The loudest cheer of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ opening night of the Mike Babcock Era was reserved for their neighbours a couple blocks to the west.
A montage of the 2015 American League East champs flickered brilliantly on MLSE’s splashy and crisp new Jumbotron as organist Jimmy Holmstrom twinkled out “Okay Blue Jays.” Then the Jays themselves, happily clustered dugout-style in a luxury suite, were broadcast to their fellow Leafs fans.
It was a cool showing of cross-sport boosterism, except one of these things didn’t belong.
Below and to the left a jubilant Marcus Stroman and his custom throwback Leafs sweater was a Toronto pitcher decked out in enemy clothing — a Montreal Canadiens cap and long-sleeve T-shirt.
The culprit?
“Liam Hendriks,” P.K. Subban grinned in the dressing room after a 3-1 win. Yes, the Australian middle reliever boldly represented for Toronto’s bitter rivals.
“I got a ‘SUBBAN’ jersey for him. He asked me to get him one, so I got him one. And he got me a ‘SUBBANTOR 76’ Blue Jays shirt. I’m pretty excited to see it after the game. Definitely taking a selfie with that and putting it on Instagram,” gushed Subban, a Toronto native and jacked-up Jays fan.
“It’s always great when you have that cross with athletes. I remember a year or two ago they had Kobe Bryant here watching the game. It’s great,” Subban went on.
“The Jays do a lot of great things not just for the city of Toronto but for Canada. We should be talking about them. They should be on the Jumbotron. They should be talked about a lot. They deserve it.”
