2021

The “Feel Good” Streaks of Autumn

TORONTO (Nov. 15) — Oh, if November were only April for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sporting a tidy 8–1–0 record in their past nine starts, the Leafs are winning games early… tying games late… prevailing in overtime with first, second… Read More

Argos Fans: I’ve Got The Burps

TORONTO (Nov. 13) — I was up overnight with major indigestion… from eating a giant bowl of my own words. In a blog earlier this week (https://bit.ly/2YvNBMy), I suggested the Toronto Argonauts would likely be exposed by the Hamilton Tiger–Cats… Read More

My First Visits to Maple Leaf Gardens

TORONTO (Nov. 10) — Friday of this week will mark the 90th anniversary of the night Maple Leaf Gardens opened: Nov. 12, 1931, when the Leafs were defeated, 3–1, by the Chicago Black Hawks. I composed the following recollection for… Read More

Leafs Need More From 34

TORONTO (Nov. 9) — To begin: Credit Sheldon Keefe and the Maple Leafs for rebounding from a terrible opening two weeks of the 2021–22 season. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that I didn’t see five consecutive wins coming after… Read More

What’s The Rush With Soupy?

TORONTO (Nov. 3) — Of course the Maple Leafs are going to sign Jack Campbell to a long–term extension before the goalie demonstrates he can perform effectively through a full, 82–game season. That’s the Brendan Shanahan/Kyle Dubas archetype: Pay now.… Read More

Sportsnet Shellacs ESPN

TORONTO (Nov. 2) — National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman held a Zoom media conference, Monday afternoon, to entertain questions about the horrific sex scandal involving the Chicago Blackhawks. Accompanying Bettman, in New York, was deputy commissioner Bill Daly. I… Read More

Emotion Overrules Intellect

TORONTO (Nov. 1) — The Maple Leafs are enjoying some relative quiet after consecutive (and unimpressive) victories over Chicago and Detroit, using a three–day lull between games to tell their fans, courtesy of veteran Jason Spezza, that the club is… Read More

Rielly Extension Follows The Script

TORONTO (Oct. 29) — There are several irrefutable facts that surround Morgan Rielly’s eight–year, $60 million contract extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs: a) Rielly is, by many lengths, the best defenseman on the hockey club… and will remain so… Read More

Leafs Escape The Cauldron, For Now

TORONTO (Oct. 28) — There was method to the madness when the Toronto Maple Leafs poured off their bench as if they’d won the Stanley Cup on Wednesday night in Chicago. Yes, the players were genuinely happy to end a… Read More

For The Leafs, It Isn’t “Too Early”

TORONTO (Oct. 26) — Only optics, right now, can prevent the Toronto Maple Leafs from a detonation of the hockey department. The mainstream media will tell you it’s “too early” for such an outcome… but our eyes tell us the… Read More

Why Leafs Fans Are Devastated

TORONTO (Oct. 25) — Without question, the morale of Leafs Nation has plummeted far beneath a reasonable grade for the fourth week of October. And, the answer is simple: the 7–1 beatdown in Pittsburgh on Saturday night wasn’t merely the… Read More

Torts in Toronto? Oh My!

TORONTO (Oct. 24) — If you believe that 54½ years is not sufficient time for the Toronto Maple Leafs to launch into crisis mode, stop reading this blog right now…. Okay, thanks for hanging with me. I figured you might.… Read More

Leafs Look Frighteningly Familiar

TORONTO (Oct. 23) — Be it the second week of the regular season, or a decisive playoff match with an historic foe, the Toronto Maple Leafs do not change. For whatever reason, the nucleus of this club has such limited… Read More

Marner Needs His Mojo

TORONTO (Oct. 20) — Mitch Marner has lost his confidence. Nick Ritchie is a bust. Michael Bunting can score 35 goals. “Soooooouup!” will win the Vezina Trophy. Which are not only the sentiments of those that follow the Maple Leafs… Read More

It Felt Strange… and a Little Sad

TORONTO (Oct. 19) — On Monday night, I went to a Leafs game at Scotiabank Arena for the first time in five years. You may recall, there were many times when I’d attend at Leafs home game for the first… Read More

Signs of Panic… With 80 Games Left

TORONTO (Oct. 16) — God bless the boys on the TSN Radio Overdrive panel. I watch or listen rather frequently and enjoy the repartee between Bryan Hayes, Jamie (Noodles) McLennan and Jeff O’Neill. Whenever the Toronto Maple Leafs are topical,… Read More

Cheerleading Starts Early

TORONTO (Oct. 14) — This is a different era of newspaper sports reporting; a throwback, in some ways, to the 1950’s and 60’s, when the Maple Leafs paid travel expenses for writers that followed the team on the road. The… Read More

Same Cast, Different Result?

TORONTO (Oct. 13) — It was another wallop of truth from the only Toronto sports columnist that gives us the goods, completely unvarnished. In a cheeky preview of Canadian teams heading into the 2021–22 National Hockey League season, Cathal Kelly… Read More