O'Reilly eyes big things for Maple Leafs following trade from Blues
Forward, who is from Ontario, looks to help Toronto win 1st Stanley Cup title since 1967
"What if I help bring a Stanley Cup to Toronto?" the text from the 32-year-old forward said. "Can you imagine?"
"I texted back and said, 'That's the right attitude to have,'" Brian said. "I mean, like Ryan said, can you imagine?"
For Brian and his wife, Bonnie, Ryan's mom, the concept is almost surreal, much like it is for their son.
Both of O'Reilly's parents grew up in the Toronto area, Bonnie in the east end and Brian in the west end suburb of Etobicoke. Prior to the team moving to Scotiabank Arena in 1999, Bonnie spent time working during Maple Leafs' games at a concession stand in the corridor behind the green seats section at Maple Leaf Gardens, the third level of the arena.
As natives of southern Ontario, Ryan and his parents know all too well about what comes with playing for the Maple Leafs. About a passionate fan base that hasn't seen the franchise win the Stanley Cup since 1967, let alone a Stanley Cup Playoff series since 2004.
And, most importantly, about the unreached expectations of a team in an omnipresent fishbowl that already boasts elite talent like forwards Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander, and defenseman Morgan Rielly.
Even after helping the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019, when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, O'Reilly admitted he thought about how cool it would be to wear the blue and white Maple Leafs jersey one day. He just never allowed himself to think it would become reality.
Until it did.
"Absolutely," he said. "My parents grew up in Toronto. My wife (Dayna) is from here. I have a lot of ties here. Always thought about it, but never really thought it would actually happen.
"Just kind of shocked that I'm playing here."
Others aren't, including Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer.
DeBoer is a family friend of the O'Reillys and has a summer residence in the Lake Huron community of Bayfield, Ontario, where Bonnie and Brian now live. Brian has been a high-performance life coach for more than four decades and once worked with DeBoer's kids at one of Brian's so-called "boot camps" in nearby Goderich.
Although the Stars were fresh off a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, DeBoer did take a minute from his media availability on Sunday to discuss the impact the trade to Toronto would have on Ryan and his family.
"I believe some kids grow up in Ontario and are meant to play for the Leafs," DeBoer said. "I think Ryan is one of those guys.
"When you are around his family and see the impact they have on everyday life, whether it's raising money mentoring youth or bringing awareness to mental health in small town Ontario, the entire province should be cheering this guy on."
At times on Saturday night, when O'Reilly made his Toronto debut, it seemed like that was exactly the case.
Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, for one, helped the cause by putting O'Reilly in the starting lineup. When the list of starters was read out loud in the Toronto dressing room, cheers erupted from the players. The same happened when they were read in the arena by the public address announcer.
Keefe said he understood what he calls "the moment" would mean to O'Reilly. It was his first game with the Maple Leafs. On Saturday night. A nation was watching on "Hockey Night in Canada." And the fact that it came against the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto's most storied rival, was the icing on the cake.
"That was pretty crazy," O'Reilly said. "I'm just glad I won the draw. I had a lot of family here, so it was special for them, too."
Just like it was for O'Reilly's sons, Jameson, 4; and Declan, 2. Brian shared a video of the boys cheering when they saw their dad on TV in a Maple Leafs jersey accompanied by the tweet: "This is the best picture video ever. His kids are so excited to see their daddy playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs!"
So, too, were Brian and Bonnie. And when Ryan got his first point with the Maple Leafs, an assist on a goal by Michael Bunting in the second period of the 5-1 victory, Bonnie, who was seated in Section 112 of Scotiabank Arena, shrieked with joy, much to the chagrin of Brian's hearing.
"He might be deaf for a while," she said with a chuckle. "But I hope to do it more. That means Ryan's doing really welI."
* * * * \
Graham Nesbitt is choked up with emotion.
In a phone interview Sunday, he'd been talking about the excitement the O'Reillys, his longtime family friends, were having regarding Ryan's trade to the Maple Leafs. He's chatty, insightful, full of zeal.
Then the topic comes up about how Bonnie helped save his life. And all that changes.
"I can't find the words," he says, struggling to express himself. "I mean, such a sacrifice …"
He stops there, and understandably so. No more words are needed.
Nesbitt was the longtime manager of the Seaforth & District Community Centre in Seaforth, a town of 3,000 people about 116 miles west of Toronto, where Ryan, a native of nearby Clinton, grew up. He'd often go out of his way to let Ryan and his older brother, Cal, who'd go on to have 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 145 NHL games with the Nashville Predators, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, into the rink on snow days or during off-hours so the kids would have extra time on the ice.
Years later, Bonnie would pay Nesbitt's generosity back in a big way for helping her boys on their path to professional hockey by donating one of her kidneys to him.
In 2011, Nesbitt was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger's disease. Patients with the disease build up an antibody in the kidneys that over time can limit their ability to filter blood. Medication helped control Nesbitt's condition until 2019, when it became clear he'd need a kidney transplant.
