Phil Kessel came and went with the Stanley Cup in tow, and partied with a group of friends made in Toronto that included only two NHL players.
This, according to James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail.
No current members of the Toronto Maple Leafs were present, and former captain Dion Phaneuf - who flew in for the celebration from his offseason home in Prince Edward Island - was the only former teammate.
A rowdy P.K. Subban, meanwhile, showed up hooting and hollering at around midnight, still wearing a cowboy hat from his introductory press conference in Nashville that afternoon.
The crowd was made up of friends, many of whom were from the city's hospitality industry, which makes sense seeing as Kessel frequented many high-end restaurants (not hot dog stands) during his tenure with the Maple Leafs.
Contrary to popular and somewhat cynical belief, the Pittsburgh Penguins winger didn't take the Cup to Toronto to rub it in anyone's face, as confirmed by former NHL forward and party attendee Wojtek Wolski.
"Phil's not the type of person to bring the Cup to Toronto out of spite," Wolski told Mirtle. "He brought it because his friends live here. His family came to Toronto to celebrate. It made a lot of sense."
Between this and Kessel's trip to a local children's hospital, it seems as though Kessel's homecoming of sorts was everything that's good about winning a pro sports championship.
