© Ashley Potts/NHLI via Getty Images

TORONTO — Chris Tanev knows all about pain, having blocked 1,652 shots in his 792-game NHL career.

But he admits to hurting in a far different, much deeper way while attending the funeral of his friend and former Calgary Flames teammate Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Media, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 9.

The 34-year-old defenseman fought back the emotions as he listened to Gaudreau’s family pay homage to the two men, especially when Johnny’s wife, Meredith, announced she was pregnant with the couple’s third child.

His gut churned. He, like the others in attendance, such as Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving and Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, were overcome. This, after all, was far worse than diving in front of an Alex Ovechkin slap shot face-first. Not even close.

“A nightmare,” Tanev told NHL.com last week. “I mean, as you’re standing there, the first things you think about is that you want to hug your son, hug your wife, tell your parents you love them.

“There are no words that can describe how sorry you are for Meredith and Johnny’s parents and their entire family.”

Johnny and Matthew died Aug. 29 when they were struck by a car while riding bicycles at home in Salem County, New Jersey. Johnny, who played 11 seasons in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Flames, was 31. Matthew, who played professionally for five seasons in the American Hockey League, ECHL and Sweden, was 29.

© Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images

As Tanev listened to the tributes for the Gaudreau brothers, he thought about his own family. About his wife, Kenda, and young son, Bobby. About how the couple is about to welcome another child shortly. About his mom, Sophie, and dad Mike, who supported him in his NHL dream while he was growing up in East York, a district of 118,000 directly east of downtown Toronto.

More importantly, about how his decision to sign with his hometown Maple Leafs during the offseason would allow him to be surrounded by his own family, whether it be parents, uncles, aunts, whomever.

Being close to his loved ones was one of the factors that led him to sign a six-year, $27 million contract (average annual value $4.5 million) with the Maple Leafs on July 1.

The Dallas Stars, who acquired him from the Flames in a three-way trade also involving the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 28, wanted to re-sign him after watching him play the final 19 games of the regular season and 19 more in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As Stars general manager Jim Nill said, Dallas couldn’t offer him the one thing Toronto could: a hockey homecoming.

This month, seeing the crushing pain etched on the faces of the Gaudreau family made Tanev appreciate even more than he’d be reunited with his own during the hockey season after 14 seasons of playing with the Vancouver Canucks, Flames and Stars.

“I mean, that’s the first thing that comes to mind,” he said. “You want to be close to your family. Little things, like them waiting for you after games, that makes all the difference.

“When something like the Gaudreau tragedy happens, you don’t really realize that until something so tragic actually does happen.”

True to his word, one of the first things he did after the funeral was give a long hug to 20-month-old Bobby when he saw him. For Tanev, family was never more important.

And the fact that he’ll be playing in front of his relatives, be able to greet them after games, be able to spend time with them on off days in the city where he was born and raised, well, it makes his choice to join the Maple Leafs even more precious.

* * * * *

Tanev’s journey from East York to being a defenseman for Maple Leafs is remarkable for those who watched him growing up playing minor hockey.

On his climb through the ranks, he rubbed shoulders with some of the most talented kids in the greater Toronto area. At one point, he was teammates with future NHL stars Steven Stamkos and P.K. Subban. John Tavares, now his Maple Leafs teammate, was a frequent opponent.

Those players would dominate games. Chris Tanev? Not so much.

“If you would have told me at that time that he would be in the NHL one day and have such a productive career, I would have bet a million bucks against it,” said Chris Stamkos, Steven’s father.

“He was pretty small. He wasn’t flashy. He got pucks off his stick quickly. He was smart about the game. But there was no real indication he’d turn into the player he is.”

Chris Stamkos would know.

Chris grew up in East York and attended East York Collegiate Institute with Mike Tanev, Chris’ father. The two are close friends to this day. As such, Chris Stamkos pretty much watched Chris Tanev’s hockey ascension from its roots.

“[Tanev’s] success is a great story,” he said. “It’s also proof that you don’t make the NHL when you’re 8 years old. People like to point out the kids who are dominant at that young age and project them to play in the NHL one day. They’re kids. A lot can change. Chris is proof of that.

“One thing’s for sure: He was always fiercely competitive.”

That’s very understandable, given he grew up with two younger brothers: Brandon, the 32-year-old Seattle Kraken forward; and Kyle, 30. From the intense mini stick games in the Tanev family basement to the soccer and baseball fields of East York, everything was a competition.

“Chris and I, we both had bragging rights throughout different times in our childhood, so it was a competitive household,” Brandon said. “You never want to lose to a little brother. And I always wanted to be the older brother. So that’s definitely how things went.”

Brandon recalls going to watch Chris play on the same team with Stamkos and Subban.

“Obviously there are some great players in that trio,” he said. “I mean, it’s nice to look up to those kinds of guys, especially with Chris being my brother and having him in my household and go through the same path as I eventually did.

“It’s light at the end of the tunnel, so you see how hard he works and what kind of person he is, and that’s where you want to be when you grow up.”

During their novice year as 8-year-olds, Chris, Subban and Stamkos played together on the North York Canadiens as part of one of the most successful juggernauts in the Greater Toronto Hockey League. Coach Doug Sheppard estimates they lost four games all season. They swept the Marlies in four games to win the Greater Toronto Hockey League championship.

“Obviously when you’re 8 years or 9 years old, playing with PK and Steven — I mean, Steven was playing up in age, but they were the two best players in that league by a mile,” Chris Tanev said. “So, I mean, obviously for them to play so long in the NHL, and obviously Steven still going at it, being an All-Star and scoring 40 goals every year, is impressive. So for me just to be around them when I was such a young age, it’s pretty cool that we’re all still involved in the game.”

