Nazem Kadri remembers the taunts.

That might be what hurt the most, the way players on the other teams mocked the Maple Leafs during games as the team stumbled its way through an epic collapse last season.

He says he doesn’t remember — or chooses not to repeat — the chirps that came his way, but they amounted to “you suck,” he said. “A lot of variations of that. It gets old. You get sick of hearing it.

“That’s something that isn’t taken lightly,” Kadri said. “There was really no comeback when someone throws that at your face. It’s a bit of a shot to your ego. At the end of the day, I think it makes you a stronger person and a better player.

“I think we’re starting to do something about it.”

Those taunts aren’t happening now, not with a team that is losing just as much as last year but playing a competitive, in-your-face brand of hockey.

Energized by the call-ups from the AHL Marlies, and emboldened by a building plan the city’s hockey fans have embraced, the Leafs are no longer laughingstocks, even though their points total through 71 games this year (61) is right around where it was through 71 games last year (60).

And Sunday was the Leafs’ first full day officially and mathematically out of playoff contention, the first team in the NHL to drop out. That puts the puts the Stanley Cup drought at 49 years. The moment was barely recognized.

The mockers had little to mock, maybe because the Marlies clinched a Calder Cup playoff spot over the weekend, the first AHL team to do so. And just about half of the Leafs lineup that skates Monday night against Calgary will return to the AHL in time for that playoff run.

Many of them — William Nylander, Zach Hyman and Nikita Soshnikov almost assuredly — will be Leafs next season.

So the vibe around the team now, during the end-of-season garbage time, is lights-out different than at this point last year.

“This year, more so than last year, we can be proud of the way we’re going out there and competing and playing every night,” 22-year-old defenceman Morgan Rielly said. “At times last year, there were some games we weren’t very proud of. We didn’t compete as much as we should have. We didn’t play for the fans. We just weren’t in games.

“This year, we’re in games, everybody is doing their job, we’re blocking shots late in games when we’re up by a couple of goals. We’ve got guys hitting. We’ve got guys getting in scrums.”

The Leafs hit bottom last year. Billed as playoff contenders, they finished with one of the worst records in franchise history, and the effort seemed to match their record. Fans threw jerseys on the ice, wore bags on their heads, and showed their anger through jeering and booing and social-media hate.

“It was awful,” said Kadri. “Losing sucks. And how we were losing games. That stuff is in the past.”

This year, fans have warmed to the team’s hard work and tenacity.

“I’m sure some of the other teams are getting frustrated with how hard the guys are working,” said centre Tyler Bozak, still a game or two away from returning from a concussion. “It’s fun to watch.”

A Leafs fan will never cheer a star player — no matter how much talent he has — if the fan deems the player is taking a lazy approach. But a lunch-bucket player will always get more adulation than he would be otherwise due if his effort is relentless.

“People in Toronto know their hockey,” Rielly said. “They respect people who go out and work hard and play the game the right way. (Nikita) Soshnikov is already a fan favourite because of the way he crashes and bangs.”

The best news of all is that the call-ups from the Marlies have fit in at the NHL level. Nylander has started scoring. Hyman and Soshnikov have made enemies. Other young players, like defenceman Connor Carrick, winger Josh Leivo and goalie Garret Sparks, have sent notice they intend to compete for jobs next season.

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That kind of hope didn’t exist last year.

“It’s really inspiring and motivating for our group moving forward because I think we really do have something here,” Kadri said.

NOTES: Soshnikov will miss Monday’s game against Calgary due to an upper-body injury suffered late in Saturday’s game . . . Forward Leo Komarov (lower body) will return to the lineup . . . Bozak (concussion) expects to play later in the week.

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