Damien Cox: Maple Leafs have a new goal song. Now they need a reason to play it - Toronto Star

Toronto has six goals in three home games, not enough to carry the team while coach Jim Hiller works on the team's defence.

Top draft pick Gavin McKenna has had a quiet start to his NHL career, with no points and three shots in three games.

Damien Cox is a former Star sports reporter who is a current freelance contributing columnist based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @DamoSpin.

To get through this attempted transition from last season’s boring, awful Maple Leafs to a more entertaining, resilient and successful squad this year, Jim Hiller’s club is going to have to hear a lot more from H.P. Baxxter.

Well, if you’re not as groovy as your garden variety sportswriter covering the beginning of his 37th NHL season, the aforementioned Herr Baxxter (that’s his stage name) is the frontman for the German techno group Scooter.

Scooter, it would seem, is the group that authored the Leafs’ new goal song, “Maria (I Like it Loud),” as chosen by the players. Whether it’s catchy or creative or just makes you celebrate like Hall and Oates used to isn’t the point. The point is that in three straight home games to start the 2026-27 season those players and Leaf fans have only heard the tune in celebration six times.

That’s just not going to be enough offence to get these Leafs smoothly through the early part of this season while Hiller tries to coach, cajole and convince this group to play a whole lot better team defence than the horror show delivered last season under Craig Berube.

Still open for debate is whether this roster, as currently constituted, has the requisite personnel to be better in that aspect of the game. But while that sorts itself out — and my goodness it was not looking very positive in the third period Saturday in a 3-2 loss to Ottawa when the Leafs were being outshot 14-1 at one point — this team is going to have to score a lot more goals.

Of the six red lamps lit by Toronto so far, four have been scored at even strength and two on the power play. That means the Leafs haven’t been particularly dangerous in either situation, although the extra strength unit looked scary good at times on Saturday only to be thwarted repeatedly by Senators goalie Linus Ullmark.

In Ottawa’s first game of the post-Brady Tkachuk era, and with speedy defenceman Jake Sanderson lost to injury in the first period, the Senators looked more cohesive and hungrier than the Leafs. What does that mean? Not much. With all NHL teams have gone through a truncated training camp compared to previous years, there’s been a lot of strange stuff going on.

That said, the Leafs have made wholesale changes since last year to every part of their roster, from goaltending to defence to the top-six and bottom-six forwards, and that doesn’t include a brand new coaching staff and new general manager. They’re one of a handful of teams that made so many changes in the off-season that a shortened training camp made it challenging to get their act together for the opening 10 games.

Heck, the Leafs were still making moves on the eve of their season opener, bringing in Kirill Marchenko and saying goodbye to Matthew Knies. While all of this settles, a few goals to create some breathing room sure would be nice for Hiller and his staff.

So far, however, Auston Matthews has been quiet, with one goal off a deflection, and John Tavares has been silent. William Nylander scored twice in the season opener but nothing since. Marchenko got a pretty one for his first on Saturday off a feed from expensive free-agent defenceman Darren Raddysh, who is still looking for his first goal after netting 22 for Tampa Bay last year.

Easton Cowan has looked good playing with Nick Paul and Colton Sissons and has a goal. The NHL’s No. 1 pick, Gavin McKenna has no points, three shots and is a minus-3. He has been very quiet for the most part as he begins to sort out this new level of hockey at the tender age of 18.

Is he ready? Not clear yet, and it won’t be for at least another 25 games. Hiller has moved him around in the three games so far, giving him an average of 14 1/2 minutes per game and trying him in a variety of situations.

On the ice with all the big boys with just under two minutes left on Saturday and Sergei Bobrovsky out of the net for an extra attacker, McKenna wound up in his own zone and tried to beat three Ottawa players by himself. Predictably, he turned the puck over and the Leafs didn’t get good possession again or another shot on Ullmark.

While McKenna works through these early days, the highly paid veterans need to carry the load. After Tuesday’s home game against Nashville, the Leafs head out on the road for starts in Las Vegas, Denver and Salt Lake City. A 1-2 start suddenly makes the schedule look more worrisome.

One suspects the saner elements of Leaf Nation realize this group may take a while to jell, but the Atlantic Division isn’t going to be so understanding. Detroit is in a bit of a mess with Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson both wanting out, but otherwise the Atlantic looks tougher this season than last.

No time like the present, gentlemen in white and blue.

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Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details

Damien Cox is a former Star sports reporter who is a current freelance contributing columnist based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @DamoSpin.