2022

Toronto Sun Blows It With Simmons

TORONTO (Nov. 20) — A collection of thoughts on Grey Cup Sunday: Postmedia, owner of the Sun newspaper chain, doesn’t often make mistakes with sports coverage, particularly football, a favorite of sports editor Bill (Hawkeye) Pierce. But, the Toronto Sun… Read More

The 1976–77 Salming/Turnbull Dynamic

TORONTO (Nov. 19) — One week after the consecutive–night tributes at Scotiabank Arena to Borje Salming, there remains much intrigue and emotion over the Maple Leafs legend and his unwinnable struggle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease).… Read More

Time For Some Crow

TORONTO (Nov. 14) — Those who frequent this corner will know that I routinely take a stance… and almost never alter my position. Until I have to. At which point, I serve myself a large plate of crow. Such an… Read More

The Captain; The Tiger… and Tears

TORONTO (Nov. 12) — To be honest, there’s no particular reason for me to write this blog. The remarkable and poignant images snapped, below, by veteran photographer Frank Gunn of The Canadian Press more than speak for themselves, as Borje… Read More

Erik Karlsson and Leafs Fantasy

TORONTO (Nov. 10) — Okay, we’re in the midst of a dream… at a time when there was no limit on roster wages in the National Hockey League. As a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who would you rather… Read More

Leafs’ Goalie Count Reaches 76

TORONTO (Nov. 7) — An ever–expanding list with the same result. Indeed, the Toronto Maple Leafs have deployed 76 goalies since the now–ethereal night of May 2, 1967, when the club last won the Stanley Cup. We aren’t sure (neither… Read More

November Leafs Media Nonsense

TORONTO (Nov. 5) — I’ve read about it in three places. So, it must be true. Fans and media following the Toronto Maple Leafs will discover, in the next four nights, whether this year’s club is a genuine championship contender.… Read More

Leafs Have Exhausted All Patience

TORONTO (Nov. 1) — Apologists for the Toronto Maple Leafs, of which there are still too many, tend to skirt legitimate matters by referencing that the club had the same record (4–4–2) after ten games last season, only to amass… Read More

Leafs Need Change at the Top

TORONTO (Oct. 31) — The Shanaplan has run its course. With no tangible result. What seemed like a good idea nearly a decade ago has morphed into a calamity. And, it bears little relation to how many points the Toronto… Read More

At The Crossroads — Again?

TORONTO (Oct. 30) — No person amid the Leafs hierarchy will confess to the truth, but jobs were squarely on the line, in Chicago, one year ago this weekend. The 2–4–1 visitors, having been demolished in Pittsburgh (7–1) and Carolina… Read More

Remembering the Fear… and the Pain

MY DEEPLY PERSONAL STORY (WRITTEN IN 2017) ABOUT BEING DIAGNOSED WITH CROHN’S DISEASE AS A TEENAGER, WITH A NOSTALGIC TWIST INVOLVING THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS: PART 1 My story begins late in the summer of 1975. I was 16½ years… Read More

Leafs Wobble is In–Defense–Able

TORONTO (Oct. 28) — Forget, for a moment, that the Toronto Maple Leafs are a pedestrian 4–3–1 after eight games and have lost to three of the most–feeble outfits (Montreal, Arizona, San Jose) in the National Hockey League. With 74… Read More

How Can Anyone Take This Seriously?

TORONTO (Oct. 27) — In the third week of the seventh season since Auston Matthews scored four goals against the Ottawa Senators in his National Hockey League debut, joining franchise cornerstones William Nylander and Mitch Marner, the Toronto Maple Leafs… Read More

The Arithmetic Says: 60 + 62 = 0

TORONTO (Oct. 24) — At least the New York Yankees won a playoff round and made it to the American League Championship Series, whereupon they were humiliated in a four–game sweep by the Houston Astros. The league–record 62 home runs… Read More

Perkins: “They’re All Geniuses”

TORONTO (Oct. 22) — He has been retired for nearly a decade but there is no person with sports media credentials that continues to call it as straight as Dave Perkins. In fact, it’s almost too easy for me to… Read More

Turnbull: “If I Had A Magic Wand…”

TORONTO (Oct. 18) — The video, posted for all the world to see, was graphic and heartbreaking. Borje Salming, alongside Tim Horton as the greatest defenseman in Toronto Maple Leafs history, breaking down while his wife, Pia, discussed the horrific… Read More

Cut Steve Simmons Some Slack

TORONTO (Oct. 14) — This is a delicate subject and I’m hoping you will carefully read what I am about to say. Toronto Sun sports columnist Steve Simmons touched off a firestorm in his popular Sunday Notes page last week… Read More

Bell Blockheads Take Down Another

TORONTO (Oct. 10) — This blog isn’t about sports. It doesn’t have to be. It’s about the heartless, unconscionable jackals that operate our Big 3 media conglomerates: Bell Canada, Rogers Communications and Corus Entertainment. Nameless, faceless people with cash to… Read More