Enter Bonnie.
On March 3, 2021, the transplant surgery was done in London, Ontario, with the Blues subsequently sharing a photo on social media of Nesbitt and Bonnie giving the thumbs-up from adjacent hospital beds.
"What can you say? What is there to say?" the 67-year-old said. "She saved my life."
Nesbitt had previously approached the O'Reillys asking if Cal and Ryan could use their social media platforms to find a donor. When Bonnie found out she was a match, case closed.
"I'll always be grateful for what he did for my boys for their journey to pro hockey," Bonnie said. "It was the least I could do."
On Friday night, Nesbitt received a text from his son, Derek. The message: Ryan and teammate Noel Acciari had been traded to Toronto from the Blues as part of a three-team deal that included the Minnesota Wild.
"When I received the kidney from Bonnie, Brian warned my wife Pam and I that if I started jumping up and down during hockey games, that's Bonnie because she runs around carrying on and screaming during hockey games," he said. "So when I saw Ryan was going to Toronto, I thought 'This is going to be crazy. I know they're both going to be going nuts.'"
In some respects, all of Seaforth was doing the same Saturday.
"I bet every person in town was watching that game and celebrating that Ryan is a Leaf," Nesbitt said. "I mean, when Ryan brought the Stanley Cup here in 2019, there were Blues T-shirts everywhere with his name on them. Count on those being replaced by Leafs jerseys all over the place.
"I bet by the end of the week there will be Toronto O'Reilly No. 90 jerseys in the local store, and going fast."
Both Nesbitt and DeBoer talk about the humility of the family, as evidenced by the family's count of there having been 47 foster kids from southern Ontario in their home over a 20-year period. The stints could be short, or as long as four years.
"I think it taught the boys humility," Bonnie said. "It showed them to appreciate what they have and how not everyone is as fortunate."
Traits that can be found in Bonnie and Brian, DeBoer said.
"Special family."
\ * * * *
O'Reilly grew up more of a Wayne Gretzky fan than a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, his parents said.
And when he did wear a Toronto jersey for one of the first times, it was a rather forgettable experience.
"I brought him to the rink when he was only two," Brian recalled. "I hadn't really fully dressed him. He had a Toronto jersey on, one of those bucket helmets … and he was in a diaper."
The local newspaper thought the image of young Ryan was cute and ran a photo of him the next day looking like that. When Bonnie saw the published picture, she snapped.
"I gave Brian so much [grief]," she says now with a laugh. "I was relentless on him. I kept telling him, 'How could you let him out like that without being fully dressed?'"
Ryan, of course, is all grown up now. And now it's his turn to help kids.
On Friday, hours before the trade had been completed, 5-year-old Hank Walker was granted his wish of playing hockey with O'Reilly.
The young fan made the wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 2020. He was diagnosed with posterior urethral valves, obstructive membranes in the bladder, as a baby. The condition required him to receive a kidney transplant.
Hank started his day by signing a one-day contract with the Blues as St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong and O'Reilly looked on. He then took to the ice with the likes of O'Reilly and Blues forward Brayden Schenn, and even had a chance to practice his celebration skills.
Hours later, Bonnie was doing the same when Ryan told her he was a Leaf.
"It was bonkers, chaos," she said.
It would have been a short flight from St. Louis to Chicago to meet the Maple Leafs for their game against the Blackhawks on Sunday. Instead, Keefe said both players were "adamant" they wanted to get to Toronto and play against the Canadiens on Saturday.
There was just one problem. Both players didn't have their equipment, which was at the Blues facility when the trade was made official.
"O'Reilly might have found a way to acquire the keys to the building to go get his gear," Keefe said, breaking into a wide grin. "And he grabbed Acciari's while he was there. That just speaks to what those guys are about.
"There's the on-ice things that everyone's going to see. I got a glimpse into what they're going to bring to our room."
Following a 5-3 loss to the Blackhawks on Sunday, the Maple Leafs will continue their road trip at the Sabres on Tuesday.
O'Reilly played with the Sabres from 2015-18, getting 176 points (65 goals, 111 assists) in 224 games. After Buffalo finished 31st in 2017-18, he said he'd lost his love for hockey and added the franchise had adopted "the mindset of losing."
He was subsequently traded to the Blues in a multiplayer deal that landed Buffalo forward Tage Thompson, who entered Sunday third in the NHL in goals with 36. Indeed, there will be no shortage of storylines for this game in Buffalo, which will see O'Reilly become part of the Golden Horseshoe Rivalry once again, this time for the despised Maple Leafs.
Which is exactly who he wants to be with, according to TSN analyst Carlo Colaiacovo. The former defenseman with both the Maple Leafs and Blues tweeted this weekend that the decision was made in advance by O'Reilly and his family that Toronto would be his destination of choice.
"And can you imagine if he could actually win the Cup with Toronto," an excited Bonnie said.
Well, can you?
