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

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That was it. That night, as I left the Wheat Sheaf Tavern just up the road from the ACC — I had feverishly tried to get tickets for the game but the prices were approaching several hundred dollars a seat — I distinctly recall thinking that the Leafs had made the final four on four occasions over the past ten years. It wouldn’t be long before they would be back. Right?

Since that day in 2002 the Leafs have won just one playoff series. What constitutes success these days is the hope that they are still in the playoff chase come late March. It has not been easy to be a Leafs fan in the decade since that warm spring night in Toronto. Even back then, loving the Leafs meant being in bed with the team that was the most hated in the NHL, or so went the prevailing wisdom of the day.

I can only wonder that if the Leafs had behaved a bit more honourably that season and in others leading up to it, fate would have been kinder to the hockey club and its long-suffering fans. Looking back, I do believe the label was somewhat unfair (just as I’m sure Vancouver Canucks’ fans think a similar tag their team has inherited recently is unjust). Respected hockey man Pat Quinn was the Leafs’ coach and general manager at the time and he was also the man behind the bench of Team Canada at the Salt Lake City Olympics and later the 2004 World Cup and 2006 Turin Olympics. If Wayne Gretzky, in charge of Team Canada, installed Quinn as his coach, then surely the Leafs couldn’t be nearly as bad as some of the worst parts of their reputation suggested.