Maple Leafs make major announcement regarding John Tavares

Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares recently registered his 1,000th career point, and it ironically came against his former team in the New York Islanders. 

And while most Islanders fans in attendance weren't exactly receptive to the acknowledgment of the achievement on the large scoreboard at UBS Arena, Tavares will be getting a proper reception from the home fans at Scotiabank Arena the next time that they hit the ice in Toronto. 

For Tavares, he certainly would have preferred the win, but will take the chance to soak in the achievement more as he moves forward. 

“It has been a great ride so far, great journey, you want to celebrate in a win, but I’m very proud of it,” Tavares told reporters after the game. “In certain ways, you are happy it has happened and you can move forward and there will be a time and place to soak it in a little more.”

“It was a bit surreal,” Tavares said of the play. “Wasn’t pretty, so just wanted to make sure that it was correct and I had a good feeling, I had a net-front presence and it went off me. Helped lead to a big point for us. Happy it came in a really good moment for the team. “You see all your teammates come out, it’s really special. The uniqueness of doing it where I played the first nine years of my career and it’s a big part of who I am, cool to do it here.”

Meanwhile, the fact that Tavares' father was in attendance along with the rest of the team fathers made it all the more special.

“Everything you go through in your childhood and living a dream playing in the NHL, to have him here was tremendous,” he said. “He wasn’t there for a lot of my minor-hockey days (because of work) and just really special for him for a big one like that.”

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