Читать книгу Hope and Heartbreak in Toronto. Life as a Maple Leafs Fan онлайн

17 страница из 85

Pictures from that game involving Tucker and Peca also show a disturbing sign that has remained a bugaboo for the Leafs franchise: acres of empty seats in the lower platinum section, even though it was an intense and important playoff game. Then, as now, the well-moneyed areas of the ACC are full of people who didn’t seem too bothered watching all the action, no matter how critical the game may be.

It’s no small asterisk that Peca never played another game that series: the Tucker hit ended his season. Peca and Tucker later patched things up when Peca came to Toronto, a nice gesture by both men.

But the run ended for the Leafs that year in one of those split-second blurs that so often define playoff hockey. Alex Mogilny, with eight goals scored that post-season, helped allow one in overtime that would kill the Leafs season. He let Carolina Hurricane forward Martin Gelinas walk to the Leafs net, where Gelinas took a pass from teammate Josef Vasicek,[2] and then deposited the puck behind Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph.