You each debuted with the Leafs last year. How was that?
KK I got called the night before, pretty late. Thank God I was still awake. As soon as I hung up I called my dad, it was like four in the morning over there. I had to call him right away. I called my mom, my dad, I told them what was happening and my mom was really excited and my dad was too. I showed up to the rink, had morning skate and then we had a game. I played really well, I remember that. Should have scored a couple times but it was nice to know all my buddies, they went to my one friend’s place and they watched the game back in Finland. My whole family was watching the game, too. It was pretty special.
BL I ended up flying to Vancouver. Played the next afternoon. My parents took the craziest route to get there: Flew from Winnipeg, through Minneapolis, Seattle, drove out to Vancouver, they cut the line at the border, they missed warmups. I played junior just down the road, so the second phone call I made was to my billets. I hadn’t seen them in a while, so they made the trip up. Scoring my first goal was pretty cool on Hockey Night in Canada.
You picked it out of the air and batted it in. Did you play baseball as a kid?
BL It was just lucky. If you ask Rich Clune — he had an assist on it—he’ll tell you he set me up for a backdoor tap in. Really, he shot it off a defenceman’s back. [Laughs.]
Your parents had a great reaction in the stands.
BL They had a lot of TV time. People bugged me about it, said, “Your mom was a bigger star than you were.” It was great having them there, and my parents’ reaction, that’s what it’s all about. It’s been a long time coming.
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