"It greeted them when they arrived at the Saddledome for practice, a souvenir from a local auto dealership promotion two years ago.

To a man, the Maple Leafs could not believe their eyes.

Yet, there it was. A paper mask. With Dion Phaneuf's face on the front.

"We walk in the room and THAT face is the first thing we see," forward Kris Versteeg said.

Maybe the Maple Leafs captain wasn't with the team physically on Wednesday, but he certainly was there in spirit.

And cardboard.

Or, as Versteeg so eloquently put it: "Even when he's not here, he's here."

Make no mistake. Each and every one of his teammates understood that Phaneuf's absence was no laughing matter. He was, after all, back in Summerside, PEI, to attend the funeral of his grandmother, Roma Phaneuf, who passed away last week at age 83.

At the same time, they understood that, given all the hype and hoopla accompanying Phaneuf's return to face his former team Thursday, their captain would want them to have some yuks.

Enter Versteeg.

Quickly snatching the mask, Versteeg put it over his face and scurried on to the ice, catching some of his teammates off-guard.

"I was out there a bit early, so I had no idea he was going to do that," forward Colby Armstrong said. "I just broke up and started laughing."

For the next couple of minutes, Versteeg - aka Dion's Doppelganger - skated around, flexing, bending, imitating all the subtle gestures that are unique to Phaneuf.

"That's the scariest mask I've ever seen," he said, tongue planted firmly in cheek. "It even had Dion's mohawk. It was something right out of Halloween."

Standing in front of reporters, Versteeg attempted to keep a straight face. He couldn't. Sure enough, he finally broke into a huge grin.

On this day, the timing of all this fun and frivolity could not have been better.

If ever the gathered media and observers here in Calgary needed proof of the positive impact Phaneuf has made on his Toronto teammates, this was it."