PREDICTION; Maple Leafs 2024 - 25

I'M A LEAF!

I became a fan in 1952 ... c'mon T E E D E R !!!

St. Mike's David (don't call me "Davey") Keon.

As a youngster, I saw many Leaf games in person at the Gardens plus the Sunday afternoon doubleheader Jr. "A" games that featured Mahovlich and Keon and all the junior hopefuls looking for a spot on the big club.

Frank before he became the Big "M"

In the 1960s Carl Brewer was my favourite Leaf and I attended all four Stanley Cup parades up Bay Street to City Hall -- how many fans can say that? In one such parade, a photo hung on the Gardens mezzanine floor next to the hot dog stand featuring me, as the kid hanging from the lampost watching my heroes being driven to city hall in convertible cars.

The 1960s ... the city showing some love for our boys.

Can you imagine what this parade would look like if the Leafs were able to bring the Cup home this year?

From 1981 to 1985, my son would perform the job that I (and maybe you) always wanted ... the Leaf Stick Boy.

During the same timeframe, I was part of the publishing group that produced THE LEAFS gameday program. We made so much money from this publication that we gave Harold Ballard $175,000 a year just for the license to publish it -- remember, it was 1981. Harold was so happy with his agreement, he gave me an hour of ice time at the Gardens, to play shinny and entertain game program advertising clients once a week for 13 years.

Vaive: No Leaf has done what he did, 50 goals 3 times.

So, when I write the following essay you'll understand how painful this is for me. The first 2024 pre-season game against Ottawa is just around the corner on Sept. 22.

As you know, Las Vegas has built all of those fancy hotels and casinos on the strength of their ability to pick winners. Vegas doesn't lose. Ever.

For the 2024/25 National Hockey League season, Vegas picks the Toronto Maple Leafs 8th to win the Stanley Cup ... behind Oilers/Panthers/Devils/Stars/Avs/Rangers and Canes ... pretty much the same as last year.

I don't want to agree with them ... but they are Vegas.

My thoughts for the new season:

Shanny's got to go!

*In recent years, Toronto has become a retirement home for former NHL stars like Plekanec, Marleau, Spezza and Giordano. Now, they've added injury-prone, Pacioretty. 

Additions like these castoffs were part of the team president's formula to bring a winner to our city. After 10 years of this "ShannyPlan" nonsense, isn't it time to show Brendan Shanahan the door?

  He never knows where to look when being interviewed.

*Auston Matthews is fabulous. He's now captain. I'm not sure he understands what that means in an NHL market such as ours. Win or lose... all of Toronto and surrounding media will only want to interview him. He will be responsible for everything good and bad about "his" team -- especially the bad when we've just watched a poorly played game on Hockey  Night in Canada. To me, it appears Auston seems to struggle with interviews. Like most of us, he's not too quick on his feet ... so to speak. I predict the distraction will be so ugly that he'll have trouble getting to 50 goals this year and not the 70 that will be expected from him.

JT will do this a lot in 2024/25 with an 'A".

*Conversely, John Tavares will not have to carry the captain load and will have a points year better than last year.

"Mitchy" can be magic.

*I love/love/love Marner (during the regular season) but I'm not sure he knows how to convert his strengths into a playoff contributor. By definition, great NHL players are the ones who can put their team on their backs in tough, war-like playoff games. Mitch has been with the club since 2016. At a Vail Colo elite player workout just a week ago that Mitch attended, superstar Nathan McKinnon said, "Marner is impressive out there ... unreal. Just so good, so talented". Unfortunately, when the "real season" starts, he appears to be very ordinary.

        "Pal Hal" could have been a forever Toronto Hero.

*Leaf ownership has a greedy history. The original Maple Leaf Gardens had been sold out since 1946. Local media tagged it The Carlton Street Cash-Box. Licensing, TV and radio rights and seat prices have always been overpriced. But someone was always willing to pay -- even for a substandard product. Greed started with Harold E. Ballard. The only thing Pal Hal did for the Toronto hockey fans was give us Borje Salming for 16 years. He could have invested some money in winning talent and Leaf Nation would still be talking about him glowingly 30 years after his passing. Instead, every member of Leaf Nation should hold Ballard personally responsible for the lack of a winner in this city for the past 57 years. 

  Knies could be the next Gilmour.

*I think I know what to expect from the Leafs FAB-FOUR this year. The bright light on the team may be Knies. He's on track to be better, bigger, and possibly a game-changer. However, regarding the Leaf defence, I'm an agnostic. They'll have to show me.

*I'm always surprised by the number of suits standing behind the player's bench during a game -- and it's not just the Leafs -- who are all these people? Is there an expert who's in place to advise each player on every offensive and defensive part of the game? For players, it may just be another person to disappoint.

*I assume Toronto has a highly paid scouting staff. How come the only solid Leaf draft choices have been Auston Matthews and Wendel Clark -- we got Wendel in 1985. To this point ... Google; Maple Leaf Draft Choices. You see names you've never heard of, lots of them. 

Fun Fact:

I find the recent front office negotiations with Leaf "little guy" Nic Robertson amusing. 

             Bruce Boudreau: He had movie star good looks.

    He became follicly-challenged when he became a coach.

It reminds me of former Leaf Bruce Boudreau who scored 363 points in 183 games as captain of the Junior "A" Marlies -- then got promoted to the Leafs. The team, or maybe just the coach, Mike Nykoluk, didn't like small players. 

For me, he had superstar potential and scored 1/2 pt a game as a Leaf. But, they didn't see what I saw and moved him to the minors and brought him back to the big club on 7 different occasions.

                       Steve Sullivan could fly.

                       Just not in Pat Qinn's orbit.

And, another little Leaf favourite of mine ... Steve Sullivan. His coach, Pat Quinn also didn't appreciate the skill of the littlest Leaf and would ship him to the Black Hawks where he would star. 

I hope Robertson doesn't get moved by the Leafs to another team and go on to have a monster career like other smallies like Marty St Louis or Dino Ciccerelli.

*I can't handicap coaches -- I don't believe "Torts" still has a job. I like Berube. I liked him as a player. But, I think he and Gerard Gallant were cut from the same cloth and I also liked Gallant. For some reason, even though he was a winning coach, Gerry couldn't keep a job. We'll see.

      Pelley wears different glasses for each sport he runs.

*Keith Pelley is the new guy in the hockey office and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Kudos to whoever hired him -- we're lucky -- he's with us! He ran TSN. He ran the Grey Cup-winning Toronto Argonauts. He ran the European Professional Golf Tour and he may be the most important addition to my hockey team and their future. He's also a Torontonian and knows and has shared the pain of being a Leaf fan.

My further prediction: My Leafs will continue to struggle with the Bruins and the Lightning this year and their 38-year-old battle with the Buffalo Sabres. You know we can't beat them, right?

After 38 seasons, the Leafs have won only 9 season series and split 2. The Sabres have won 27 series, split 2 and swept 3 ... the ghost of Punch Imlach is very real -- he thought he was underappreciated and fired by the Leaf organization and carried his grudge to his grave.  

But, for now, my opinion is the same as last year. The 2024 - 25 edition of the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club will look like a very good American Hockey League Team.

Leave a comment ... I'd like to know what you think about the Leafs and the coming season.