Things can get pretty hot in the spotlight in hockey-mad Toronto, so the Maple Leafs encourage players to get away from the game whenever possible. “In this city, it might be the most important thing you do,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock. “The best players I’ve coached never thought about hockey one time until they arrived at the rink. The only time they thought about hockey was when they weren’t playing good. If they’re not playing good, they let it wear themselves out at home. In this city, with everything going on, and you have to be on your phone 24/7, you need something else that isn’t hockey that you love to do. So find a passion. Find a passion, find something you love to do and do that.” The players have taken Babcock up on the idea. Here’s what some of them do:

ZACH HYMAN: “I have a bunch. Writing is one of them. I have two children’s books. One more is coming out in January. I like writing stories, kind of an escape. It’s always a passion of mine. . . . From that, because I write children’s books, I interact a lot more with children and visit schools. It’s a lot of fun.”

CONNOR CARRICK: “I’ve gotten into reading. My dog (Hoagie, a French bulldog), we go for 20-, 30-minute walks. You’ve got to take a second. The NHL season is so fast. My thing is mornings. I like getting up pretty early, make coffee at home, read a little bit, take the dog out. Just picked up the book Sapiens. It’s a story about the human race and its path. I like to switch it up. I read Phil Knight’s book on Nike (Shoe Dog). I’m finishing Good to Great, Jim Collins’ business one.”

FREDERIK ANDERSEN: “Babcock mentioned hunting to me. That seems a bit much. I Skype with my family. I love walking around downtown, grab a coffee. I’m looking to find something. Been playing some video games with the guys — Xbox, we play that Call of Duty. I used to be better. I die a lot, and I don’t shoot. I won’t use it as an excuse, but I used to play PS4. I’m going to blame it on the controller.”

AUSTON MATTHEWS: “We’ve got a pretty big video game crew going on. Right now we’re all playing Call of Duty. I’m blaming the controller, too, because I seem to be getting shot a lot. A lot of Netflix. I finished Narcos. Suits is good. It’s filmed in Toronto. But there are a lot of things. My dad’s here. We’ll watch football, relax.”

CONNOR BROWN: “I’m not into all those video games. Going for dinner or just lounging. It’s a lot of hockey at this level, so it’s a lot of rest and recovery, a lot of couching, the TV on. I’ve seen ’em all. Often times you get hooked on a series and you binge watch. I like to go for dinner, hang with guys. I like steak.”

JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK: “I like to watch TV shows and go to movies. I just finished The Night Of, an HBO miniseries. Stranger Things, that was unreal. I got a whole list of shows. There are not enough hours in the day. I put some good shifts in watching some good shows.”

LEO KOMAROV: “I watch movies, play Playstation — FIFA or golf. I don’t do that too much anymore. I’ve got a wife to take care of. I don’t have enough time. Just watching a Russian show online. It’s about hockey: Youngsters.”

MATT HUNWICK: “My son (Henry) is 3 1/2. We have a dog. Between going to the park, picking him up from school, going to whatever activity we want to do, there is always something. We go to High Park, a huge jungle gym there. We go to this farm out in Milton. We go to Oakville on days off, downtown, a little park on the lake.”

MATT MARTIN: “I have my girlfriend (Sydney) here, and a dog (a Rottweiler named Jax). We’ll go to the movies, or take the dog somewhere for a run. When I’m away from the rink, I like to spend time with her.”

MITCH MARNER: “You go home, hang out with family. I play video games with a couple of buddies. That’s how I relax. Play Xbox with my buddies, talk to them, see how they’re doing. Have fun with it.”

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