Decoding Connor McDavid’s Retort

TORONTO (June 20) — Something tells me the world’s most–gifted hockey player was not impressed when his team flipped between goaltenders late in the Stanley Cup final. Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard; the latter having played one game for the… Read More

Imagine the Leafs Altering DNA… x2

TORONTO (June 17) — This, from a hockey voice in Miami: “Most people think [Leafs general manager] Brad Treliving will pursue either Sam Bennett or Brad Marchand in free agency. From what I’m hearing, don’t be surprised if the Leafs… Read More

Will Rogers / MLSE Honor Joe Bowen?

TORONTO (June 13) — Yes, we know there will be scoreboard video tributes and lots of shiny, complicated words from the public relations wing. Still, the question remains: Will the media wing of Rogers Communications truly honor Joe Bowen, iconic… Read More

For Leafs, It Can Only Be Marchand

TORONTO (June 11) — For the moment, the target remains clear. If it is still within sight on July 1 — just 20 days from now — the Maple Leafs can adopt only one strategy: Get Brad Marchand into the… Read More

The Banality of Truth at MLSE

TORONTO (June 2) — A determined canvassing of undiluted honesty amid those employed by the Toronto Maple Leafs since 1967 is rather effortless. There are markedly few examples from which to choose… and most comments pre–date the current era. Here’s… Read More

What Cachet Remains For Matthews?

It is incomprehensible that such veteran hockey people as [Brendan] Shanahan, Brad Treliving and Craig Berube actually felt that stitching a letter on clothing could alter a person’s DNA. — Between The Posts, May 19 TORONTO (May 29) — Finally,… Read More

Why the Contradictory Criteria?

TORONTO (May 26) — Clearly, two sets of rules and requirements exist in the Rogers sports empire. If not, there isn’t a person of mental acuity that can explain why Mark Shapiro retains authority over the Toronto Blue Jays the… Read More

Pelley Should Run The Leafs

TORONTO (May 22) — There’s no need to search for a hockey executive to replace Brendan Shanahan as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The club’s parent company, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, has the perfect candidate under its roof.… Read More

Ballard to Matthews — No Change

TORONTO (May 21) — Paul Henderson, the former Leaf and Team Canada hero from 1972, tells a story about his agonizing decision to defect from the National Hockey League to the rogue World Hockey Association, which competed with the NHL… Read More

Leafs and Auston Have to Separate

TORONTO (May 19) — Forget about Mitch Marner and John Tavares becoming free agents. Forget about the new coach bringing structure to the Maple Leafs until any such control was beyond him. Forget about the apparently elite goaltender who couldn’t… Read More

Marner’s Tantrum Was Too Late

TORONTO (May 19) — For the first time in nearly a decade with the Maple Leafs, Mitch Marner blew his cover. Midway through the second period on Sunday night, with he and his weak–kneed ‘mates embarrassing themselves in Game 7… Read More

A Win For The Best Fans In Hockey

For the series to continue after tonight, the Maple Leafs will need more than a large uptick in performance. The Panthers will, simultaneously, have to remove their feet from the pedal in an elimination game at home. — my blog… Read More

Imagine the MLSE Revenge Tour

TORONTO (May 16) — Only once in my years around the Maple Leafs do I recall the club being so universally written off toward the end of a playoff series — prior to Game 7 of the 1993 opening–round clash… Read More

Only Three More Years, Folks

TORONTO (May 15) — Here’s what we know, for certain, about the Toronto Maple Leafs: Unless they triumph at Florida on Friday night, Brendan Shanahan and Mitch Marner will have enjoyed their final hours in blue and white. Auston Matthews?… Read More

MLSE Is Buried In Horsesh** Calls

TORONTO (May 12) — The Maple Leafs had better win the Stanley Cup this year. Only a championship, for the first time in 58 springs, could justify one of the most–egregious decisions in modern franchise history: Ripping the captain’s ‘C’… Read More

Car 34, Where Are You?

TORONTO (May 10) — So long as the Toronto Maple Leafs were winning, there was no concern over Auston Matthews being the highest–paid “defensive center” in the Stanley Cup playoffs. As noted, Friday, on the always friendly Hockey Night In … Read More

It’s Win — or Choke — For the Leafs

TORONTO (May 8) — What an exhilarating moment to be a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Especially a fan less than 30 years of age, with perhaps hazy recollection of his or her favorite team posing a Stanley Cup… Read More

The Panthers Aren’t Likely Scared

TORONTO (May 6) — And, precisely who should the Florida Panthers be concerned about, as it relates to vengeance, on the Maple Leafs? You could search the DNA database of the entire Toronto club without detecting a single portent of… Read More