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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TORONTO – Back in November of 2016, Garret Sparks was going through a tough time. The Toronto Marlies goalie had been suspended by the American Hockey League team for posting some inappropriate comments on social media. That led to a face-to-face encounter with Kyle Dubas, the general manager of the Maple Leafs’ minor-league club. 

“I had a meeting with him right upstairs and we reviewed the entire situation and he understood where I was coming from,” Sparks recalled after practice on Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum. “He understood there’s emotions invested into different things and he gets the human side of it. And that’s something, when you’re working with young kids, impressionable minds and people who don’t really know where they fit in yet, that’s an important thing to have.”

Dubas was named general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. His success with the Marlies is among the reasons why president and alternate governor Brendan Shanahan decided to promote the 32-year-old. “I think going forward it’ll be good for the young minds in this organization,” said Sparks, who was the AHL’s best goalie this season, posting a .936 save percentage in 43 games. “Everything about Kyle Dubas stands out to me in comparison to your typical hockey mind. He’s different and that’s what people need. People need a difference. People need somebody who’s willing to make a difference. And he makes a difference for each guy in the room with the way he treats us and the way he sees us as humans, who have emotions and families and lives outside of hockey and extenuating circumstances.”

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One day after the big life-changing announcement, Dubas was rinkside watching the Marlies go through an early-morning practice. He’s been overseeing the AHL franchise for the last four, largely successful seasons as the team compiled a record of 190-90-20-4. The Marlies finished with the AHL's best record this year (the second time in three seasons that's happened) and just swept the Syracuse Crunch to advance to the Eastern Conference Final. 

Before the 2015-16 season, Dubas installed Sheldon Keefe, his head coach in Sault Ste. Marie when he ran the OHL club in his hometown, behind the Marlies' bench. What does Keefe enjoy about working for Dubas?

“So many things,” he said with a smile. “First of all, it’s fun. He comes to the rink every day with energy and passion. His personality is one that allows you to be yourself and feel comfortable. He treats me and our staff and all our players extremely well and he forms bonds and connections with everybody. 

“The other part is, it’s a never-ending journey of growth and learning. He’s constantly learning himself and then he’s passing along information. He’s feeding you things to read, things to watch, things to listen to and then he has discussions about it. It’s just an endless opportunity for me to learn and get better.”​

During Lou Lamoriello’s three-year tenure as Leafs GM, Dubas rarely did media sessions as the preference was to keep the message streamlined. But Dubas remained active on Twitter, often posting articles he found interesting, including many on subjects other than hockey. 

 

 

“I’d say 90% of what he sends has nothing to do with hockey,” said Keefe. “When you’re in hockey there’s so much that you know and you can relate to within the game, but I think you can kind of get maxed out a little bit, because I think, for the most part, everybody knows the same things and does the same things. It’s about what you can glean from other sports or business or education or what have you. He’s constantly educating himself, he’s constantly stretching himself to get an edge. Here’s a guy that I believe is brilliant and very successful and he doesn’t sit for a second and say he knows it all. He’s constantly trying to learn more and more.”

And while Dubas does study other sports, Keefe doesn't know anyone who watches more hockey than his boss. 

"You get towards weekends and the Leafs are playing and, of course, the Marlies would be playing and Orlando (Toronto's ECHL affiliate last season) would be playing and the OHL games are on and he’d have an iPad going, his cellphone going, his computers going and he’s watching a game live," Keefe marvelled. "If he’s not doing that he’s having clips of the prospects playing all around the world sent to him. It’s non-stop."

While Dubas and Keefe are tight, there are questions about how Dubas will get along with Leafs coach Mike Babcock. And yet the pair can certainly bond over their insatiable appetite for hockey. 

"There’s no off switch," Dubas said of Babcock. "When he wakes up at five in the morning, he's on the whole day. His passion for hockey is unrelenting, his passion to try to make the Maple Leafs into the best franchise it can be is unrelenting. That’s what excites me most. I call it a sickness, like, you have it for hockey and it takes over every part of your day." 

"Mike loves to be energized by ideas," Shanahan noted, "and loves to be challenged and loves to challenge you. There are a lot of people outside our organization that sort of make very simple assessments of who each person is and what they must believe in and I think they underestimate how much back and forth our management team does have. I've seen Mike and Kyle work well together in the past and throw ideas back and forth. They're both people with strong opinions and both have a lot of respect for each other. I talked to Mike and Mike's very happy with the decision and looking forward to working with Kyle."

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While Dubas relied on analytics to help level the playing field as the GM of a small-market team in Sault Ste. Marie, it’s his personality that Marlies players choose to highlight when asked what stands out most. Travis Dermott felt a connection with Dubas in his first development camp with the Leafs. 

