All Hail Martin Fennelly
This post is overdue by 24 hours but I thought Martin’s article at the Tampa Tribune was still appropriate to mention it… Just for laughs, just for smiles… Just for nodding in agreement:
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.
And I bet the backlash for this article in Toronto has been thus: Bashing southern hockey fans and Fennelly himself as not knowing anything about hockey — we’re rubes, dontcha know? — and how we’re pathetic, ignorant, pompous even though we’ve only won the Cup once and how the Leafs have the history and the heritage that the Lightning could only pray for and la-de-da, blow-it-out-your-ass, blame-the-other-guy stuff that looks past where the focus of the argument is supposed to be: on the Maple Leafs and their fans themselves.
Fennelly mentioned the SOx but Red Sox Nation is a loyal bunch that always prided themselves in late-season futility. The only team they were arrogant against were there constant nemisis and rival, the Yankees.
The Leafs? Everyone is game! No one is as great as Toronto will ever be!
1967…
1967…
Oh, and by the way… I do not quite forget the 2003-04 playoffs where Toronto media ignorantly talked about the conference finals being a cake walk for whoever came out of the Toronto/Philadelphia playoff series.
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December 2nd, 2005 at 11:27 am
All the things you predicted that the Leafs were saying .. they did say. After reading the article, I hopped over to a Leafs BB on their NHL site .. you got everything they said pretty much verbatim.
December 2nd, 2005 at 1:01 pm
That ought to stir up a can of kippers.
December 3rd, 2005 at 11:16 am
I still can’t get over the fact the Leafs had the arrogance to paint “Thank You Leafs Fans” across their ice, whereas the rest of the league was more than willing to give thanks to ALL of the fans from ALL of the teams.
December 8th, 2005 at 12:04 pm
Can’t understand the Leafs mystique? Just ask Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Tim Taylor, Chris Dingman, Dave Andreychuk, Rob Dimaio, Darryl Sydor, Cory Sarich, Dan Boyle, Nolan Pratt, Paul Ranger, Sean Burke and they will tell you. Most of them were (still are?) Leaf fans, the rest are probably Canadien fans.
You could probably check with Fredrik Modin as well. Most of Sweden are Leaf fans who followed Borje Salming and now Mats Sundin.
There is no arrogance in Canada, just pride.
December 8th, 2005 at 12:33 pm
There’s a difference between national pride and pride in the Leafs — it’s not pride the Leafs are expressing through arrogant talk that has spanned decades…
There’s a difference between national pride and pride in the Leafs — and last I checked, the Leafs aren’t Canada’s only team… Hockey Night in Toronto might give you the idea that all of Canada loves the Leafs, but I’m sorry to break it to you but that’s not the case.
December 8th, 2005 at 12:42 pm
Doug - You are deluded, man.
There is not a fanbase on earth with more undue arrogance than that of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The only other fan bases that compare have a history of success (ie: Yankee fans).
Hell, your very own post ironically proves the arrogance of Leaf fans.
December 8th, 2005 at 2:59 pm
Lets get serious now. Was I arrogant in my last post, yeah maybe a little. There is arrogance in Canada, same as every nation on earth or amongst the fans of every hockey team. Leaf’s have lots of arrogant fans I’m sure, more so than most teams because of the number of Leaf fans. I like to think that the majority of Leaf fans are not arrogant, but Fennelly would like everyone to think that they all are. Do I think the Leafs have the best team in hockey, no I don’t, but they are my team. Do I know there are other teams in the NHL, yeah, I cheer for the Canadiens, Calgary, Buffalo, and Nashville, when they are not playing the Leafs. I watched the ’sea of red’ when Calgary was going for the cup, it was beautiful and heart breaking to see it end for the Calgary team, their loyal fans, and guys like me that jumped on that bandwagon. I was born in Toronto so I had no choice but to be a Leaf fan and I’m happy with that. However, now I live almost 1000 miles from Toronto in another province and the young children in the malls are all wearing Leaf sweaters and jackets just as some of those Tampa Bay players did when they were young. The numbers don’t lie there are more Leaf fans than for any other team in the NHL, but that doesn’t make them arrogant. Ask a 9 or 10 year old Leaf fan if the Leafs will win this year and he will tell you yes. Ask an adult and they will say not unless we make some trades. To me good hockey is more important than being a Leaf fan, but not by much.
December 8th, 2005 at 4:00 pm
I’m still trying to find out at what part of your rambling to take serious here Doug… I mean you said lets be serious but…?
