Amor - I lived in Canada until 2006. We moved back to England due to a)money, b)in-laws, and c)the fact that you and Gangster had a Vancouverathon and didn't invite me! Mostly a) and b) though. (I was working an ACDC concert the night of the oftathon anyway.)
I had been around a few months when They're coming to take me away ha ha happened, so I've been lurking around for quite a bit.

It's already been mentioned, but the media bias for the Leafs really grated as well. Danger Mouse, think Leeds United on Calendar and Look Leed... er North, if you want to know how bad it is.

For me it's basically anyone from Canada. I used to like the Quebec Nordiques, and when they left I turned to Vancouver and Ottawa for, er, inspiration.

Billy Casper wrote:
Amor - I lived in Canada until 2006. We moved back to England due to a)money, b)in-laws, and c)the fact that you and Gangster had a Vancouverathon and didn't invite me! Mostly a) and b) though. (I was working an ACDC concert the night of the oftathon anyway.)
I had been around a few months when They're coming to take me away ha ha happened, so I've been lurking around for quite a bit.


I had no idea, honest, and I doubt GO did either. Darn, eh!

Yeah, the Leafs/Toronto sense of entitlement and hubris is what grates. A small, but illuminating, example is the story of goalie Andrew Raycroft. A Calder Trophy winner with the Bruins in 2004 he was traded to the Leafs two years later and he went on to set a franchise record for wins. After a bad start to the following season the Leafs placed him on waivers, and then bought out his contract, rather than trying to trade him. This is like saying "you're washed up, can't cut it, no one wants you." He played last year for the Avalanche and is Luongo's back up in Vancouver this season. A week last Saturday Luongo was pulled in TO after letting in three first period goals. Raycroft came in, shutout the Leafs and the 'Nucks went on to win 5–3. Raycroft's delight was palpable. He was skating round the rink waving and blowing kisses to the fans. Ecstatic not only that he'd beaten the Leafs but that he was still being paid by them while he did so. Stupidity and arrogance deserves that kind of justice.

I went through a Leafs-fan period in my early 20s. I didn't really have a natural team affiliation and I liked their uniforms. Also, in those days - Gilmour, Wendel Clark, Felix Potvin, etc. - they were showing signs of resurgence. Another false dawn among many.

When I settled in DC in 1997, I decided to back the Caps through think and thin. Now that they're good and tickets cannot be had below face value like in the lean years, I feel a bit like one of those fans who get angry at their favorite band for "selling out" and allowing all of these preppy poseurs into their shows now that they play arenas instead of clubs. I plan to move out of DC, but unless I were to end up in a city with an NHL team, I'll continue to support the Caps. Since Leonsis took over, they've been a extremely supportable team as pro teams go.


What I don't understand about the Leafs is that nobody seems to really be in charge. They don't seem to have a single owner who signs the checks and "sets the tone." Surely that has something to do with their perpetual troubles.

Not since Steve Stavro it's true, and he kept well in the background. No one can get really worked up one way or the other about the Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan as owners, but G.M. Brian Burke is definitely a "take-charge" kinda guy and makes a pretty good lightning rod these days.

A week last Saturday Luongo was pulled in TO after letting in three first period goals. Raycroft came in, shutout the Leafs and the 'Nucks went on to win 5–3. Raycroft's delight was palpable. He was skating round the rink waving and blowing kisses to the fans. Ecstatic not only that he'd beaten the Leafs but that he was still being paid by them while he did so. Stupidity and arrogance deserves that kind of justice.

Ah that's what all that was about, I see.

Hmm, the Leafs seem to be a bit of a rubbish version of the Yankees. Maybe I should opt for the Blackhawks after all...

More of a rubbish version of the Red Sox. The Canadiens are the hockey equivalent of the Yankees.

The aforementioned Putting a Roof on Winter covers the early years of the game. Most of the action was in Ottawa and Montreal. Surprisingly (to me, at least) Toronto doesn't figure as prominently in the early history of the game as I would have expected. Indeed, I get the impression from the book that Toronto wasn't a really a major city in the 19th and early 20th Century.

Not as much as it is today, and not as important as Montreal for sure but it was still a major centre and the capital of Upper Canada.

