Montreal Canadiens

Would He? Could He?

TORONTO (Feb. 16) — Chuckle, if you wish. Belly–laugh, even. But, understand that this scenario comes from a person with more than three decades of hockey media experience in Los Angeles. Everyone in the sports–writing (broadcasting?) business knows him (her?).… Read More

My Pal Dave Was Half–Right

TORONTO (Feb. 14) — It’s been an unusual sporting week here in town. The Toronto Raptors lost a basketball game. The Canadian Football League Argonauts found a quarterback. And, Toronto Blue Jays catcher Reese McGuire was allegedly spotted “exercising” his… Read More

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

Leafs Won’t Gamble at Trade Deadline

TORONTO (Jan. 31) — It’s an old, timeworn cliche, but the Toronto Maple Leafs had a couple of “must–win” games after the All–Star break and they smartly prevailed with road victories in Nashville and Dallas. This was effective work by… Read More

Should Leafs Nation Be Satisfied?

TORONTO (Jan. 24) — Though it may seem unlikely, let’s assume the Maple Leafs accrue enough points in their final 33 games to finish third in the Atlantic Division, thereby securing one of the three allocated playoff berths. It would… 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 The Doctor Ordered

TORONTO (Jan. 8) — Though it ended with a stinker on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena, the Maple Leafs undoubtedly saved their season with the 15–4–1 eruption (Nov. 23–Jan. 4) under new coach Sheldon Keefe. It ranked among the best… Read More

Keefe Is A Remarkable Story

TORONTO (Jan. 3) — Yup, I was wrong. I doubt that I’ll completely reverse my opinion of mid–term coaching changes, but the Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off a dandy maneuver on Nov. 20 when Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock. It’s… Read More

2020 Cannot Be Worse

TORONTO (Jan. 1) — It is impossible to imagine the new year being as thoroughly dreadful as 2019 in the hockey media universe. Thanks almost solely to Rogers Communications — where employees are nothing but a designated number — the… Read More

A Week Like None Other

TORONTO (Dec. 26) — Though it seems like only yesterday, it was 40 years ago this week that Punch Imlach destroyed the Toronto Maple Leafs for more than a decade. Beginning somewhat innocuously on Christmas Eve 1979, it ended, five… 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

Right Now, The Leafs Are Doomed

TORONTO (Dec. 6) — You can debate any aspect of the Toronto Maple Leafs you wish, but all except one are immaterial. And, it’s the deficit I keep referring to in this corner: back–up goaltending. The numbers are simple, straightforward… 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

“I’m Sad” Says Don Cherry

TORONTO (Nov. 18) — It wasn’t often, in his public life, that Don Cherry had to summon enthusiasm. Whatever you felt about the icon that commanded nationwide attention for 38 years on Hockey Night In Canada, he had gusto streaming… Read More

It’s All Very Confusing

TORONTO (Nov. 9) — The Maple Leafs play their 18th game of the season tonight and no one is entirely sure what to make of the hockey team. Some, such as Damien Cox — writing, today, in the Toronto Star… Read More

Jim Gregory: 1935–2019

TORONTO (Oct. 31) — There is both irony and coincidence, bathed in Toronto hockey legend, that Jim Gregory would die yesterday at 83 years of age. It was during this week, in 1976, that Gregory made arguably the most–strategic telephone… Read More

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