Postcard: Maple Leaf Square

TORONTO-- Here's how a good Sunday begins for a writer at the World Cup of Hockey 2016.
You wish Scotty Bowman a happy 83rd birthday on social media and by text message, the greatest coach in the history of hockey replies with "thanks" and a short exchange that, as always, is rich with insight, history and anecdotes.
My morning continues on Twitter with 79th birthday wishes for Ralph Backstrom, who won the Stanley Cup six times and was a valuable member of Montreal Canadiens teams from 1958-69.

Then, 60th birthday greetings to Peter Stastny, the sniper who helped put the Quebec Nordiques on the map before suiting up for the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues.
And it was a happy 66th to Toronto Maple Leafs legend Darryl Sittler, who like Bowman and Stastny is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Sittler's statue, among the seven on Legends Row in Maple Leaf Square, and many photos of him in Air Canada Centre were a tangible presence for a 6-0 win by Team Canada against Team Czech Republic on Saturday. The former Maple Leafs captain wasn't in the building, attending two weddings that day. But he will be on hand Tuesday when Team Canada plays Team USA (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN TVA Sports).

Sittler likely is best remembered for two things: his record-setting 10-point game (six goals, four assists) on Feb. 7, 1976 against the Boston Bruins, and for having scored the winning goal 11:33 into overtime against Team Czechoslovakia in the 1976 Canada Cup. The 5-4 sudden-death victory came on Sept. 15, 1976 in a nail-biting Montreal Forum.
The eternally youthful forward recalled the historic goal
in a Toronto Sun story
upon the 40th anniversary of the goal.
Behind the winning team's bench for that inaugural Canada Cup tournament was Bowman, who on Saturday had watched Team Canada's dismantling of Team Czech Republic from his home outside Buffalo.
"Normally I'd be at a training camp by now, so I'll just stay close to the TV today and watch some hockey." Bowman said in a text message. "Team Canada's defense is in a class by themselves. Just like our defense in the 1976 Canada Cup. Bobby Orr. Denis Potvin. Larry Robinson. Serge Savard. Guy Lapointe. Jim Watson. Hard to get better than that."
Canadiens legend Maurice "Rocket" Richard presented Sittler with a soapstone carving after the final game.

My Sunday would continue at Air Canada Centre with an NHL Network radio chat with Gord Stellick and Rob Simpson, dissecting Team Canada's win in the opener, move on to finishing up a feature profile of Team Czech Republic assistant coach Jaroslav Spacek, a 13-year NHL defenseman who is one of the great characters in the game, then finish off with a column written off the afternoon game between Team Russia and Team Sweden.
The game Sunday between Team North America and Team Finland? I'd hang around to watch that just for fun - while rounding up a few notes on the late, great Odie Cleghorn, a 1924 Stanley Cup champion whose birth 125 years ago on Monday I will happily mark on social media.
If Odie texts me his thanks, I'll have a whale of a story.