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The Toronto Maple Leafs provided no excuses after another Stanley Cup Playoff first round exit on Tuesday, as eight players spoke to the media on locker cleanout day.
Leafs forward Mitch Marner was at the Ford Performance Centre in Etobicoke, ON for team meetings, but did not speak on Tuesday after being the victim of a carjacking on Monday evening.
The common thread from most of the players regarding their loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning was that the club played much better than in previous years, but that they could not close the door on the two-time Stanley Cup Champions.
Here are some of their comments:
Jason Spezza on whether he will return next season
"I love the game. I've always maintained that if I can provide significance to the group. if I'm a contributor every night, then I want to play. There's conversations that have to be had with me and management and coaches, but this is the only place I would play. The conversations will happen over the coming days and weeks, right now it's more about reflecting on what happened, why we lost (and) what needs to happen."
Auston Matthews on believing in the current group
"I believe that (we will get over the hump). I think everybody in this room believes it. I don't think that we can really concern ourselves with the opinions of others, of the media, fans and (what) other people think but I know that deep down in this room that we all believe in each other and it's obviously still a tough pill to swallow, but I don't think that will belief ever wavered."
Mark Giordano on whether he wants to come back next season
"Everyone knows I'm from Toronto. I love it here. I've loved my time here. So (we'll) see what happens, (I'll) talk to my agent here in the next week. It's still pretty fresh - the loss - but I'll talk to him and go from there.....I feel like I could I can still contribute, I can still help the team push the needle forward."
Morgan Rielly on how close the series with Tampa was
"With these playoff series, the margin is quite small between winning and losing and so, as you reflect on it, you realize that but you do feel a belief and a desire to want to achieve that together, to ultimately win some playoff rounds and keep playing and ultimately win a championship."
William Nylander on the annual rumors of him being traded every summer
"My summer will be the same. First of all, that's all (I've) heard since I got to Toronto. That is what it is. I believe in this group so much and I feel like we've grown together and we're so close, but yet we didn't win and feel like the progress is there."
Jake Muzzin on his late-season injury issues
"We had some things going on, obviously the concussions and then another upper body injury that we were battling through, and but I feel good now."
Jack Campbell on his future in Toronto
"I honestly haven't had any time to think about (the future), I know it sounds funny. Winning here means everything to me and I love the city, I love the fans, the support, my teammates are incredible, the coaching staff. I absolutely love being a Leaf.”
John Tavares on how close he feels the Leafs were
"The position we put ourselves in, I think there's no doubt we had incredibly strong trust and belief and whether it's just making one play here, one play there... just the smaller details outside of the bigger moments that can obviously make a big difference in the series. "We're one shot away in Game Six, closing it out, executing on something like that, or even the details in a game like Game Two. A team (like Tampa) that obviously has responded better than any team in the league in the last few years coming off of a loss in the playoffs and we came out with a really good start and we just got a little bit undisciplined."
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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