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<\/p>\n\u201cJust disappointment and failure,\u201d said Troy Stecher. \u201cYou play this game obviously, to try and win the Stanley Cup and you can\u2019t do that unless you make the playoffs. So, as a group, we struggled after the Olympic break, and these are the results you get. We\u2019ve got a long summer ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
Stecher admitted there were a multitude of things that didn\u2019t go right for the Leafs, and he expects the organization will evaluate every aspect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re definitely aware as players what went wrong within the room and in saying that I think we\u2019ll probably just keep that private for the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no denying the team\u2019s collapse felt long and arduous.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know it\u2019s a tough finish, but I guess kind of relieved a little bit,\u201d said Nick Robertson. \u201cI mean, we were in the thick of it after the break. You know, it\u2019s just frustrating hockey and we\u2019ve just got to regroup here and kind of forget about it. I mean, take away what we can, but just kind of put this behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robertson will be a restricted free agent this summer and is unsure what his future holds.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old, drafted by Toronto in 2019, admits the season took a toll and couldn\u2019t identify exactly why things turned out as they did.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of reasons,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, lack of execution, buy in, emotion \u2026 It\u2019s hard, it\u2019s unfortunate how it ended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robertson said the one thing that stands out after this kind of season is learning to appreciate how difficult it is to win in the NHL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think last year, you know, felt like we were winning all the time and (we learned) to never take your foot off the gas,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a good team here. We\u2019ve got a playoff team. But, if you don\u2019t, you know, push the gas and buy in and play hard, we\u2019re not gonna make the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a disappointing end to Easton Cowan\u2019s rookie season. <\/p>\n
With 11 goals and 28 points through 66 games, Cowan is a bright spot who showed growth as the season progressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, I\u2019m an NHL player, and you know, I feel comfortable, but I\u2019ve still got a lot more to give,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I know I\u2019ll have a good summer here and, you know, get bigger and faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leafs head coach Craig Berube said he liked Cowan\u2019s development over the course of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood future ahead of him,\u201d said Berube. \u201cHe\u2019s got a great IQ. He\u2019s got ice water in his veins. He\u2019s a worker. There\u2019s a lot of upside there.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cowan is hopeful to extend his hockey season by playing with the team\u2019s American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, but said he hasn\u2019t heard if that\u2019s what the organization has planned for him.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2026.<\/p>\n
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cJust disappointment and failure,\u201d said Troy Stecher. \u201cYou play this game obviously, to try and win the Stanley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,20739,2465,2466,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-607746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ottawa","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-central-vancouver-island","12":"tag-nanaimo","13":"tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","14":"tag-nanaimo-news","15":"tag-nanaimo-news-now","16":"tag-nanaimonewsnow","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-oceanside","19":"tag-ottawa","20":"tag-parksville","21":"tag-qualicum","22":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}