Mike Wyman is following the Canadiens' run throughout the playoffs. For more entries in his ongoing journal, check out his columnist page...

OK, so I missed Carey Price’s first playoff shutout. But it wasn’t the last game of the series and I had a good reason. I was on the 6:30 train to Toronto, a town seemingly unaware of and, aside from the folks in the national media headquartered there, completely uninterested in the NHL postseason.

I did mange to catch the highlights once I got off the train. As a traditionalist I was pleased to see Patrice Brisebois, one of the few NHLers still using a wooden stick, get the game’s only goal, but wondered when the team’s scorers were going to start scoring.

Wednesday afternoon was spent at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where I did my best to stay out of the way as over a dozen former NHLers, most from the 40s through the 60s visited with some of the 500 military veterans who call it home (see video below).

While the hometown team isn’t in the playoff picture this spring, many of the men dropping in had hoisted the Stanley Cup as Leafs and were more than pleased to share memories of those days with the residents.

Among them were Hall of Famers Johnny Bower (also a WWII vet) and Dick Duff, who account for ten titles between them. Ron Ellis, a rookie on the 1967 squad that last paraded the Stanley Cup through the streets of Toronto, arrived with the Conn Smythe Trophy in tow, courtesy of the Hockey Hall of Fame, who for this occasion had waived the fees normally associated with hosting league silverware.

John McCormack, Bob Nevin and Danny Lewicki, who also have their names engraved on hockey’s holy grail as Toronto Maple Leafs were among the 16 guys who got out and mingled with the former soldiers, sailors and airmen as soon as the brief formalities and introductions were completed.

Dick Duff didn’t bother to wait for the event to officially begin. He plunged into the crowd, introducing himself to the closest person and energetically and enthusiastically working the room until summoned to the podium.

Memories were exchanged, big moments relived and numerous autographs signed in the next two hours. One veteran, upon meeting Pete Conacher, recalled street hockey games he played in as a kid that were joined by older members of the legendary hockey clan.

One man that every former player made a point of stopping to chat with was Len Bramson, a WWII veteran who spent three years in the Canadian Navy. From 1950 to 1959 he was the editor of The Hockey News and was well acquainted with most of his visitors.

While I did my best to remain on the periphery, I did manage to catch a couple members of Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup championship teams to get their assessments of this year’s team’s chances.

McCormack, a member of the 1953 championship team, hasn’t seen the bleu, blanc, rouge in action too much this season.

“I just got back from Florida but I’m happy they’re doing so well. Go Habitants Go!”

Duff, with four of his six mentions with Montreal has been taking a closer look since the season got underway.

“They had a good year and they played very well. I’m a big fan of Guy Carbonneau. He’s a good coach. The three of them - he, Jarvis and Kirk Muller have done a really good job with that team,” he said before singling out one youngster in particular. “Komisarek, tell him I’m very proud. He carries that number 8 well.”

“I wish the Montreal guys lot of luck because next year is the team’s centennial and it’d be nice for them to be able to take it on down the line.”

They get a chance to do that tonight.

I wonder how many Montreal fans made the trek for this game. I wonder if Habs fans by the thousand will become a regular sight in Boston since it seems that there is no shortage of tickets available for out of towners. I wonder when the scorers will start scoring.