What Is Kyle Waiting For?

TORONTO (Feb. 25) — If it’s true, as suggested by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, that Kyle Dubas turned down a trade with Dallas for defenseman John Klingberg, the Maple Leafs general manager will fall on that sword. How many more… Read More

TSN Should Suspend Jeff O’Neill

TORONTO (Feb. 22) — It was nothing short of a disgusting, demeaning reply… and O–Dog should pay the price. During Tuesday afternoon’s edition of Overdrive across the TSN radio and television networks, Jeff O’Neill joined host Bryan Hayes and co–host… Read More

Where Expectation Meets Fantasy

TORONTO (Feb. 21) — As it happens virtually every time the Toronto Maple Leafs pull off a minor trade, the player acquired becomes an instant trophy candidate. In this case, lanky Ilya Lyubushkin, fetched by general manager Kyle Dubas from… Read More

Won’t Get Fooled Again

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around… The Who, May 1971 TORONTO (Feb. 19) — Yes, there will be change all around in the… Read More

How “Different” Are The Leafs?

TORONTO (Feb. 13) — Barring an 18–wheeler, the Maple Leafs are en route to the best regular season in their 105–year history. Never before has the club won 30 of its first 45 games, or accumulated 63 points in 45… Read More

Staying Ahead Of Crohn’s

PART 1 My story begins late in the summer of 1975. I was 16½ years old and not feeling quite right. I had worked as a counselor at a day camp in my neighborhood and was preparing to enter Grade… Read More

Dubas Knows What The Leafs Need

TORONTO (Feb. 7) — The reason Kyle Dubas told reporters on Monday that he hasn’t yet determined his trade deadline strategy is rather fundamental: He can stall for at least another five weeks. And, that’s precisely what the Maple Leafs… Read More

Two Solitudes… Like Never Before

TORONTO (Feb. 3) — Without bothering to check, I can tell you that only once have the Toronto Maple Leafs been more than 28 points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens at any juncture of a season in the 105–year history… Read More

Could Leafs Land The Big ‘Z’?

TORONTO (Jan. 27) — The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup, they were hockey’s version of a retirement home. Consider the ages of the following players, integral to the 1967 playoff upsets of Chicago and Montreal:… Read More

Heartache for Buffalo. Again.

TORONTO (Jan. 24) — Wide Right. No Goal. The Music City Miracle. And now… 13 Seconds. It just doesn’t end for the traumatized football and hockey fans of Buffalo. And, it’s possible that only a professional sports team from the… Read More

Campbell Needs Some Help

TORONTO (Jan. 20) — There is nothing so debilitating in professional sport as emotional fatigue. It occurs, primarily, when an athlete is called upon to shoulder a disproportionate load for his team. Such as with Jack Campbell and the Toronto… Read More

The Beast of the West

TORONTO (Jan. 18) — Undoubtedly, this blog will be considered sacrilege by fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs… and by the horde of mainstream media that covers the team as a publicity branch of ownership. Both factions keep hands off… Read More

Hey Leafs: Look Out From Behind!

TORONTO (Jan. 14) — It is quite the paradox. Though the Toronto Maple Leafs have the best record in modern franchise history after 35 games (23–9–3 for 49 points), there’s a chance the club may need to qualify for the… Read More

Leafs Are In A World of Cap Hurt

TORONTO (Jan. 11) — I keep reading how the “tightly bonded” dressing room of the Toronto Maple Leafs cannot be disrupted by such a miscreant as Evander Kane. At the same time, I remind myself that the Leafs, amid doting… Read More

The Dubious Leafs/COVID Charade

TORONTO (Jan. 6) — Does anyone out there have an answer? Better yet, is any person holding a National Hockey League media credential willing to ask a simple question? To wit: Why are some games in Canadian cities being postponed… Read More

No Mystery with Leafs… or Oilers

TORONTO (Jan. 4) — How circumstances have changed amid a pair of Canadian teams, two time zones apart, in the National Hockey League. Early in the now–fractured 2021–22 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs appeared disoriented, indifferent and on the cusp… Read More

COVID Fatigue Will Get You Nowhere

TORONTO (Dec. 30) — Honestly, what reason would the Toronto Maple Leafs have to play their home game against Ottawa on Saturday night? After Ontario reported 13,807 new COVID infections on Thursday — obliterating the single–day pandemic record — the… Read More

The Crazy Ballard Media Years

TORONTO (Dec. 28) — It is still, in my view, the best book ever written about the Toronto Maple Leafs. In particular, the absurdity and madness that prevailed around Maple Leaf Gardens in the final years of the Harold Ballard… Read More