The Toronto Maple Leafs ... "The Solution"
I’ve discovered the answer to the problem of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
A very close friend of 40+ years, Ross Brewitt, recently passed away. He was a sportswriter with 4 hockey books and a fabulous Ontario weekly sports newspaper column to his credit.
His observations were always unique.
His essays were clean and direct and they had a buzz that made them very entertaining. He gave me a master’s class in writing resulting in us sending each other a regular bunch of nonsense, then laughing our asses off.
He left too soon. I’d asked him a thousand sports questions and still had more to ask.
He put me on the ice once a week for 3 years with former Leafs: Pierre Pilote, Jim McKenny, Frank Mahovlich, Eddie Shack, Brian Glennie, Bobby Nevin and several other non-Leaf players, including the fabulous Dale Tallon.
For a hockey nut like me, it was a priceless gift. Being in a dressing room following practice with former NHL players and be part of the banter … was several steps above “priceless”.
Recently, I visited Ross’s wife, Sylvia, and she gave me a jersey he used to wear when we played shinny together in the 1970s. It’s a Leaf practice jersey, shown here. It’s more than 60 years old.
Ross and the jersey reminded me of the "old" Leafs and my connection to the team. I started to write about my reminiscences and typically, my short story blossomed into a small book.
If you follow my blog, you may recognize some of the Leaf references from previous essays. I include some of them here. I hope you’ll indulge me. I thought these “repeaters” would help with context.
I hope Ross would approve of my Leaf story. I hope he’d laugh at some of my observations and give me an “attaboy” for paying attention to his writing tips.
Ross told me ...
"Hemingway said when you write ... write the truest thing you know".
I know Leafs. I'll prove it if you decide to read on.
If you have no interest, just hit delete.
If you proceed, it’ll be an investment in your time — this is a very, very long piece. If you decide to stick around and endure it, you will be rewarded with the answer to what the problem is with the Toronto Maple Leafs ... and, most importantly, my solution.
Some would measure this as a 3-beer read.
I'm a fan of any team in my hometown.
Toronto's my home so the Maple Leafs, the International League Toronto Maple Leaf Baseball team (a Brooklyn Dodger farm team), the 83-year-old CFL Toronto Argonauts who won the Grey Cup 17 times during their history, the Toronto Rifles the back-to-back World Series Champion Blue Jays, the Toronto Rock lacrosse team, and the 2019 NBA Champion Raptors basketball team.
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| Sir Stanley |
As a kid, I watched the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada religiously on Saturday nights. The game, on channel 6 CBLT, didn't actually come on until 8:30 pm even though game time/puck drop was 8 pm. So, I'd hope for a fight or some other first-period delay so I'd see more of the televised game when it finally aired.
When I was 8 or 9, my sister's husband, who was an alumnus of the hockey factory
at St. Michael's College School … which groomed Lindsay and Horton and Duff and Keon and Mahovlich and Lindros and lots of others, would take me to Leaf games.
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| It doesn't look like a "hockey factory" |
We sat in the Grey seats (top of the building).
The walk to the Carlton St. main doors of Maple Leaf Gardens was very special. The people noise ... the smell of roasted chestnuts from the street vendors and the excitement of entering the building.
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| Hey! Who wants a ticket? Who needs a pair? |
| Hockey's Mecca * "The Carlton Street Cash-Box" |
"Get your Maple Leaf programs -- Tonight’s Hockey lineups!"
Magic.
Once inside, there was always a pre-game trip to the snack bar. A 25-cent almost hot hot dog - served that way because Ballard put them in a warm room the night before, a 10 cent Coke in a waxed cup - the wax came off in my teeth, and a box of Cracker Jack Popcorn - there was no prize inside - they were afraid you’d throw it on the ice.
To me, everything was delicious and my brother-in-law paid! When I sat in those Grey seats, I remember the smell of hot roasted walnuts from the guy who sat next to us. He shared them with us and his season ticket neighbours -- the same people showed up for every game. Everyone in this Grey seat section knew everyone else.
Many of them were screamers and if a Leaf player didn't look like he was ready to play that night, the player would hear from the Greys … "C'mon Shackie - hit somebody"!
