Goodbye Toronto Maple Leafs

As of the end of this NHL regular season, I will be putting an end to one of the longest relationships I've ever had. That's right, as of the end of play on Saturday, April 7^th 2012, I will officially cease being a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Call it irreconcilable differences.

I've been a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club pretty much since birth so it will take some getting used to on my part, but, as they say, enough is enough. Any relationship must be comprised of a healthy balance of give-and-take, and for the most part it has been give-give-give on my part, and take-take-take on the part of the Leafs.

As a fan, you hand over your heart and soul to your team. Growing up as I did in Gaspé, Québec in the 60's and 70's I proudly and openly declared myself to be a Leafs fan amidst a sea of Montreal Canadiens red, white, and blue. I wore a Toronto Maple Leafs T-shirt to school. Heck, I even had a “Clear the track for Eddie Shack” lunch box.

My bedroom wall was adorned with a Toronto Maple Leafs calendar on which I would write down the game results. During my first visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame, then situated on the CNE grounds in Toronto, I took my piggy bank money and dropped it all on a Toronto Maple Leafs memorabilia. My blood flowed blue and white.

Like many kids, I grew into becoming a Leafs fan mainly through genetic pre-disposition. My dad was a Leafs fan. His dad was a Leafs fan.

My grandfather traced his Toronto “bloodlines” all the way back to the beginnings of the club. When he talked about the early days, he didn't refer to the man who put together the team and built Maple Leafs Gardens as Conn Smythe, he referred to him as “Mr.” Smythe. And as far as he was concerned, Mr. Smythe was the be-all and end-all in terms of hockey people.

 Photo: Toronto Maple Leafs owner, President, and General Manager, sits directly behind the Stanley Cup, surrounded by the 1932 champions. Seated to Smythe's right is Frank Selke Sr. To his left, Dick Irvin Sr. King Clancy is the third player from the left, front row. Other Hockey Hall of Fame members on this photo include, Ace Bailey, Charlie Conacher, Hap Day, Red Horner, Busher Jackson, and Joe Primeau.

The best hockey player of all-time, bar none, for him, had been King Clancy. “Not very big, could skate like the wind, and one tough son of a gun” was his assessment. With the Kid Line of Busher Jackson, Joe Primeau, and Charlie Conacher, as well as bruising defenceman Red Horner in their lineup, the Toronto Maple Leafs of the late 20's and early 30's captured his imagination.

He of course, passed his passion along to my father, for whom Syl Apps, and later Ted Kennedy, became heroes. “Nobody worked harder at the game of hockey than Teeder Kennedy” he would repeat ad nauseam. And of course, the best “money goalie” of all-time was without a doubt Turk Broda. Like I would do years later, he collected hockey cards and pictures, his prized possession being a complete Bee-Hive series of his beloved Maple Leafs.

Photo: Left to right, Hockey Hall of Famers, Syl Apps and Ted "Teeder" Kennedy. Apps won 3 Stanley Cups. Kennedy won 5 Stanley Cups and the Leafs never once missed the playoffs during his career.

When I came along, I did what many kids do and slipped into the family business. The first players I followed were Keon and Ullman. Then Darryl Sittler arrived and soon was the captain. My grandfather had Clancy, my father had Kennedy, and I had Darryl Sittler.

For a while there was hope. Things for which to cheer. There was the 6 goal and 10 point night against the Bruins. There were the 5 goals in one playoff game against the Philadelphia Flyers. And there was of course The Goal, the 1976 Canada Cup winner (in overtime, thank you very much).

Video: Darryl Sittler,  captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs scores the 1976 Canada Cup winning goal in overtime. Goal as it the 2:38 mark of this clip.

 

But then it fizzled... Badly. The Leafs were no longer being run by Mr. Smythe like they had been in the early years. No. My Leafs were under the control of a lunatic. Harold E. Ballard. The fat, loud, obnoxious, classless, lying windbag who became quite possibly the most hated owner in the Canadian sports history.

He had managed to wrestle ownership of the Maple Leafs by being buddy-buddy with Conn Smythe's hapless son, Stafford. Through a series of machinations, Pal Hal, ended up as the head honcho at Maple Leafs Gardens. Actually ringleader is a better term than owner, because under Ballard the Leafs were a circus act that would have made Barnum and Bailey green with envy.

He was brash, and he was crass, and it seemed as though he was doing everything possible to destroy the Toronto Maple Leafs. He let Dave Keon get away to the WHA because he didn't want to pay him. He humiliated his coaches, first Red Kelly and then Roger Neilson.

Under his watch the Leafs traded away fan favourite Lanny McDonald. He fought constantly with Darryl Sittler. Soon, he was gone too.

Video: Lanny McDonald interviewed by HNIC's Dave Hodge. McDonald's first game at Maple Leaf Gardens after being traded to Colorado.

Things got so bad in Toronto a one point that a high draft prospect's parents wrote Ballard urging, pleading, that the Leafs not draft their son. Ponder that for a moment. A kid, an Ontario kid, not wanting to go to Toronto because it was a terrible organization. “Not under Mr. Smythe's watch” I can almost hear my grandfather saying...

Yet Ballard kept kicking the Leafs further and further down the path of disrepute. A once proud franchise, it had become a shattered shell of its former self. Even as he faced death he held true to his classless form. There were the public fights with his son, Bill Ballard. And there was Yolanda. Yes Yolanda. No Vaudeville farce would be complete without a Yolanda. An equally unbalanced younger, second (or was it third?) wife.

Photo: Harold Ballard barks at reporters as his wife, Yolanda, looks on.

Eventually, Ballard died. While it may seem harsh, it's safe to say that not many Leafs fan cried when it happened. In fact, there was reason for hope. Things could only improve right? Well... yes, and no. While there were some notable improvements, the end result was the same. The Stanley Cup remained some distant dream. An illusion, a mirage...

Sure there were some good years following the Ballard era. Some good teams and players. Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Curtis Joseph, Eddie Belfour, Mats Sundin, Wendel Clark. But still they came up short. Not a single Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1967.

Photo: Toronto's Doug Gilmour slips puck past Los Angeles goalie Kelly Hrudey in the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Fast forward through the Cliff Fletcher, Pat Quinn, and John Ferguson Jr. eras to November 2008 the arrival of the brash and tough talking Brian Burke.

Burke certainly came to the Leafs with a second-to-none resume. Harvard Law School graduate. Director of hockey operations in Vancouver. GM of the Hartford Whalers. Executive Vice-President and Director of Hockey Operations NHL. GM of the Vancouver Canucks. GM of the Anaheim Ducks.

In press conference after press conference there was a promise of no five year plans. Winning now, was the credo. Burke used words such as truculence and rambunctiousness when describing what the Leafs would be like under his control.  In the time since his hiring the Leafs have missed the playoffs in 2009, 2010, 2011, and now, 2012.

This of course while the Toronto Maple Leafs reside in what is quite possibly the most fertile ground for the development of hockey players anywhere on the planet. A point that Don Cherry made quite famously on a recent edition of HNIC's Coach's Corner.

Video: Don Cherry criticizes Brian Burke for lack of Ontario players on Toronto Maple Leafs roster.

 And through it all Brian Burke remains defiant, acting as though he's actually building a winner in Toronto. Trying to convince fans, or perhaps himself, that everything is under control. Lambasting any and all who dare question his decisions.

Well, I for one am not buying it and am moving on as a fan. After this season, yet another miserable season that ended in failure, I will be a free agent. Free to cheer for an organization of my choice. It would be hard for me to do worse.