Ilya Samsonov doesn’t mind facing hard-rubber rockets aimed at his head or having giant forwards crash his crease.
But being in the maternity ward had him a bit squeamish last week.
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Attending the birth of his first child, a son he and wife Maria named Miroslav, the goalie was an excited participant, until asked if he’d like to be in the delivery room at the big moment or cut the umbilical cord.
“The doctor (whom Samsonov was grateful spoke his native Russian) said ‘Do you want to see?,’” he related after Tuesday’s practice. “I said ‘No, just call me later.’”
But the proud papa, who came home early from last week’s road trip to be with Maria, described it as “probably the best week of my life … a lot of emotions. At home it’s unbelievable, I feel perfect. When he comes on my skin, you feel so warmy. He’s so cute.”
But Samsonov has moved to a different part of the house to get some sleep for what could be his start on Wednesday versus Florida.
“Me and my dog,” he laughed. “He’s smart, too.”
HEAR AND NOW
Both head coach Sheldon Keefe and winger Michael Bunting said not to read too much into a TV clip of the coach lecturing the winger on the bench Sunday in Nashville. Bunting had let emotion get the better of him on a previous play and appeared to have tuned Keefe out, staring straight ahead with the coach in his ear.
“We’ve known each other a very long time,” Bunting said, assuring he heard every word. “He’s one of the reasons I came to Toronto. He knows how to coach me and what kind of player I am. We’ll leave it at that.”
Keefe says he gives his players “a lot of leeway, especially those who come right off the ice. For me to expect a player coming right from the heat of a battle to sit on the bench and be a true gentleman when I want to talk to him … I’m putting myself at risk going into that situation.
“He got the message. It’s a non-issue for me.”
The continuing success of Calle Jarnkrok on the first line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and now Alex Kerfoot heating up with John Tavares and William Nylander, leaves Bunting on the physical line with Sam Lafferty and Noel Acciari after much scoring success with Matthews.
HEADS-UP PLAY
Marner’s heads-up noggin pass to Jarnkrok on Sunday was still a hot topic in the Leafs room Tuesday. The puck came high and hard from the Leafs’ zone, Marner alertly turned his helmet to propel it forward from centre for a breakaway. Equally thrilling was the save by Nashville’s Kevin Lankinen.
“I had to take a second look,” Matthews said. “Pretty cool play. Mitch was chuckling when we got back to the bench, asking if we saw it.
“He’s thinking outside the box and it almost worked out. His creativity, his willingness to pull it off is really special.”
NO COMMENT
The list of players potentially affected by Hockey Canada’s decision to bar players from the 2018 world junior team from further international play includes two Leafs defencemen, Conor Timmins and the injured Victor Mete. The governing body says the policy will be in place until the investigation of an alleged sexual assault encompassing some members of the junior team is complete. Both Leafs made previous public denials of any involvement.
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Asked Tuesday to comment on Hockey Canada’s latest move, Timmins said, “not at this time. I put my statement out (last September), that’s all.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Matthews parents, Brian and Ema, are in from Arizona for a few days and watched Tuesday’s practice. “They had to run some errands out this way,” Matthews said. “I haven’t seen my mom in a while, it means a lot. Nice to have a couple of days this week to spend some time with them.” … Defenceman Luke Schenn is still waiting to wear home blue for the first time in 11 years. In his only Scotiabank Arena start since the trade with Vancouver, punctuated by the birth of his third child in Vancouver and two long road trips, he wore St. Patrick’s Day green and he’ll be in black Wednesday as the Leafs opt for their Justin Bieber reversibles. “Every time I turn around I have to break in new gear,” Schenn joked … Owen Robinson, a forward with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, was given a one-day big league practice with the Leafs to fill out the forward lines with Acciari missing. The Orangeville native replaced the injured Acciari.
lhornby@postmedia.com
