Leaf it alone

Why we need to stop making fun of Toronto

By Shea O’Grady, Contributor

What do you call 30 millionaires sitting around a television watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs? The Toronto Maple Leafs. Yes indeed, as a nation, one of our favourite pastimes has long been bashing the Maple Leafs. The question is, how much longer are we going to be able to partake—especially considering the Canucks’ abysmal playoff performance the last two seasons. It is possible that the nation will be looking at other teams to feel represented come Cup time.

While the Leafs looked to be off to a rough start this year with a few injuries making headlines in what seemed like the first minutes of the season, they’ve managed to win seven out of their 11 games played thus far. Vancouver has played 12 games and has won the same number. The only reason the Canucks are ahead in points is due to an overtime loss.

Though it’s still very early in the year, I would like to be the first to suggest to Vancouver fans that we acknowledge the strides that the Leafs have made. We should all consider the fact that Toronto and Vancouver are the only two Canadian teams in the league’s top 10. Currently, Vancouver is placed fourth and the Leafs are holding the sixth position. Finally the Leafs are experiencing the much-needed change-up fans have been waiting for. With the buzz surrounding their latest draft picks, how could they not?

This means a few things for Vancouverites, and possibly the nation. We should all start working now to be less hypocritical when we inevitably choose to jump on the bandwagon of any Canadian team left in the playoffs. We can now fondly look back at the days of laughing at the Leafs’ painful performances and remember them as “the good old days.” It’s the dawn of a new era in Canadian hockey. Leafs fans need no longer cut eyeholes in brown paper bags when they put on a jersey. If this season proves even moderately successful, Torontonians can hold their heads high after game day. As one of the original six, the Leafs have a long history in Canadian hockey. As the team perks up, we should expect that there will be a massive increase in the Leafs fans among us. Many of us may have to re-examine Leaf-bashing as one of our favourite pastimes and instead just focus on the actual hockey. But just for fun, one more: What do the Toronto Maple Leafs and possums have in common? Both play dead at home and get killed on the road!