The message in the respective dressing rooms of the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs from their head coaches will be simple and similar: Enjoy the moment.
How Bruce Cassidy and Mike Babcock deliver those messages, however, probably will be quite different.
The two coaches obviously share one obvious thing in common: Both have been very successful in their respective stops and are meeting in Game 7 of the first round in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second time in as many years.
But that’s about where the similarities seem to end for the two coaches who grew up on opposite sides of Ontario and might as well have grown up on opposite sides of the hockey globe.
Babcock is seen as the ultimate tactician. He’s stoic and fairly reserved. He always seems to be taking in what’s around him, pondering it and then using whatever he just picked up on to influence his decision. Cassidy, meanwhile, tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve and is quick with a quip as a refreshingly honest sports coach in a world filled with canned soundbites. Yet, in their respective morning press conferences ahead of Tuesday’s game, both said they’ll stress for their players to enjoy the moment.
“Once they get on the ice, I believe the leadership group will have our guys in a good place, so I don’t want to over-message other than, listen, you’ve got to enjoy the moment, and you’ve got to play,” Cassidy said. “If you make a mistake, you’ve got to put it behind you, and you’ve got to keep playing, and you have to have more will than the guy across from you pretty much is the message we give them.”
Babcock, meanwhile, was a little more, uh, out there.
“This is what — when you play road hockey, if you’re (Mitch) Marner, when you’re 7 or 8 and you’re playing road hockey, which guy were you? You were whoever scored the overtime winner the night before, that’s who you were. Be that guy again,” Babcock said. “But, enjoy what you’re doing. The feeling of anxiety and the feeling of a little tightness, that’s what you’re supposed to feel.
“It helps you react better, it helps you be quicker, it means you’re alive. Don’t we all want to be alive?”
Damn right we all want to be alive, and there’s no better way to do so than a Game 7. Let’s just all agree to enjoy it, shall we?
NESN’s coverage of Bruins-Leafs Game 7 begins at 6 p.m. ET with “Bruins Face-Off Live.” The puck drops at 7 p.m. ET.
