Leafs_Pam
4-15-05, 5:48 PM
They have been referring to the ECHL's Leafs team as the Baby, Baby Leafs.
Last year, the 03/04 season, the Leafs were not affiliated with any ECHL team. I looked at all the active teams. At the beginning of the 2004/2005 Season, I checked the teams again. I found the Leafs and the St. John's Leafs were now affiliated with the Pensacola Ice Pilots. I then looked at the Gulls schedule to see if the Ice Pilots would play in San Diego. They were. I purchased a ticket for that game right away. As with all other Leafs teams, I support the home team UNLESS they played the Leafs (in the AHL when the Bulldogs were the Baby Oilers, I called them my home team. not now though because they are the Baby Habs). So, when the Ice Pilots played in San Diego, I was rooting for them. Every time the Ice Pilots scored, I stood up and cheered. Gulls fans were (nicely) heckling me about it. I assured them I would root for the Gulls in all other home games. That I always rooted for Leafs teams no matter what level they were because I'm loyal to the Sweater.
There was a young woman sitting in the seat to the right of me. She was there with her fiance. She had moved to Pensacola from Virginia the previous year to be with her fiance while he was in college. That's when she discovered the Ice Pilots and became a fan. They came to San Diego from Pensacola for the game. It thrilled her that she could stand and cheer for them with another fan. Even here in San Diego, lots of fans wear their NHL Sweaters to the Gulls games. Some of them never wear a Gulls Sweater. Some of them are like me and wear a Gulls Sweater sometimes and our NHL Sweater most of the time. I was wearing my Leafs Sweater and I had a sign I held up that said "Go Ice Pilots Go!" I had a Leafs Logo AND an Ice Pilots Logo on it. In the PreGame warmup I was at their end of the ice and I held that sign up to the glass so they could see it. They looked at it and smiled. :)
I know a Leafs fan online who lives near Atlanta. He has always lived in the States, but when he was a kid, during winter vacations he visited his uncle in Ontario. That's how he became a Leafs fan. He knew the original owner of the Ice Pilots but he said they stunk. He said the owner sold them and that's when the Ice Pilots got good. I think he said they moved too.
The Ice Pilots ended the Season clinching not only their Division Title, but also their Conference Title. They are in the American Conference, Southern Division. Way to go, Baby Leafs!! (St. John's is in the Playoffs too.)
They also won the Brabham Cup, which is equivalent to the NHL's President's Trophy, with 107 Points. (The Gulls won it last year with 108 points.) Back on April 8th, the ECHL announced the Ice Pilots had won the Brabham Cup with 101 points, but the season wasn't over yet, so that's how they ended up with 107. I'll post the article about it. http://www.echl.com/upload_images/BrabhamCup.jpg
ECHL Brabham Cup
Last year, the 03/04 season, the Leafs were not affiliated with any ECHL team. I looked at all the active teams. At the beginning of the 2004/2005 Season, I checked the teams again. I found the Leafs and the St. John's Leafs were now affiliated with the Pensacola Ice Pilots. I then looked at the Gulls schedule to see if the Ice Pilots would play in San Diego. They were. I purchased a ticket for that game right away. As with all other Leafs teams, I support the home team UNLESS they played the Leafs (in the AHL when the Bulldogs were the Baby Oilers, I called them my home team. not now though because they are the Baby Habs). So, when the Ice Pilots played in San Diego, I was rooting for them. Every time the Ice Pilots scored, I stood up and cheered. Gulls fans were (nicely) heckling me about it. I assured them I would root for the Gulls in all other home games. That I always rooted for Leafs teams no matter what level they were because I'm loyal to the Sweater.
There was a young woman sitting in the seat to the right of me. She was there with her fiance. She had moved to Pensacola from Virginia the previous year to be with her fiance while he was in college. That's when she discovered the Ice Pilots and became a fan. They came to San Diego from Pensacola for the game. It thrilled her that she could stand and cheer for them with another fan. Even here in San Diego, lots of fans wear their NHL Sweaters to the Gulls games. Some of them never wear a Gulls Sweater. Some of them are like me and wear a Gulls Sweater sometimes and our NHL Sweater most of the time. I was wearing my Leafs Sweater and I had a sign I held up that said "Go Ice Pilots Go!" I had a Leafs Logo AND an Ice Pilots Logo on it. In the PreGame warmup I was at their end of the ice and I held that sign up to the glass so they could see it. They looked at it and smiled. :)
I know a Leafs fan online who lives near Atlanta. He has always lived in the States, but when he was a kid, during winter vacations he visited his uncle in Ontario. That's how he became a Leafs fan. He knew the original owner of the Ice Pilots but he said they stunk. He said the owner sold them and that's when the Ice Pilots got good. I think he said they moved too.
The Ice Pilots ended the Season clinching not only their Division Title, but also their Conference Title. They are in the American Conference, Southern Division. Way to go, Baby Leafs!! (St. John's is in the Playoffs too.)
They also won the Brabham Cup, which is equivalent to the NHL's President's Trophy, with 107 Points. (The Gulls won it last year with 108 points.) Back on April 8th, the ECHL announced the Ice Pilots had won the Brabham Cup with 101 points, but the season wasn't over yet, so that's how they ended up with 107. I'll post the article about it. http://www.echl.com/upload_images/BrabhamCup.jpg
ECHL Brabham Cup