"It was a bit surreal seeing Kris Versteeg step out onto the Leafs' practice ice on Wednesday wearing a Dion Phaneuf mask. But the gesture summed up the surreal level of expectations behind the Leaf captain's homecoming game on Thursday.

Phaneuf himself couldn't work out Wednesday; he'd flown to P.E.I. to be with his family at the funeral of his grandmother, Roma Phaneuf, who passed away in Summerside over the weekend at age 83.

Yet, there was Phaneuf — or, at least, a very good impression of him in Versteeg, who mimicked his captain's on-ice mannerisms, the way he skates and stretches."