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As much as the club wished to learn more about the 18-year-old they were quite certain they were going to pick with the fifth selection, Rielly was just as curious to wonder what he would be thinking once the day was over.

The group, including Rielly’s parents Andy and Shirley, settled at the dining room table to have a meal.

“I really recall my mom and dad taking it really seriously, which was a big indication to me that the two of them wanted me to have success because of the lengths they went to make a good impression,” Rielly said. “They really wanted to paint a good picture for those guys.

“I was over the moon with what was going on. When they left, all I could really think about was playing for the Leafs.

“I didn’t really have an idea in my head that they were going to pick me, because I didn’t know what their opinion was of me, I just remember thinking that they came all the way out there, they came to my parents’ house, we spent the afternoon together.

“After that, the Leafs jersey was really the only one I could picture myself wearing.”

No other NHL club devoted that kind of pre-draft attention to Rielly. The Montreal Canadiens flew him in for a workout, and there was a meeting with the New York Islanders, but not at the house. The Anaheim Ducks, who picked sixth, indicated they were interested in taking Rielly if he still was on the board, and the Minnesota Wild, next at No. 7, had a similar interest.

“Nobody did their homework on Morgan like the Leafs did,” Andy Rielly said. “They talked to the billet family, they talked to the bus driver, the teachers, all the people in Moose Jaw. I thought we were trying to sell them on the idea of taking Morgan (at the meeting), and by the end of it, they were saying that Toronto would be a great place for Morgan. There was a mutual feeling.”