Rolling Stones and pre-game cookies: Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari are learning the Maple Leafs’ way

There are challenges when players come to a new team as the Maple Leafs are finding out as Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari tried to make themselves at home in their first visit to the Ford Performance Centre.

For O’Reilly, his first practice with the Leafs meant getting used to the pace and atmosphere, given the team routinely uses three different ice pads and often has music in the background.

All Accaria needed to know was that there would be cookies.

“They had cookies at the game rink for pre-game meal there and they were very good. I was very surprised. I was very happy with them,” said Acciari. “I love cookies. Oreos.”

The Ford Performance Centre got better than a passing grade from Acciari, whose nickname is “Cookie.”

“I will have some Oreos before my pre-game nap, with my little guy (two-year-old Greyson). My boy calls is it cookie time,” said Acciari.

These days, with his family still in St. Louis, cookie time is shared through FaceTime. The families of both players will remain in St. Louis for the next little while, probably joining the players after the Leafs return from a five-game cross-continent road trip that starts Sunday in Seattle and ends nine days later in New Jersey.

Before they go, there’s the little matter of hosting Minnesota on Friday at the Scotiabank Arena — a small respite in what has been a whirlwind introduction to life as a Maple Leaf.

Both players used an off-day Wednesday to get used to the city.

“I walked around a little before the snow hit,” said Acciari. “Got lunch again, called the family, still trying to figure out some stuff there. It was good to take a breath, actually, and relax.”

“I opened my window and just saw the snow coming down, and it was like, ‘Welcome back to Canada,’” said O’Reilly, from Clinton, Ont. “It was nice to have a day off too, after all the hockey and all that travel.”

Their journey, after being traded Friday night, included four plane rides and three games in their first four days as Maple Leafs.

And Thursday was the first practice with the team, and at the four-pad rink off Kipling Ave. in Etobicoke.

“I was a little confused,” said O’Reilly. “I walked to one ice pad, and they sent me to the other one. I got out there, they sent me to the other one. I was kind of confused where I was going.”

The Leafs do things a little differently in practice than most teams, given the luxury of their multi-pad complex. Goalies and rehabbing players might start on one pad, forwards on another and defenceman on a third in pre-practice skills workouts. Then the team will gather, usually at noon, for a high-paced workout at five-on-five that last about 30 minutes. Then they’ll head to a freshly resurfaced pad to finish the practice, usually working on special teams.

“It’s great. If you’re on one sheet, it snows up quickly and slows everyone down,” said O’Reilly. “Being on three different sheets, it’s kind of nice, especially for the great skaters we have out there. There’s less snow.”

Then there’s the music. After practice ends, most players tend to stay on the ice to work on their own skills, like faceoffs, deflections, puck control. But there’s a soundtrack that plays, something coach Sheldon Keefe introduced in 2019-20.

“It gives you a little energy,” said O’Reilly. “Puts a little more pep in your step when you’ve got the tunes going, helps keep the pace up.”

The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” is a mainstay, but the music frequently varies each day.

“It makes it a little more game-like,” said Acciari. “Maybe not the music itself, just being loud and having to talk through the noise. And it was good. A surprise, but it was good.”

Getting players to acclimatize to new teams is always the goal when moves of this nature are made. And it may work to their advantage in terms of really getting to know their new teammates that seven of their first nine games will have been on the road.

“They both have young families, so just being on the road gives their families more time to get settled, find a place and get their affairs in order back in St. Louis,” said Keefe. “I think for lots of reasons, a road trip is a welcome thing for those guys. Our players enjoy being together on the road and it’s a good time of year to come together on the trip like that.”

For now, they’re all just enjoying the process of getting to know each other.

“Obviously, they’re excited to be here,” said centre Auston Matthews. “It’s been fun to get to know them. We’ve gotten a big boost (from them), a lot of really good energy is flowing. That’s what you look for when you pick up key guys like that.

“We’ve been really welcoming. I think they’ve come in here and made themselves at home and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Notes: Forward Joey Anderson cleared waivers on Thursday, meaning he can be sent to the Marlies. That gives GM Kyle Dubas a bit more wiggle room if he intends to acquire another player by the March 3 trade deadline … Rasmus Sandin was back skating with Justin Holl on the blue line and is tracking to return to the lineup on Friday after a two-game absence … Jake Muzzin (neck) watched practice in workout clothes despite the fact he’s been ruled out for the rest of the season and playoffs.

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