“Nothing specific like you need to work on your skating or anything like that,” Dermott said when asked how Dubas has helped him. “It’s more like he knew I was a guy who wanted to put in extra work and get better so he was making sure those guys (team staff) were always on my back and if I needed any help those guys would be available faster than I could even ask for it. He was on my back, because he knew what I wanted to do with my career and he saw that with my work ethic. He kind of, I don’t want to say put me under his wing, but we had an understanding that any help I wanted to get he would help me.”

One moment that stood out to Marlies left winger Andreas Johnsson was when Dubas told him he could reach the same level as Patric Hornqvist. The Penguins winger has played 649 NHL regular season games while helping Pittsburgh win the last two Stanley Cups. 

“It’s a confidence booster when he says, ‘If you work hard you can be that guy. You have the tools, you just have to keep working and do what you’re doing,'" Johnsson said. "Of course, it’s nice to hear. Fun to hear.”

Johnsson, a seventh round pick in 2013, ended up playing for the Leafs in this year’s playoffs and seems a safe bet to crack the opening-night roster next season. 

“He helped me a lot since I came here,” the Swede said of Dubas. “When I had to get an apartment at the beginning he helped me with that and on the ice he gives you clear directions about what he wants and expects. It’s constant meetings all the time to check out how things are going.”

“It really struck home how much detail he put into literally everything,” Dermott said. “That opened my eyes. Hopefully, moving forward we’ll be working together for a long time.”

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The 21-year-old Dermott should be a mainstay on Toronto’s blue line for years to come. The team’s defence corps is often highlighted as an area in need of a big upgrade and it’s undeniable there’s a need for improvement especially on the right side. But Dubas believes concerns may be exaggerated. 

"There have been teams that have won and gone a long way with the same questions about their teams," Dubas said. "I like our defence and where it's at. We have some very good defencemen on their way and coming. When I watch the Marlies play, there's a good collection of young defencemen there."

Dermott clearly established himself in the NHL this season during a 37-game stint with the big club. Andreas Borgman, currently sidelined with an injury, showed some promise during a 48-game stretch with the Leafs to start the season. Justin Holl made the most of a brief cameo as an emergency call-up. Meanwhile, 2017 first-round pick Timothy Liljegren held his own as an 18-year-old in the AHL. 

“This is by far the deepest defensive group that I’ve had in my three years here,” Keefe said. “We’ve felt all season that defence and goaltending have really been the backbone of our team. There’s a long list of names that we think with continued growth through this playoffs and a great summer, are going to push hard for jobs. Holl is a guy who got an opportunity this year and did well with it. He’s been outstanding for us this season. He was an all-star in the American League. Liljegren, obviously, is a guy who is very important for the future of the organization. You look at Calle Rosen and Borgman, who both had good seasons for us. Rosen really, really came on the last few months of the season to be really reliable for us. Andrew Nielsen has taken steps this season as well. Obviously, we don’t mention Dermott, because of the impact he’s already made at the Leaf level.”

Another pressing issue that Dubas must attack this summer is what to do with William Nylander. The Swede is a restricted free agent and needs a new contract after posting 135 points in his first 185 NHL games. Nylander was held mostly in check during the playoffs and is often prodded by Babcock to up his compete level, but he has a vocal supporter in Dubas. 

“He started here just a few weeks before I did,” Dubas said in a scrum with reporters after Friday’s news conference. “I’ve been with William really the whole way through. I’ve seen great growth from him. The one thing with William is he’s very quiet, he just goes about his business, is a great worker off the ice, you never have to question where he’s at. You’ve seen his performance over the last two seasons, he continues to improve on the ice. He’s shown some good versatility and he’s obviously got great chemistry with Auston (Matthews) that’s been great to watch and I think we’re only just scratching the surface with William and I’m excited to see him grow.” 

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The task ahead is a big one, but his experience with the Marlies will no doubt help Dubas chart the path forward. And his rise is a source of inspiration for those who call the Ricoh Coliseum home. 

“You see a guy like that get rewarded and move up and I think it says a lot to every member of the organization down here who works hard every day with the hopes of moving up,” said Sparks. “The guy in charge of the whole thing just moved up so keep the faith and keep working. You never know what can happen.”

Dubas will continue to lead the Marlies through the end of this season and the players would like nothing more than to send him up to the Leafs GM job as a champion. It would be, in many ways, a fitting end to this chapter of his career. 

“Last year was pretty disappointing losing to the team that we just swept so that was nice,” said Dermott. “Getting those guys out of the way was a great feeling. Going forward there’s not any doubt we can do this if we want to. It’s going to be great to win, but it’ll be even more fun doing it and coming together with this team. These guys are like family. They’ve grown me into the hockey player I am."​