During the Maple Leafs’ off-ice workout day at the Blue Jays’ facilities, Jim Hiller discussed the change of scenery, what he’s seeing on video during the losing streak, and the status of his injured players.
What are you hoping a day like today could do for the group?
Hiller: I hope it gives us some energy and just gets us away from our regular routine a little bit, which hasn’t given us the best results. It’s a great day, and it’s beautiful down there. We’re thankful to the Blue Jays for bringing us in here. For me, I’ve never been in the building outside of watching it. I know a few people have been here for batting practice and stuff. It’s just incredible what they’ve done.
What’s your message to the team today?
Hiller: I’ll keep that private, but we had a really good meeting, and let’s see. Let’s get ready for tomorrow and play. I’ve said it more than once: We have to own where we’re at and what’s gone on. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t be the best version of ourselves tomorrow.
How did it go today? Was the idea to forget about it for a bit and go have fun?
Hiller: No, I don’t think that’s it. We have to talk about — and we did address — how we played and where we’re at. But then, for the rest of the day, they’re going to have a workout. They’re still going to do the things they would do normally to get ready for tomorrow’s game. We’re just doing it in a different venue.
What stands out about the facilities here?
Hiller: Just how beautiful they are. The players certainly have everything they need and more down there. First class. Detailed. There are just so many things. It’s all woven together really nicely with the right culture in mind. I think that’s a big thing that I’m taking from this: the culture they’ve set. They’ve designed this thing around the culture.
You were in enemy territory at the time, but what do you remember about the World Series?
Hiller: I remember thinking that the extra-inning game — was Game 7? I should know that better, but the one that went so long — some of our staff were at the game, and they stayed the whole time. I said, “Man, didn’t that get long?” He said it was the greatest thing he’s ever seen. I went to sleep, but he said he was on the edge of his seat the whole time because one pitch changes the whole thing. I thought maybe during all that time it might go slow, but no, not at all. Game 7. One pitch and the game is over. He said it was just incredible.
Why was today an off-ice day for you guys?
Hiller: For different reasons, we felt we needed to break it up. Today was never a scheduled practice day anyway. It gets long. You get your practices in, you play, and we’ve got to have good energy for tomorrow. We didn’t think a practice would give us that today.
After watching the tape from the loss to Minnesota, have you seen progress from game to game, or are there things that are persisting?
Hiller: It’s hard, and I guess you probably don’t want to hear… If I just talk about Colorado, we went out and beat Colorado, and everything was wonderful. We played such a better game at home against Colorado than we did out in Colorado, but we just didn’t get the results.
We’re seeing lots of good. We are seeing the same things you guys are seeing as far as the things that aren’t good and the things that are costing us. But we remain positive. We see progress, and we’ll keep going.
What’s the challenge in addressing the mistakes that are costing you in games?
Hiller: There always are going to be mistakes in the game. There always are going to be. When you make one mistake, you hope that there’s a second player there to clean up the mistake. And if there isn’t, you don’t want to compound it and make it worse.
In some of these cases, we’ve made two or three in a row, and that ends up in the back of your net. There always will be some. We need to do a better job of cleaning up the first one rather than compounding it.
Did you get a chance to get into the batting cage?
Hiller: Not me. You don’t want to see that. I’ll be the expert from the outside. But we do have some American players, and typically those guys have had a little more history in the game growing up. I’m looking forward to seeing some of those guys.
The manager usually puts the uniform on in baseball. Some of your guys are wearing Jays gear. Will you throw it on?
Hiller: Yeah, I’ll get there. I’d love to, but guess what? We’ve been in there, as you can imagine, watching video and talking and doing what we do. We haven’t had a chance to get casual here yet today.
Any updates on your injured players? You must be keen on getting Morgan Rielly and Kirill Marchenko back.
Hiller: No updates there, outside of — and I mentioned it yesterday — Tanev will play tomorrow.
Do you expect Marchenko to return to skating soon?
Hiller: I do, yeah. You know the process. Not with the team necessarily, but just get out and start moving. Yes, I think that’s coming up pretty good.
Do you go back to Sergei Bobrovsky tomorrow?
Hiller: We haven’t decided yet.