You might want to scroll up and re-read what I worte where I called the national TV broadcast Hockey Night In Toronto… Lets disect that a bit. Hockey’s the national sport, every child grows up to learn about it in some way. Some participating, others just watching. These children are also brought up to watch Hockey Night in Canada., A few years ago it was a much more diverse program and from the stories I am told now — it’s “Hockey Night in Toronto”
If one team is presented as Canada’s team on the national TV broadcast of the week, and children are routinely greatly impressioned by television, who do you THINK the children are going to be loyal to? Christ, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out…
Now you’re comparing what you currently see to what others saw when they were children… You talk about guys from Quebec as possible leaf fans and that’s insane seeing the province had two teams for so many years. You talk aobut a guy from PEI as a possible leafs fan as a child and again - wrong province. Wrong team. You talk about guys who grew up in the western provinces as probableleaf fans and you neglect the Oilers, Canuck and (in latter days) Flames franchises. Basically you shut out everyone and thump Toronto pride.
Taking pride for your team across 1000 miles isn’t difficult. Taking regional pride that distance is not difficult. Labeling everyone as supporting the leafs is not difficult either if you have a limited perception of what the truth is.
You’re arguments also just neglect the arrogance, pomposity and stupidity that comes up on routine specifically from Leaf fans such as yourself. You talk about everyone worshipping the Leafs… You remember this off season when everyone had a chance to sign with the Leafs…. And said no thanks? Everyone was talking not only of people being willing to sign but the discounts they woudl take in order to play for the blue and white? Newsflash — it was wishful thinking.
I get on Habs fans sometimes because they can make up trades just as bad as Leaf fans but the difference is their made up trades are always FOR the same guys — Francophones or others that ellicit Pride in Quebec. I wouln’t say the same for Toronto because EVERYONE is game…. Though more often I hear ridiculous stuff about Ontario natives than about others…
But if it’s a star, that person has GOT to be a Leafs fan, just because Leaf fans can’t see it any other way… Sorta like your notes have painted things.
December 8th, 2005 at 9:59 pm
Talk about rambling .. this is a waste of time, you will never understand what the mystique is, too bad for you. There are two kinds of people, Leaf fans and non-Leaf fans .. deal with it. Hope your team is successful this year or you might switch to watching Texas Holdem.
December 8th, 2005 at 11:28 pm
Thanks, Doug, for proving the epitome of Leaf fans everywhere–
You get backed into the corner in an argument and result to insulting those who backed you into it. Yeah, I’d rather watch Texas Holdem poker because I’m not a Leafs fan and I’ve never experienced the Mystique… I’m just an ignorant American who’s suffered and reveled in the Tampa Bay Lightning since their inception and I wouldn’t know shit because I’m a southerner and la-de-da…
Now, if you ever want to take the rose colored glasses off, feel free to come back and talk things out and try to understand why you’ve only proven the point you were trying to dispell — that Leaf fans are a crass, arrogant bunch that thinks the hockey world revolves around them.
December 13th, 2006 at 11:06 am
Attendence figures show a number of things.
The Canadiens draw the most fans to their games in the entire NHL - including Home & away games (they are a runaway leader for both home & road attendance) - the Canadiens are the largest fan draw when they are on the road (Wings are 2nd, Leafs are 10th).
FYI 2/3rds of Canada’s population is in whats known as the “Golden Horse Shoe” in Ontario - Leaf marketing territory.
From what I experienced, the Canadiens are the most popular team world wide, Leafs would be 2nd in this regard, but it’s not even close. The Canadiens sell more merchandise worldwide, including Scandanavian countries than every other NHL team put together, excluding the Leafs.
The Leafs are far more interested in the business of making money, as opposed to making a good team - ask yourself why the 2 closest teams geographically (Ottawa & Buffalo) went bankrupt in the same year while at the same time still paying Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment Inc. a large share of their TV Revenue.
Leafs are a poor hockey organization and are bad for teh soul of the game.
December 14th, 2006 at 12:14 am
But DOUG; What is to be arrogant about? Its fine to have pride for a local team, but why does the media and their fans perpetuate Teranna as some kind of pillar or mecca of hockey in Canada? On what do they base this? I suspect it has more to do with advertising dollars; it is certainly not hockey success. Teranna is the dustbowl of hockey. Every team in Canada has had more success in the last 40 years than Teranna. The Oil and Flames have had more in their shorter life than Teranna in their 40 years. Its just getting sooooooo old.
December 14th, 2006 at 10:20 am
Doug is a typical Leaf fan. They believe what they believe and won’t let facts get in the way of that. They can’t understand any other way of thinking or any other person who doesn’t think the way they do. They don’t see HNIC as bias. It’s just the universe unfolding as it should at the feet of the almighty Leafs. When they don’t have facts to back up their arguments they resort to insults. They still claim Gretzky robbed them of the Cup in ‘93. When I remind them that the Habs beat the Kings in 5 games in the finals they say they would have creamed the Habs easily. No facts to back up such a claim. Just arrogant belief that the world revolves around the Leafs. Their 40 year curse looks good on them.