FACEOFF: Inside the NHL

And you thrive under pressure, right?

I try to.

Hockey players are the toughest.

They're warriors.

Oh, my goodness. They're going at it.

The game's faster than ever.

It's younger than ever.

And they embrace this lifestyle that they get to live.

-Dinner's on me if you want it. -

But all the best players, they want more.

They care about one thing.

Winning.

It's our fucking moment, boys!

Thirty-two teams start the season, 16 make playoffs.

Best of seven, four rounds, 16 wins, and then you get to hoist Lord Stanley.

There's always that pressure. It's the hardest trophy in sports to win.

I always said, if I won, I was gonna get the Stanley Cup tattoo, so...

You'd be hard-pressed to find a tougher league.

The league is very fortunate right now

to have kind of an embarrassment of riches of how many good players there are.

But I know when I'm at my best, it's a tough level to match.

Maybe outside there's not as much pressure,

but when you get in between the walls of our locker room,

we have more pressure on ourselves than anybody.

That's not fucking good enough!

It's the fucking finals!

Dig the fuck in!

Right fucking now!

Hockey players are a different breed,

what they put themselves through physically and mentally.

I want to treat every game as if it was my last,

because you really don't know what the hell could happen.

In terms of identity, you've only ever really had one job.

If that's taken away from me, then who am I?

Success is measured in rings and Cups ,

and a lot of guys don't end up at the end.

I've been in finals, been in the wrong side.

I was heartbroken. Just come with a hunger and wanting more.

Yeah!

You're going into war. You want to just put it all out there.

That's what the glory is for the Stanley Cup.

Whoo-hoo! Let's go!

Being a superstar,

with the weight of the world on the shoulders,

they need to slay the dragon.

When I first got drafted, I had no clue how big Toronto was.

So I didn't know the extent of how big the Leafs Nation was...

Just go for a walk this morning with the dogs.

There's a guy driving by, yells my name and stops, wants to come take a picture.

Everybody cares. They know the scores. They know what happened.

Hello, how are you doing?

How's it going?

It's just a part of everyday life.

If you go to a different team,

you've probably experienced what other guys experience.

But this is our normal for us.

I can't believe I forgot the leashes.

He never brings them anywhere, I don't know what he's talking about.

This is all we know.

This makes it extra special, and more pressure.

Hockey's a religion in Toronto,

and people bleed blue.

But it's this built-up emotion because they want to win so bad.

At some point it's about to pop.

Toronto is the pressure cooker that it is for two reasons.

The fans are absolute die-hards.

The fans believe they can win every year.

And we have the superstar core four in Toronto.

Auston Matthews.

And Auston Matthews, the 60-goal club!

First Leaf ever.

Marner.

Into the middle. Centers. Scores!

That was vintage Marner.

Tavares.

The captain has the icebreaker tonight.

Nylander.

Nylander... for the win... scores!

Let's go!

88 down at the gates!

They are generational talents,

and the heart of that team and that franchise.

Every single thing they do is heavily reported on,

scrutinized depending on how things go.

Mix that with the fact

that the team hasn't seen a Stanley Cup in 57 years,

and you can understand why the fan base

is overly sensitive to what they see on the ice.

The Leafs, the past few years,

they have an incredible regular season.

The Leafs have won their seventh straight.

And then they lose in the playoffs year over year.

Déjà blue again.

Ultimately, all the fans care about

is an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup.

Most people look to William Nylander to bring them to the promised land.

William Nylander!

He's always so calm, cool and composed

in these high-intensity situations.

Scores!

He's the total package.

This year, the pressure is different

because William Nylander signed

the largest contract in Toronto Maple Leafs history.

Congratulations are in order here.

Willy's committed to us for eight more years.

Eight more! Where are you buying me dinner?

With the money,

the spotlight, especially in Toronto, comes endless pressure.

Eight years, $92 million contract.

This better be him now.

Because if it goes down a level after this,

I'm telling you the way this is gonna go amongst Leafs Nation.

The stakes are as high as ever for William Nylander.

How do you prove to everyone that you're worth it?

How do you prove you're the guy who can erase the history of losing?

Let's go! Gotta fucking execute!

Let's go!

We'll see.

From a young age,

my mindset was just like, "I'm gonna do what my dad did."

Work really hard, and I'm gonna play in the NHL.

It was right there, so the dream didn't feel so, like, crazy.

Nylander... scores!

My dad, he played on six, seven teams,

so, like, he could be traded in the middle of the school year.

So for me, like, to just, you know, pack up and go somewhere else,

that was kind of like normal.

How many goals have you scored this year?

You're not supposed to ask that question.

This place is the only place that's been home for me.

Like, I've never spent so much time in one place in my entire life.

Which is pretty crazy.

Hello.

You guys having fun?

Saw you guys scoring some goals.

Yeah?

Hello. Hello. Hello. How you doing?

Shooting was my favorite when I was a kid.

Yeah, if you guys are having fun, that's the best.

That's the most important.

You're very welcome to skate with them.

Do you want me... Do you want... Should I go on the ice with them or what?

It's up to you, man.

I actually have some in the car.

- Yeah! -Yeah?

Are we allowed slashing?

What do we play to? First to three?

Okay, and how can you score? Just score the net?

- Yeah. - Okay.

Ah!

Ah!

I can't say that I've been to, like, Real Madrid or Barcelona

or any Premier League games.

But, I mean, how invested people are in those teams,

and how much they care, that's how it is here.

People really care.

If I lose, I'm upset. I'm pissed.

They're the same way. They didn't even play.

No way!

Outside factors are great that it's there and so many people care,

but I have my own pressure, I have my goals.

I know what I want to accomplish.

We both want the same thing.

Oh, one versus one!

What you gonna do?

Whoa!

I came in here when I was 18 years old.

It has taught me a lot. I mean, I've become a man in Toronto.

It's made me who I am.

To have that, you're battling even harder than when you were before.

We need to see some fish and see some penguins.

If you're lucky, there's gonna be seals.

Yeah.

This is my ten year here.

I've been living in the same neighborhood since I got here, so...

Freya, should we wait a little bit?

A lot of people, like, are so used to seeing me,

and it's a great neighborhood.

Very European, actually.

So it makes it even more special to feel more like home.

Thank you. Enjoy your stay in Boston.

I grew up in Czech Republic, in a small city called Havířov.

I got here when I was 18.

Look!

It became our home, and I'm raising my family here.

Little stinky penguins, huh? Are they stinky?

And, you know, I couldn't be happier.

Let's go to the seals? Okay, boss.

Cleared it, but not out. Bobby Orr behind the net to Sanderson.

Orr! Bobby Orr!

The Bruins, in their own right,

are an extremely storied franchise.

To wear that iconic "B" on your chest comes with a lot of history and tradition,

in a very proud and very blue-collar hockey town.

There's nobody better to represent this team than David Pastrnak.

He's a 60-goal superstar.

Down in front, Pastrnak between the legs!

And he scores! My goodness!