Air Canada Centre

Star Back In The Game (For Now)

TORONTO (Sep. 8) — It appears as if local hockey fans will be treated to a dying spectacle this season as the Toronto Sun and Toronto Star will dispatch writers/columnists to road games with the Maple Leafs. This was common… Read More

Leafs Could Still Pounce

TORONTO (Aug. 6) — William Nylander emphasized last week he is out for a “long–term” deal coming off entry–level salary restriction, rather than a shorter “bridge” contract. If I were Kyle Dubas, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, I… Read More

The Silence Is Deafening

TORONTO (Aug. 4) — This will not be the worst season, by record, in the 42 years since the Toronto Blue Jays joined Major League Baseball — a distinction that belongs to the 1979 club, which compiled a mark of… Read More

Fun (and Nostalgia) With The Leafs

TORONTO (July 22) — One day in March of 2014, I was feeling silly. Or, for today’s blog: narish. I began to think about my late mother, Sandee, and how she would launch into Yiddish on the telephone (with another… Read More

The Argos Cannot Be Revived

TORONTO (July 21) — The Toronto Argonauts have expired. Stick a fork in them. Offer up the Lord’s Prayer. Say Kaddish. Whatever you prefer. But, just know, this football team is the equivalent of Dead Men Walking. As I forlornly… Read More

The Leafs Would Have to Trade

TORONTO (June 29) — Isn’t it deliciously coincidental that the home of the Maple Leafs, on the very day that John Tavares could choose to ply his trade on Bay St., changes title from an airline to a bank? Yes… Read More

Leafs Kept Their Promise

TORONTO (May 12) — After the extraordinary maneuver of preventing a young executive from advancement in the National Hockey League, the Toronto Maple Leafs came through for Kyle Dubas. Though Dubas was given permission, last summer, to be interviewed by… Read More

Smoke and Mirrors Around Here

TORONTO (May 8) — Perhaps never in the professional sports annals of this city has a pair of clubs — 12 nights apart — rendered the six–month–long regular season so thoroughly pointless. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, after… Read More

Only Burke Can Replace Cherry

TORONTO (Apr. 28) — Let’s assume, for a moment, that Don Cherry is unlikely to be a mainstay on Hockey Night In Canada for another 38 years. Though Donald S. seems indestructible — in our livingrooms each Saturday since 1980… Read More

Sliver of Light After a Dark Day

TORONTO (Apr. 24) — Ten people are dead after the driver of a van mounted a sidewalk–curb in North York and indiscriminately bowled over pedestrians, making international news. And, yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs are once more en route to… Read More

Nothing Odd About Leafs/Bruins

TORONTO (Apr. 20) — As a sign of hope for the Toronto Maple Leafs, it would be nice to suggest there’s an oddity in their opening playoff round against Boston. But, it simply isn’t true. The 3–1 Bruins’ lead after… Read More

Leafs Need To Rinse and Repeat

TORONTO (Apr. 17) — The consensus around town is that the “real” Maple Leafs showed up for Monday night’s third game of the playoffs against Boston. We shall see. Game 4 will provide a clearer indication. What I saw at… Read More

It’s Babcock Time

TORONTO (Apr. 15) — So, this is what you get for 50 million dollars? Okay, I’m being a trifle facetious… but c’mon. The Maple Leafs did not lure Mike Babcock from Detroit with the National Hockey League’s most–lucrative coaching pact… Read More

Bruins’ Work Still Not Done

TORONTO (Apr. 14) — Though Thursday night’s playoff opener at TD Garden was as lop–sided as the 5–1 final score indicated, the Boston Bruins have merely accomplished half their goal. Only a sweep of the first two matches on home… Read More

Freddy Needs Rest, Not Rhythm

TORONTO (Mar. 4) — There is no attempt here to jump on a bandwagon with the Maple Leafs in their first minor funk since mid–January (0–2–1 on a four–game road trip that concludes Monday night in Buffalo). This is still… Read More

Blue Liner(s) On The Way?

TORONTO (Feb. 21) — According to a long–time Western Conference scout with whom I check every year at this juncture, the Toronto Maple Leafs will bolster their blue line before Monday’s National Hockey League trade deadline. “Based on the rumblings… Read More

Leafs Should Go For The Jugular

TORONTO (Feb. 17) — As the Toronto Maple Leafs soar through the most stellar and meaningful hockey at this juncture of a season in 25 years, there remains the urge from within to allay expectation. To fundamentally minimize a remarkable,… Read More

We’ve Seen It All Before (sigh)

TORONTO (Jan. 24) — The Maple Leafs play the Blackhawks tonight in Chicago, which may not be a good thing. The last Toronto victory at the United Center was so long ago, I covered it for The FAN–590. That would… Read More