Once a Mom, Always A Mom

TORONTO (Jan. 18) — It is so true. A mother’s work is never complete. Not for one day. Not for one hour. Even if her famous, 25–year–old son, earning $10.6 million over two years to play hockey with the Columbus… Read More

Tonight Is First Test For The Leafs

TORONTO (Jan. 16) — There are three elements of the abbreviated, 56–game season that will continuously stand out in the National Hockey League between tonight and May 8: 1) each game is just a bit more significant than during a… Read More

Leafs Good, But Overrated — Again

TORONTO (Jan. 12) — It happens almost every year and is undoubtedly a by–product of the longest current Stanley Cup drought: On the eve of the National Hockey League season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are overrated by members of the… Read More

Hang On… It’s Gonna Be Bumpy

TORONTO (Jan. 9) — Like a flight over the Rocky Mountains when air patterns are unpredictable, the 2021 National Hockey League season is going to be turbulent. This will not occur as a result of carelessness on the NHL’s part,… Read More

Where Is Bobby Orr?

TORONTO (Jan. 6) — In my eyes — and I’m far from alone — he is the greatest hockey player of all time. He is also a wonderful, charitable person that has always treated me first class. But, Bobby Orr’s… Read More

Breaking News And Botching Up

TORONTO (Jan. 6) — I once told our radio audience at The FAN–590 that the Maple Leafs were going to sign defenseman Adrian Aucoin as a free agent. I was wrong. Never happened. Even worse, I scrambled out of Bob… Read More

Leafs Blew It With Chara

TORONTO (Jan. 4) — You can make excuses for the Toronto Maple Leafs from sun–up to sun–down — and countless people around here have perfected the art — but the bottom line is this: Zdeno Chara was available and should… Read More

What If the Leafs Disappoint Again?

TORONTO (Jan. 3) — Though I’m inclined to agree that the Maple Leafs have a good chance, all things being equal, to finish among the top four teams in the Canadian (or North) Division of the National Hockey League this… Read More

Still The Biggest Shutout

TORONTO (Jan. 2) — It isn’t often that a bathroom break reminds me of a Maple Leafs game from my youth. But, 50 years ago tonight, as the Leafs were building what remains the most lop–sided shutout in franchise history,… Read More

Breaking News Is Largely Luck

TORONTO (Dec. 30) — It was 25 years ago tonight, at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, that Mats Sundin scored the fastest overtime goal in National Hockey League history. I covered the game as Leafs reporter for The FAN–590.… Read More

Hard To Predict Canadian Division

TORONTO (Dec. 26) — Unless you have blind loyalty to the Toronto Maple Leafs, or work for a team–owned media outlet, it is nearly impossible to determine where the club may finish after the upcoming, 56–game regular season. Of course,… Read More

Tootin’ Turnbull Is 67

TORONTO (Dec. 22) — More than four decades on, he still holds the club record for points in one season by a defenseman, and the National Hockey League mark for goals in one game by a defenseman, but former Maple… Read More

The Berger–Strachan Kerfuffle

TORONTO (Dec. 20) — There’s nothing like some old–time media warfare to perk the interest of hockey fans. This became evident on Saturday when I reviewed Al Strachan’s latest book — a good one, Hockey’s Hot Stove — and re–told… Read More

There Is No Andersen “Decision”

Toronto (Dec. 19) — A blog on the TSN website this week was entitled ANDERSEN DECISION LOOMING FOR LEAFS. In the article, Travis Yost reminded readers that Frederik Andersen’s contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs expires after the 56–game National… Read More

Get Ready For Lots of Leafs vs. Habs

TORONTO (Dec. 11) — It is the oldest rivalry in the National Hockey League. Toronto vs. Montreal. Dating to Dec. 19, 1917, when the Toronto Hockey Club (also known as the Blueshirts) lost, 10–9, to the Montreal Wanderers at Westmount… Read More

Gary to the Rescue — Again

TORONTO (Dec. 8) — For the second time in his 27–year term as Commissioner, Gary Bettman has saved a National Hockey League season. It first happened in the wee hours of Jan. 11, 1995, after a 103–day owners’ lockout. As… Read More

NHL Dubiously Leading The Way

TORONTO (Dec. 6) — No one has yet to classify the current dispute between National Hockey League owners and players a “work stoppage” or even a “labor disruption”. So, let me be the first. Though the COVID–19 pandemic has clearly… Read More

Apparently, Leafs Are The Best

TORONTO (Dec. 2) — Ladies and gentlemen, start your immune systems. The race to the wire in the still–to–be–determined 2020–21 National Hockey League season; within the still–to–be–determined Canadian Division; at the still–to–be–determined sites for games and the still–to–be–determined length of… Read More