TORONTO (May 26) — I worked with veteran radio man John Derringer (real name: John Hayes) a generation ago at The FAN–590 when he co–hosted our morning show with the late Pat Marsden. Though I never spent much time around… Read More
TORONTO (May 20) — If Dorothy can click her glass slippers and return from colorful Oz to the farm in Kansas, the Toronto Maple Leafs can probably win a playoff series. Who knows, it might even happen next spring, should… Read More
TORONTO (May 17) — Come on, be honest, you didn’t expect to hear a different message from your Toronto Maple Leafs today? Did you? Why would the club venture outside its vaunted comfort zone in the National Hockey League’s most–hapless… Read More
TORONTO (May 16) — Whatever roster/salary cap manipulation the Toronto Maple Leafs are considering from this point forward absolutely must involve Auston Matthews. Not solely because he failed to help lift the club beyond one playoff round for a sixth… Read More
TORONTO (May 15) — I watched the first two periods of Game 7 on Saturday night before getting dressed and going to work. As such, I listened on radio to the final eight minutes of the decisive match between the… Read More
TORONTO (May 13) — For those who contend that curses, ghosts, goblins and bad guys wearing striped jerseys account for the nearly two decades since the Toronto Maple Leafs last won a playoff round, allow me to get this maudlin… Read More
[Auston Matthews] needs to assume control of this opening round… first, by leading the way at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday with at least one important, timely goal; then with some form of coup de grace either in Game 6 or… Read More
TORONTO (May 8) — Can the Toronto Maple Leafs dethrone the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first–round playoff series with Auston Matthews a marginal figure? It is every bit a rhetorical question.
Yet, only one of many that should disturb… Read More
TORONTO (May 7) — Numbers occasionally lie, as they did for the Toronto Maple Leafs a year ago this month. But, here’s a fact: In Stanley Cup playoff history, the team that leads 2–1 after Game 3 in a best–of–seven… Read More
TORONTO (May 4) — Chalk up one for the champ, but don’t give up on the challenger.
Game 2 of the Maple Leafs–Tampa Bay Stanley Cup series may have seemed like the polar opposite of Game 1, but the difference… Read More
TORONTO (May 3) — It was, in a word, perfection. Or, as near as a hockey team can reasonably approach that elusive target. Casting full and boundless credit on Brendan Shanahan, Kyle Dubas, Sheldon Keefe and all the men wearing… Read More
TORONTO (Apr. 30) — How fascinating and coincidental it was that the best regular season in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs coincided with the worst–ever season for the Montreal Canadiens? Rivals from the very beginning of the… Read More
TORONTO (Apr. 20) — The numbers are more impressive than ever, but this is largely a “been there, done that” season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Which is evident in nearly all the right places amid mainstream media.
Yes, Damien… Read More
TORONTO (Apr. 16) — Given their glistening record against fellow Stanley Cup contenders, the Toronto Maple Leafs should be quite a match for either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Boston Bruins in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.… Read More
“I will be at the Capitals/Leafs game Thursday hoping to welcome Mr. Matthews into our 60–goal club.”— Former NHLer Dennis Maruk, who scored 60 for Washington in 1981–82.
TORONTO (Apr. 10) — Without question, the 2021–22 National Hockey League… Read More
What Matthews has yet to do — what [Mike] Bossy accomplished — is transferring his regular season success to the playoffs.
— Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun, Apr. 5, 2022.
TORONTO (Apr. 7) — Yes, the numbers are astounding. There is… Read More
TORONTO (Apr. 4) — I have read that the “biggest test” of the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs arises in the next couple of nights with road games against Atlantic Division rivals Tampa Bay and Florida. This isn’t accurate.… Read More
TORONTO (Apr. 2) — The bulletin, late Thursday night, from ESPN in the United States:
Auston Matthews joins exclusive Toronto
Maple Leafs club with NHL-leading 50th goal
Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 50th goal of the season and the Toronto… Read More