Avery All Class — As Usual

TORONTO (June 10) — Though he could play the game decently, ex–National Hockey League forward Sean Avery is among the most–profane, distasteful figures in the sport’s history. His shameless, nauseating insults and put–downs are too numerous to waste time listing… Read More

Is It Fate… Or Mystique?

TORONTO (June 7) — Have you noticed that when something whacky happens in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens often wade triumphantly through the muck? Or, much more impressively than anticipated? It could be materializing again this spring with… Read More

Leafs Should Go Hard For Seth Jones

TORONTO (June 6) — Warning: This blog is an hypothesis… until the inert Brendan Shanahan acknowledges that sitting idly leads to another brick wall at playoff time. But, let’s proceed, nonetheless. Though I’m not advocating the Toronto Maple Leafs throw… Read More

From Cheap to Cavalier

TORONTO (June 5) — So, the week has passed with nary a whimper. All is forgiven and nearly forgotten. Time to move on, Leafs Nation. But, please, understand this: Your favorite club has refused to properly allocate money in the… Read More

It’s Just Too Easy

TORONTO (June 3) — Let me begin by repeating what I have written in this corner on several occasions: I respect Brendan Shanahan. I respected him as a hard–nosed, Hall–of–Fame power forward with a mean streak; exactly the type of… Read More

A Decade Later — Still Standing

TORONTO (June 2) — I wanted to write this blog earlier, but the playoff collapse of the Leafs got in the way. Tuesday, just after noon, represented 10 years since Don Kollins, program director at The FAN–590, told me my… Read More

The Leafs Should Hire Rutherford

A few days after another lost season, Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas comes to his end–of–season presser carrying a cross. He spends an hour nailing himself to it. Then we start the process all over again. — Cathal Kelly, The… Read More

Canadiens Chortling Yet Again

The Leafs want to preclude [Carey] Price from attaining “can’t beat me” confidence. Which a Game 7 showdown could manufacture. — BETWEEN The Posts, May 27 TORONTO (May 31) — In the end, there is death, taxes… and the Montreal… Read More

The Mystery of Tuesday

TORONTO (May 30) — Perhaps never in the modern history of the Maple Leafs is so much thought to be riding on the outcome of one game: the decisive match, Monday night, in the Toronto–Montreal opening playoff round. I say… Read More

You Know Why The Leafs Are Here

TORONTO (May 30) — There is no mystery as to why the heavily favored Leafs are going to Game 7 against the highly inferior Montreal Canadiens. Neither is there any mystery to this blog. Every pre–series declaration of a four… Read More

Shall We Forget The Date?

TORONTO (May 29) — This will be a sorry–ass memory for hockey fans in the Greater Toronto Area. Just once in the 104–year history of the Maple Leafs has the club played on the exact date as today: Saturday, May… Read More

Rogers Needs a Bolt; Leafs A Slam

TORONTO (May 28) — The biggest off–ice news in the National Hockey League this week was that Wayne Gretzky had signed a multi–year contract with Turner Sports to provide studio commentary. Turner and ESPN take over from NBC next season… Read More

Habs Delay The Inevitable

TORONTO (May 27) — It was a look of disbelief. Or, in this case, disbe–LEAF. Alexander Galchenyuk did not plan to send his ex–teammates on a 2–on–0 breakaway early in overtime Thursday night. That’s what you get, however, when you… Read More

Are The Leafs Already A Success?

TORONTO (May 27) — If you consider local newspaper and website headlines since Monday, it appears the 2021 Toronto Maple Leafs have attained some kind of zenith by merely leading the worst of the 16 Stanley Cup playoff qualifiers in… Read More

Cool — During and After

TORONTO (May 26) — The TV image spoke volumes. No raising his stick. No pumping of the arms. No gyrating of the body. Just a relaxed sip of water. It was there for fans across the country to see on… Read More

Hockey Night Really Needs The Leafs

TORONTO (May 24) — Unless the Edmonton Oilers become the fifth team in Stanley Cup playoff history to rebound from a 3–0 deficit in a best–of–seven series, Rogers, Sportsnet and Hockey Night In Canada will quickly lose one of its… Read More

Love Is In The Air

TORONTO (May 23) — Yes, folks, the planets have aligned. There is so much giddiness in and around Leafs Land after Saturday night’s bounce–back romp over Montreal that Adrienne Batra, the Toronto Sun’s editor–in–chief, has been invited to spend Victoria… Read More

Dubas Has More Important Issues

TORONTO (May 22) — I respect Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, but he was out of line criticizing the Toronto Sun for its Friday cover. As pictured, below, the Sun ran a photo of a bloodied John Tavares being… Read More