BUFFALO — The man from Toronto, old enough to remember the last Stanley Cup, made the drive to the First Niagara Center on Friday night, because he didn’t want to miss out on history.
Because he just had to be here for a night like this one.
The night the Maple Leafs fortunes changed: Maybe, forever.
There have been four great Leafs centremen in my lifetime: Dave Keon, Darryl Sittler, Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin. All in the Hall of Fame. And now a new day. A new name. A new possibility to build around.
Auston Matthews, the teenager from Arizona, the fresh-faced blue and white saviour.