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| Dave Keon's team. |
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| Bob Nevin's Team |
As a kid, I often wondered why my Toronto Maple Leaf favourites didn’t come from Toronto … Toronto had the biggest population … Toronto had lots of rinks … Toronto had lots of teams and leagues. Yet, Keon was from Noranda, Quebec and Mahovlich and Nevin were from Timmins, Ontario and “Red” Kelly from Simcoe. Not to mention the 42 NHL’er’s that came from a northern Ontario mining town of Kirkland Lake — a town whose population didn’t exceed 30,000. How'd they ever find these guys?
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| Backstrom, Duff, Hillman each earn 6 Stanley Cups |
This is how it was once explained to me … “those guys in northern mining towns have nothing else to do but play hockey — that’s how they made it”. Which of course, is silly. The very best, most talented players that you and I know or have played with could play 24 hours a day, every day and still not even come close to making it to the NHL. Just like anything else, talent was key. But, why were there so many talented hockey players in places other than Toronto?
Anyways … me and my 11-year-old buddies uncovered an interesting angle at the Gardens box office for the Junior games. If an adult bought a ticket anywhere in the building, they could buy another ticket for a child, next to them, for one dollar. We'd evaluate the ticket buyers in the line-up and approach to see if we could be their
kid-for-a-day.
After a few games, we'd perfected our "ask" so no hockey fan could ever turn us down. We always had the best seats for a buck … often rail seats … nose against the glass.
I remember the brilliant red and blue colour of the lines on the ice at the Gardens and the rush of excitement when my Leaf heroes jumped through the gate to start the game. And, I remember seeing the kid, dressed in a suit and tie standing behind the Leaf bench - he was the stick boy.
How'd he get that job?
Does he know all the players?
Does he go on the road with the team?
I couldn't stop watching him ... if only I could be that kid.
In the 1980s, I got a call from a friend who was a Leaf equipment supplier. He said, "the Leafs need a new stick boy" "I suggested your son, Sean, would be ideal for the job". They want him to come to the Gardens for an interview. Wow! If it couldn't be me ... my son was certainly the next best thing. I couldn't wait for him to come home from school to tell him.
I was so excited about this news, you can imagine my disappointment when my 16-year-old son said, "I'm not interested". What?
Long story short, I had to tell my friend to have the team look for someone else. Sean didn't want the job ... the very job I'd dreamed about.
Finally, after some back and forth, Sean decided to give the Leaf's a test.
He'd do the job for a few games in pre-season to see "if I like it".
What?
They decided to hire him because they were convinced he wasn't a "fan" and wouldn't be bothering players looking for autographs.
Anyways, he signed on and, once he got familiar with the job he was actually assigned to the visiting team, not the Leafs.
So, for four years, he got to work for Gretzky and the Oilers (99 would send him down the hall to the snack bar after pre-game warm-up for a ham and cheese sandwich and a Coke - maybe that was his key to playing success). Sean also worked for the Big Bad Bruins with Butch Goring as a coach. At the beginning of each game against the Leafs, Goring would tape a $100 bill to the wall … “the first guy to put Vaive on his ass, gets the hundred!”
But, back to me.
I may be the only person you've ever heard of who attended each of the Leaf's victory parades up Toronto's Bay Street to be met by the mayor and thousands of fans at City Hall. There was a terrific aerial photo of the 1963 event (with me in the lower right-hand corner hanging off a lamppost). That framed snap hung on the wall outside the Gardens snack bar where I used to buy my Cracker Jack and was removed when the building closed and the team moved to the Air Canada Centre.
In 1970, a cop friend invited me to an hour of ice time that was reserved for off-duty policemen. The time was from 6 - 7 am. I arrived at 4:30 am. I was super-excited. While everyone dressed and chatted, I was already in full uniform and wandered out to the ice.
The building was dark but as I put my hand on the latch to open the gate, someone threw the light switch and the building came to life. Till now, I'd only seen that room on TV or from my seats. At ice level, It was immense. The cantilevered ceiling made it look gigantic.
