2011/2012 Season

Is Kyle Sticking It To the Leafs?

UPDATE: ELLIOTTE FRIEDMAN OF SPORTSNET BROKE THE NEWS, JUST AFTER NOON TODAY, THAT KYLE DUBAS WILL NOT RETURN AS GM OF THE LEAFS. MORE TO FOLLOW… TORONTO (May 18) — They say that in life, what comes around goes around.… Read More

There’s Only One Player To Trade

TORONTO (May 16) — This is going in capital letters so Leafs Nation can save it and possibly throw it back at me. Even if that won’t happen, because… THE MAPLE LEAFS WILL NEVER PLAY FOR, LET ALONE WIN, THE … Read More

Kyle Dubas Boldly Saved the Day

TORONTO (May 15) — I will begin by repeating the words, over the weekend, of a trusted hockey source: The Maple Leafs are “heavily weighing” an executive overhaul that would remove president Brendan Shanahan and general manager Kyle Dubas from… Read More

Bowen Says Goodbye — Almost

TORONTO (May 13) — Has Joe Bowen called his final game as voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs? There was no indication of any such circumstance prior to last night’s playoff elimination by the Florida Panthers. But, neither has Bowen… Read More

Don’t Get Too Excited, Leafs Nation

TORONTO (May 11) — Yes, there is a smidgen of hope, where none existed prior to Game 4. And, yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs will beget intrigue and commotion if they again defeat the Florida Panthers on Friday night. But,… Read More

If Leafs Win Another, Look Out

TORONTO (May 10) — Would anyone like their palms read on Thursday? While puttering around on the Internet, just after 3 p.m., I came to an epiphany (above) on my Twitter page. So, I missed the final score. Big deal.… Read More

Nightmare Scenario For The Leafs

TORONTO (May 8) — Truth be known, there was only one circumstance the Toronto Maple Leafs wished to avoid after winning their first playoff round in nearly two decades: getting drubbed in the second round and forcing management to trade… Read More

Seixeiro Said It (Very) Straight

TORONTO (May 6) — It wasn’t exactly Peter Finch exclaiming, in the 1977 movie Network, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Neither, thank goodness, was Sid Seixeiro murdered live on television, as with the… Read More

TSN–1050 Manhandling Sportsnet–590

TORONTO (May 3) — Bob McCown never cared much about competition. As it pertained to jock talk, the late–afternoon hours had long been the domain of Prime Time Sports — a magazine show that began on local radio in October… Read More

Poetic Justice For Miserly MLSE

TORONTO (May 1) — It ranks among the oldest sayings in the English language: You get what you pay for. Or, in this instance, what you decline to pay for. An otherwise–glorious weekend for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment —… Read More

Oh, How We Suffered…

TORONTO (Apr. 30) — It was Stockholm Syndrome. There’s no other way to describe being a fan of the Maple Leafs during the Harold Ballard era. The jailbird–turned–owner held our city hostage for nearly two decades, beginning in 1972. Yet… Read More

The Ghost of Machine Gun Lanny

TORONTO (Apr. 28) — If nothing else, the Maple Leafs will have calendar karma tomorrow night in their second attempt to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning. You’ve got to be an old fart like me to remember Saturday, Apr. 29,… Read More

Is Tonight (Finally) The Night?

TORONTO (Apr. 27) — There is no such thing as a sure thing in professional sport, particularly in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Otherwise, the Boston Bruins would be cooling their heels and awaiting the survivor of… Read More

The Forbidden Word

Collapse [ kuh–laps ]: to fall or cave in; crumble suddenly… to break down; come to nothing; fail. TORONTO (Apr. 25) — So, here we are again, precisely one year and eleven months later. Your Toronto Maple Leafs, after the… Read More

The Leafs Are Becoming Maulers

TORONTO (Apr. 23) — Let us begin with some words of playoff caution: 2017: Maple Leafs led the Washington Capitals 2–1 after Game 3. 2019: Maple Leafs led the Boston Bruins 2–1 after Game 3. 2021: Maple Leafs led the… Read More

Odd Timing For Raptors Change

TORONTO (Apr. 22) — Let’s assume, without first–hand knowledge, that the Toronto Raptors knew long before Friday they were going to fire coach Nick Nurse. The decision caught no one by surprise; it had been “in the air” even before… Read More

Hedman Injury A Series Changer

TORONTO (Apr. 21) — The best coach in the National Hockey League over the past decade told a fib for the ages on Thursday night. “Playing without Victor Hedman had nothing to do with this loss,” said Jon Cooper —… Read More

Leafs Newspaper War No More

TORONTO (Apr. 17) — It is sad and rather inexplicable. The Toronto Sun, so long the go–to newspaper for sports coverage in our city, has thrown in the towel. Neither a hockey beat–writer nor a columnist will be on site… Read More