TORONTO (Sep. 24) — I’ve written this before and I’ll continue to pound away until it happens: Lance Hornby should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. That the Selection Committee continues to overlook the dean of Canadian hockey writers is farcical (though, in no way, a knock against those who have previously won the Elmer Ferguson Award). Lance has been covering hockey for so many years at the Toronto Sun that I dropped into the Leafs beat nearly a decade after he started following the club. And, I haven’t warbled about the Leafs, full time, on radio since 2008–09. Maybe now that Mike Gartner is chairman of the Hall, Lance will receive his due reward. Hornby and I covered the Leafs during the brief time (Mar. 21, 1994 to June 22, 1996) that Gartner wore blue and white. He knows both of us and surely appreciates the 35–plus years that Lance has been scribbling about the hockey club.
In the grand scheme, what prompted this blog was hardly earth shattering. But, I recognized it, nonetheless. Lance wrote an interesting story on Monday that I knew, while reading, would land him in “trouble”. It was entitled MAPLE LEAFS’ CORE MATURING INTO FAMILY MEN, BUT LACK STANLEY CUP FOR COMPLETE PICTURE.
To thousands of tortured Leaf followers, this was waving the red flag in a bull ring.
Not that Hornby would deliberately cause such a reaction. It’s true: Yesterday’s teen idols in blue and white are, today, looking toward their long–term futures. Entering into partnership, marriage and fatherhood. As do millions of others. While this is delightful news for the players and their families, it is being viewed (accurately? skeptically?) as yet another hockey distraction. If the laureate members of the Leafs could not elevate emotion and fervor at playoff time while single, how will they do so with peripheral responsibility? Having a healthy child is the world’s largest blessing. And, among its most–important obligations. Will the “established” Leafs take the club farther?
TORONTO SUN LEAF WRITERS LANCE HORNBY (MIDDLE) AND TERRY KOSHAN (RIGHT) EXECUTE A PODCAST WITH POSTMEDIA COLLEAGUE (AND FORMER FAN–590 PRODUCER) ROB WONG.
Virtually all media websites include a COMMENTS section with on–line submissions. While responses to articles may be offensive; at times, slanderous to the writer and its subjects, the practice endures to attract eyes for a lengthier period. The interactive part of it, long ago, grew antiquated. Today, everyone on the planet can interact with everyone else. This is simply an exercise to draw readership. It appeals to the lowest common–denominator in all of us. Yet, we still look… as when passing an auto crash on the highway. Expectedly, Lance’s “Leafs Family” story was attracting replies from people who sit adjacent to a computer all day, awaiting such an opportunity. Many of these individuals don’t say “boo” in front of their employers or partners, but they “get tough” on the Internet. After 29 such COMMENTS, the Sun closed off further reaction. Whether this was a call from the moderators or an appeal from Lance, himself, is not known. But, it generated the predictable feedback. Among the “observations”…
I have a question that perhaps someone can answer. When did Marner get his pilot’s license. Watching last night’s game, he sure did a lot of flybys.
Who cares. Maybe that’s what they should stick to. Pumping out kids and marrying gold diggers [doesn’t work] insofar as producing a Stanley Cup. It will never happen with these guys as long as they’re playing for the Leafs. History tells us that individual players do much better after they’ve left this circus for teams hungry to win.
I feel confident in saying the Cup will come home to Toronto no later than 2067.
Why does [the Toronto media] keep talking about the Stanley Cup? OMG.
This article makes it sound like the “family men” have just missed out on a Stanley Cup. Let’s be honest and not oversell achievement. They have made it beyond the first round once.
They’re still on Muskoka time, closing wine cellars and dismissing seasonal staff.
A later line in the COMMENTS section read “Content Removed.” So, who knows how abusive and silly the reaction became? As you can see, Lance’s story was a magnet for the “comedians” in Leafs Nation. Those that suffer most after the annual playoff folderoo. Truth be known, even the most dyed–in–the–wool Leaf supporters have grown wary of the Core–4 and all the unfulfilled promise. Reading about the multi–millionaires building mansions and cottages; buying fast, expensive cars, etc., doesn’t resonate as it would, say, in Edmonton, where Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers have been to the Cup semifinals and Cup final in the past three years. The Leafs have only once been to a Conference semifinal, whereupon they were quickly dispatched (in 2023) by Florida. So, there isn’t a lot of mushy sentiment amid hockey readers that have been routinely disappointed.
THE ANNUAL RITE OF SPRING: LEAFS SHAKING HANDS WITH THE VICTORIOUS BOSTON BRUINS.
At some point, though doubtfully, this could be a hidden message to those who cover the Leafs in the mainstream media: Yes, it’s okay to criticize the team. The Leafs are a public trust that turns into a public fraud each spring. It is way past the time that Brendan Shanahan and his vows came to fruition. Still, only one playoff–round triumph in the salary cap era (beginning in 2005–06). The Leafs have not earned “protection” from reporters and columnists. Not with such–minimal achievement over two decades when it matters. Therefore, even a revealing and informative newspaper submission has its COMMENTS shuttered. A story penned by the Hall–of–Fame scribe in waiting.
