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It became a mid-winter's tradition for Joe Colborne. Getting wind of the same old rumour - his National Hockey League rights being shipped from the Boston Bruins to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Tomas Kaberle - and trying to ignore it. First time around, Colborne, only a freshman at the University of Denver, found it overwhelming. "Every time someone phoned, I thought I was getting traded," says Phil Kessel. "Then the deadline went by and I was, like, 'I got way too sucked into that whole thing.
I'm going to step back.' " Handling gossip, over the years, got easier. Then a funny thing happened. The rumour had been making its annual rounds . . . and, by gosh, it came true, much to the lad's utter shock. "When it started again this year," says Colborne, "I was thinking, 'This is nothing. I've been through this many times. It's not happening.' " But, oh, it did -Feb. 18, 2011. And, as Colborne can now tell you, all the scuttlebutt in the world is nothing compared to the genuine article. The trade freaked him out. "Pure panic" are his words. At the time of the upheaval, Colborne, skating on behalf of the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League, wasn't thinking about opportunity, which the thin roster of the Leafs would surely provide. Rather, he was trying to get his head around more practical matters. Such as getting his Jeep to Toronto, re-packing and shipping his brandnew television, sorting his belongings in time for an early-evening flight. And on and on. Those anxious hours, it's worth a laugh now. Colborne, taking a post-workout break earlier this week at a Calgary coffee shop, chuckles about that afternoon. He appears to enjoy the tale, probably because it features a happy ending.Toronto Maple Leafs So, with little prodding, the chatty young man happily recounts all aspects of the frantic day. How his teammates, in the locker-room after the morning skate in Providence, had broken the story. "A couple guys were saying, 'This could be your last skate with us.' " How he had 40 received calls on his cellphone while in the shower -and still no word from either team. How confirmation was provided by his agents, J.P. Barry and Mark Mackay. How Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli eventually called, how Leafs boss Brian Burke rang seconds later. How, shook up, he shut off his phone for a full hour and enlisted the help of roommate Matt Bartkowski's girlfriend, a packing whiz. "Thank goodness she was visiting," says Colborne, shaking his head at the memory. "Just weird. Obviously, something I've never been through.
It was pretty neat. Such a whirlwind." Now, months later, he reflects on the process, sounding wise beyond his 21 years. "It just shows how much of a business this is,(Nfl Jerseys)" Colborne says. "Not once did I feel that Boston had given up on me, that they had lost faith in me. They just have to look out for what's best for them -and that was going out and getting a top defenceman like Kaberle.