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| How could anyone play with so many looking over your shoulder? |
While I warmed up, I had the feeling that those 14,000 seats were sitting right on my shoulder ... couldn't imagine what it must have been like to have 14,000 fans in the seats sitting on my shoulder.
Skating on the Gardens ice by myself, inhaling the place, hearing the crunch of my blades on the fresh ice, timing my strides so as not to scrape those beautiful red and blue lines ... fabulous!
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| World's Best Jockey |
During winters, Sandy would race at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles during the day and attend LA Kings games at the Fabulous Forum at night. Incidentally, Sandy was so popular with LA racing fans, they referred to the track as "Hawley Park"
Similarly, I didn't become a player but I did get my name in the Leaf program for
5 years in the 1980s as the publications' Director of Sales and Marketing.
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| Nobody like Rick Vaive He scored 50 goals * 3 consecutive years |
Our editor was Lou Cauz. Lou had a good relationship with Punch Imlach from his days in the 1960s as the Globe and Mail hockey beat writer. When Punch returned to coach the Leafs in 1980, Lou would send him the names of players he'd like to put on the program cover. Punch would only say "yes" to the player he knew would still be with the team when the magazine was printed.
One of the perks of the program publishing job was that we had one hour of ice time at the Gardens for 13 consecutive years from September to April so we could entertain prospective advertisers and invite them to a game of shinny. Harold Ballard was a little crazy but he was also generous. He’d take the cheque for our ice time each year and hand it over to Big Brothers. We had 30 games a year for 13 years at hockey Mecca. I actually spent more time on that sheet than a lot of journeymen Leaf players did in their whole careers.
During that time, we had several guests join our noon hour shinny group — injured Leaf players who couldn’t go on the road with the team. They’d do their best to keep up with us. We were a tough bunch for Tiger Williams and Ron Ellis and several others.
We also had a 14-year-old Garry Leeman as a guest. He’d go on to score 51 for the Leafs in 1989 and a 14-year-old Scott Mellanby who’d play 1400 games in the NHL. My skaters from that timeframe continue to suggest … being on the ice with us had a lot to do with the NHL success of these two.
We also had "Albert". That was the nickname of the guy who'd just been hired by Hockey Night in Canada to be the programme's premier hockey caller, Jim Hughson. The "Albert" character was the everyman actor that played in the Canadian Tire commercials for their hockey equipment line. For me, Jim called the game that I saw ... he didn't need quips and he didn't try to be Johnny Carson. I liked his play-call a lot and I'm sorry to hear that he has chosen now to retire -- before the 2021 - 22 season.
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| FOSTER |
On a regular basis, during a televised game, Foster would comment on the "knowledgeable fans" who attend Leaf games. I always thought that compliment was misplaced. I was never an Orr fan because he hurt my team every time he played.
I wished he was on my team - I hated him for not being on my team. But, I was amazed at what he did on the ice. He was an original. Nobody before him and nobody after him could do what he did. If you are old enough, you had the genuine pleasure to watch Bobby Orr enter the league in1966 as a teenager and demonstrate just how creative a defenceman could be - it's understood that he changed the way to play the position.
We witnessed his end-to-end rushes, spectacular passing, and never-seen-before goal scoring. In the 1970 - 71 season, Bobby Orr had a +/- of +124 -- no other player had ever achieved a plus like that before and it likely won't ever happen again. And, when you and your hockey friends are making claim to the "the best hockey player ever" think about this ... Howe, Rocket, Lemieux, Beliveau and Gretzky couldn't do what Orr could do. He could play every player position. Would you have liked to watch Orr for a full-season lineup on the wing with Esposito stationed in the high slot ready for an Orr pass to pick the top corner? Incidentally, two defencemen who may have used Bobby Orr as their playing role model were Paul Coffey & Larry Robinson -- they both had a fabulous, career-best, +/- of +99.
Every game Orr played at Maple Leaf Gardens, those fans that Foster referred to would boo him every time he touched the puck. Knowledgeable? Those "knowledgeable" Toronto fans should have been thankful to be in the same room with him.
