The Two Solitudes of Leafs Coverage

TORONTO (Jan. 3) — Given they share the same cradle as co–owners of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, TSN and Sportsnet can still play hardball with one another. This was evident throughout Wednesday. Whereas Sportsnet played up its “breaking” story… Read More

The MLSE Hockey Blueprint

TORONTO (Jan. 1) — We begin the new year with a Maple Leafs scene setter. The re–post of a blog from last summer that is perfectly relevant today. It shows how Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment wants the Leafs to… Read More

Could Leafs Acquire Juuse Saros?

TORONTO (Dec. 30) — Here are a couple of startling facts as we head toward the midway mark of the National Hockey League schedule: In less than 1½ seasons, the Arizona Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers have come from way back… Read More

Hockey Tales From The Road

TORONTO (Dec. 25) — Merry Christmas. Hope you will chuckle at these yarns… COLEY’S THERAPY: This travesty immediately followed my first game as a full–time hockey reporter — at the start of the lockout–shortened National Hockey League schedule of January–to–May… Read More

Healy: “Samsonov Fu**ing Cares!”

TORONTO (Dec. 23) — He may not be Garp, but the world according to Glenn Healy is still an interesting place. The former National Hockey League goalie and rink–side voice for Hockey Night In Canada has never been shy about… Read More

Still Too Much Matthews Drivel

TORONTO (Dec. 21) — There is no question anymore that Auston Matthews is the greatest sniper in the 107–year history of the Toronto Maple Leafs. To these eyes, in more than half–a–century watching the team, only Lanny McDonald could propel… Read More

The Leafs Won’t Trade Nylander

TORONTO (Dec. 17) — You can always count on the Maple Leafs to stop the hounds from baying with a hot streak at some point before Christmas. In recent years, the club has righted a shaky start with a scorching… Read More

Ohtani Numbers Defy Comprehension

TORONTO (Dec. 11) — Want to know something about a colossal amount of money? Talk to a person who handles it. Routinely. Such as Michael Benjamin, third–generation owner of the funeral chapel for which I work. Not that Michael doesn’t… Read More

Ohtani Pursuit Indecent, Nauseating

TORONTO (Dec. 7) — This is going to sound churlish. But, the only place on the Internet where you can find an appropriate analogy to the hunt for baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani is at pornhub.com. Never in the modern history… Read More

Admit It: The Maple Leafs Are Musty

TORONTO (Nov. 27) — If you leave a slice of bread on the kitchen counter for more than an hour, it will begin to grow stale. If you leave the same players together on a National Hockey League team that… Read More

Those First Visits to the Gardens

TORONTO (Nov. 25) — I have countless hockey memories from my youth. Among the earliest was Dad bringing home such monthly periodicals as Hockey Illustrated, Hockey World and Hockey Pictorial. I would barely peruse the contents before cutting out the… Read More

Argos Join the City’s Choke Parade

TORONTO (Nov. 12) — The learning curve in professional sport can be as gruesome and unforgiving as in any vocation on the planet. Just ask Chad Kelly, who turned in, on Saturday, the worst playoff performance by a quarterback in… Read More

Could Roy And Tippett Save Leafs?

TORONTO (Nov. 10) — One man is the most–intriguing figure not currently behind a bench in the National Hockey League. The other ranks among the great defensive practitioners in the coaching industry. Together, they might provide the missing magic for… Read More

A Flashback to the Gory 1980’s

TORONTO (Nov. 9) — At least the Carey Price analogy has been silenced. Thank heaven for small mercies. The wackiest sports city on Earth typically lost its mind when Joseph Woll had a couple of good games in the first… Read More

Marchand Is Still Toronto’s “Daddy”

TORONTO (Nov. 4) — It happens every year… like clockwork. The same arena; the same opponent; the same player; the same result; the same reaction. No one in the modern history of the National Hockey League has gotten under the… Read More

My Pal Stormin’ Norm Rumack

TORONTO (Oct. 30) — There is no way to sugarcoat, embellish or minimize what I’m about to say. So, here it is: On three occasions in the past month, my great friend and former FAN–590 colleague, Stormin’ Norm Rumack, has… Read More

Leafs Blew The Wrong Load

TORONTO (Oct. 28) — The headline to this blog is neither pornographic nor suggestive. It does, however, reflect my long–held opinion that the Toronto Maple Leafs should have traded Auston Matthews before July 1 of this year, rather than binding… Read More

The Leafs Have Been Abandoned

TORONTO (Oct. 22) — It has not happened in the modern history of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Until now. Never before have the Leafs embarked on a five–game road trip without print–media representation. As occurred for the first two matches… Read More
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