Maple Leafs Forever

I’d say we’ve crossed into obsession. Sports is a massive chunk of North American culture and though it may not carry the most weight in terms of morality, justice or faith, it would be impossible to say that sports do not matter. Clearly millions of North American’s feel this way, or we wouldn’t spend so much time and money playing, or watching sports.

It is no surprise to you, dear reader, that I love hockey. In Toronto, hockey is king. Well, in Canada hockey is king— but people in Toronto aren’t so much fans of hockey - they’re fans of the Maple Leafs.

Our beloved Buds haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967, which is co-incidentally the second longest drought in the NHL (the longest belongs to the Chicago Blackhawks who haven’t won since 1961), and despite this apparent commitment to mediocrity the Maple Leafs remain the NHL’s flagship franchise. No other team sells more merchandise or makes more money.

People come out in droves despite the fact that the Leafs haven’t been to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1967. Oh, we’ve come close. Just close enough to tease the loyal fan base. In 1993 we were favored in the Conference Finals before a guy you may have heard of, Wayne Gretzky, single handedly ruined us in Game Seven. Gretzky’s Los Angeles Kings went on to lose in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Canadiens. Then, in 2002, we loaded up on veteran talent and made it to the Conference Finals once more, only to lose to the Carolina Hurricanes, who were eventually swept in the finals by the Detroit Red Wings.

Why do we come back? What is the hold on Leaf Nation? In trying to explain us, I search for a common denominator south of the border.

In America the most popular current fan-ship is probably the Red Sox Nation. When I thought about writing a piece based on my love of the Toronto Maple Leafs, my apology for being a Leafs fan, I figured I’d start by making the comparison of Leaf Nation to the fans of the Boston Red Sox, thinking that at least Red Sox fans would understand how much we love the Leafs. You know, Fever Pitch, but with Mike Myers instead of Jimmy Fallon.

But when I started going through the facets of the Leafs history, their story and how they’ve come to where they are now—I realized we’re not much like the Boston Red Sox at all. If anything, we’re like the mortal enemy of the Red Sox: the New York Yankees.

That’s right, we’re hockey’s evil empire. The evidence doesn’t lie. Here’s some of the reasons the Maple Leafs are more like the Yankees.

1. Rich Tradition- The Yankees have won the World Series 26 times, but more importantly they have a lengthy tradition featuring a lot of headlining names. The Babe, Mickey Mantle, Phil Rizzuto, Roger Maris, Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Reggie Jackson, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter. That’s just off the top of my head. In Toronto you grow up hearing the stories of Johnny Bower, Terry Sawchuk, Dave Keon, Bob Baun, Tim Horton, Red Kelly, Frank Mahovolich, George Armstrong, Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald, Borje Salming, Wendell Clark, Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin. Just like the Yankees, that list spans all the decades and makes a laundry list of star power and legendary tales. Can I tell you anything about Bob Baun? No. I don’t know how he played, or what his strengths/weaknesses were. All I know is that I have heard the story that he scored a Stanley Cup winning goal while playing on a broken ankle enough times to feel like I was there.

2. Lunatic Owner- The Yanks have Steinbrenner and the Leafs had a lunatic named Harold Ballard, who was first to discover that the Leafs could put an inexpensive, uncompetitive team on the ice and still sell out games. He was notorious for making impulsive trades simply because of disagreements or arguments. He chased legendary Captain Darryl Sittler, he of the record-holding 10 point game, out of town simply because of an argument the two had. Where the Yankees get off easy is that Steinbrenner at least wants to win. Ballard was insane.

3. Press and Fan Microscope- There are players who simply cannot handle the pressure that comes from playing in Toronto. The media spotlight is unlike any other city in the league. Some guys will play poorly in Toronto, get traded for a bag of pucks to a place like Florida, and then light it up due to the fact that no one there cares about the games. Some players use the pressure to take their game to a new level. Current Leaf Captain Mats Sundin, one of the NHL’s all-time greats, broke into the league many years ago with the now defunct Quebec Nordique. Quickly gaining the reputation of being extremely skilled but kind of soft, Mats arrived in Toronto and was in a little over his head. But over the years he adapted our style of play (grit and toughness is admonished in Toronto—youtube Tie Domi) and became a hockey hero. In an interview after Saturday’s win against Detroit Mats said that what keeps him working hard year in and year out is simply how much the fans in Toronto care about the Leafs.

4. Tried to buy success but failed- Steinbrenner is not shy about doling out his pennies to put a winning team on the field. Well, before the NHL had a salary cap, this was the Leafs in a nut-shell. We were not shy about forking over money, draft picks and prospects (Brad Boyes currently has 30 goals for the St. Louis Blues) for aging veterans who are a shadow of what they once were. The classic example that jumps to mind is trading Boyes and Alyn McCauley to the San Jose Sharks for once-dominant power forward Owen Nolan. Nolan came to the Leafs, proceeded to NOT score goals despite getting as many chances as is humanly possible, then suffer a season-ending injury that he attempted to sue the Leafs for over the summer. We then paid him $6 milion just to go away! Now that’s a bargain!

No matter what we looked like going into the playoffs we made sure to pick up a few veterans, virtually ravaging the minor-league system and crippling all development in the process. The only thing that saved Brian Cashman from this, was his realizing that the team needed to rebuild with youth, and still being able to spend big dollars while cultivating the Joba’s and Hughes’ of recent memory. Imagine MLB threw a salary cap at the Yankees two years ago, and they had to field a team without their superstars. That’s where the Leafs stand now.

