Mrázek aims to provide a net positive

Fan-favourite goalie says he joined Leafs for chance at Cup

“I think Toronto and the New York Rangers are two biggest teams in the NHL. That’s one of the reasons I came to Toronto.” PETR MRÁZEK LEAFS GOALIE

Petr Mrázek is one interesting goalie.

The 29-year-old, who joined the Maple Leafs as a free agent in the off-season, is ready to join a potential tandem with Jack Campbell and take advantage of what could be his best opportunity to win a Stanley Cup.

Mrázek says “it’s good” that players and coaches are quoted as saying he’s a quiet guy. But he’s also competitive and passionate, a native of Ostrava, Czech Republic, who has settled in Toronto with another famous Ostrava athlete, girlfriend Sára Olivová, a former pro beach volleyball player.

The two met through Olivová’s mother, Jana Andrys, who trained Mrázek when he was 13 years old back in his hometown and who still trains several Czech NHL players. Seven years passed between the time Mrázek started working with Andrys to the time he started dating Olivová. By then, he had starred with the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s and been drafted by the Detroit Red Wings. He was the top goalie at the 2012 world junior championship and a Calder Cup winner with Grand Rapids in 2013.

And Mrázek was the Wings’ starter ahead of Jimmy Howard for a couple of years, putting up career bests in games (54) and wins (27) in 2015-16. But two years later, with his play slipping, the Wings traded Mrázek to Philadelphia to create cap space. When Mrázek and the Flyers failed to connect, he signed a $1.5-million (U.S.) deal with Carolina during the 2018 free-agency period.

Something clicked again for Mrázek in Carolina. He re-established himself as a No. 1 NHL goalie, winning 14 games in a row at PNC Arena at one point, flourishing under coach Rod Brind’Amour, and becoming a favourite of the “Caniacs,” the fans in Carolina. That “quiet” goalie was suddenly giving charismatic interviews and celebrating wins by sliding on one pad while pumping his arm.

Now, with his fourth NHL team, Mrázek will be under pressure to help Campbell replace Frederik Andersen, who signed with Carolina, and break the Leafs’ five-year streak of opening-round playoff exits.

How will Mrázek fit in with the Leafs? If his career path suggests anything, he should be fine. His NHL career got off to a strong start in Detroit under former Leafs coach Mike Babcock. And while his numbers suffered as the Wings’ dynasty waned — and while there were reports he wasn’t getting along with the coaching staff — those close to him, who wished to remain off the record, said Mrázek was “a good kid” who worked hard to get the inconsistencies out of his game.

“My career in Detroit didn’t end well, and I’m not happy

about that, but I moved on,” he said, pointing to his time with the Hurricanes. “I established my career and my level of performance. A lot of things changed in that off-season before I came to Carolina; I hired my psychologist, (who I have been) working with since then, and that was the turnaround.”

That psychologist is Marian Jelínek, the longtime trainer, agent and personal coach for Jaromir Jágr.

“He worked with Jaromir for 20 years in Detroit and Washington and New York,” Mrázek said, adding that he remains in touch with Jelínek, who also

works with Czech tennis star Karolína Plíšková.

“We were working to stay always on the same level, on the ice and off the ice, and try to repeat good performances every game, and show up every single day ... I came to him and said, ‘I want to have all the games great, I don’t want to be great and then bad, great and bad again.’ So we worked on that a lot.

“He was responsible for the turnaround ... Before, I was like, ‘I don’t need a psychologist.’ But at end of the day, when you look at it, a lot of it is in your head. Be strong mentally and be prepared.”

Mrázek and Campbell have a significant challenge on a Leafs team that is essentially out of playoff-exit excuses. There’s no question Mrázek is passionate and capable of winning fans over. His sliding, fist-pump move was greeted by chants of “Petr, Petr” in Carolina, and a likeness of that move was used as a logo for the 2020 world junior championship in Ostrava.

“I thought it was more for the fans,” Mrazek said of the Hurricanes’ post-game celebrations, which developed into players performing sports-themed, onice vignettes. “To be honest, I was like, “What are we doing, is this a real thing, are we going to do this every single day?’ But in the end, it was fun for the fans and, if we were down by a goal or two, they’d stay to the end to see if we could turn it around and we could win it, so they could see (the celebration). You didn’t see any fans leaving before the end of the game.”

Mrázek and Olivová have been quick to settle in Toronto, with Olivová starting a holistic health practice. The couple likes “to take care of things,” Mrazek says.

“Her mom was my training coach when I was 13 and 14 in Czech Republic. Then her mom moved her to Michigan and, when I was 19, I met Sara through her mom,” Mrazek said. “They’re from the same city I’m from, so it’s a small world.”

Mrázek said Olivová quit beach volleyball after two knee surgeries. Mrázek has seen his share of injuries, including a night back in 2013 when good friend and Grand Rapids teammate Tomáš Nosek showed up at his door, his hand bleeding profusely.

“Yeah, I remember that,” Nosek, now a Boston forward, said in a telephone interview. “I cut my hand badly and I had nowhere to go. So I went next door and knocked on Petr’s door. He helped me a lot, he called an ambulance. But I think, at first, he was scared.”

“Me and Mattias Bäckman were in our apartment playing FIFA on PlayStation, and someone knocked on our door at 10 p.m., so we opened the door and we see Tomáš, his hand full of blood and in a plastic bag,” Mrázek said.

“It was like, ‘What’s going on here?’ He was all white in the face and his apartment was like a murder scene. So we called the ambulance, and luckily everything was fine. I don’t think he has any problems now and he can play hockey. But it wasn’t fun to see it and go through it.”

Mrázek says he and Olivová are “happy” in Toronto. After everything he has seen and done, he’s ready to take to the biggest stage in hockey.

“I think I’m always a happy, positive guy around the locker room, no matter what,” Mrázek said. “Always try to be positive. If someone isn’t happy, try to make him happy, and try to make people smile a lot.”

“I think Toronto and the New York Rangers are two biggest teams in the NHL. That’s one of the reasons I came to Toronto. But I want to win. I’m at the age when I would like to achieve something and win the Stanley Cup, so I believe this team is capable of doing it.”