What would it feel like if, at work, your every move was chronicled and analyzed endlessly on the radio the next day without your being able to explain any of the why’s for all of the what’s being bandied about? That’s how I imagine it feels to be a Toronto Maple Leafs player. Maybe it’s a bit of a relief to be playing the weekend on the West Coast, as they did on Saturday in LA and Sunday in Anaheim. Silence for once.

The only problem with this theory is that, well, the internet exists, and when a game is played at the peculiar hour of 4pm local time, that must mean it’s being featured as the early Hockey Night in Canada contest, and that means eyeballs. Do they need one more observer, me, fanning the flames of scrutiny? They kinda have no choice, but I promise to try to take the spotlight off the familiar top players and, when it is on them, to think positive.

So what did I see in this infrequent Left Coast look at the Leafs?

First off, the arena in downtown LA was basically full, which is unusual. The Kings sell every seat, but that doesn’t mean they put someone in every seat. This game, they had vast swaths of the rink where all you saw was bodies. This was emphasized by the number of Toronto sweaters seen everywhere, and in the loud cheer when, for instance, the Leafs killed a penalty.

Second, when people talk about Toronto’s “Big Four” (Matthews, Marner, Nylander, and Tavares), which they do, endlessly, that kind of obscures other elements of the lineup, and in fact, when I look at the lineup card, most of the names are unrecognizable to me. Is that just due to the volume of teams and the spreading out of talent across the league? Does everyone on the opposite side of the country know only a little bit about the other teams? Is that why, even in the LA Cup era, most Torontonians wouldn’t have been any more able to name Dustin Penner or Mike Richards as Kings than Kings fans are to name Scott Lorentz or Bobby McMann as Leafs now? (Oh, sure, you remember Richards and Penner now that I’ve said it.)

Well, I picked McMann for a reason. His numbers are good (20-13-33) after he got to the NHL the long way—AJHL followed by four years of college at Colgate then stints in the ECHL and AHL, up and down and finally full-time in the National league this year. Why do I bring him up? Because on a team of four superstars, and one other everyone is gushing about (Matthew Knies), McMann kept finding his way into my notes.

Examples: In period one, he went into the zone on the left side and took a wrister. Glove save. Just after, he got a pass going right to left across the zone and snapped off a wrister. Another save. But by period three, he had faded into invisibility once more, because four numbers were the ones I kept writing down. 34, 16, 91, and 88. That’s right: Matthews, Marner, Tavares, and Nylander.

You need examples? Period two, Matthews wheeled around the net and took a shot, got his own rebound, and got another. Marner made a clever pass to Knies in the slot. A crowd gathered and smothered the puck. Nylander and Bobby McMann made a quick break, leaving their pursuers behind. Does the score matter? LA was leading 1-0. But Toronto was driving the play, seeming to become bigger and faster as time wound on. And it was those guys, the four, who were making all the plays.

Matthews struck early in period three, grabbing a loose puck and going in shorthanded. Shot, save, the puck flying into the air. Matthews batted it down. It ended up on the opposite side of the zone with defenseman Jake McCabe passing to Matthews. He went down the slot and shot over the goalie’s pad. 1-1.

The Leafs scored once more on a play from Morgan Rielly to Matthews to Tavares with eight minutes to go, and another one, Tavares again, into the empty net. By this time in the  game, it was virtually impossible to deny the prominence of certain players.

So whose names littered the scoresheet? Matthews, Tavares, and Marner. Three of the big four. What was wrong with Nylander? He didn’t score? Does he want to be traded? Will he keep them from winning the Stanley Cup?

Just kidding, but you can be sure someone’s on the phone to Toronto radio right now voicing those very ideas. How about this for an observation, though: Even when you try to ignore the Core Four, they have a way of taking over a Maple Leafs game and forcing themselves into your game notes and onto the score sheet. Now if only they could be given the space to play hockey, maybe they could win something.