Bruce Gamble

Campbell Joins The Horde

TORONTO (Feb. 6) — In case you lost count, 20 or 30 years ago, Jack Campbell is the 70th man to play goal for the Maple Leafs since May 2, 1967, when the club last won the Stanley Cup (over… Read More

Leafs Are Embracing Insanity

TORONTO (Feb. 4) — First, let’s try to not lose our minds over one game… as ghastly as the third–period collapse against Florida seemed. If the Leafs can plummet from third place in the Atlantic Division to beyond playoff contention… Read More

The ‘Export’ MLG Wall Calendars

TORONTO (Feb. 2) — They are, without question, the most–coveted items in my large collection of sports memorabilia. Having lived here in Toronto all my life (I turn 61 on Monday) — watching the Leafs as a fan and reporter… Read More

Will It Ever Be The Leafs’ Year?

TORONTO (Jan. 14) — For a brief moment last Wednesday, and despite all of the challenges encountered so far this season, I felt that maybe karma was on the side of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Trailing the Winnipeg Jets, 3–2,… Read More

What Took So Long?

TORONTO (Dec. 21) — Frankly, I’m surprised no one has posed the following questions: With the Maple Leafs an impressive 9–4–0 in 13 games under Sheldon Keefe, why did Brendan Shanahan wait until Nov. 20 to authorize the dismissal of… Read More

The Leafs Are Absolute Darlings

TORONTO (Nov. 26) — As a heterosexual male, I had never felt the urge to kiss another man. Until yesterday, when I read the impassioned offer of remorse from Maple Leafs forward Alex Kerfoot in the wake of his two–game… Read More

The Leafs After One Month

TORONTO (Nov. 2) — It began, rather predictably, one month ago tonight: a 5–3 conquest of the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena. The big gun, Auston Matthews, scoring twice; the big acquisition, Tyson Barrie, assisting twice. Frederik Andersen recording the… Read More

Mike Rips Mike… Again

TORONTO (Oct. 22) — “Hate” is a very strong word; one that people use rather flippantly when describing an aversion, no matter how innocuous. It is, in fact, less banal than practically any term in the English language, reserved for… Read More

Sweet Revenge For John Tavares

@Berger_BYTES John Tavares will score tying goal late in 3p Monday at NYI, thus clinching a playoff spot for the #Leafs. Fate will come full circle. 8:20 PM · Mar 31, 2019 TORONTO (Apr. 2) — So, I called it… Read More

Andersen Situation Double–Edged

TORONTO (Jan. 6) — Pending the outcome, it could be a blessing or a curse that largely impacts the Maple Leafs this season. By tomorrow night (Monday), Frederik Andersen will have accrued 15 consecutive days of rest in the middle… Read More

Leafs, Today, Are NHL’s Best

TORONTO (Dec. 25) — Yes, the standings suggest otherwise — if only slightly — and the good folks on the Gulf side of Florida may vehemently disagree. But, I say to you, on Christmas Night 2018, that the Toronto Maple… Read More

Nylander to Nashville Makes Sense

TORONTO (Oct. 16) — Whether it happens this season or next summer, I maintain the Leafs will have to trade one of their Big 3 draft gems of 2014–16. And, it ain’t gonna be Mitch Marner or Auston Matthews. By… Read More

Babcock’s Honeymoon Has Ended

TORONTO (Jan. 20) — For more than 2½ years, in what is often described as the National Hockey League’s toughest media market, it’s been “hands off the head coach”. That privilege, it seemed, arrived in our town with the largest… Read More