When you enter the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room from its main, northwest entrance, it’s possible to miss Calle Rosen’s stall. There is a startlingly deep blue shade which covers the room. Igor Ozhiganov’s stall on the east wall has a religious painting and a small cross hanging on it. Tyler Ennis’s stall, almost opposite Ozhiganov on the west wall, always has a bottle of baby powder in it to help him improve his grip on his stick.

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Walk directly south though, toward the wall of multiple screens that serve as a back-drop for pre and post-game interviews and there is Rosen’s stall. It is a makeshift addition, separated from the rest of the group. Rosen was provided with a smaller stall in a much lighter shade of wooden than the deep brown that proliferates the rest of the room to accommodate for the extra players added for the playoffs.

“It’s the same colour as at the Marlies’ rink,” said the recently called-up defenceman, shrugging his shoulders. “So I’m used to it.”

After two games in Boston, that’s what Rosen has remained: An extra player, a Black Ace, who will only crack the lineup in case of emergency or a drastic change of approach from Leafs head coach Mike Babcock. The extra stall, separated from the rest of the group, is a reminder not just of how far players like Rosen have come to crack the NHL, but how much further they have to go to become a regular.

Rosen has, according to both to him and his new Leafs teammates, taken a healthy amount of grief for his makeshift stall. But he’s not bothered. 

“It’s a stall,” he said. “I’m just pumped to be here … It doesn’t really matter where I’m sitting.”

For Rosen, where he sits matters far less than the opportunity itself: To be among his Leafs teammates in the Scotiabank Arena home hockey dressing room. After the first two games in Boston, the Leafs were happy to return home for Game 3. A rousing 3-2 win Monday saw them take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series. This Leafs core is not so young anymore, and are starting to take ownership of the 20-year old dressing room.

Asked for his first impressions upon entering the dressing room, Rosen didn’t discuss the plentiful amount of tape for his sticks, or the sticks of bubble gum nearby. Instead, he noted how accessible his teammates have been in such a limited time.

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“It’s a really open dressing room,” said Rosen. “Everyone talks to everyone.”

Calle Rosen’s makeshift stall in the Maple Leafs dressing room. (Joshua Kloke/The Athletic)

Morgan Rielly would sit in quiet awe of the Leafs dressing room during his rookie season as a then 19-year-old defenceman. The sheer stature of the room outweighed what he was used to as a junior defenceman in Moose Jaw.

Rielly started his career sitting fourth from the corner on the east wall, between fellow defencemen Jake Gardiner and Dion Phaneuf. He remembers his time spent in his rookie season not necessarily at team dinners or in hotel rooms, but just getting to know his teammates in their dressing room as being vital to feeling more at ease in the NHL.

“Once you play for a few years, you get to meet people and there’s people that are really grateful to be here and that makes it really fun,” said Rielly. “We get to come here, play hockey and be around a room in the morning, have coffee together, be around each other and I think it’s the best thing ever. When you have other people around you that think that way it makes it that much more fun.”

Rielly’s stall has since moved to the centre of the east wall. Every season, the team’s trainers assign dressing room stall locations for players. A few general rules seem to apply.

First of all, positional players stick together. The west wall is all forwards. The north wall is reserved for the two larger goalie stalls. And the east wall is filled with the team’s defence corps, save for forwards Andreas Johnsson, Kasperi Kapanen and Nic Petan occupying the final three spots in the southeast corner of the room. Petan sits closest to a door leading to one of the adjoining team workout rooms. It’s not uncommon after a Leafs game for the sound of chatter between teammates or that of weights hitting the floor to sometimes interfere with scrums being conducted nearby.

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Rielly himself sits between his defence partner, Ron Hainsey, as well as fellow defenceman Nikita Zaitsev.

Zaitsev and fellow Russian Igor Ozhiganov are separated by Jake Gardiner, but Rielly claims they still speak mainly in their mother tongue to each other.

“I’ve only picked up how to say ‘Thank you,’” said Rielly. “’Spaciba,’ right?”

If improving his limited Russian vocabulary is a by-product of his location, Rielly is fine with that. He’s glad he doesn’t have to sit at one of the corner spots, occupied by Petan, Martin Marincin, Trevor Moore and Frederik Gauthier.

