Mike Komisarek Meets His Old Teams At the Start

As fate would have it Mike Komisarek will not have to wait long before facing his former team. This unrestricted free agent defenceman who is known for his thunderous hits signed a five- year deal earlier this month with the re-loading Toronto Maple Leafs for a cool 22.5 million dollars. What made this signing attract a lot of attention is that Komisarek has played his first seven seasons with the Leafs number one rivals in the Montreal Canadiens. “It’s tough to look that far ahead,” the 27 year-old who scored 11 points last season said about the anticipation of starting the regular season on October 1 against his former team. “I’m looking forward to the first game of the season and for the first time stepping into the Maple Leaf uniform, but I’m sure it’ll be quite the experience when we play Montreal. Komisarek who wanted to sign with a big market team will get to face his former team at least six times this season and he isn’t expecting a warm homecoming when the teams do battle in the Molson Centre. “People (In Montreal) are definitely not going to be cheering for me, but it’s hockey, it’s competition,” he said. “It’s what makes our sport great. You go from being villain to hero.” Even though Komisarek had nothing but glowing things to say about the Canadiens he thought it was time for a change of scenery and hopes that the Montreal fans can understand that. “This is the business we’re in—sometimes relationships don’t work out,” the 6 foot 4 240- pound Komisarek said. “I’ve had nothing but great experiences in Montreal with the fans.” This New York native will hope to have a good experience for his new team starting on October 1 when the Leafs kick off their schedule against the Canadiens.