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| WARD CORNELL |
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| This grocery store DOT is where the iconic Blue Toronto Maple Leaf used to be. |
Today, Maple Leaf Gardens has changed. The building has become a supermarket. Sadly, centre ice is marked by a red dot on the floor of one of the grocery aisles. It identifies the exact spot of centre ice — where the iconic blue Maple Leaf logo was positioned. One of the most famous buildings in Canada is a supermarket.
Disgraceful treatment for a Heritage Property.
However, the top part of the building has now been reconfigured so it’s not a complete loss. A full NHL size ice surface was installed on the same level as the first row of those Grey seats that I mentioned earlier. The cantilevered ceiling is still in place and, when you’re on the ice, the building still feels huge.
Toronto’s Ryerson University & Mattamy Construction took the responsibility for the original MLG building and did a wonderful job of transforming it into a complete sports complex. My grandson, Jordan, now uses the fabulous volleyball component for his varsity team training and games — talk about 6 degrees of separation!
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| The "new" Maple Leaf Gardens Still huge; Still spectacular Still Maple Leaf Gardens |
A few years ago, my Florida hockey buddies rented the “new” Ryerson/Maple Leaf Gardens for a 3-day tournament. I think most of them recognized the significance of playing in the building. Every player scored at least one goal during the tournament in that fabulous shrine — just like guys before them; Orr and Rocket and Howe and Gretzky and Lemieux. I hope they experienced the same rush that I had the first time I skated in that fabulous monument of hockey history.
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| The Florida Leafs! |
In the "off-season", as a member of Maple Leaf Gardens Hot Stove Club, I would use the health club facility to change into running gear and run up the street to Queen's Park -- around the park five times - then back to the Gardens where I'd run the stairs from the street to the Grey seats ... exactly 99 stairs. An interesting number considering Gretzky was a candidate for a Leaf jersey (before he went to the NYR).
It didn't happen because the short-sighted owner at the time, Steve Stavros, balked at Gretzky's asking price. Every seat in the Gardens had been sold out since 1946 plus all the building signage and broadcast rights were tapped out.
Where would Stavros get the extra cash to pay the Great One?
Some would say that was a sound business decision.
Leaf fans would simply recognize this Ballard replacement owner as just another money-grubber who had no regard for the legendary Leaf franchise or its long-suffering fans. Perhaps this owner, Stavros, and the one before him, Ballard, learned greed and how to manipulate cash flow from the guy who invented it, the Leafs first owner, Conn Smythe.
BTW … prior to the opening of Major League Baseball’s first domed stadium in Toronto in 1989, a name-the-dome contest was held. The final selection of the 10,000 entries was SKYDOME.
A relative of mine married a Leaf in 1968 - the year following their last Stanley Cup win. His starting salary as a rookie player with the league's wealthiest club was $12,000 per year. This type of owner greed was the very reason Ted Lindsay became the architect of the NHL Player's Association and attempted to secure better remuneration for players and their families. All of today's NHL millionaires owe a huge thank you to Lindsay.
For 4 consecutive years in the 1960s, the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. The players owned the city. Fans knew everything about every player.
We knew what they had for lunch.
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| The "Chief" |
Armstrong was the captain replacement for the Greatest Leaf of all time, and one of my childhood idols, Ted "Teeder" Kennedy.
Lindsay and Kennedy were fierce rivals and, typical of the Original Six era, they maintained a grudge against each other well past retirement and into middle age.
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| "Teeder" The 1st in the NHL to earn 5 Stanley Cups |
However, Lindsay had great respect for Kennedy. He told me that when he was forming the NHLPA, Kennedy, as Leaf leader, would not buckle under the pressure of team owner, Conn Smythe to reveal the details of the meetings and formation of Lindsay’s Player’s “union” or identify the names of the players who'd joined and Kennedy suffered because he wouldn’t give in to the owner’s demands.
The list of captains following Kennedy, sadly never matched up to the example he'd set. Armstrong became a recluse, the next was one of the team's most loved players but following retirement refused to return to the city and claimed he wished he'd never been a Leaf. The next guy disgraced the role and tore the captain's "C" off his jersey prior to a home game, the next guy went to prison for drunk driving/killing a person, another was charged with alleged sex with a minor, twice and another fan favourite team captain was so anxious to leave the city at the end of the season, the joke was that he didn't even remove his equipment before racing to the airport to catch a plane home to Sweden.
