DETROIT - In what would be his final game in Maple Leafs blue-and-white, Dion Phaneuf spent much of Saturday evening absorbing verbal barbs from Senators pugilist Chris Neil.
Just four days later, there were Neil and Phaneuf at the Ottawa Senators team hotel, sitting together, sipping java, telling tall tales.
What a difference a week makes.
“It was a nice quiet breakfast,” Neil said Wednesday morning. “I was the second guy down and we just sat and got caught up.
“We had bacon, sausage, ham ... Hey he even bought me breakfast too, so that shows what a great guy he is.