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Madferret

11-30-05, 12:49 PM

Arrogance Wears Maple Leaf Blue
By MARTIN FENNELLY
Published: Nov 30, 2005
LINK (http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGB5XQM5NGE.html)

The Leafs are in town!

We hear the cry from fans whenever the hockey team from Toronto graces us with its presence.

Hold all genuflections.

Why should the Toronto Maple Leafs create more buzz here than, say, the Atlanta Thrashers?

What have they really done?

Sure, there will be Leafs fans in those glorious jerseys. Their sweaters will be all over the Forum tonight as the Leafs play the Lightning. They'll also be in the Leafs' hotel lobby. Anything for a glimpse of their hockey gods.

Maybe while they're here, their hockey gods can stop by the Lightning locker room to see recent photos of the Stanley Cup.

Part Yankees, But More Cubs
I've never understood Leafs mystique. Forget the Red Sox and even the Cubs. The Maple Leafs are the most overrated, overhyped, overwrought "elite" franchise in sports.

They're treated like royalty, but the emperors have no clothes. They're Yankees aura with Cubs success. They're Leafy vegetables at crunch time.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have won the Stanley Cup 11 times, second only to Canada's second-favorite team, the Canadiens. But they last won it in: 1967.

Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk, a former Leaf, was 4.

The Canadiens have won the Cup 10 times since 1967.

And the Lightning have won it once.

Why, the Leafs haven't even made the finals since 1967, remarkably pathetic for a franchise -- and city -- that acts like the center of the hockey universe. Just imagine the revulsion when those scuttling crabs from Tampa hoisted the Stanley Cup.

Teams from Florida, Texas and California and North Carolina have made the finals. The Mighty Ducks are mightier at making the finals than the Leafs. Toronto fans recently have been reduced to dancing in the streets when the boys beat Ottawa in a conference quarterfinal.

The center of the hockey universe?

Small galaxy.

Now Playing: Leafs TV
You wouldn't know it by fans' devotion. Leafs tickets are passed down like Packers tickets. Toronto is fishbowl and gossip central, home to Canada's English-speaking national sports networks. Translation: Every player on the trading block in NHL history has been rumored to be heading to the Leafs.

Add an air of superiority, like after the NHL lockout, when a Leafs' poobah proclaimed, "Well, you know, we are the No. 1 franchise in the NHL ..."

Then there's Leafs TV, a 24-hour network devoted to all Leafy things.

Insanity, anyone?

"Our scrimmages get televised," Leafs coach Pat Quinn said.

Quinn and his boys have put together good seasons, but, really, has there ever been more love -- or hate -- showered on a franchise as bone dry of real success?

Pat Quinn wore the Maple Leaf as a player, too. Right over his heart.

Life as a Leaf.

"There's a lot of scrutiny. But there's always hope in there."

Quinn became a national hero after coaching the Canadian Olympic team to a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Canada's first hockey gold in 50 years. Fifty years? What is it with those guys up there?

Anyway, there'll be more national heroes if the Maple Leafs ever win the Stanley Cup again. Ever. Check Leafs TV for local times and listings.

They love the Leafs down there as much a non-Toronto Canada up here does. You Leafers are doing something right do get that kind of attention in the hockey hotbed that is southern Florida, be PROUD!

Max Power

11-30-05, 1:10 PM

Talk about a hate on

Funny how some small hockey market writer in Florida can pinpoint all what leaf haters have been complaining about for years

charlio lemieux

11-30-05, 1:14 PM

That is Hilarious. I laughed all the way through it. He must have had dinner with some Snowbirds who where going to the game.

They're still pissed in the south that 5000 Toronto fans had to come and fill up the Hurricanes arena in Rawleigh.
The guy sounds almost drunk. Jealous because another franchise has a history or something. Maybe his paper runs an Al Strachan column? He could make me hate Leafs, if I ever listened. (he looks like a toad, and all I hear is croaking when he opens his mouth)

Ok so that's Leaf hater number 224,568,937.

butterfly_style

11-30-05, 1:25 PM

So that's where Leaf_Hatred has gone.
He's writing articles for a Tampa Newspaper.
Nice career path . . .get banned from ALL hockey forums . . .start writing for an internet newpaper.

Yoata

11-30-05, 1:51 PM

Jealous because another franchise has ancient history or something.

Fixed. :D

Also, that article was bang-on in every way.

swflyers25

11-30-05, 1:56 PM

They have history. Sure, they have won since 1967, but have 11 of those Cups where Tampa has one. So in the grand scheme of things, Toronto owns them. Also, in the grand scheme of now, Toronto tends to own them in the games now as well.

