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Veteran defenseman Ron Hainsey addressed the media on 2018 locker clean out day, reflecting on his first season in Toronto.


You went on a long run last year in the playoffs. How tough is it, especially with the way the team was able to come back in the series, to be cleaning out your locker?

Hainsey: Disappointing, without question, because you feel like you had a team good enough to continue playing. The series obviously had a lot of twists and turns for us, with a very bad start and then getting back into it and getting to Game 7 – which isn’t a bad spot in the road, and having the lead, and falling short late in the game. It’s just more overall disappointment because we have a group here that we think is capable of still being in there, but we lost. That’s never a good feeling.

You played with some really good players on some really good teams in this league. Talk about what you see in this team… it’s still early in the building process with the top two stars 20-year-old players. What do you see in this team?

Hainsey: I mean, the foundation here for the team having an opportunity for success every year is in place for a while. Things happen – salary cap, players come and go, every year there is turnover – but the foundation that is here with the young players and their ability to score goals and their offensive creativity, and the guys on the backend who can move the puck… this team is set up, hopefully, for the next ten years to have a chance every season. That is really what you’re after in this league. There are no guarantees. You’ve got to go out there and do it. Different things happen, but it’s an organization that is in great shape going forward.

Is what you see here compare to what you saw in Pittsburgh and that organization?

Hainsey: Yeah, I mean… I was in Pittsburgh for a short time. It’s a little different when you join them at the deadline. But the amount of talent and ability to score goals, the ability for the team to have a chance every year, is similar.

Apart from personnel, is there one area where you think the club needs to improve next year in order to take another step? What would that area be?

Hainsey: I mean, you can’t pick one. Every game is different. The first two games of the series, the penalty kill didn’t get the job done right. Later in the series, it might be something else. You’ve just got to roll your sleeves up every day and get back to work and improve in all areas. It wouldn’t be fair to pick one thing.

What’s the offseason looking like for you?

Hainsey: You don’t want to hear about it. Chauffeur.

The coach clearly had a lot of confidence in you with the minutes you got in the situations you played in. Can you just talk a little about what that does for a player to have that kind of confidence from a coach?

Hainsey: You always want to be out there. I think I’m a big believer that when players have roles on teams, it’s something to focus on and it gets them more engaged. When you’re rolling over the boards, you keep going out there trying to do the best you can. It’s always fun playing.