Have you watched All or Nothing, the behind-the-scenes mini-series following the Leafs last season? I recommend it.
We fans and our boys in blue both want the same thing: to make the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup.
Reading Cathal Kelly in The Globe and Mail as just one example, it’s hard to get really invested in the team, so convinced is he and many other reporters that they have some kind of fatal flaw and are destined to eternally disappoint.
For a minute, let’s step back and remember last season. Marner, Nylander and Matthews showed us skills of the highest order, provided us with lots of winning hockey, plenty of excitement and fun. John Tavares provided solid leadership, Spezza and Thornton experience, Muzzin some blueline fortitude, and everyone else played their roles, with Jack Campbell making some spectacular saves as the season drew to a close. If the season had ended before the playoffs, we would have been immensely proud of our team.
In the world of sports, though, you are only ever “as good as your last shift.” The playoff exit at the hands of the hated Cinderella story Habs left us wondering how good a performance our team has to put in to win, or whether, as Kelly implies, they and we are simply cursed, chokers under pressure, all show and no go when it matters—doomed to failure.
This whole thing reminds me of another time when the hopes and dreams of many, indeed of the whole country then, were tied up in the fortunes of a hockey team, the way it sometimes seems the happiness of Leafs' fans is linked to the team’s success or failure. Not a matter of life and death, but something far more important than that.
I am talking about the fabled ’72 series between Team Canada and Team USSR - The Summit Series. If you weren’t alive then, it’s hard to explain quite how central to our self-image as a country this series was. Literally, everyone watched every game. TVs were wheeled into school classrooms and lessons paused for the games. Work stopped. It is rumoured that no children were born in the country during any of the matches, births either delayed or induced so that doctors would not be interrupted. For those of us who lived through it, that doesn’t seem much of a stretch.
That was nearly 50 years ago. The sportswriters of the day believed we would beat the Soviets eight games straight. It turned out differently. We lost the first game 7-3. We won the second, but tied the third and lost the fourth. Those games were in Canada, and we were on our heels heading off to the Soviet Union for four more games. The press coverage turned on the Canadian team, and the country was angry that our highly paid professionals were being embarrassed by Russia. This was the first time our pros had played them, and the disgust and disappointment that we did not dominate were evident in the media and on the streets. Canadian fans booed their own team in the last game in Canada, played in Vancouver. We began to give up on our team. Then Phil Esposito was interviewed on National TV.
“To the people across Canada, we tried, we gave it our best, and to the people that boo us, geez, I'm really, all of us guys are really disheartened and we're disillusioned, and we're disappointed at some of the people. We cannot believe the bad press we've got, the booing we've gotten in our own buildings. If the Russians boo their players, the fans ... Russians boo their players ... Some of the Canadian fans—I'm not saying all of them, some of them booed us, then I'll come back and I'll apologize to each one of the Canadians, but I don't think they will. I'm really, really ... I'm really disappointed. I am completely disappointed. I cannot believe it. Some of our guys are really, really down in the dumps, we know, we're trying like hell. I mean, we're doing the best we can, and they got a good team, and let's face facts. But it doesn't mean that we're not giving it our 150%, because we certainly are. I mean, the more – everyone of us guys, 35 guys that came out and played for Team Canada. We did it because we love our country, and not for any other reason, no other reason. …. We came because we love Canada. And even though we play in the United States, and we earn money in the United States, Canada is still our home, and that's the only reason we come. And I don't think it's fair that we should be booed.”
This was a pivotal moment. Canadian fans were being accused of disloyalty, and it hit home. The press and the public switched gears and, with cards, letters and telegrams, made sure the boys with the Maple Leaf on their chests knew we cared about them, knew how tough it was, and were behind them all the way. Many Canadians travelled to Russia, not an easy thing in those days, to make sure our guys had support in the stands. In Russia, the Soviets won the next game, but Canada won the last three, taking the series on a legendary goal by Paul Henderson.
Watch the All or Nothing series about the Maple Leafs on Amazon Prime. You don’t have to imagine the deep disappointment the team felt at their exit in the first round of the playoffs. If you are a Leafs' fan you felt it too. And like those Canadian fans your deceived expectations, your deep disappointment, turned at first to disgust and even anger.
Just like those fans though, your support matters. If you watch the series you will have no doubt that these men are giving it all they have. They want nothing more than to win the Stanley Cup for Toronto. They know the “Honour, Pride and Courage” they inherit from the great Leafs' teams of the past. For them too, as the dressing room motto those great teams prepared under said, “Defeat does not rest lightly on their shoulders.”
This team has all the talent it needs to go all the way. Their motivation and ability to rise past adversity will be the key difference maker between them and many other very skilled, talented and experienced teams. They are good, but the opposition is very good too. Their self-belief will be key to their success this season, and we can help with that.
Our Toronto Maple Leafs need us. Let’s get behind them. Write, and have your children write, telling them how great you know they are, thanking them for the thrills they have given us, and telling them you are cheering for them, pulling for their success, and proud to be part of the Leafs Nation. When they have a win, write again and tell them how great it was to watch, how great it made you feel, how much it matters to Leafs' fans. When your favourite player has a big night, tell him “Way to go, you are the best.” Send email to: [email protected] with the name in the subject line if it's to one player or write to: Player's Name, Toronto Maple Leafs, Scotiabank Arena, 40 Bay St., Toronto, ON M5J 2X2,
They are our boys in blue, and they are doing their best. True fans are loyal and stick with them through thick and thin, just as we want them to pick themselves up and give it all they have got when they are down a couple of goals or after a loss. Just as they must honour the great legacy they inherit, from the first Leaf teams through to the last cup in ’67 and the great runs of the ‘90s, we must honour the legacy of fans from Ontario and across Canada who helped them win by cheering them on to victory.
Go Leafs Go!!