MadDevil

11-30-05, 2:50 PM

A Tampa writer talking trash about the Maple Leafs.:laughing: :laughing:

Apparently this guy has selective memory. The Lightning, in their franchise history have a grand total of 3 winning seasons in 12 years, 2 of them being in the last two seasons. What a great franchise that's been for the NHL.:thumb:

Newfie John

11-30-05, 6:20 PM

Sorry Florida.. try to afford Luongo if leaf fans didn't "grace" you with appearances..

Did anyone see what the leaf players said?

Jeff O'neill: He's just some jackass from Florida.

Ken Klee: Yeah I read the article, I'm willing to bet he doesn't know much about hockey. He probably first seen a game in 2000.

lol.

I guess having jealousy from smaller markets is to be expected in the greatest hockey market in the world.

J.R.

11-30-05, 6:39 PM

Newfie John

11-30-05, 6:48 PM

This wouldn't happen with any other teams. Only the leafs. Why? They're the most loved, and the most hated. Either way they garner the most attention over any other team in the NHL. This hatred type article only brought more publicity to the leafs. The irony is that its the hatred which fuels the attention to Toronto that you haters want rid of.

And around the merry go round we go.

Yoata

11-30-05, 7:02 PM

Newfie John

11-30-05, 7:09 PM

You've got that ride spinning the wrong way, it's the things stated in the article that create the leaf haters and subsequent ridicule of the elf.

Depends on who you ask which way the merry go round is turning. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Thats what this boils down to.

Newfie John

11-30-05, 7:13 PM

Also, there probably wouldn't even be a franchise in Tampa if it wasn't for the leafs(and Buffalo). The team was originally going to Hamilton, but the leafs and Sabres kicked up a fuss and thats why they went to T-Bay. Another thing, the core of their players come from where? Southern Ontario, the Toronto area. Would there be a cup to brag about if Toronto didn't produce those players for them? The guy's an idiot.

charlio lemieux

11-30-05, 7:15 PM

:laughing:

Fennelly's point is proven when TSN makes his article the lead story on SportsCentre, like it was some sort of big deal. And talk about the ARROGANCE in responce to his column from Leaf players and Leaf fans. It's not shocking that he was bang on. If this was written about any other team (even your favourite), would anyone care or even notice?

Come on if this idiot had of written this kind of garbage about Edmonton you and others would be freaking.

Leaferland is used to the inexplicable hate and don't care. Oh wait that was arrogant, to ignore an idiot talking out of his arse.
It was some ratings(money/ stocks/bonds) company that said Toronto was the #1 franchise. Based on alot more than Stanley Cups.
For over half a century if you spoke English in Canada you were a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. But how quickly T.O. became the enemy after expansion.

PDO

11-30-05, 7:25 PM

Depends on who you ask which way the merry go round is turning. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Thats what this boils down to.

John, without the love, there's no hate.

Without the hate, there's still love.

Pretty weak analogy.

Newfie John

11-30-05, 7:31 PM

John, without the love, there's no hate.

Without the hate, there's still love.

Pretty weak analogy.

The abundance of love is what caused the hate.

PDO

11-30-05, 7:34 PM

The abundance of love is what caused the hate.

That's what I just said :conspire:

Yoata

11-30-05, 7:39 PM

The nauseating overabundance of unwarranted love is what caused the hate.

Fixed. :D

Amoroq

11-30-05, 8:10 PM

In the meantime its 1-0 Leafs on a beautiful goal by Andropov, setup by a strong play from poni. ;)

slapshot™

11-30-05, 9:13 PM

charlio lemieux

11-30-05, 9:20 PM

Leafers = delusional

de?lu?sion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-lzhn)
n.

1.a. The act or process of deluding.
1.b. The state of being deluded.
2. A false belief or opinion: labored under the delusion that success was at hand.
3. Psychiatry. A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence, especially as a symptom of mental illness: delusions of persecution.

The same can be said for almost any teams fans. Except maybe Det, Dal, NJ, Col, and TB since they are the only teams to actually succeed in the league in the last ten years.

slapshot™

11-30-05, 9:23 PM

The same can be said for almost any teams fans. Except maybe Det, Dal, NJ, Col, and TB since they are the only teams to actually succeed in the league in the last ten years.

It goes well beyond the last 10 years.

Amoroq

11-30-05, 9:27 PM

:snore: some original material PLEASE!

J.R.

11-30-05, 9:29 PM

Also, there probably wouldn't even be a franchise in Tampa if it wasn't for the leafs(and Buffalo).Congratulations. Would you like a parade?

