Sun screened

Leafs all business in California with wins piling up.

ANAHEIM Some might consider it an unwritten rule of the road. A hockey team travels from the chill of Toronto to the fair climes of California, and there’s a time-honoured expectation of an eventual tradeoff.

Work hard enough, win convincingly enough and surely the head coach will eventually reward the weathered travellers with a coveted reward: a day off in the sun. With the palm trees swaying and the Pacific glistening — and with the Maple Leafs having won the opening two legs of this three-game western swing by a combined score of10-3 — there are those who’d consider it a crime against the coach-player covenant not to cancel at least one West Coast practice.

Alas, for the sun-lovers among the Leafs, no.

Toronto’s road-tripping NHLers arrived back in the greater Los Angeles area late Friday night after a 4-1 win up north in San Jose. And although they’d reeled off 13 victories in their past 15 outings, head coach Sheldon Keefe did not amend Saturday’s schedule. The early-afternoon practice slated for Anaheim’s Honda Center went off as planned, glorious midday sunshine be damned.

While Keefe said he and his staff contemplated allowing the team to play hooky, they ultimately decided against it.

“We just felt that, on a trip such as this where the weather is nice and there are some distractions and things, we’d just keep the guys busy and keep working,” Keefe said. “We’ve really just tried to stay in our routine and stay businesslike.”

While gauging teamwide opinion is tricky, there’s anecdotal evidence the Leafs were OK with the decision.

“We’re at work; we didn’t come out here for a vacation,” said Wayne Simmonds, the veteran forward. “We came out here to play hockey. So we don’t expect to get days off and enjoy the sun and all that type of stuff. That’s not what we’re here for.”

Added Morgan Rielly, the longestserving Leaf: “I’m kind of with (Keefe). I think that the most enjoyable thing you can do is win. Days off are fine if you want to go do your own thing. But to win games and have the feeling in the room afterwards, that’s plenty more enjoyable than anything else you’re going to do with your spare time.”

Maybe it’s the giddy buzz of a hot streak. Maybe it’s the humility born from the franchise’s accumulated failure. But the current road swing has revealed an earnestness to this Leafs team that’s undeniable. At a moment when previous assemblages might have predictably luxuriated in their regular-season success — a collective slacking off that would have likely launched a losing streak — so far the Leafs have looked and sounded as unrelenting as their California practice schedule.

“I think maybe we’ve learned from past years where maybe we’ve played a couple of really good games and then we just relax and take our foot off the gas,” William Nylander said.

A nitpicker might point out that the playoffs are still five months away and there’s no trophy for peaking too early, so hey, why not throw the proverbial dogs a November bone? But considering the Leafs experienced a stretch of five losses in six games at the season’s outset that made it look like making the playoffs might be a stretch — well, you can see why they’re highly attuned to the notion that it only takes one stinker to slide into a slump.

“Things are going good, but there’s always that feeling in the back of your mind,” said captain John Tavares. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead. We’ve got a long ways to go here. Can’t get comfortable or feel like things are all in a good place … It’s just continuing that same mindset and attitude every day.”

When the Leafs say “every day,” lately they mean it. Not that these West Coast practices have been exactly torturous. There’s been no bag skating, no punishment disguised as sport. You could make the case it’s as much about getting players out of bed as it is about getting in work, although on Saturday more than one player insisted that the 5 p.m. local start time for Sunday’s game against the Ducks — a scheduling quirk that would rule out a morning skate — meant that Saturday’s practice came with important strategic reminders.

“It’s important we go over some structure stuff,” said Jason Spezza. “We’re here to win games.”

Still, Saturday’s skate lasted all of 22 minutes before the players were set free into the Hollywood afternoon.

“The guys come in, they get a bit of a workout and they spend time with the trainers: massage, stretching and all the things they do to just stay focused,” Keefe said. “Then we get to leave here and get a chance to enjoy some sun.”

Even if the workouts have been short, they have unfailingly unfurled at high speed — what looks like game pace.

“Practise like you play — or you play like you practise,” said Simmonds.

“I think the amount of skill that we have on this team, it’s almost harder practising than it is playing games sometimes. And I think that’s a good thing.”

On Saturday it was a good thing unless, say, you were a Leaf who’d booked a mid-morning tee time confident in the knowledge that, with the club on a heater, the head coach would almost certainly nix the ice time. In years past, such a tradeoff would have been a given. On a make-or-break Leafs team that’s lately found its rhythm, it seems nobody’s keen to veer from a winning routine.

“We made it very clear it’s very much a business trip coming out here,” Keefe said.

“That’s not an easy thing to do because it’s a beautiful place to be, and it’s a great time to enjoy that as you’re starting to move on into the winter months here. But our guys have been very focused and are enjoying being around each other. We haven’t heard much (complaining about a lack of a day off). They’ve had enough time after practices to enjoy a few hours of sunlight.”