DINWIDDIE IS DELUSIONAL: The unmistakable slide of a football coach becomes evident upon defensing the indefensible. Such as Ryan Dinwiddie trying to excuse his dreadful clock management in the waning moments of last Friday’s game at BMO Field. Provided a chance to control the timer and kick a go–ahead field goal with mere seconds remaining, the Toronto Argonauts coach instructed quarterback Chad Kelly to twice pass for a quick score. Which, even if successful, would not have provided his team a victory, given how the Argo defense was mulch throughout the game for Hamilton quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. The only chance for a happy ending was to work the clock with a run attack that began gobbling up yardage late in the game. Instead, Dinwiddie got greedy and suffered the predictable result. The Tiger–Cats, trailing 30–28 after a Toronto field goal, still had 58 seconds to maneuver into range. Bo Levi needed roughly 25 yards from the spot at Hamilton’s 40–yard line. A child could have accomplished as much against the bleary Argonaut defenders. Dinwiddie’s blunder allowed kicker Mark Liegghio to win the match for the visitors on the final play. Was the coach contrite, afterward, in front of the media?
“Run the ball when we got into field goal range? I thought we had a good plan and we were executing it,” Dinwiddie replied, incredulously. “You second–guess that throw to DaVaris [Daniels]? Was he open? He was pretty open, right? I could have blown the game over, so that’s why we called that play. That was a zone read, run–pass option. They gave us a pull key, we pulled it. We knew what we had. Those are the plays you’ve got to make to win football games.” No, it’s proper coaching decisions that win tight games. Not mismanagement of the clock in the last 90 seconds. If Dinwiddie truly believes he made the correct calls last week, the Argonauts are in more trouble than we think. Especially with the league–leading Montreal Alouettes coming to town on Saturday.
ORGANIZING NHL MEDIA GUIDES — Part 2
I have more than 1,200 NHL media guides, from 1960–61 to 2007–08. It’s been more than 15 years since teams published these colorful books, choosing to go digital. They gain in value each day. In Part 2 of a series, I present guides from the expansion and pre–expansion eras:
12 YEARS OF BOSTON BRUINS GUIDES: 1963–64 TO 1974–75. ENCOMPASSING THE BOBBY ORR–PHIL ESPOSITO ERA.
THE KANSAS CITY SCOUTS JOINED THE NHL WITH THE WASHINGTON CAPITALS IN 1974–75. AFTER TWO MISERABLE SEASONS AT CROSBY–KEMPER ARENA (BOTH MEDIA GUIDES, ABOVE), THE SCOUTS RELOCATED TO DENVER AS THE ORIGINAL COLORADO ROCKIES (A NAME COPIED BY THE CITY’S MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM). DURING SIX SEASONS, THE ROCKIES WERE BEST–REMEMBERED FOR HIRING DON CHERRY AS COACH IN 1979–80; THEN ACQUIRING (IN DECEMBER 1979) POPULAR WINGER LANNY McDONALD FROM THE MAPLE LEAFS. THE FRANCHISE MOVED AGAIN, AFTER 1981–82, TO EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. AS THE NEW JERSEY DEVILS. ALL SIX ROCKIES MEDIA GUIDES ARE HERE.
THE FIRST 10 NEW JERSEY MEDIA GUIDES (1982–83 TO 1991–92). THEN, FROM THE CLUB’S FIRST STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP, WHICH FOLLOWED THE LOCKOUT–ABBREVIATED SCHEDULE OF JANUARY–TO–MAY 1995.
MY EARLIEST TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS MEDIA GUIDES, BEGINNING IN 1962–63 AFTER THE FIRST OF FOUR STANLEY CUPS UNDER PUNCH IMLACH. MISSING IS 1964–65 (STILL NOT ACQUIRED) AND 1973–74, WHEN THE CLUB DID NOT PUBLISH.
AMONG MY OLDEST ITEMS: DETROIT MEDIA GUIDES FROM 1960–61 TO 1970–71 (GORDIE HOWE’S 25th AND LAST SEASON WITH THE RED WINGS). IN ’60–61, THE CLUB RELEASED A “YEARBOOK” AND A LIST OF FACTS AND RECORDS.
FOR EIGHT SEASONS (1972–73 TO 1979–80), THE CALGARY FLAMES WERE BASED IN ATLANTA. HERE ARE ALL EIGHT MEDIA GUIDES PRODUCED BY THE ATLANTA FLAMES, ORIGINALLY MANAGED BY HALL–OF–FAMER CLIFF FLETCHER.
UPON ENTERING THE NHL (WITH FLORIDA) IN 1993–94, THE NEW ANAHEIM CLUB WAS NAMED AFTER THE DISNEY MOVIE “MIGHTY DUCKS.” ITS LOGO AND JERSEY RANKED AMONG THE TOP SELLERS IN MODERN NHL HISTORY. LATER ON, THE CLUB DROPPED “MIGHTY” FROM ITS MONIKER AND DEFEATED OTTAWA TO WIN THE 2007 STANLEY CUP.
THESE ALSO RANK AMONG MY OLDEST MEDIA GUIDES: THE CANADIENS, FROM 1960–61 TO 1974–75.
EMAIL: HOWARDLBERGER@GMAIL.COM
