As the Maple Leafs are shown at the door of their dressing room on the giant Air Canada Centre screen before warm-up, fans get an interesting look at pre-game routines and superstitions.

It starts — and ends — with Matt Martinat the front of the line, making sure he fist pumps or chest bumps every player who passes before joining the queue heading to the ice.



“That’s kind of what I did on Long Island,” the fourth-line winger said. “Everyone has their spot (centres Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozaklike to lead off) and if you watch, it’s the same order. Everybody kind of does their thing.



“Luckily on this team, no one likes to be last on the ice and I was able to do what I did in New York.”



Martin also likes to linger, one of the final players off the ice when the horn sounds to end warm-up, though he says James van RiemsdykandAuston Matthews usually drag it out the longest. Some ultra-superstitious players insist on being the last off for both teams, one of whom used to fire a puck into the empty Leafs net as his signature. Former back-up goalie Glenn Healy got wind of that and would always stay out to stop it.



HATS OFF TO BABS



Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcockis not having very much luck with friendly bets this season.



He appeared before the media on Monday wearing a University of New Hampshire hockey cap, having lost a wager with van Riemsdyk for a Sunday game when JVR’s younger brother Brendan played against Merrimack (Mass.) College where the coach’s son Michael is a sophomore. UNH won 5-2.



Babcock lamented he’s had to buy bottles of wine for Matthews, general managerLou Lamoriello and Leafs player evaluation directorJim Paliafitoafter losing bets based on Canada-US games during the world junior hockey championship.



WE CAN WORK IT OUT



The Leafs had a rare second day with a full practice on Monday, but with the schedule jamming up again as the weekend approaches and they go back on the road, the club planned to skip Tuesday morning’s skate for a meeting.



Babcock’s forward lines seemed to hint to a return of Connor Brownto right wing on the line with Matthews andZach Hyman, while William Nylander re-joins Kadri and Leo Komarov. NewcomerBrian Boyle remains between Martin and Nikita Soshnikov on the fourth unit, withEric FehrandJosh Leivo the extras.



LOOSE LEAFS



Frederik Andersen likely will be in goal for Toronto on Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings ... Surplus centre Ben Smithmissed practice Monday to have the last of the wires removed from an operation to repair his broken hand ... Assistant coaches D.J. Smith and Steve Briere had an interesting drill going at the end of the workout, throwing hard one-hop pucks from the goal line to the blueline, where forwards, defencemen and goalies tried to keep them on side despite the wild bounces ... The Leafs also practiced shootouts after losing their eighth in nine tries during the winless California trip ... The Leafs will recognize play-by-play man Joe Bowen’s 3,000th Leafs broadcast on Tuesday.