By Lance Hornby

Copyright torontosun

“Mitch was such a part of our team, such a great player,” Sittler lamented. “You talk about his goals, assists and creativity, which were awesome to watch, but he was very good defensively. He was an all-around player. I guess for Mitch, sometimes these things happen and he’s moving on. We’ll miss him here.

“In my era, the Harold Ballard days, and Punch Imlach (in his second coming as GM) they traded a lot of guys, Lanny McDonald and a number of others. It’s not the nicest thing in the game, but you learn to adjust and it’s your job, you blend in with the new guys. The logo on the chest is the most important thing.”

Sittler was feeling nostalgic for a couple of other reasons on Monday, the 49th anniversary of his goal to win the first Canada Cup against the former Czechoslovakia at the Montreal Forum, which was his only major title trophy. It was also grandson Luke’s 21st birthday.