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

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Aside from 2003 and 2006, the Leafs’ representation on the Canadian squad has been pretty thin. A cynic watching the action that took place in Alberta in 2012 could snicker and point out that Canadian defenceman Dougie Hamilton should have been Leafs property — he was selected by the Boston Bruins with one of the two first-round picks that Toronto sent to Beantown in the Phil Kessel trade.

And what about Leafs prospects playing for other nations? Well, it’s not much better. During the 2012 World Juniors played in Calgary and Edmonton, the Leafs had but a single prospect, Swedish defenceman Petter Granberg, a solid if unspectacular player who eventually won gold with the rest of his teammates. In fact, Granberg was on the ice when countryman Mika Zibanejad scored the overtime winner against Russia. As a result, Granberg’s image was widely shown on highlights and in newspaper and website pictures in the aftermath of Sweden’s first gold medal at the event in some thirty years. Zibanejad, who belonged to the Ottawa Senators, is a much brighter prospect, but at least Granberg was able to bask in the glow of his much more celebrated teammate.