Morgan Rielly on Unplugging from Screens, Changes with Maple Leafs, Supporting Pride and Taylor Swift
Morgan Rielly teamed up with the ‘Unsubscribe for Sports’ campaign to help people be more active get away from their screens.
When Morgan Rielly was approached by Kellogg’s to take part in the Vector unsubscribe for sports campaign, he jumped at the opportunity.
“I was definitely spending a lot of time on the phone and on the road you find yourself watching a lot of tv shows,” he explained. “To be outside with your friends is when I’m happiest.”
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Since his season ended back in May, Rielly has done a little more to get away from the screens. Some of that included fishing and golfing. When he wasn’t taking part in those activities, he was taking little trips. Rielly and his fiancée — Tessa Virtue — checked out Taylor Swift in Chicago.
“It was kind of a late birthday thing for Tess,” he told The Hockey News. “We both like her music. Prior to Chicago, she was playing in New York, but I thought it would be cool to go to Chicago, a bit of a different city with the venue downtown.”
Of course, much of Rielly’s time away from screens is spent during the offseason in the gym or on the ice at Ford Performance Centre where the defenseman is preparing for the upcoming season. Days after his team was eliminated in the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Rielly went through his regular process of dissecting the year.
While the regular season didn’t go the way he had anticipated, especially with a knee injury that kept him out of the lineup for an extended period of time last fall, Rielly came to form in the playoffs alongside pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Luke Schenn.
Toronto’s longest-serving player, Rielly scored four goals and added eight assists in 11 playoff games.
“I’m happy with that for sure, but ultimately it’s about results,” he said.
No more than a week after the season ended, the Maple Leafs dismissed Kyle Dubas from the general manager position and replaced him with Brad Treliving.
“He’s been there every day,” Rielly said of Treliving. “Our conversations have been good, but we haven’t spent too much time since he’s got a lot on his plate.”
In his introductory news conference on May 31, Treliving identified meeting with Auston Matthews as a top priority. Both Matthews and William Nylander can sign a contract extension as soon as July 1. A no-move clause kicks in on Mitch Marner's contract on the same date.
Combine that with 10 pending unrestricted free agents, there is the possibility that the Leafs could go through more turnover than Rielly has seen on this team in quite some time.
“It just becomes normal. you hope your buddies come back and the players you believe in come back,” Rielly said. “I have a belief in our group and our teammates. I’ve known Auston, Willy and Mitch longer than I’ve known anyone else in that group. I’ve become close with them and I believe in them.”
On Thursday, the NHL announced that they would no longer allow teams to wear different warmup jerseys before games. Commissioner Gary Bettman called it a “distraction” in an interview with Sportsnet as part of the reason. Some of that stems from players like Ivan Provorov, James Riemer Eric and Marc Staal refusing to wear the Pride jerseys and opting to not take part in warmups as a result.
Rielly, who has become a vocal supporter of the Pride community and has taken part in the Toronto Pride Parade said that won’t change how the Leafs support their fans.
Whether we wear the jerseys or not, in terms of our beliefs, we’re going to continue to support those communities that needed it,” he said. “That’s always our take. With the Pride community meaning so much to me I will continue to support that group.”
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