Toronto Maple Leafs: Is Roman Polak Under Appreciated?

If you followed the conversations of most casual fans, you’d think there were only three defencemen on the Toronto Maple Leafs: Dion Phaneuf, Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly. Sometimes you’ll hear a mention of Stuart Percy or Stephane Robidas, but that’s essentially it.

No one seems to appreciate Roman Polak – the hard-hitting, stitched-face tower of pure intimidation from Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Mar 7, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; St. Louis Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (4) carries the puck past Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Roman Polak (46) during the second period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

There are a handful of factors that might explain this regrettable oversight – Polak was acquired from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for fan favourite Carl Gunnarsson; his offensive numbers are virtually nonexistent; and his peripheral numbers don’t look very good either – but I fear the main culprit may be the limited time Polak spent in the lineup last season due to injury.

In total, Polak dressed for 56 games, collecting nine points (five goals, four assists) and 48 penalty minutes. He also registered -22, which was good enough for second worst on the defensive corps behind Gardiner. The NHL has him listed at -176 for Shot Attempts (i.e., Corsi) and -128 for Unblocked Shot Attempts (i.e., Fenwick) on the season, putting him near the bottom again.

It’s hard to make a firm assessment of Polak’s individual performance given the time he lost to injury and the generally atrocious state of the Leafs’ defensive game, but these types of numbers don’t exactly instill confidence. In other words, there’s definitely room for improvement.

What makes Polak someone to appreciate, however, is the leadership he showed throughout the losing campaign. He returned to a game despite having his face torn open by an errant puck and he called out the team for playing without any real heart or competitiveness on several occasions (here’s one example and here’s another example). This is something you didn’t see from many members of the Leafs last season, who redirected a lot of the blame onto the coaching staff, the fans and the media.

None of this makes Polak an irreplaceable player on the blue line, but it does make him a responsible one and one deserving of more appreciation.

Polak could’ve remained quiet – he could’ve stayed in the dressing room after taking that puck off the face – but that’s not him. He wanted to play and he wanted to win. It’s that simple.

That’s the kind of guy I want on my team.

[Writer’s note: I’m totally kidding about the Gunnarsson thing – relax.]

Follow me on Twitter for regular posts about sports (especially the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Blue Jays), politics and other news topics: @williamefwilson