Borje Salming (left) and Ian Turnbull in Toronto Maple Leafs portraits. Hockey Hall of Fame/Getty Images
From the West Coast, Turnbull had watched his former blue line mate lift the roof of Scotiabank Arena during two pregame ceremonies earlier this month, Salming honored with the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2022 on Nov. 11, then alone the following night.
"I'm at a loss for words because Borje rallied to come to Toronto," he said, Salming having summoned enough strength to travel one last time to North America from his native Sweden. "I think they did a fantastic job (to honor Salming). I saw a few videos, it was very emotional and stirring and wonderful for him. I've got nothing but great memories of the guy."
Salming, from Kiruna, Sweden, and Montreal-native Turnbull were Maple Leafs teammates from their rookie seasons in 1973-74 through the latter's Nov. 11, 1981 trade to the Los Angeles Kings.
"I don't know that they knew how good Borje was, initially," Turnbull said. "It took a while, obviously. He had to cut his chops for people to pick up on how good he was.
"We got paired (as defense partners), I don't know why, and we seemed to click. We had a real nice chemistry. One year, I think both of us had 80 points."
In fact, in 1976-77, Turnbull had 79 points (22 goals, 57 assists), Salming one point fewer (12 goals, 66 assists).