Looking around the dressing room, Nova Scotia’s Jacob Quillan watched elite players like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner get ready for the game.
“How they’re in the gym, practising, just doing little things, trying to get better every day,” Quillan said.
“I just tried to take away as much as I could from that and … learn and try to grow as a player,” he said.
Quillan, a 23-year-old forward from Dartmouth, made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs in a February game last season, donning the jersey of the team he cheered for as a kid. It was his only game with the Leafs.
As the new hockey season approaches, Quillan wants a bigger role with the team.
The Nova Scotian has another opportunity to make an impression on Leafs coaches this weekend as he participates in the team’s rookie camp in Montreal.
He said he’s been training hard this summer to make sure he’s ready to make the most of his next opportunity in the NHL, whenever that comes.
“It’s my goal to get there and prove myself,” Quillan said.
Quillan has been proving he belongs with the best ever since he was a kid, one of his minor hockey coaches said.
“I wouldn’t bet against him,” said Marty King, who coached Quillan for many seasons in Dartmouth.
Every year Quillan played for King he was younger than everyone else on the team. He needed permission from the league as an under-ager.
Quillan always worked the hardest at practice and paid attention to detail, his former coach said.
It’s his intelligence, work ethic and ability to play at both ends of the ice that’s helped him succeed in the sport, King said.
“I think people bet against him his whole life and he just defied the odds every year,” King said. “So, I’m not surprised to see that he’s knocking on the door of the NHL.”
Whether it’s with the Leafs or another organization, King said he thinks it’s only a matter of time before Quillan is a full-time NHL player.
Leafs head coach Craig Berube focuses on defence and wants to know who can trust in close games, King said.
If Quillan is given the opportunity to play in those situations, King believes he’ll quickly earn that trust.
“Jacob is that kind of player,” he said.
After five minutes of ice time in his NHL debut, Quillan is hungry to get back on the big stage.
He didn’t waste any time at this weekend’s rookie camp, scoring in Saturday’s exhibition game against the Ottawa Senators.
He said it is his family that keeps him so motivated to play in the NHL.
“They sacrificed a lot,” Quillan said. “I want to do it for them.”