To better explain my Greatest Leaf of all Time comment, Kennedy played only for the Leafs for 14 years, starting as an 18-year-old. He was the first player in NHL history to earn 5 Stanley Cups and had to get past superstar rich teams that had "Rocket" & Doug Harvey and Howe & Lindsay and Schmidt & Bauer.
1960's Leaf superstar, "Red" Kelly, was so admired he was elected to the House of Commons, twice -- while still playing for the Blue and White. In his first political win, he defeated Progressive Conservative candidate, Alan Eagleson. (if Eagleson had won, he wouldn't have had the chance to put Bobby Orr through hell and become a criminal).
I remember a game where Detroit defenceman, Howie Young, kneed Kelly in the head during a one-on-one match-up. In the next game, "Red" wore a helmet for the rest of his career.
Fun Fact: the Leafs Jim McKenny acquired the nickname, “Howie” because he looked like Howie Young’s twin.
The Curse of Punch Imlach: When Imlach was fired as coach and GM of the Leafs by Ballard he left angry and joined the new Buffalo Sabres organization in 1970. Although the Sabres team colours are different than the Leafs, he had the jerseys and socks designed to look exactly like the Leaf's uniforms.
That was the beginning of what I call the curse of Punch Imlach ... he always had his Sabres ready to play tough when they faced his former team. To this day, they still have trouble beating the Sabres.
I understand the affection current fans have with today's Leafs. But, to properly understand the history of the franchise, you have to investigate a little to understand the superior quality of some of the players who went before and led the way.
Incidentally, the rights to a 16-year-old Ted Kennedy were originally owned by the Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leaf GM, Frank Selke, at the time, traded the rights of very popular Leaf, Frank Eddolls (think Doug Gilmour), for the rights to Kennedy and promptly lost his Leaf job when owner Smythe found out.
No worries. Selke moved on to build the Canadiens and create a farm team system of superior quality players that would feed his NHL club for decades. If he'd had the chance to create the same system for my Leafs, I wouldn't be writing this essay.
If Montreal had held on to him, Kennedy would have suited up alongside "Rocket" and Beliveau and Boom Boom and Plante during their dynasty of the 1950s. Perhaps the Habs would have won even more than their NHL record 5 Stanley Cups in a row.
Following retirement from the game, the superstar #9s
for Montreal, Detroit and Chicago were all retired.
In Toronto, the number 9 was simply passed on to the next player following Kennedy … well, actually, to this day, 20 players.
Players named; Craig and Holden and Suglobov and Hagman and Bell.
Who?
Do you see why fans are confused by ownership that doesn’t show proper respect for the great players of the past? Ya know, the way Montreal does.
At some time in the 1990s, the term Leaf Nation was created. I guess it gave a catchy title to all of us who, for decades, have been long-suffering fans.
Since the 1960's the various Leaf owners have never understood their duty and most important function -- provide Toronto with a winning team.
There's never been any pressure on them because fans keep buying tickets and the money-making Leaf advertising and licensing partnerships to continue to provide the club with millions.
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| Crazy Leafs Nation Groupies in Vegas ... although I'm a brother to these hosers I don't know any of them ... asked them to pose ... "no problem, bro"! If you are a Leaf fan, you MUST see them play in Vegas! |
Look no further than the $50 million ($30 million up-front) they happily offered to a coach with questionable playoff success who mumbled his way through post-game interviews describing the next level of development he was about to take the team to.
Suffice to say the team never quite understood (or wanted to know) his vision and he was released well before his contract expired — a very rich man. To Leaf Nation, this whole exchange is an embarrassing memory so I won’t mention his name or the time in Leaf history he was allowed to be part of it.
Did you ever wonder ... if they gave the coach $50 million, what did they give his boss, the general manager, and what about his boss, the team president?
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| Wendel @ 18 years old |
Incidentally, that year, Wendel can't be criticized for adding only 11 assists - he knew where the net was and wanted the Leafs fans to know that the kid from Kelvington Sask., Joey Kocur’s cousin, knew how to score.