5. People hate us- Just like the boys in the pinstripes, we Maple Leaf fans cactch a lot of hate from other fans around the league. I didn’t even know this until I moved away from home, but everyone outside of Ontario hates Toronto fans. I’ve almost gotten in more fights since coming to school in British Columbia than you’d ever believe. At a Christian University! Vancouver fans are always compaining about how Toronto fans never give them any respect or something…I don’t know, I’m not usually listening.

—-

So, you may be wondering why anyone would subject themselves to this torture? 41 years without a Stanley Cup, a team that currently sits 27th out of 30 teams, being abhorred by your peers, little to no future coming through the minors, and the most expensive and difficult to attain tickets in the league? Well I will give you my reasons.

1. Playoff Time- If only we could get back in. When the Leafs are in the playoffs there is a buzz in all of Canada that cannot be matched by any team in any sport. I am saying you can literally feel the buzz, it is palpable, from as soon as you get up in the morning. It’s all people want to talk about. And for about five years in a row, we kept beating the Ottawa Senators, our arch-rival, despite the fact that they were favoured in every series, and we held our heads high because the sure, the Senators were good, but we knew how to win. The most recent time, our last playoff appearance in 2004, was my personal favourite. There is nothing like a Game Seven win in Toronto.

2. No matter where the Leafs go play there are always fans- Even down in Florida you can hear the crowd chanting GO LEAFS GO. This is especially exciting in places like Buffalo and Ottawa, where at times the Leaf fans make up half the crowd. The last time they played the Edmonton Oilers, an Oiler player complained after the game that with all the Leaf fans in the building it felt like they were playing on the road. You see, back when the baby boomers were growing up, there was one game on TV Saturday nights. It was Toronto vs. Montreal. All across Canada, people cheered for either Toronto or Montreal. Now that these people are grown and dispersed throughout North America, they remain loyal to their team and attend Leaf games whenever they come through town.

3. Great Players- Due to the media spotlight, we in Toronto attracted some great players over the years. Some truly unique guys. Wendell Clark may well have been one of the most loved Leafs ever, for reasons you can view below.

(Editor’s note: The following video shows more violence than most Burnside readers may be used to. But it’s an awesome sort of violence, like boxing.)

It’s worth the watch. 2:09 in there is the play I most remember Clark for. It was the 1993 Conference Finals, and we were playing the Kings. Our best player, Doug Gilmour, was blind sided by Kings tough-guy Marty McSorley (he of the slashing Donald Brashear in the head fame). Clark stepped in and handed McSorley his lunch. He didn’t pick his spots either; he fought the toughest guys in the league, including numerous bouts with legendary knuckle-dragger Bob Probert. He also found time to amass 564 points and 1690 penalty minutes in 793 games. Wendell is also awesome for now living in my hometown, Aurora, Ontario, where my friend Heather once baby-sat his kids.

I may devote a whole other column to the other Leaf greats, but for sake of space I’ll just list some names for you to peruse on your own time. The aforementioned Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming, Doug Gilmour, and of course, Mats Sundin. Plus all the other guys listed above.

4. If we ever won the Stanley Cup it would be the celebration to end all celebrations. I don’t know how this Leaf momentum got started, or how it became so crazy, but I do know one thing: If the Leafs ever managed to win the Stanley Cup it would be pandemonium. The greatest hockey city in the world, finally getting its treasured possession. We’re getting cranky. Like Gollum in Lord of The Rings kind of cranky. Possessed even. In the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Canada beat the U.S.A. to win Gold, and I think that was the biggest game of my life to date. The whole country was watching and there were people in the streets celebrating after as though the war was over or something. All my buddy Mark could think was, “imagine how much bigger it would be if the Leafs won the Cup.” And it would be bigger. For some reason, Toronto fans aren’t fair weather fans, but they love the Leafs more than they love the game of hockey. Not all Leaf fans are like this. I am certainly not. I love the Leafs, but I love hockey. I would watch Columbus play Phoenix and give you 10 reasons why it would be an entertaining bout. So though the Canada win was a big one, a Toronto one would be even more celebrated.

—-

Even moreso, I love the Leafs because Toronto is my home town, and hockey’s biggest stage. I love the Leafs because on Saturday night, friends and family get together to watch the game; win or lose, we’re united around the television set. We are euphoric with every goal for and inconsolable with each one against.

I love the Leafs because they are the only team in which a fourth-line fighter, who plays two minutes a game, but uses those two minutes to fight, gets rock star treatment around the city. I love the Leafs because if you play with heart, grit, passion and intensity, you are rewarded with unweilding loyalty. We don’t let players half-ass it - you’ll get run out of town - but bleed passion onto the ice for us, like Wendell, and you’ll be enshrined forever.

I love the Leafs because some of my best memories in life are sitting in my living room in May, while the sun is going down, watching playoff games with my father. Because CBC’s pre-game show turns off the talking heads, turns up the crowd volume, and lets the atmosphere speak for itself. Because I still get chills when I hear the national anthem, and the camera closes in on the players faces while they are trying to contain their nerves.

I love sport because there is always hope. No matter how bad things get, no matter how many losses the season before, no matter how many times failure strikes, each fall the season starts anew, and 30 teams once again believe they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Even when things are in the doldrums, we can always look up. That’s all anyone ever wants.

I love the Leafs because in the last seven days, though we are the 27th place team, we managed to beat Ottawa, Montreal and Detroit, three of the league’s best, and lose to the lowly Florida Panthers 8-0. All in the same week.

These days it’s tough to be a Leaf fan. But it’s bound to get better. We’re bad now, but if we stay bad things are looking up. There’s always hope in the draft? Surely we will find one worthy of returning the Leafs to glory. Ever heard of Steven Stamkos?