Jake DeBrusk shows the ultimate sign of respect to Patrick Marleau in series ending handshake line

If you missed last night’s Game 7 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins, you missed another lesson in how to close out a series by the Bruins. The Bruins bested the Leafs yet again in what was a close series, but ultimately came down to a stronger performance by the Bruins in Game 7. Again… surprise, surprise. 

And, just like he did in last year’s Game 7, Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk factored into things last night. The 22 year old winger made things difficult for the Leafs all series long and was the one who riled up Leafs forward Nazem Kadri so much that he earned himself a five game suspension. 

After the series was over though, DeBrusk was as classy as could be and even paid the ultimate compliment to one of his foes. During the post-game handshake DeBrusk reportedly took the time to tell Marleau just what he thinks of him.

Check it out:

“They have a lot of good players on their team. There’s also some players that I know. I know about five or six of them. Tyler Ennis is from the same place (Edmonton) I’m from. We had a little conversation. It was actually Patrick Marleau. I believe he is a Hall of Famer. I told him that. Other ones are just, ‘Great series.’ Little things with Matthews and (Mitch) Marner. But Marleau’s probably the biggest one.”

How classy is that? 

Leafs fans may not exactly be enamoured with DeBrusk, but you don’t have to love the way him plays in order to have respect for him. A classy move by a classy player. Kudos, Jake DeBrusk.