Say one thing for Kyle Dubas, he’s serious about the Toronto Maple Leafs’ relationship with the Newfoundland Growlers.
Not only has the Leafs’ general manager traveled to St. John’s on two different occasions to watch the Growlers during these ECHL playoffs, Dubas has his staff busy preparing for the Maple Leafs’ training camp in September.
Running from the 12th to the 18th, with the Leafs-Ottawa Senators NHL exhibition game on Sept. 17, the camp will feature 80 players, coaches, training, equipment and support staff, along with media, arriving on a pair of charter flights in St. John’s.
“I don’t know if there’s any place in Canada where you could go, aside from Toronto, where the Maple Leafs are as important or brings out as much passion than in St. John’s and Newfoundland,” said Dubas, who visited St. John’s often as the GM of the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies.
“It’s a very meaningful thing for us given the relationship we have here. We made an impact in the Halifax and Niagara areas, and we’re excited to do it in St. John’s.”
The Growlers, vying for a Kelly Cup ECHL championship in their first year of operation, have an affiliation with the Leafs.
The Maple Leafs are no strangers to moving their camp outside of Toronto. Twice, Toronto staged camp in Halifax and held their training camp in the Niagara region of Ontario the past two years.
Toronto was scheduled to stage camp in St. John’s back in 2001, but it was cancelled because of the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States.
However, the team did manage to play the Blue-White intrasquad game, and an NHL exhibition between Toronto and the Montreal Canadiens at Mile One Centre.
The Leafs and Senators also played an NHL exhibition at Mile One in 2003.
