season.

Goaltenders Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz, badly out-shot most nights, are also inspiring teammates with their play. Too little, too late, but the pride is evident.

The Leafs’ California road trip continues Thursday in San Jose and Saturday in Los Angeles. They are ahead of Florida and the New York Rangers in the East and a batch of clubs in the West, though many hold games in hand on Toronto.

During a media session on Tuesday to explain the firing of general manager Brad Treliving just hours before the Leafs faced the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, Pelley said coach Craig Berube would remain in place until the end of the schedule, while assistant GMs Brandon Pridham and Ryan Hardy would assume Treliving’s day-to-day responsibilities.

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Pelley admitted that he has heard from a lot of disgruntled fans of late, though he said he welcomed their candour. He disputed nightly attendance figures that indicate at least a few hundred are not taking available seats at Scotiabank Arena, or that rising ticket prices through the years without a long playoff run, or any games at all this spring, are a dire warning for the company.

“(Ticket) renewals are strong, we went in with only a small increase, less than inflationary compared to the year before. We are trying to understand the secondary market from the government last week (Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s threat to cap resale prices).

“But Leaf fans deserve a better product and we’re working every way we possibly can to do that.”

Lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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