TORONTO - Not until Mike Kostka hears Terre de nos aieux during Saturday night’s national anthem at the Bell Centre will he truly believe he’s made the NHL.
The 27-year-old’s long trail, with near-misses and dead ends, brings him to a fairytale ending, scheduled to start for his hometown Leafs in the season opener in Montreal.
The undrafted defenceman has been tantalizingly close before, with the Florida Panthers at the end of their 2011 training camp.
