Mark Giordano reveals who his favourite Leafs were growing up

He provides intensity, stability, leadership, poise and experience to a Leafs team who has been short on a few of those characteristics over the past few seasons.

On Saturday, ahead of the Leafs' Saturday night tilt with the Montreal Canadiens at The Bell Centre, Giordano took some time to join The NHL Network to discuss what it's like to finally be playing at home in Toronto. In addition, the 38-year-old was asked by Jackie Redmond who his favourite Leafs were growing up.

While one would assume he'd have had at least one Leafs defenseman that he really looked up to, the two names that Gio brought up were both forwards. They were also both former Leafs captains!

Obviously, given how much both Killer and Wendel meant to the organization, I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised that they'd be the two guys Giordano would pick as his favourites to watch. Gio, himself, even plays some of that brand of hockey as well.

We're now coming up to the most important time of the year. In just a few short weeks, we'll be gearing up for playoff hockey and the Leafs are hoping that Giordano, along with fellow newcomers Ilya Lyubushkin and Colin Blackwell, can make the type of impact that can help propel the Leafs beyond the first round for the first time in almost two decades.