Michael Pezzetta grew up like many hockey kids in the Toronto Area: bleeding blue and white, wearing a No. 13 sweater in honor of Mats Sundin, and watching games from the 300-level of Scotiabank Arena.
On Wednesday night, he won’t be looking down at the ice from the rafters. He’ll be on it.
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The 27-year-old will make his Maple Leafs debut after being called up from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. For Pezzetta, the realization that he is finally about to suit up for his hometown team is still sinking in.
“I’ve still got to pinch myself right now, just thinking about putting the jersey on,” Pezzetta said. “I’m super excited. I could barely sleep last night. It’s crazy.”
Pezzetta signed a two-year, $1.575 million contract with the Maple Leafs as a free agent on July 1, but he began the year in the minors as the team managed a logjam of depth at the forward position. Pezzetta knew his chances of making the Leafs were slim, but he focused on being a pro and waiting for the window to open.
“At the end of the day, it’s a business and it’s hockey,” Pezzetta said of his time with the Marlies. “It’s part of the game going down and you just try to do your best and put yourself in a position to get called up. For me, it’s just going down with a good attitude, playing hard and doing what I can.”
The window did eventually open, perhaps not in the way the Leafs had expected. A disappointing season saw Toronto become sellers at the trade deadline, shipping away forwards Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton. Now mired in an eight-game losing streak, the call-up comes at a time when the Maple Leafs are searching for a spark.
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“We’re going to look at guys down there, and he’s one of the guys that we wanted to see, I’d say, for a little while now,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said of Pezzetta. “He’s a guy that’s going to bring in lots of energy and good skater, strong skater. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Pezzetta has four goals and six assists in 37 games with the Marlies this season. No stranger to adversity, the sixth-round pick of the 2016 NHL draft was a longshot to make it to the NHL, but ended up playing in 200 NHL games over four seasons with the Montreal Canadiens.
“I just want to prove to everybody and myself that I can still play here,” Pezzetta said.
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The debut will be a family affair, though the notice was short. Pezzetta didn’t find out he was officially in the lineup until Wednesday morning, leading to a frantic scramble in the family group chat.
“I sent a quick text to my group chat, my buddies, and my parents,” he smiled. “Everyone’s super stoked and trying to track down some tickets now.”
Pezzetta will have a familiar face nearby for the milestone. He spent much of his time this season with Bo Groulx, who made his Leafs debut in a 3-1 loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday. Groulx was even over at Pezzetta’s house for dinner the night before the call.
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