All World Hockey by T. Michael Travers

                                     Maple Leaf Gardens opened on November 12, 1931, with a game between the Leafs and Blackhawks, a  2-1 Leafs loss. Surprisingly, according to a report in the Toronto Star, opening night was not a sell-out. Fans stayed away, thinking it would be too crowded and they wouldn't get a seat. Maple Leaf Gardens closed on February 13, 1999, with another Leaf loss, also to the Blackhawks. The Gardens was a part of my life for more than 50 years. The building created great memories for me as a kid. It was the place to go for the circus and wrestling and Sunday afternoon Junior hockey double-headers featuring NHL future stars.  And, it was the home base for my team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.   Can you smell the roasted chestnuts? When I was fortunate enough to go to a game as a kid, my experience actually started outside on the street ... the smell of...

Ya, The Glory Years ... The Leafs just had their 2nd most successful points year in team history. Very entertaining. But, t his year's players don't seem to understand that playoffs are different. Playoffs are war.  QUESTION: Would it be possible to copy the model that management for the Seattle and Vegas team uses going forward for my Maple Leafs? Those expansion teams don't have 4 superstars but they seem to be successful. Very, very successful.  The two "new" expansion NHL clubs remind me of the Herb Brooks coached 1980 USA Olympic team which defeated the star-filled Russian team. The Yanks were like a high school team playing a pro team. But, they won. Do the folks in Seattle and Vegas know about the Herb Brooks   Miracle on Ice magic? The post-playoff interviews with the Leaf coach and "Core Four" was nonsense. Exactly the same as the comments from the other teams, like the Rangers ... "I'm disappointed... I was sure we'd go dee...

I found these exchanges interesting. To start this year's Major League Baseball season, the Toronto Blue Jays played the home opener with the host LA team @ Anaheim Stadium on Friday, April 7. Everyone knows it's an honour to be selected to throw out the game's first pitch. Especially the home opener. It's important.  There are a hundred quotes about baseball's most important day ... writer, Thomas Boswell, said it best ...   "Time Begins on Opening Day." Baseball Hall of Fame honoured member, Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (2018 class), was given that honour by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It was a nice touch, after all, Guerrero was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the first "Halo" wearing an "Angels" cap. He was also a force in Montreal with the Expos, spent a little time with the Blue Jays organization and his son, Vlady Junior, is expected to join his father in the Hall at some time in the future, wearing a Blue Jays cap.  Ever...

  Who? The American Hockey League Toronto Marlie hockey club is the primary development program for the Maple Leafs. Their home rink is in Toronto and they play 4 or 5 doubleheader games with the big club @ Scotiabank Arena each year.  Since 2005, 148 Marlies have made an appearance on the ice with the Leafs -- Rielly and Nylander are Marlie graduates. If you are a Marlie, you spend every day in the AHL waiting for the phone to ring with an offer to move up to the Leafs - every Marlie does this. As the Leafs finished the regular season and started planning for the war which is also called the  Stanley Cup Playoffs  and selected a 20-year-old collegiate player, Matthew Knies, to fill a spot on the roster. Knies has played some important minutes in his 3 Leaf playoff games, registered an assist and hasn't embarrassed himself or the scouts who selected him. But, I have a question ... what's wrong with Logan Shaw? Shaw was the 2023 Marlie team captain. He earned the...

  Often, when you find a brother combination in pro hockey, one is really good, and the other one tries hard. An exception was the outstanding Hull brothers ... Bobby and Dennis. They came from a family of eleven, from Pointe Anne, Ontario. Just FYI ... I've lived in Ontario all my life but have no idea where Pointe Anne is. Bobby became the Golden Jet and sadly passed away in 2023. His resume is remarkable and you can view the tribute I wrote about him on my blog. https://allworldhockey.blogspot.com/2019/06/dont-lie-to-me-tell-me-truth-are-you.html His brother, Dennis, was his teammate with the Chicago Black Hawks for 8 seasons. Dennis was a beast. Bigger than his brother with an equally lethal slapshot.  He'd finish his 14 NHL seasons with more than 300 goals.  He enjoyed seasons of 40, 39, 30 and 29 goals. A beast. He was also a force in the 1972 Canada-Russia tournament, known as The Summit.  But, this isn't about Dennis the hockey player ... it's about D...