Bozak thankful, even for dog days

Former Maple Leaf Tyler Bozak has written a heart-felt farewell to Toronto.

Bozak, who signed with the St. Louis Blues this weekend after spending the first nine years of his professional career with Toronto, took a trip down memory lane in his goodbye essay in the Players Tribune on Tuesday.

“Being a Maple Leaf is all I’ve ever known. So before I leave, I just wanted to say thank you,” Bozak wrote.

Bozak was overlooked in his draft year before signing a twoyear, entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs in April 2009, his sophomore year in college hockey.

He recalled his first moments in Toronto, and later how former Leafs coach Ron Wilson scribbled his name on a line with Phil Kessel, who would become his roommate and one of his best friends during their time as Leafs. The pair were dubbed “Bert and Ernie” in the dressing room, a reference to the Sesame Street characters.

Bozak also offered some insights into Kessel, who was a much celebrated and maligned character during his Leafs days. He talked about how Kessel’s goldendoodle Stella was “the light of Phil’s life,” how he would overhear Kessel talking to the dog about hockey and that Bozak himself would find himself doing the same.

“Stella was a good listener and a big hockey fan,” Bozak wrote.

Bozak also recalled how Stella was like a canine clairvoyant, especially in that infamous loss to Boston in Game 7 of the 2013 playoffs in which the Leafs surrendered a three-goal lead.

“In fact, it was just me and her watching Game 7 … I was hurt and had to miss the last two games of the series, so I stayed in Toronto instead of traveling to Boston for the last game,” Bozak wrote. “I remember, after Nazem Kadri scored to make it 4-1, the texts were rolling in from friends and family … ‘Congrats Bozie! What a series!’ ‘Good luck in the next round!’

“Stella gave me a look like, Don’t reply to a single one of those texts. You know how animals can sort of sense when disaster is coming? I think she knew. Stella left the room. And it wasn’t 4-1 much longer.”

Bozak went on to write how being a member of the Leafs meant he was a member of a community. “You all meant the world to me. Every conversation in public — even the ones where you told me I needed to be better — will stick with me. Because you cared, no matter what … I’ll miss you guys a lot.”