Professional hockey players are no different than many of us – specifically, in that many of them love music. And the Toronto Maple Leafs have a wide-ranging love of popular songs and varieties of music they enjoy in the dressing room and when they’re away from the rink.
For some Maple Leafs, music is a motivator, a tool to get them jacked up before games and practices. For other Leafs, music is an escape, providing them a positive distraction from the constant pressure they feel to perform during high-stakes games. And if you ask around, you’ll find Toronto’s players appreciate all different brands of music.
To wit: new Leafs center Scott Laughton ran the music in the Philadelphia Flyers’ dressing room for about eight years. Since Toronto acquired him at the NHL trade deadline, Laughton has felt comfortable enough to slide in the odd playlist in the Leafs’ room, but he ultimately defers to Leafs veterans who normally dictate what tunes are played.
Superstar right winger Mitch Marner is one such veteran who runs the music in Toronto's room, as are star wingers William Nylander and Max Domi. And before he was sent to the American League, winger Ryan Reaves also helped decide what songs were played in the Leafs’ room. But away from the arena, Leafs players are like any other music-lover – they’re live-music aficionados as well.
“Live music is kind of my little escape,” Laughton told THN.com Friday, adding that he and his father were at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena for iconic Canadian band The Tragically Hip’s second–to-last live show in 2016. “I love ‘The Hip’ in the morning before a game – or pretty much anytime.”
To be sure, there are vastly different tastes in music in the Leafs’ room. Laughton also counts himself as a big indie-rock fan, pointing out The Lumineers as a band he’s especially fond of, as well as late all-time great rocker Tom Petty.
In addition, electronic dance music (EDM) is a genre many Leafs players are into. Young Buds right-winger Nick Robertson listens to worship music before games, and like winger Steven Lorentz, Robertson is a country music fan.
For his part, Nylander says he’s into popular stars including Drake, The Weekend, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar. And Lorentz is a huge fan of classic 80s rock. There’s a vast scope of artists and genres Leafs players are into, and they use music for different reasons.
“It fires me up, for sure,” Lorentz said. “If I hear a certain song, it brings me back to a memory of a season or something good that happened. So I incorporate (music) for sure.”
“It just depends on the mood,” Nylander added when asked if music was an escape or a motivator. “I think maybe it gets you more focused.”
The Leafs player who probably has the biggest engagement with music is goaltender Joseph Woll, who plays piano and who recently went on stage at Scotiabank Arena along with Marner to sing one of Norwegian music producer Kygo’s songs. Woll gifted Kygo one of his goalie masks at the concert, and Woll and Marner’s on-stage performance with Kygo was shown to the entire Leafs team the next day.
But Woll – a deep-thinker and renaissance man – sees the good in music in many regards.
“I think I have a good appreciation for all different types of music,” Woll said. “Before games, I listen to more electronic-esque types of music. And I like Linkin Park and that kind of rock vibe. Music serves more as an escape in my life, like outside the rink. But when I’m at the rink, it serves as a good motivator, too.”
Performing on the piano gives Woll a different type of joy than patrolling the pipes for the Leafs. He finds the release that comes with jamming a welcome change from the pressures of being a top NHL netminder. And he’s very thankful to have a change from the competitive challenges he faces on the ice.
“Music, I find, is very different from hockey,” Woll said. “It’s a nice counter-weight I find to hockey. And everything that hockey takes out of me, it feels like music does the opposite. So it’s something that gives me a lot of energy in my life.”
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.