If you are curious about this teenager’s ability, go to …YOUTUBE Wendel Clark/The Definitive Reel
To prove he wasn't a one-hit-wonder, he scored 37 goals the following season and, in their 1993 bid to be Stanley Cup finalists, he scored 76 points in 66 games. Clarkie was the hero of the real Gardens fans ... in that noisy Grey section. How come Leaf ownership can't find us some more Wendel Clarks?
About 25 years ago, I was playing pick-up hockey with a group at Toronto's Lakeshore Arena. There were about 20 players in total and more than half of them were named Shanahan. They all played with a chip-on-their-shoulder like their relative who was establishing a Hall of Fame NHL career.
So, you can imagine my excitement as a member in good standing with Leaf Nation when it was announced in 2014 that Toronto-born Brendan Shanahan was becoming the new president of the Toronto Maple Leaf hockey club.
This was going to be good, I thought. The hometown boy/new president announced his 5-year plan for a Leaf re-do. The media tagged it “The Shanaplan”. As a player, "Shanny" was a horse. He's the only NHL player ever with over 600 goals and 2,000 minutes in penalties.
"Shanny" was a proven winner, earning Gold at the World Championships and Olympic Games + the Canada Cup + 3 Stanley Cups with the Red Wings. I assumed his first order of business would be to go looking for players like him — players with an edge. Players who knew how to be tough and win.
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| Pure Genius! |
I became suspicious of hockey stats and numbers following a conversation with Guy Lafleur. Lafleur thought way too much attention was being paid to video replay and numbers. "Today's coaches are not allowing the creative players to do their thing" and, he added, "I'd also like them to get rid of the shoot-in strategy, it's boring and doesn't accomplish anything".
Three years ago, Shanny decided to go “all-in” with his numbers guy and released legendary Lou Lamoriello from his front office staff in favour of staying the course with the guy with no experience.
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| Only GM to get the "BEST" title two years in a row |
We are now in year eight of Shanny's mulligan.
Incidentally, after being fired, Lamoriello resurfaced with the Islanders and was voted 2020/2021GM of the Year. He got it the following year as well. No other GM has ever earned that award back to back in the history of the game. As a 79-year-old American hockey executive, who at one time had more than $ 1 million in Maple Leaf stock, Lou must thank Shanny every day for rebooting his career. Incidentally, when the Islander training camp for 2021, Lou had a player who ignored his full team vax rules. The player was assigned to their farm team, in Europe.
As for the current Leaf GM “numbers guy”, in a press conference, on July 23, 2021,
he was quoted as saying.
“I believe that we’re going to see the best version of this group next season that we’ve seen yet, and I’m willing to bet everything on that”.
Our current GM’s evaluation of my Leafs seems suspicious.
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| Sean Cullen |
A few years ago, I asked a famous artist, “how do I know if a painting is worth $50,000?” He said, “you have to look at a lot of art”. That same principle may apply to everyday life. How can I tell if I’m a good worker, parent, teacher, policeman, politician, volunteer, musician, or beer league hockey player? Well, maybe the best way, the easiest way, is to look at a lot of those types and compare.
A Leaf “nut” once said to me … “I really can’t tell if a player is any good until I see him in a Leaf jersey.” Personally, I’ve had no problem separating authentic NHL players from American Hockey League players … the differences for me are obvious and I can’t understand why it takes so long for Leaf brass to come to the same conclusion.
Incidentally, there are a few current Leafs who would be performing at a higher level if they were in the American League.
Our current GM, like the Gord Stellick's before him, simply hasn't looked at a lot of art.
The proof of that Stellick observation is clear. His first role with the Leaf organization was as a press box gofer. Then, remarkably, Ballard entrusted him with my team’s future. He promptly traded fan favourite speedster, Russ Courtnall, to the Montreal Canadiens for a tough guy, drug addict, John Kordic.
Shortly after, “Pal Hal” showed Gord the door.
The Leafs current GM seems to have mastered a magician’s illusion and has Shanny scratching his head.
