Habs @ Leafs Open Thread

People will come, Tim.

They'll come to Toronto for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up Bay Street, not even sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at the ticket office, as innocent as children, longing for the past. "Of course, we won't mind if you watch the game," you'll say, "it's only $200 per person." And they'll pass over the money without even thinking about it. For it is money they have, and peace they lack. And they'll walk out into the stands, and sit in their customized Kessel jerseys on a cold winter evening. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere in the platinums, with free sushi at intermission, where they sat last season and wrote off the tickets as a tax deduction. And they'll watch most of the game, and it will be as if they dipped themselves in black, blue, or grey wool. The memories will be so thick, they'll have to brush them away from their faces (face brushes only $19.99, comes in pink for the ladies).

People will come, Tim.

The one constant through all the years, Tim, has been ice hockey. Canada has rolled by like an army of Zambonis, it's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But hockey has marked the time. This ice, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good and could be again, with another rebuild.

Oh, people will come, Tim. People will most definitely come.

Lineups:

Toronto Maple Leafs

Montreal Canadiens