The team was originally going to Hamilton, but the leafs and Sabres kicked up a fuss and thats why they went to T-Bay.:laughing: They were scared of a little competition from the Hamilton market. They didn't want to give Southern Ontario another option for fans to cheer for, which is kind of funny, because they always say they're number one.

Another thing, the core of their players come from where? Southern Ontario, the Toronto area. Would there be a cup to brag about if Toronto didn't produce those players for them? The guy's an idiot.I don't think he's an idiot, because the article isn't about hockey in Toronto, it's about the Toronto Maple Leafs. But for the record, there's no one on that team from Toronto. There's two out of 21 players from "the Toronto area" (Whitby and Hamilton) and only two others from Southern Ontario (Stratford and Windsor).

Come on if this idiot had of written this kind of garbage about Edmonton you and others would be freaking.My point is that we would never hear about it if there was an article bashing the Oilers. The Toronto Sports Network wouldn't ARROGANTLY make that the number one story of the day on LeafsCentre.

For over half a century if you spoke English in Canada you were a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. But how quickly T.O. became the enemy after expansion.Yeah. If you're an English-Canadian hockey fan and there's only one English-Canadian team to cheer for, who are you going to cheer for? Fortunately now there's more teams and thus a choice for the fans who don't want to be brainwashed.

J.R.

11-30-05, 9:38 PM

In the meantime its 1-0 Leafs on a beautiful goal by Andropov, setup by a strong play from poni. ;)
Back-to-back, 2-1 Lightning.

Iced Tea

11-30-05, 9:39 PM

A quite factual article that could be construed as Leaf hating but I believe is more an open letter to Leafs fans asking how they can think the Leafs are so great when they haven't won the cup in 38 years.

To me, the Leafs are like the Chicago Cubs the author mentions. The White Sox go all the way and win the World Series and during the playoffs, Chicago press was more concerned with the Cubs. Only once the Sox were in the World Series, did the White Sox get major press. It might have something to do with the Cubs being owned by the Chicago Tribune and them not wanting to cover the Sox but that doesn't explain the other papers' attitude. Kids have been raised by their parents to support the Cubs no matter what happens, the same can be said for Leafs fans.

Sadly, there are fans of every NHL team that act like the fan equivalent of obnoxious tourists who don't know when to shut up. They are a small percentage of the team's fanbase but with the Leafs having so many fans, the number of idiots is quite large.

I'd be pissed to if a group of obnoxious Leafs fans showed up in Tampa showing no respect to the recent Stanley Cup Champions.

By the way, the Lightning just took the lead, 2 - 1.

Amoroq

11-30-05, 9:48 PM

charlio lemieux

11-30-05, 9:54 PM

It goes well beyond the last 10 years.

We can't go back too far some of you didn't exist.

J.R.

11-30-05, 9:54 PM

In 38 years since 1967, only 13 different teams have won the cup. What this has to do with this? Who knows, I just thought it interesting... :laughing: And of the 30 current NHL teams only 16 have acually won the cup. The leafs are among the ones who have.
And 23 of the 30 current NHL teams have made it to the Stanley Cup final since 1967. The Maple Leafs are not one of them.

Tampa Bay wins!

Yoata

11-30-05, 10:02 PM

A quite factual article that could be construed as Leaf hating but I believe is more an open letter to Leafs fans asking how they can think the Leafs are so great when they haven't even made a final in 38 years (and counting).

Fixed. :D

charlio lemieux

11-30-05, 10:16 PM

Of those 38 years, how many where sabotaged by the personal vendettas and allround idiotic actions of ownership. Kids, say thank you to Mr. Ballard.

We missed the finals by one blown call. Say thank you to Mr. Fraser.
We've been to the semi-finals 4 times in the last 12 NHL seasons. Not bad.
After shedding the yoke which was Ballard the franchise is doing much better.

J.R.

11-30-05, 10:21 PM

Right on time, here comes the excuses.

charlio lemieux

11-30-05, 10:29 PM

Right on time, here comes the excuses.

OK, Pocklington never did similar crap? He dismantled the best franchise of the Eighties. It's been 15 years since Edm's last big win, and the Oil have missed more than made the playoffs in recent years.

I wouldn't be laughing too hard.

Amoroq

12-01-05, 12:08 AM

OK, Pocklington never did similar crap? He dismantled the best franchise of the Eighties. It's been 15 years since Edm's last big win, and the Oil have missed more than made the playoffs in recent years.

