TORONTO — Morgan Rielly says the conversations in the Maple Leafs locker room Tuesday morning were similar to those happening at kitchen tables and water coolers across Canada.
Non-stop talk about the Blue Jays.
The Toronto baseball team advanced to the World Series in dramatic fashion on Monday night with a nail-biting, nail-biting 4-3 Game 7 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
And like many fans in the city and across the country, the Leafs were watching.
“Very cool,” Rielly said. “It’s amazing to see the support they are getting.”
Jays slugger George Springer, stumbling after being hit in the knee by a pitch in Game 5, hit a three-run home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the seventh inning to turn a two-run deficit into a one-run lead inside Rodgers' red-hot center.
“I think I’ve hit the ceiling,” said Leafs forward Max Domi, who was tuning in from his couch.
Toronto fell to Seattle 2-0 in the American League Championship Series, losing the first two games at home. The Jays then got back into home territory with a 3–2 lead and then trailed in Game 7 with eight outs to go before clinching the franchise's first trip to the World Series since they won a second straight title in 1993.
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“The emotion of the game, just the team camaraderie,” Leafs head coach Craig Berube said of what he saw from afar. “They're a very close-knit group. It really shows.”
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Rielly said there's a lot to learn from the group of baseball players who made memories just down the road from Scotiabank Arena.
“There's a small part of you that's jealous of them, right?” – he said. “You're almost jealous of what they're doing, just because they're in Toronto and we're seeing it first-hand. You're obviously happy for them. It's a great moment for the city, but we want to be able to do this and have a race like this.”
“You watch the passion they play with and it's contagious. You want to be able to bring that out when your time comes.”
Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev noted the importance of small moments in Monday's comeback, including Andres Gimenez's sacrifice bunt that put two runners ahead just before Springer's blast, a key moment for any title-contending team.
“Success comes down to a lot of little things,” the Toronto native said. “A lot of little things that maybe people don’t talk about but you can watch and absorb and see a great team do what they need to do to win.”
Jays first baseman and ALCS MVP Vladimir Guerrero Jr. wore an Auston Matthews jersey on his way to the stadium before Game 7.
“It was really cool,” Tanev said of the Leafs captain's messages being exposed for everyone to see. “It’s impressive to see the city rally behind them.”
“We’re a sports town,” Domi added. “Everyone here is rooting for the Jays.”
Matthews returned the favor when he arrived at Scotiabank Arena wearing a Guerrero jersey before the Leafs hosted the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
Berube said he paid close attention to the outstanding Guerrero and the tone he sets.
“The way he interacts with the guys, the amount of energy he puts in all the time, it makes his teammates happy when they do something well,” said the NHL coach, who has previously met with Jays manager John Schneider and members of his staff. “He's got a lot of energy and a lot of positivity. He's their main guy. He just brings it.”
“Their whole team feeds off of it.”
Domi said the Jace's sense of brotherhood will stay with him.
“It’s really cool for me as an athlete on the team to listen to each guy’s interview and see how much they love each other,” he said. “They have the skills, they have the talent, they have everything, but they all seem to think that the most important thing is how united they are.”
Guerrero, in particular, was emotional after leading Toronto back to the World Series for the first time in 32 years.
“It’s inspiring,” Domi said. “You have chills. If you don't, it means your heartbeat is gone.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