Our current GM’s recent “prediction/promise” fell short of an actual guarantee that the team would go to the 2022 postseason. But, it resembled a statement made by another Leaf GM, the worst in the team's history, John Ferguson, prior to the 2007-2008 season. Fergie’s wish’n and hop’n strategy didn’t work and he was replaced, mid-season by Cliff Fletcher.
Perhaps the current GM should have consulted with the receptionist in my dentist’s office before predicting how the Leaf will play next season. She’s from Uruguay. She's hockey crazy. She's Leaf crazy. She says the current version of the team "is too soft". This Uruguayan lady apparently understands what Leaf “suits” don’t.
Our GM has turned the Leaf franchise into a retirement destination with minimum salary additions; first, Patrick Marleau then Jumbo Joe Thornton and Jason Spezza — all players I love to watch but really, the only thing they provided was … according to Leaf press releases, “stability in the dressing room” “a senior presence who’s been there before” “depth” and “playoff experience”.
I’d rather have a 5’ 7’’, 20-year-old Montreal Canadien like Cole Caufield who can skate 100 miles an hour, has a laser for a shot and can beat you all by himself. Incidentally, if you've been watching recent pre-season games, it appears to be so fast that jobs for floaters or goons or lumbering skaters will be very scarce.
I’m puzzled by the workings of the NHL salary cap and how it applies to the Leafs but I know it will impact their development going forward because so much money is already spoken for (what will become of the time and dollar investment that’s already been made in Morgan Reilly)?
It appears Leaf Nation has to be satisfied with the current, often entertaining, offensive-minded team ... these players will be representing us for quite a while.
I just wish my Leafs played with a chip on their shoulder the way their boss, Shanny, used to ... maybe even have them copy the style of the Caps or the Rockies or the Lightning or even the Islanders. Realistically, for this past season, I don't think my team would have had much playoff success against any one of the teams mentioned last year and don't even get me started on the Vegas team and how rough and tough and balanced they look.
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| Mr. Yzerman |
And, this season, my Leafs may also want to pay attention to the Red Wings. The guy in charge there, Yzerman, was a teammate of our leader, Shanahan, when they both played for that winged wheel. But, before returning home to Detroit to run the Wings, he’d assembled the lineup for the Lightning team that’s won back-to-back Stanley Cups.
Since he immigrated to Detroit two years ago, Yzerman dismantled all those overpriced contracts written by the former GM, Ken Holland, and has moved, sold, traded, and drafted 19 players to form this year’s Wings. Stevie “Y” knows hockey. It appears we should have selected him, the Cranbrook British Columbia native to run the Leafs instead of the guy from Toronto. On that point … while with the Lightning, Stevie drafted a player named Brayden Point. The Stanley Cup champion finished the 2021 playoff with 14 goals — that was more than anyone else.
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| Point |
I love, love, love Mitch Marner. But, as spectacular, and entertaining as he is during the regular season … he went 18 games in the 2021 playoffs without scoring a goal (just a reminder, Point got 14). I probably shouldn’t mention Marner’s embarrassing delay of game penalty for delivering the puck over the glass in a critical part of the game — that didn’t seem to be a playoff-focused player to me.
And, Brayden Point just signed an 8-year extension for less than what Marner makes.
Does this general managing stuff look like Tampa knows what they’re doing and Toronto’s managing doesn’t? Or, does Point just recognize a good thing when he sees it and thinks his team will be able to do it again? Ya, and Stamkos and Kucerov and that big defenceman decided to stay as well.
Incidentally, do you remember when Toronto native Stephen Stamkos looked like he might sign with the Leafs for $10 million? According to his agent, “he preferred to stay in Tampa for $8.5 million because after-tax, his take-home pay was better”. Those 2 Cups were nice too.
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| Austin Mathews * Richard Trophy winner |
He thinks Mathews will go to a US-based team (any team) so he can take home more of his paycheque — to say nothing of writing off mortgage payments. And, who better to make the offer even sweeter, than Mathews’ home team in Arizona?
Me and Leaf Nation may want to re-think this planning-for-the-future business. If Burke is right, how is our home team ever going to be able to compete to attract the best players and keep them?
