Wayne Simmonds says he and Leafs captain John Tavares focused on series loss all summer

For Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares, watching his team's first round loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the 2020-21 playoffs probably stung a lot more than it did for the rest of his teammates who were in the fight. Unfortunately, due to a concussion that Tavares suffered in Game 1 of the series, there was nothing he could do but just sit and watch it all unfold.

This summer, rather than doing what some of his teammates did, trying to put it all behind them and forget about the gut-wrenching collapse, choking away a 3-1 series lead, Tavares reportedly invited teammates out to his cottage to discuss the series against the Habs and to try to identify the things that they need to change moving forward.

One of those players was Scarborough native Wayne Simmonds, who had signed a 1-year, $1.5M with the Leafs during free agency in 2020 and spent a great deal of time on the shelf last season with a broken wrist.

Simmonds revealed to the media on Friday that he appreciated the opportunity to hang out with Tavares and bounce their thoughts off of one another in hopes that they can take what they learned from the loss and apply it in the future.

«We had a great dialogue with one another; we kept it real. We got to address what happened head-on, we're not hiding from it. You learn from it»

Say what you will about the Tavares contract or about the play of Simmonds during the second half of the season - but nobody can question their role as leaders in the Leafs locker room.

While there is a long season ahead before we can determine what type of impact these discussions have had come playoff time, perhaps the Buds will be able to right some of the wrongs that they were able to isolate along the way this season.

The Leafs won't have long to wait until they see the Habs again as they will host the Canadiens in preseason action on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, though it's not a foregone conclusion that Tavares or Simmonds will be in the lineup for the Leafs' first preseason game.

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