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

69 страница из 85

Of course, both Leafs and Team Canada fans of a certain age will never forget Paul Henderson’s Summit Series winner in 1972 or Darryl Sittler’s goal four years later in the Canada Cup. Both men played for Toronto at the time of those dramatic tournament-clinching goals.

Much has changed in the international arena since the 1970s; the world game is now a much more mature and different beast and it has left Leafs players largely out in the cold. The result? When a major competition is going on, Toronto fans can sit back and watch dreamy-eyed. Those taking part are almost assuredly not Maple Leafs.

Aside from the Henderson and Sittler examples cited above, the most memorable Canadian hockey moments of recent times are any combination of the three Canada Cup triumphs between 1984 and 1991 and the two Olympic gold medals won by the men’s team in 2002 and 2010. Non-Canadian triumphs in that era of note: the U.S. victory in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the Czech and Swedish triumphs at the 1998 and 2006 Olympics, respectively. Leafs involvement? Aside from Sundin’s pivotal role in Sweden’s long-overdue win, that sound you’re hearing is crickets (defenceman Aki Berg played for 2006 silver-medal winners, Finland).