It was at that time that Sheppard decided to move Subban from forward to defenseman, a position that he’d permanently play from there. He also worked tirelessly with Stamkos on his shot, which, believe it or not, was his weakness at the time.

Unfortunately there was nothing he could do about Tanev’s diminutive size. Only Mother Nature could solve that. Eventually the tiny kid on the ice would morph into the 6-foot-2, 193-pound shutdown defenseman he is today.

“I played against him a lot back then, and I remember him being one of the smallest players in the league,” Tavares said. “And then, all of a sudden he’s sprouted pretty nicely over the years over the course of his development.

“Really looking forward to having him be a teammate. Obviously him being from the [Greater Toronto Area] like me, I think he’s really relishing the opportunity to play well here.”

* * * * *

Given the number of pucks that have smacked off his body through the years, Chris Tanev was asked if he’s always had a high pain threshold that defines him as an NHL player.

His reaction: a shrug of the shoulders.

“I don’t know. Everyone has it. It’s hockey,” Tanev said.

“It’s what guys live and breathe. And obviously things happen along the way. Either you can play or you can’t. And I mean, that’s just part of the game.”

Sacrificing your body to the extent he does, even if it means diving headfirst in front of pucks traveling 100 mph? It might be part of his game, but not that of most players. In fact, his courage in doing whatever it takes to help the team has many around the League shaking their heads in awe.

Just ask Treliving, who made landing Tanev in free agency a priority for the Maple Leafs this offseason.

On Oct. 10, 2020, the rugged defenseman signed a four-year, $18 million contract ($4.5 million AAV) with Calgary when Treliving was the general manager there. Tanev had played his first 10 NHL seasons with the Canucks after signing as an undrafted free agent on May 31, 2010, a body of work that impressed Treliving enough to woo him to the Flames.

Four years later the two are reunited again. In fact, his desire to help bring Tanev to Toronto is reflected by the fact that the Maple Leafs acquired the exclusive negotiating rights to Tanev from the Stars for forward prospect Max Ellis and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft on June 29, three days before the opening of free agency.

“He’s just an elite defensive player,” Treliving said. “You know, we talk about offensive players seeing plays early. He does the same thing but on the defensive side of the puck.

“He’s an absolute warrior. He’s a culture carrier for your room. I know the age he’s at. But I think even in the last year he showed he’s one of the top shutdown defensemen, one of the top defensive players, in the League. And he’s a right shot. He embodies everything you want in a teammate.”

Tanev tied for third in the NHL last season with 207 blocked shots (Brayden McNabb, Vegas Golden Knights), then led the League with 73 in the playoffs. It’s exactly the sacrifice-your-body-for-the-sake-of-the-team approach that brings a smile to the face of new coach Craig Berube.

“Heart-and-soul guy,” Berube said of Tanev. “Team guy. Lays it on the line every night as you guys know. You watch him play.”

Tanev has 190 points (33 goals, 157 assists) in 792 regular-season games and 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) in 60 playoff games. He’s quick to say his forte is not offense, as reflected by those numbers.

Chris Stamkos remembers one night when Tanev, then with the Canucks, showed no fear in stepping in front of one of Steven’s lethal shots in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“He stuck his hand out and broke it,” Chris Stamkos said. “I joked with him that it would have been a lot less painful had he not stuck it out and just let Steven score. But that’s not Chris. He’s going to do whatever it takes to win.”

That philosophy has left Tanev with countless facial bruises, plenty of teeth scattered on ice surfaces around the NHL and a trademark smile that features one lone tooth.

In Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round between the Stars and Colorado Avalanche last season, for example, Tanev was hit in the mouth by the shoulder of Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon during the game’s first shift and quickly scampered to the dressing room. He returned several shifts later.

After the game, it was revealed that MacKinnon’s hit pushed in one of Tanev’s teeth, causing trainers to become impromptu dentists and pull it so he could return.

“He doesn’t have many teeth left,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said with a chuckle. “He didn’t have many to begin with.”

DeBoer’s admiration for Tanev’s courage continued to grow in the Western Conference Final against the Edmonton Oilers. Drilled in the right foot by a shot from Oilers forward Evander Kane in Game 4, he missed most of the final two periods and left Rogers Place in a walking boot. Yet when the puck dropped for Game 5 two days later, he was back in the lineup.

“Not only can he play through a remarkable amount of pain, he sets such a win-at-all-costs example for his teammates,” DeBoer said.

The Maple Leafs expect him to do the same in Toronto, where he skated with Morgan Rielly during the summer as part of what is expected to be the Maple Leafs’ top defense pair.

“I think he’s just a great piece,” Rielly said. “I think any team in the League that has Chris Tanev immediately becomes much stronger.

“There’s no two ways about it. He’s improved our defense. He’s improved our penalty kill. He’s overnight made our D-core better, made our entire team better. And what’s encouraging is that he’s excited to be here.”

Why wouldn’t he be? He is, after all, coming home.

“It’s special to be back, to be close to family and the group of friends who I’ve had since I was 15,” Tanev said.

As for the spotlight that goes with being in the hockey fishbowl of Toronto, he said he got some shrewd advice from his trainer, former Maple Leafs forward Gary Roberts.

“He said to take it in stride and enjoy all aspects of it, from family to the fans,” Tanev said. “He said playing here was the best time of his career.”

Though Tanev grew up a Detroit Red Wings fan, his allegiances obviously have changed through the years.

“To put on the Leafs jersey is an honor. A huge one,” he said. “And to be back at home, around family, I can imagine how crazy this town would go if the Leafs won a title.

“I want to be part of that.”