Maple Leafs victory in Next Century Game caps joyous day in Toronto

TORONTO -- On Toronto Maple Leafs Day, local boy Mitchell Marner was basking in the aftermath of the best game of his NHL career.

The 20-year-old forward had just scored an NHL career-high four points (one goal, three assists) in the Maple Leafs' 8-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at Air Canada Centre on Tuesday afternoon. He was asked what it felt like to wear a Toronto Arenas jersey.
"It was an honor," said Marner, who grew up outside Toronto in Thornhill, Ontario. "It was wicked."
A century ago, the word "wicked" was probably a bad thing. These days, it a synonym for cool.
As such, this was a wicked day in Toronto hockey history.

Tuesday was declared Toronto Maple Leafs Day by Mayor John Tory. It was the 100th anniversary of the first games in NHL history. On Dec. 19, 1917, the Arenas lost 10-9 to the Montreal Wanderers in the first League game. Exactly a century later, the Toronto franchise opened a new chapter in its illustrious history with the Next Century Game against the Hurricanes.
On this special occasion in Toronto and NHL hockey history, here's a timeline of the day's events, featuring a Hall of Famer, an Olympian and an astronaut, among others:
11:57 a.m.
Wendel Clark is in a rush. The former Maple Leafs captain, now an ambassador for them, has the type of schedule on this day that would have anyone's head spinning.
"I'm running around today," the former forward says. "I'm starting at the lower-level platinum seats. Then I head out to Maple Leaf Square. Then to Real Sports (Bar & Grill) to see a bunch of kids. Then I hit [The Hospital for Sick Children] to watch the kickoff of the game. And then back here to the rink to do things during the game."
It's tiring just listening to Clark's itinerary. But how does he expect to make all these appearances on time?
"I'm from Saskatchewan," he says. "There'll be a half-ton truck somewhere picking me up taking me from the Air Canada up the road and back.
"You just stick your thumb out. They come and get you."
With the Maple Leafs wearing Arenas jerseys for the game Tuesday, Clark, 51, says he wore an Arenas jacket at a local minor midget game several days earlier.
"It created quite the buzz," he says. "I'm sure this game today will too."
12:57 p.m.
Yonge-Dundas Square, downtown Toronto. This is the site of NHL Centennial Fan Arena for Maple Leafs Day. The Stanley Cup is here, as is a pop-up ball hockey rink. And let's not forget former Maple Leafs players Darcy Tucker and Borje Salming.
When Salming challenges a longtime Toronto hockey writer to a game of table hockey, the challenge is too tempting to ignore. We play to a scoreless tie, but only after I use the trap. Hey, you have to do whatever it takes to hold a Hall of Fame defenseman (Class of 1996) without a point.

Has anyone jokingly asked Salming, 66, if he played for those 1917-18 Toronto Arenas?
"A little bit," he says with a laugh. "Some of the young kids, they don't even know who I am. Surprisingly, there's so many who do know. Many because their fathers told them about us and the history. It's amazing."
Salming, who is fourth in Maple Leafs history with 768 points (148 goals, 620 assists), remains in awe of the passion for hockey in Toronto, then and now.
"It was crazy. And it still is," says Salming, who played for the Maple Leafs from 1973-89. "When I go back to Sweden, I tell them how crazy people here are about hockey. I tell people there: 'You've got to come to Toronto and see for yourself how much people there love the game.' You never forget that."
1:57 p.m.
In the bowels of the Air Canada Centre, Cain Tucker is getting last-minute adjustments on his equipment from his dad, former forward Darcy. Cain and his AAA Pee Wee Toronto Titans teammates will join the Maple Leafs on the ice for a pregame ceremony along with the AA Pee Wee Etobicoke Dolphins girls team. As the wide-eyed kids wait in the corridor, Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, stops to chat with Darcy and Cain. Perhaps there is a Maple Leafs contract in Cain's future?
"This is such a great day," Tanenbaum says. "A true tribute for a sport that means so much to this city."

2:34 p.m.
Forward James van Riemsdyk scores the 20,000th goal in franchise history, giving the Maple Leafs a 3-1 lead at 10:34 of the first period. "It just shows you what a rich tradition this organization has," he says. "And it was a special day to do it, too."
Playing against his brother, Hurricanes defenseman Trevor, James scores the historic goal with their father, Frans, mother, Allison, and younger brother Brendan in the crowd.

3:48 p.m.
During a break in the second period, the center-ice scoreboard shows astronaut Chris Hadfield, a huge Maple Leafs fan. One of the in-house hosts asks Hadfield to lead the crowd in the singing of Stompin' Tom Connors' "The Hockey Song." Let's just say Hadfield gave it a good effort.
Hadfield was the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station, leading Expedition 35 from Dec. 19, 2012, to May 13, 2013. He uploaded Maple Leafs games to watch during his daily two-hour treadmill work on the space station, never missing the "Coach's Corner" segment on "Hockey Night in Canada."
4:22 p.m.
Early in the third period, Canadian Olympic swimmer Penny Oleksiak is shown on the scoreboard. The crowd goes bonkers. In Brazil in 2016, Oleksiak became the first Canadian athlete to win four medals in the same Summer Games: one gold, one silver, two bronze.

4:27 p.m.
Maple Leafs forwards Kasperi Kapanen and William Nylander score six seconds apart in the third period, two seconds shy of the franchise record for fastest goals, set by Eddie Olczyk and Gary Leeman at the Quebec Nordiques on Dec. 29, 1988.
5:13 p.m.
The Maple Leafs end a three-game losing streak with an 8-1 victory, sending thousands of children -- the next generation of Toronto hockey fans -- home happy.
Asked about the baby-faced Marner, the game's First Star, coach Mike Babcock can't help but get in one good-natured barb.
"I heard lots of shots coming off the ice, 'Mitch you were really good in the first, you've got your classmates here, you're trying to impress them'," the coach says. "'First time we've played a game that wasn't after your bedtime,' and all that stuff."
Babcock then broke into a wide grin.
On this special day, he wasn't alone in doing that.