TORONTO – Win it for Roman.
As far as rallying cries go, this might not be what you expect to hear from the Toronto Maple Leafs. But there was no doubting Roman Polak’s incredible popularity among his teammates after he came in Monday morning to speak with them before facing the Washington Capitals in Game 3.
"He’s one of the best team guys we have," said defenceman Morgan Rielly. "To lose him at this time of year is tough, for sure. But you just want to be there for him. I mean he’s been there for us all year, he’s going to continue to be there for us, he was here this morning around the guys.
"It sucks."
Polak suffered a serious injury to his right leg and/or ankle on Saturday night in Washington. Surgery is required and it will end his season.
The injury happened on a freak play: The veteran’s leg and ankle got twisted under him while he fell to the ice after taking a hit from Capitals defenceman Brooks Orpik in the second period. He needed assistance to be helped off the ice.
"A guy as tough as him, when you see him on the ice, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him stay down," said Orpik, who sent Polak a text wishing him luck with the recovery. "When you see him stay down, especially that close to the bench, you know there’s something probably not right."
Added Rielly: "You feel for the guy. It’s a tough injury. I watched the replay, it’s not pretty."
Nikita Zaitsev has recovered from a concussion and will replace Polak in the lineup for Game 3, but his absence may be felt over the long term. He is a physically intimidating defender who went to the Stanley Cup final with San Jose last spring.
The 30-year-old is also one of the few players capable of growing a playoff beard on a young team.
"You never want to see somebody go down like that," said rookie centre Auston Matthews. "Roman’s a pretty important part of this team, not only on the ice but off. He’s obviously had a lot of experience, especially in these situations.
"You definitely hope for the best as far as recovery and surgery goes."
Teammates knew it was bad when he couldn’t stand up using his own strength. This is a guy who famously took a shot to the face in January of 2015 and returned to the same game without a visor after receiving 15 stitches on the outside of his cheek and seven more inside.
"I think we play similar styles," said Orpik. "It sucks missing games at any point in the season, but you play 82 games to set yourself up to play in the playoffs – and you don’t always make the playoffs, either – so these are the games that you really look forward to.
"I missed a few (playoff games) last year with a concussion and you feel like you’re letting some people down no matter if it’s in your control or not."
Polak left Verizon Center in a wheelchair after Game 2 and texted with some teammates on Sunday. He then paid them a visit at Air Canada Centre on Monday morning to offer an encouraging word.
He was said to be fairly upbeat even though usual defence partner Matt Hunwick acknowledged: "I know he’s pretty devastated."
Asked what will be missed without his presence in these games, Hunwick replied: "Just his stability."
"You know what you’re going to get every night out of him," he said. "Especially come playoff time, his shot-blocking, his physical play, it’s perfect come playoff time. It’s hard to replace those guys.
"He’ll be around. He’ll support us and we’ll definitely be thinking of him."
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