If it felt a little different around Leafland during Wednesday’s season opener at Scotiabank Arena, that had to be expected.
Brendan Shanahan had his hand in everything from selecting the anthem singer to the goal song during his 11-year run as team president, and he was no longer presiding. A local kid named Mitch Marner was slated to make his debut with his new NHL team in Vegas later the same night. And some of the loudest cheers of the evening came when the game-ops crew beamed a certain ball game in the Bronx to the Jumbotron during intermissions. At one point the crowd broke into a chant of “Let’s go Blue Jays.” Heck, the crowd booed when the big screens went away from Game 4 of Jays-Yankees to return to the third period of Game 1 of the Leafs’ 82.
“That’s not the firs