The lack of pressure matters now more than it ever did in the NHL.

“The pressure is just way less now,” he said. “It’s a lot more enjoyable just to come to the rink.”

That philosophy explains why Booth rarely plays full seasons anymore. He arrives in December or January, contributes down the stretch, then leaves. Less grind. More joy.

* * *

If Scotland is simply the latest stop, Australia might have been the least predictable one of all.

Booth’s connection to Australian hockey began almost accidentally. In the summer of 2015, after his season with the Maple Leafs, he was invited to play in the Australian Ice Hockey Classic, a charity event organized by Kerry Goulet.

“They put on such a great event and treated us so well,” Booth said. “(NHL defenseman) Brent Burns was over there that time. A couple of teammates of mine were over there.”

It felt like a novelty at first. Weekend games. Beach days. Summer hockey without consequence. But the relationship stuck. Years later, Goulet called again, this time with a more serious pitch. He was coaching Melbourne Ice and asked Booth to come for a three-month season.

“I didn’t know anything about a league in Australia,” Booth said. “I had no idea it even existed.”

The decision became a family one. Booth and his wife, Ashley, had three young children. Australia sounded like an adventure.

“I asked my daughter and my son, ‘Would you guys want to go to Australia?’” Booth said. “They go, ‘Wow, that’d be cool.’”

What followed was unlike anything Booth had experienced in hockey.

Two practices a week, mostly at night, sometimes starting as late as 9:15 PM. Some rinks without glass. Public skating dominating ice availability.

“You couldn’t go into the rink until an hour and a half before the game,” Booth said. “They’d have public skating all day. You’d have like 200 people on the ice every day.”

The business model fascinated him. Ice time was precious. Public skating paid the bills. Hockey adapted around it.

“All the guys have jobs, too,” Booth said. “They go to a 9-to-5 (job), so they can’t really cut work for practice.”

On the ice, 40-year-old Booth dominated. Sixty-four points in 14 games. Yes, you read that right: 64 points (34 goals, 30 assists) in fourteen regular-season games. The numbers look cartoonish. He insists they did not come easily.

“I was genuinely nervous,” he said. “I was like, I’m sure there’s a lot of pressure on me coming over there. And I don’t care what league you play — it’s hard to put up points. There were some good teams. It’s not like you just go down (the ice) and shoot and score.”

He played enormous minutes, skating on three lines. Constant involvement. But the environment suited him. And so did the lifestyle.

Melbourne’s medical support surprised him most.

“We had one of the best physios I’ve ever had in my entire career,” Booth said, praising Luke Fuller of ‘A Sports Clinic.’ “These guys were brilliant. NHL teams would be thrilled to have them. Fuller is based out of Australia, but he worked with guys like (tennis stars) Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, went to Wimbledon to help them every year. I was just blown away that a guy like him was helping out our team.”

The season ended with a championship. The coach cried. To Booth, it all mattered deeply.

“Next to Jacques Martin in Florida, my Australian coach, Kerry Goulet, was the best coach I ever had,” Booth said.