Toronto Maple Leafs defence hurting with Jake McCabe out

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Not every hockey player can dust off taking a hot puck off the side of the head.

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While Jake McCabe at first seemed OK when unexpectedly getting a high hard one in front of Joseph Woll in Tampa on Saturday, he was not a Monday’s morning skate against Chicago.

“A little precautionary,” is the way coach Craig Berube described the Leafs treatment of McCabe. “Just with the circumstances of it all (McCabe was down for a few moments and missed the third period), it’s the best thing to do for the player. You have to be careful.”

Berube labelled McCabe the ever-vague “day-to-day”.

Woll had said he felt ill watching McCabe go down, while more than one teammate referred to McCabe as a warrior with the injury coming in his 600th regular season National Hockey League game.

The arrival of Chris Tanev and Steven Lorentz on the team has generated more Leafs in the shooting lanes for blocks and despite the dangers, taking one for the team has become contagious. Toronto ranked 13th in blocks with 392 before facing the Blackhawks, but had played fewer games than most of the teams ahead of them.

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“(McCabe’s loss creates) a hole, but guys have come in and filled before (up to eight forwards in recent weeks) and that’s what I want to see,” Berube said.

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FINN AND OUT

What the heck is up with Jani Hakanpaa?

With a knee injury shrouded in mystery before the season started, the free-agent defenceman was not a full camp participant and got into only a couple of games in mid-November.

When a fired-up Simon Benoit came back to claim his job, Hakanapaa continued to practise and was told by Berube to be patient as the team was winning and the Benoit-Conor Timmins tandem was working well.

But on Monday morning, the Leafs moved Hakanpaa, the 6-foot-7 Finn, to injured reserve, retroactive to Nov. 16.

Berube said it was to manage knee discomfort, while the designation allows Toronto roster flexibility the next few days as Max Domi appears close to returning this week.

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Hakanpaa, because of time elapsed since the 16th, can be re-activated quickly.

With McCabe out, Philippe Myers saw his first game action since Oct. 26 in Boston. The 6-foot-5 New Brunswicker with 159 games of NHL experience on four teams was getting antsy to return.

“You don’t want to see anyone get hurt, but this chance means a lot to me,” said Myers, who did have a brief conditioning stint with the Marlies. “I’ve been patient, trying to be a good teammate, hyping up the boys because they’ve been playing very well (8-3-1 in November).

“I’ve kind of experienced (long stretches in the press box) before and had a good mindset for it this year. I work on a lot of things after practice trying to make it game situation-like as possible.”

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Marshall Rifai was called up from the Marlies as an extra defenceman on Monday.

STAND ON GUARD FOR ‘T’

Canadian defence at the 4 Nations Face-off will have lots of offensive pop with Cale Makar and perhaps Shea Theodore, but if they’re looking for people to get in the way of bodies and pucks, management might consider Tanev.

“No doubt,” said Leafs centre John Tavares. “To build a team (for that event) you have to have a lot of elements, different types of players, skill sets unique at a high level. Defending and checking is a big part of that and hockey IQ, being cerebral and understanding the game.

“Tanny should get more credit for all that he does, but even offensively, his decision making — when to get pucks to the net, when to set up in good spots and set up forwards — he should be highly considered for Team Canada.”

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To wear two Maple Leafs in the same season would put the East York native over the moon when the balance of the rosters for Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden are revealed on Wednesday night.

“Growing up in Canada, that’s what you dream of, to represent your country,” Tanev said when the subject was raised.
He has played in the world championships before, with current teammate Morgan Rielly.

“But that’s something I don’t need to be worried about,” Tanev said. “I’m here to play hockey for the Leafs.”

LOOSE LEAFS

Domi and Max Pacioretty, both on IR with lower body injuries, were full participants at Monday’s skate, but Berube said Domi will be back first. “He skated well today, he’ll push it more tomorrow and we’ll see where he’s at,” Berube said … Monday was the final game of Ryan Reaves’ five-game suspension, made worse for the 37-year-old by the long stretch of off-days in Toronto’s schedule since Nov. 16 … Organist Jimmy Holmstrom was ill and missed his first game in 37 years at Scotiabank and the Gardens … London Knights’ Easton Cowan, Toronto’s first pick in 2023, was named to Canada’s world junior camp on Monday, as was this year’s 151st overall selection, Miroslav Holinka, for Cechia … Monday pitted two coaches who were former Leafs against each other, Berube and Chicago’s Luke Richardson. They missed playing with each other by a year in the early 1990s … There were scoreboard shoutouts to the returning Tyler Bertuzzi and TJ Brodie on the Hawks, while Ilya MIkheyev was back in town, too.

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