When Josh Gorges skated onto the ice Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre, Maple Leafs fans could only think of what might have been.

This wasn’t an anticipated return of an ex-Leaf or a player fans in Toronto have grown to hate over the years. Gorges, the former Canadiens defenceman, was something entirely different — he “chose” not to become a Leaf.

For a few weeks in the off-season, Gorges and Cody Franson were linked in a straight-up trade between Montreal and Toronto.

Gorges refused to remove the Leafs from his no-trade list. There was simply no way Gorges, after eight years in a Canadiens uniform, and living the dislike associated with the Leafs-Habs rivalry, that he could suddenly switch.

Now, after Gorges joined the Buffalo Sabres, the 30-year old leads the NHL in blocked shots with 42 — 12 more than Calgary’s Kris Russell. He’s also given the Sabres an excellent option with his specialty in penalty killing, and became an instant option as one of the club’s assistant captains.

Could Gorges, and his heart and soul approach to the game, have helped the Leafs?

Yes, and no.

“I really, really believe that the only reason I got to this league is giving my heart and soul every opportunity I get,” said Gorges, who was undrafted, but has built a 10-year NHL career now based on sacrifice and work ethic.

“It got me to Montreal all those years . . . so could I do it in Toronto? Maybe, after time but I don’t know. For me, to be as good a player I can be and be good for the guys (teammates), I have to give all my emotions and I don’t know if I could do that here. And if I couldn’t, then how do you feel good about yourself?”

Franson couldn’t help but hear the rumours this summer. Franson is building a home in Kelowna and the builder he chose showed him a model home next door to Gorges. The pair are close friends from their days in junior hockey playing for the Kelowna Rockets.

“Those are tough rumours not to hear, you know what I mean?” Franson said. “Those are the ones that show up right on your front doorstep. It comes down to what you can control. We (Gorges and Franson) talked a little bit. I don’t want to say too much after that.”

Gorges understands the Leafs-Habs rivalry, and is also hoping to build up the Leafs-Sabres rivalry. He’s in a unique, anti-Leaf position as a player, but even he wasn’t expecting the focus on himself leading up to the Leafs game Tuesday night.

The Leafs certainly wanted him badly enough to have a trade ready for Montreal, a team they historically avoid as a trade partner.

Gorges said after the shock of being turned loose by Montreal, he phoned his agent and asked for “time to think things over.” He understood the Leafs option, but his heart told him he couldn’t take the Leafs off his list of 15 teams he didn’t want to be traded to.

Now, his presence and makeup might have changed the course of dissatisfaction now gripping the Leafs.

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“Josh’s impact has been exactly what we expected . . . he adds a competitive element to our team,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan said Monday in Buffalo.

“You hear him in practice, yelling all the time and you hear him during games, and he doesn’t like to lose. Sooner or later, that attitude rubs off on everyone else.”

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