The door nearest to Marincin leads to a small dining room which some players will often flock to for a quick snack after a game. One of the team’s chefs will often be seen coming in and out of the room with a rolling tray of omelette ingredients throughout the morning.

“It’s all about who you’re next to,” said Rielly. “I like having people on each side, so I wouldn’t like to be on the end. I like to have people around.”

Forward Zach Hyman agrees.

“It doesn’t hurt when you can pick up tricks of the trade from Patty (Marleau), who’s fifth all-time in games played, and Johnny (Tavares), who does everything the right way,” said Hyman.

With five players to his right, Rielly occupies a pivotal place in the Leafs dressing room, and is proof of one of the other rules in the room: He has become one of the de facto leaders and his central spot is a symbol of that rise up the proverbial leadership ladder.

Rielly smiles when that point is brought to him.

“They wanted me in the middle, probably because I’m the smartest,” said Rielly, his grin growing more knowing with every word. “They want all the intelligent guys. You see Johnny (Tavares) in the middle on the other side, Hyman, me and Hainsey here. So it’s pretty obvious what they’re doing there.”

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Rielly notes how when the team travels on the road, veteran players will also often be placed in the middle of visitor’s dressing rooms.

The three most central positions on the west wall are occupied by Mitch Marner, Hyman and Tavares.

Not all players have veteran status and the subsequent spot in the centre of the dressing room. But even still, not everyone minds.

Location can be a personal preference.

After cracking the Leafs roster this fall, a then newly-signed Tyler Ennis walked into the dressing room to find himself with what many deem an unenviable seat: Second from the door on the west wall. He is close to the noise from a hallway that features a nearby skate-sharpening room and another equipment room. The hallway is adorned with jerseys from the club’s recent past, as well as photos honouring teams throughout Leafs history.

The hallway itself leads to the team’s media room, where Babcock delivers his pre and post-game press conferences. As such, anyone caught nearby is victim to the frequent traffic that comes through the main doors.

“I don’t like being near the door,” said Hyman. When Hyman was a rookie, he sat in the spot currently occupied by Justin Holl: Second from the door in the northeast corner. “Some people like it.”

Ennis is one of those people. Sitting beside Frederik Gauthier, who has the only goalie-sized stall for a positional player, has its benefits.

“Goat’s got the big stall, so I can push my stuff over to his stall,” said Ennis.

Has Ennis ever wondered why it’s Gauthier, of all players, that was given a larger stall?

“It might have something to do with the fact that he’s 6-foot-4, 500 pounds,” said Ennis.

(Mark Blinch / NHLI via Getty Images)

After eight seasons with the Sabres and another with the Wild, Ennis believes there is a “great honour and great responsibility” that comes when stepping into the Leafs dressing room.

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So much so that whenever walking through its doors, he has to take stock of how far he’s come in his career.

“Being a part of this tradition is just so special,” said Ennis. “I’ve been in the league for 10 years now and I still kind of pinch myself because I find myself playing for the Maple Leafs. It’s just such a storied franchise. Growing up in Canada, everyone talks about the Leafs and the fact that I’m in this room is exciting. When you walk into this room, it just kind of hits home.”

There is a large, white Maple Leafs logo that sits in the centre of the blue carpeted floor. Like many teams around the world, the logo is not to be stepped on. During media availability, as has become custom throughout the NHL, a carpet is placed over the logo to prevent any media members from having to dance around the logo.

Even for local players who have grown up with constant images of the Maple Leafs dressing room, that sense of responsibility does not dissipate.

Every day that Hyman sits in his stall, he allows himself a moment to appreciate the way the room is set up and how he can easily see every one of his teammates. And he likes being able to just raise his head and see famed Leafs goalie Johnny Bower’s quote about playing for the Leafs enshrined on the wall: “It’s a privilege, not a right.”

“He’s what everybody should strive to be as a Maple Leaf,” said Hyman. “How he carried himself, how he interacted with fans. That’s something that I get to look at every day.”

For Hyman and the rest of the Leafs, there is a comfort that comes with returning to their own dressing room. And there’s some comforts that only the players understand.

“Plus,” Hyman said of the benefits of the dressing room, tapping his seat and smiling, “they’re really comfy chairs.”

(Top photo credit: Mark Blinch / NHLI via Getty Images)

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