Hockey was extremely balkanised until the NHL became well established. There were different rules depending where you were but it was popular all over. For example the PCHA founded by the Patrick brothers, was huge out here. The Denman Arena, home of the Vancouver Millionaires was built in 1911, as one of the largest indoor facilities in the world, seating 10,500. At the time, it and the Patrick Arena in Victoria were also the only two artificial ice surfaces in Canada.

Btw

Shouldn't it be "Leaves" from a linguistic point of view?

Yes, but it never is.

Billy Casper wrote:
Amor - ... you and Gangster had a Vancouverathon and didn't invite me! ... (I was working an ACDC concert the night of the oftathon anyway.)
Bloody Barnsley fans, always the same. Any heavy metal and they'll head straight for it...

GO, how on earth did you hit on the Senators as your team to support?

Family reasons.

Worn Old Motorbike wrote:
Danger Mouse wrote:
Now, why are the Leafs such a laughing stock? Is it all just cos they should be great but aren't?



Ah. But they're not a laughing stock. (Not in the traditional sense.)
No, they are loathed.

Fifth, they were owned for years by the truly heinous Harold Ballard. This is the man who booked the Beatles into Maple Leaf Gardens for one show, and then sold tickets for two shows - forcing the band to oblige or break the hearts of 20,000 young girls. He then, in the middle of summer, turned off the air conditioning and sold only large beverages. He was a filthy human being, and he was the highly visible face of the Leafs for decades.


Now it all makes sense. I grew up an LA Kings fan and remember that this jerk, Ballard would not let the Kings warm up before a game (early 80s probably). So now I finally learn that he didn't just have it in for the Kings, but he was a fool more generally.

The Hawks won't need any extra bad luck so I'm glad anyone who feels jinxed is staying away. As I just said, I grew up watching the Kings. I moved to New York in 1992 and the Kings make it to the Stanley Cup finals. I moved back to LA a couple years later and the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. I moved to Tampa to do my Ph.D. and the Lightning were the laughing stock of the NHL, never making the playoffs during the 4 years I lived there. I finished my Ph.D. and moved to Michigan and the Lightning won the Stanley Cup. Sensing a trend here? The Red Wings were safe because I lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which isn't even attached to lower Michigan and really should be its own country (a la Andorra or the Faroe Islands).

This will bring a smile to Moonlight Shadow.

Hockey tough guy Georges Laraque has a history of pummelling opponents until they're black and blue.

Now the longtime NHL enforcer is going Green.

Newly released by the Montreal Canadiens, the longtime hockey scrapper is now putting his efforts in service of the Green Party of Canada.

Hmm, well, having taken all this on board, it seems I may be switching to the Penguins instead as the new Mrs Mouse seems to think I look like a Penguin at times. Don't ask.

And, having been amazed at the fact that Jagr was playing in the Olympics brings back memories.

However, and no offence to anyone who may live/hail from there, Pittsburgh has never really been a city that's called out to me.

So, other than the name, what's to recommend/stop me supporting the Penguins?

And, yes, I do feel like a complete NHL whore...

Sid Crosby and Evgeny Malkin are two good reasons to support the Pens, and Pittsburgh is a very under-rated city. There's also the whole saved from bankruptcy and relocation by their cancer-surviving former star story.

A downside would be accusations of bandwagon front-running, given that they are the defending champions.

I have to say, after seeing how Toews and Kane did in Vancouver, the Hawks seem to have an incredibly bright future.

I reckon after a lifetime of supporting, frankly, crap sides, I'm due a bit of glory hunting. I may well investigate Pittsburgh as a city then. If nothing else, it ought to be easier to get tickets than Toronto.

Though, the Pens are currently losing to the Rangers, so I may be some kind of curse..Ah, now they've equalised. Hurrah! I'm some kind of luck omen.

Really, I ought to just do some research and nail my colours to a particular mast though I am sensing that my NHL days could be similar to Super League - no particular affiliation to anyone, but just enjoy watching.

The Pens are moving from the Igloo into a fancy new rink next season, but it will always be easier to get tickets to them than the Leafs.

If you actually go to Pittsburgh, you should make it during baseball season. Lots of people think that PNC is the best park in the majors:

Danger Mouse wrote:
Though, the Pens are currently losing to the Rangers, so I may be some kind of curse..Ah, now they've equalised. Hurrah! I'm some kind of luck omen.

If you are in fact truly cursed, let me recommend three teams that I think could use your support: you could stick with the Maple Leafs, you might have a look at the Flyers, or check out the Red Wings. :-)