It is always a good time when the Maple Leafs can trot out the special ceremony rug and celebrate an accomplishment. Tonight the Maple Leafs honoured John Tavares for a feat that only 98 players in NHL history have achieved and that is scoring 1,000 points.
It’s been a week since Tavares achieved that milestone, notably against his former club and with his father in attendance for the Leafs Dads road trip and while the Leafs played at home on Thursday and Saturday, tonight was the first opportunity for the captain’s family to be in attendance and celebrate with him.
Our captain. Our leader.
Johnny Toronto 🫡 pic.twitter.com/h3R1Kg5Iy7
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 20, 2023
The Leafs captain came away with a nice little haul including a $25,000 cheque for his foundation. It was also great to see the other Leafs leaders involved in the ceremony as well as one of the few other Maple Leafs to hit the 1,000 point plateau, Darryl Sittler. (Tavares still has 117 points to go before catching Sittler.)
The Leafs did the ceremony right with a lot of thoughtful inclusions but respecting that brevity adds to the event as getting on with the game is also paramount.
Cap & Co. 💙 pic.twitter.com/vSsUZwuKcw
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 20, 2023
Presently the Leafs captain sits tied for 97th in all-time points with Brian Propp at 1,004, just 2 points back of another former Leaf, Lanny McDonald. Tavares also sits 76th on the all-time goal list with 436, one goal back of 74th overall and a tie with Pavel Bure and Rick Nash. And the night is still young, and you’d assume the best gift the Leafs can give their captain is a win on his night.
