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

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Curtis Joseph rarely became unhinged in Toronto, but he was also never comfortable in Team Canada’s net during the 2002 Olympics and lost the starting job. His performance likely hastened his exit from the Leafs.

Courtesy of Graig Abel.

It all worked out, of course. Canada found its stride a few days later, Sweden fell to the aforementioned Belarus, and Quinn eventually led the team to an extremely memorable gold medal win over the U.S. with Cujo firmly stuck to the bench and Brodeur between the pipes.

Back in Toronto, both men went to collect their congratulations, and the awkward moment at centre ice had the feeling of father and son running into each other in the coat check of a strip joint.

It wasn’t Quinn’s fault. He gave his guy a chance and he failed to do anything with it. When Brodeur was given his long-overdue opportunity, he ran with it and helped the country win its first men’s hockey gold in fifty years. Joseph? Though his character was never in question — the man has never lost his humble appeal — it was plainly obvious that if he could have kept his mask on that night, he would have.