I wouldn't be laughing too hard.Come now Charlio, you know the Oilists will trump us with their we couldn't compete with the high spending teams.

slapshot™

12-02-05, 7:47 AM

It's been 15 years since Edm's last big win, and the Oil have missed more than made the playoffs in recent years.

I wouldn't be laughing too hard.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can laugh because your math sucks...big time...and I'm not laughing with you...I'm laughing at you.

Since the Oilers joined the NHL in '79/'80 they have been in the playoffs EVERY year except for a 4 year dry spell between '92/'93 to '95/'96 and also missing out in '01/'02 and in '03/'04. In 25 years they have missed the playoffs only 6 times.

Where are these 'recent years' crap you speak of?

a4l

12-02-05, 7:51 AM

Leafers = delusional

de·lu·sion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-lzhn)
n.

1.a. The act or process of deluding.
1.b. The state of being deluded.
2. A false belief or opinion: labored under the delusion that success was at hand.
3. Psychiatry. A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence, especially as a symptom of mental illness: delusions of grandeur.

I think #3 is quite fitting as well. :rolleyes::thumb:

charlio lemieux

12-02-05, 11:45 AM

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can laugh because your math sucks...big time...and I'm not laughing with you...I'm laughing at you.

Since the Oilers joined the NHL in '79/'80 they have been in the playoffs EVERY year except for a 4 year dry spell between '92/'93 to '95/'96 and also missing out in '01/'02 and in '03/'04. In 25 years they have missed the playoffs only 6 times.

Where are these 'recent years' crap you speak of?

So you missed 6 out of the last 11,and 2 of the last 3. Those are the recent years. And missing is in the majority. How many times has Toronto missed the playoffs in that same span.
How many trips to the Semi-finals for the Oil in that same time period. Leafs 4 times. If you give any team the players Edmonton had when they entered the league, they are bound for success. But looking at the Oil's performance since dismantling the franchise, shows mediocrity at best. When was Edm's last 100 point season. The Leafs with their so called best, far in the past, have had franchise bests in points under Pat Quinn.

You can laugh at the Leafs not winning the cup for 38yrs, but the Oil haven't won for 15 and have yet establish themselves as anything above a team that is on the playoff bubble. Atleast the Leafs have been serious cup contenders several times during the last decade, plus those early 90's trips to the semi's. The bottom line is Toronto fans have seen alot more hockey in April and May than the Oilers fans have, in the last decade.

Keep on laughing. We'll do something special when you hit 20 years.:laughing:

slapshot™

12-02-05, 12:59 PM

Atleast the Leafs have been serious cup contenders several times during the last decade, plus those early 90's trips to the semi's.

Thanks for the morning chuckles.

charlio lemieux

12-02-05, 1:18 PM

Thanks for the morning chuckles.

I am glad you found it amusing.

slapshot™

12-03-05, 2:42 PM

I'm so happy...so very, very happy.

No Laff on HNIC in these parts of the woods tonight (apologies to the San Jose Sharks). Flames/Pens followed by Oil/Bruins.

KB in Kelowna

12-03-05, 2:55 PM

I'm so happy...so very, very happy.

No Laff on HNIC in these parts of the woods tonight (apologies to the San Jose Sharks). Flames/Pens followed by Oil/Bruins.

December 3 and this is the first time we see Sydney Crosby? :eek: I can't recall if there was a Habs vs Pens or Leafs vs Pens game broadcast nationally before this? Please correct me if I am wrong. No offence Sens fans but we don't get very many of your games out here.

Iced Tea

12-03-05, 3:30 PM

I'm so happy...so very, very happy.

No Laff on HNIC in these parts of the woods tonight (apologies to the San Jose Sharks). Flames/Pens followed by Oil/Bruins.If you have Star Choice, like I do, there are 10 CBC feeds and 8 of them have the Leafs/Sharks game. Luckily, I can watch the Flamers destroy Big Sid and the rest of the Pens.

TimmyTabasco

12-03-05, 3:39 PM

I can laugh because your math sucks...big time...and I'm not laughing with you...I'm laughing at you.

:no: :giggle:

TimmyTabasco

12-03-05, 3:40 PM

December 3 and this is the first time we see Sydney Crosby? :eek: I can't recall if there was a Habs vs Pens or Leafs vs Pens game broadcast nationally before this? Please correct me if I am wrong. No offence Sens fans but we don't get very many of your games out here.

Sens or Pens? :conspire: :D

THE HACK

12-03-05, 3:41 PM

Holy crap,the LEAFS are an "elite" team,the author of this article said it not me!:D As for the rest of the article :talkhand: :laughing:

Cheers

charlio lemieux

12-03-05, 4:22 PM