Upon his arrival in Toronto, Mike Babcock emphasized “There will be pain.”
Surely over the course of the 2015-16 season which kicked off Wednesday night, the Leafs will find themselves on the losing end of the scoreboard more often than not, as was the case with their 3-1 defeat to Montreal in their opener at Air Canada Centre.
But if the 729th regular season matchup between the storied rivals is any indication, Leafs fans may be taking solace in the fact that the Babcock work ethic will at least produce an effort – night in and night out – worthy of the price of admission.