It’s been an eventful year for Toronto Maple Leafs defender Cody Ceci.
After playing out the first six years and 440 games of his big-league career with the Ottawa Senators, the 26-year-old was traded to the provincial rival Maple Leafs in a six-player deal, saw his first head coach with the new club, Mike Babcock, relieved of his duties a couple months into the season, and has seen the tumult continue to a certain degree under new coach Sheldon Keefe.
Needless to say, it’s been a whirlwind for the Ottawa native.
“It has been a lot to deal with mentally at times — I mean, there’s been so many changes in my life over the past year,” Ceci told Sportsnet 590’s Hockey Central on Friday. The changes haven’t been limited to the coaching staff either, as injuries and a need to spark change in the club’s performance have meant plenty of different blue-line partners for Ceci at different points in the season thus far. Regardless, his focus remains the same.
“The main thing for me is just playing hard every single night,” he said. “Playing hard defence and just trying to help this team win, whatever role they have me in, wherever they have me in the lineup, and whoever I’m playing with. I’ve just got to play as consistent as possible. We’re all striving towards the same goal, and whatever they want out of me, I’m going to do it.”
Achieving that goal hasn’t been easy at times for the Leafs, who are still trying to find the best possible arrangement for their wealth of offensive weapons as the home stretch of the 2019-20 season approaches.
For Ceci’s part, the plethora of offensive options up front doesn’t always make life easy, given the high talent level means more emphasis on trying to pile more goals on the scoreboard at every opportunity — a tough reality for the defensive defender behind them.
“It definitely makes it hard some nights if we’re chasing a game,” Ceci told the Hockey Central crew. “I think sometimes it gets a little out of hand. We forget what we’re really out there trying to do. At times, it does get a little loose and that’s been kind of the main topic of conversation after those games.
“We are trying to win the game first, and it doesn’t always have to be 4-0, 5-0, 5-1. It could be a closer game, and when we’re up in those closer games, maybe [it’s best to] not take as many risks.”
Listen to Ceci’s full interview with Sportsnet 590’s Hockey Central team via the audio player embedded within this post.
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