NHL

Aren’t You Deathly Sick of Rogers?

TORONTO (Sep. 2) — I am convinced that if wandering through the rainforests of the Congo, in deepest Africa, I’d come across a venue named after Rogers Communications. Here in Toronto, you cannot turn a street corner without being smacked… Read More

Now, Back To That “Other” Question

TORONTO (Aug. 28) — The most oft–repeated, perhaps only, concern amid zealots of the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer has been “how will the club replace Mitch Marner’s 100 points?” The answer isn’t difficult. Six other guys will get 17… Read More

Decoding Connor McDavid’s Retort

TORONTO (June 20) — Something tells me the world’s most–gifted hockey player was not impressed when his team flipped between goaltenders late in the Stanley Cup final. Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard; the latter having played one game for the… Read More

Ballard to Matthews — No Change

TORONTO (May 21) — Paul Henderson, the former Leaf and Team Canada hero from 1972, tells a story about his agonizing decision to defect from the National Hockey League to the rogue World Hockey Association, which competed with the NHL… Read More

Round 2 An Absolute Must For Leafs

TORONTO (Apr. 12) — A Maple Leafs anniversary passed on Friday without acknowledgement or fanfare: Brendan Shanahan marked 11 years as president of the hockey club. You’ll excuse local scribes and pundits if they didn’t laud the occasion as intended,… Read More

Leafs Owners Have No Mercy

TORONTO (Mar. 18) — The answer is short and simple: As long as this is allowed to happen, it will continue. Unabated and unchallenged. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has its season ticket patrons by the short and curlies. And,… Read More

Brad Treliving Made His Moves, But…

TORONTO (Mar. 7) — If Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo are the final marble slabs of the Maple Leafs, Michaelangelo could have stopped at David’s waist. The part everyone stares at in Florence would be missing. Not that Brad Treliving’s… Read More

Abraham, Bobby and Wayne

TORONTO (Feb. 24) — Whenever my time comes, I will take with me two remarkable badges of honor: I got to know Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky by name. Not bad for a small media muffin in a large bakery.… Read More

Are You Ready For “Prime” Time?

TORONTO (Feb. 17) — This blog has nothing to do with the groundbreaking radio show I produced in its first three years — executed, without parallel, by Bob McCown from 1989 to 2019. Prime Time Sports is relegated to history,… Read More

Imagining The Unimaginable

TORONTO (Feb. 13) — That was quite some tumult Mitch Marner induced at the Bell Centre on Wednesday night; its euphoric tentacles penetrating all corners of the nation. Not in ten National Hockey League seasons has Marvelous Mitch contributed such… Read More

Remembering Paul Morris: 1938–2025

TORONTO (Feb. 11) — It’s a moment I’ll never forget. Even if occurring nearly 54 years ago. Maple Leaf Gardens was filled to near–capacity for a game between the Leafs and Montreal Canadiens alumni (or “oldtimers”, as they were known… Read More

The Notorious No. 63 in Leafs Blue?

TORONTO (Feb. 10) — It would be the rough equivalent of Benjamin Netanyahu inviting Kim Jong Un to moderate peace talks in the Middle East. Or, Donald Trump having the Bidens and Clintons to the White House for a casual… Read More

Everything In Leafs Land Is Fine

TORONTO (Feb. 4) — Justin Bourne of Sportsnet wrote on Monday that “Morgan Rielly is going nowhere [via trade].” I don’t imagine the TV/website personality spent a sleepless night coming up with that bulletin. He knows his favorite team better… Read More