[DUlrich1227]

The number of cameras, microphones and notepads suggested it was mid-season at the Air Canada Centre with the Leafs in first place.

Instead it was a dimly lit minor-hockey arena adorned with pictures of house league MVPs — not Maple Leaf greats. And, never mind being in first place, the Leafs are still about three weeks from opening training camp.

But for the past two days representatives of more than a dozen media outlets have descended on Leaf scrimmages at Lakeshore Lions Arena to check out the team's newest players and chronicle the return of NHL hockey from a year-long lockout.

"I've been to a Stanley Cup final once and that was the only time I've seen it like this," Leafs forward Jeff O'Neill said yesterday of all the attention.

O'Neill's entire NHL career was spent in the small-market outposts of Hartford and Raleigh, N.C., before getting traded to Toronto earlier this month.

He and fellow new Leaf acquisitions Eric Lindros and Jason Allison (both signed as free agents) got hero's welcomes at the west-end arena yesterday from a pack of 30 autograph hounds and dozens of grade schoolers at a hockey camp.

The fans largely overlooked Leaf regulars like Darcy Tucker and Tie Domi in favour of trying to get a peek at the trio of newcomers, who were among about 20 Leafs and Leaf prospects scrimmaging in advance of the opening of training camp on Sept. 12.

The young admirers occasionally got confused in identifying their heroes, mistaking Paulo Colaiacovo, a former OHL goalie of the year, for his twin brother Carlo, a Leaf defenceman.

The timing of all the attention left the players slightly in awe.

It was beautifully sunny, an unofficial day on the hockey calendar with the players working informally on regaining their timing and conditioning.

"The most important thing we can do now is develop our team chemistry," said Allison, who experienced occasional media frenzies in Los Angeles, but not before the season had even begun. "Some of us are coming from different teams, so it's important to get to know each other."

Lindros, looking as big as a mountain in his uniform, concurred.

"It's great to get back to hockey, all the little things that make it seem like hockey, the guys, the dressing room. ... It makes it feel like hockey again."

O'Neill was in the public eye for the first time since a traffic accident in mid-July killed his older brother Donny.

"It's been tough, you feel like you are getting over it, then some days come up and it's right there," O'Neill said.

"But people keep reminding me to keep thinking about the good things and that will get you through."

O'Neill, a native of King City, is in transition between selling his former home in Raleigh, N.C., and settling back down locally.

"I'm pretty lucky, I have friends down there (Raleigh) who are taking care of my home for me, they're selling it for me."

O'Neill was a favourite of the Toronto media during the 2001-02 playoffs when Carolina edged the Leafs in the Eastern Conference final. He often motioned to a radio reporter for a brief spot on the air where he could send a greeting to his uncle, a truck driver working around London, Ont.

Lindros similarly remained tuned into his hometown in Toronto even while playing in Philadelphia and New York. He had envisioned himself a Leaf throughout the later stages of his career and tried to engineer a trade here in 2001 when his days with the Flyers were drawing to a close.

The dreams of Lindros, O'Neill and Allison of playing in Toronto finally came true after the lockout ended. The reality of their moves — constant attention and demands from the media and fans — was driven home yesterday, much earlier than any of them expected.