I Hate the Leafs

Oddly enough, this blog has remained free of any references to my beloved/hated Toronto Maple Leafs.

Yes, I am Canadian, I do love hockey, and Bobby Orr is the greatest player to ever play the game, just so you know.

As I noted above though, I have a real issue with the Leafs. First of all, let me preface this by saying I grew up in Toronto in the 80s, when the Leafs were a big steaming pile of crap. No prospects, few good players (who would get traded away the instant they fucked with management) and year after year of unremitting failure, the kind that grinds down your spirit and makes you into a baseball or football fan, or makes you start cheering for the Habs because they're the antithesis of the Leafs.

Cue the 90s and some good times (interestingly enough, coinciding with the back-to-back World Serieses of the Jays and the Argos winning a couple Grey Cups). Gilmour, Andreychuk, Potvin and Pat Burns all roll into town and the Leafs have some decent seasons and runs in the playoffs, never quite being good enough to get to the Cup Finals. Cut to the mid-late 90s when Pat Quinn comes in. A couple definite and a couple probable Hall of Famers are also on the teams, and the Leafs continue to be decent but just not quite good enough.

This wouldn't be a problem if you qualify success by making the playoffs. The Leafs have done that for quite some time now. But if you measure success by Cups, or at least Cup Finals, then it sure as hell is a problem. The Leafs aren't good enough to go that far, and the sooner they recognize that, the sooner they can get going blowing up the current team and building again.

Of course, the biggest problem with that is that the Leafs have never drafted well. They've done a decent job with a pick here and there (more luck than anything else, if you ask me), but in terms of being able to draft a team...no. Not since the Original Six era, when teams had a virtual lock on players developing in their backyard (though the Leafs STILL managed to miss players). So even if they did start trading vets away and piling up picks, they'd probably end up with a roster full of Drake Berehowskys and Scott Thorntons.

Hence the love/hate. I'm pretty resigned to the fact that I will die long before the Leafs win another Cup. I just wish I didn't have to put up with all the delusional Leaf fans who think they're just one or two pieces away. Yeah, provided that one of those two pieces is, you know, a GOOD TEAM.