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The Leafs exited early, the Marlies hung in very late, but the Growlers are the last Toronto-affiliated hockey team alive and kicking for a title.

The new ECHL franchise can be called the next-best Newfoundland box-office smash after Come From Away, exciting crowds in St. John’s, which never really abandoned its Leaf ties from the 1990s as their AHL farm club.

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But in leaving their long-time ECHL Orlando, Fla., base for another run on The Rock, the Leafs also provided winning conditions for the Growlers. They were a division-best 94 points and have now fought four playoff series to hold a 2-0 lead on the Toledo Walleye for the Kelly Cup title before Game 3 in OhioWednesday night.

“We knew it would be fun this year, but it’s much more to get this far,” said veteran winger Zach O’Brien, a St. John’s native and natural fan favourite. “We had a lot of rookies and no one knew how it would pan out. But we became a tight-knit group off the ice. It really helped that a lot of us were at Toronto’s camp. We got to be around players who wound up on all three teams, Leafs, Marlies and Growlers. Our fans (who sold out 6,200-seat Mile One Centre in Game 2 against Toledo) want to see some young Leafs develop.”