The Leaf's 2020 - 2021 playoff defeat at the hands of Les Canadiens was an embarrassment for my team, my city, and Leaf Nation. We had the Habs on the ropes 3 - 1 in the series and lost. The rivalry between the two clubs is a legend. They hate each other. Maybe it’s the obvious thing. Or, maybe it’s because the Leafs are second to the Habs for most Stanley Cup wins.
Or, maybe it’s the annoying nicknames that the Montreal players have given each other for decades; “the Road Runner”, “Boom Boom”, “Les Gros Bill” or “Rocket” or “Big Bird” or “Pocket Rocket”.
The rivalry has become part of Canadian Literature. In 1979, Roch Carrier wrote “The Hockey Sweater”. It’s an allegory of the relationships and tensions that exist between the francophones and the anglophones.
There must be something to it … the book sold 300,000 copies and an animated film was created.
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| Roch Carrier "Spaceman" Bill Lee & Me |
Fun Fact … I had “The Hockey Sweater” story repeated to me in its entirety by former Montreal Expos pitcher, “Spaceman” Bill Lee (using a very colourful French accent) five minutes after meeting him, while sipping Bacardi, in a bar at Harrahs’s Casino in Reno, Nevada in 1997.
Ya … it may be that stuff or years of listening to the Montreal play-by-play guy, Danny Gallivan’s description of the Montreal players as if they were a divine deity.
We didn’t have any cool player nicknames. We only had “The Big M”, Frank Mahovlich. The Leafs had him for 11 years but you would have to be 60+ years old to have seen him play as a Leaf. In fact, he may have better NHL years following his Leaf time while playing in Detroit alongside Gordie Howe then moving to Montreal where he earned 2 Stanley Cups.
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| The "Big M" |
He also caught the attention of our French Canadian Prime Minister, Chrietien. The Liberal leader liked the “Big M” so much, that he appointed him a Senator in 1998 in the Canadian Senate — the story of that ridiculous appointment is another book. Suffice to say, Canadian politicians know the value of attaching themselves to hockey heroes (see “Red” Kelly above).
Sadly, the “Big M” was so dissatisfied with his time as a Leaf, he suffered a nervous breakdown — created for him by coach, “Punch” Imlach. He convinced his brother, Peter, a hero of the Canada/Russia 1972 series, to play anywhere but Toronto. Unfortunately for the Leafs, he listened and had a huge career with the Canadiens beside Lafleur and Shutt. I remember being in Montreal during this timeframe and hearing cab drivers go on about how “Little “M” was the Hab's best player”!
Whatever the reasons, Les Canadiens are our rivals and our unofficial Leaf Nation motto is “lose if you must … but never to the Montreal Canadiens”.
No, they’re not! They never will be! If Toronto was in the final and Montreal wasn’t, would the Leafs be “Canada’s Team”
in Quebec? They are the enemy!
The morning after the devastating 2021 series loss to Montreal, I searched the media for words from team president Shanahan. I was disappointed that he seemed reluctant to defend himself -- he never had trouble doing that as a player.
It appears Leaf Nation is a patient bunch. For the coming season, it will be 56 years that we've waited for the Cup to return to Toronto and for me to return to the parade route.
When the NBA Toronto Raptors won the championship in 2020, it was estimated
1 million fans celebrated (peacefully) on the city’s streets. When, and if, Leafs win … it will be 3 million!
One final note on behalf of Leaf Nation … I have a friend who isn’t really a
card-carrying member but does feel our pain.
He claims the current edition of the Maple Leafs
“is a very talented offensive group, with nice hair”.
Here's a Leaf headline that may come back to haunt ...
TORONTO STAR July 4, 2022
"OFF SEASON GOAL: Don't Get Worse.
In my opinion, for the coming year, maybe the only way Shanahan could help my Leafs is if he set aside his Brook's Brothers president's suit and pulled on a jersey, and got out there on the ice himself.
Hey! that could work!
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Ya Shanny! You're the "Solution" Pull it on! Get out there and help us! |
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| Rest Peacefully, Roscoe |
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