Welcome

Hello, Leafs Nation. And welcome to... A Leafs Fan Blogs.

I know, right? What a great name! It's so natural! It rolls off the tongue like molasses covered with thumbtacks.

There were heated discussions, some of them sober, about what we should call this new endeavour. My first suggestion was "Puck Struck." When friends and colleagues heard the name they said, "Yeah, that's not bad." Then two seconds later, they said, "No, it sucks." Other proposed names from random people I bumped into brilliant marketers included: Highway 67, The Spirit of 67, Blue & White Forever, I Heart The Buds, Between The Pipe Dreams and the somewhat feral sounding Wild Hockey Boy.

So it could have been worse.

On the upside, my masters selected a name that says it all. Yes, I will blog. Yes, I am a Leafs fan. In fact, with the exception of a temporary meltdown last year, which elicited a call and email from Brian Burke, I've been cheering for the blue-and-white since Sittler made history with double-digit points in one game and the only "Tiger" in sports was a stick-riding, skull-smashing maniac named Williams.

I have ventured into enemy territory (Buffalo and Montreal) to mock the locals with my Kordic jersey and hypnotic chants. In a former life as a retail employee, I helped Ed Olczyk's wife select a camera and told Dan Daoust he was flying low. Only it wasn't Dan Daoust and never mind the rest of that story.

What does it mean to be a Leafs fan during an age of chronic mediocrity? Put it this way: I spent a considerable amount of time in junior high trying to be more like this guy.

More recently, I've been watching the team, talking to management and pestering Mr. Burke. And you know what? I am genuinely excited about the upcoming season and hope this enthusiasm doesn't fade like Gary Leeman's post-Leafs career.

But if A Leafs Fan Blogs -- should I just shorten the damn thing to ALF B? -- is to survive, your help is crucial-nyski (see what I did there?). Want to write a guest post? Great! Have suggestions for what I should cover or read or link to? Awesome. People, seriously, there are a shocking number of days in a hockey season and I can't do this alone. I simply can't afford the divorce attorney.

So here we go, Leafs Nation. In the immortal words of Wendel Clark, "Yeah, okay."

PHOTO: RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR

Comments

[Leaf fan in Van]

Awesome! I will be all over (ala Corson on Yashin) this blog...how do we send in posts? Look forward to hearing from Leaf Nation - coast to coast!!

[Chemmy]

Thanks for the link, we appreciate it.

[ken woods]

sounds good so far- would love to guest blog- just let me know how and when and im ready to go

[Schenn's Girl]

Awesome!

[James Bold]

How do you eliminate the sense of entitlement with grossly overpaid athletes? I assume it's the same with all teams nowadays. Where is it different and why? Can you only put the fear of god into young players? How do you intimidate a six-million dollar man with a no-movement clause? Even without one. I think the Leafs used to be different but not anymore.

One of the reasons it's hard to get players to play in Toronto has nothing to do with the team - it's the city. Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are great Canadian cities. Great Canadian cities are great if you are of average means. But if you are rich, it's way better to live in San Fran, San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami - virtually any large American city save some miserable hell-holes in the North East like Detroit.. That is the problem. Like I said, Toronto is okay (I love it) ... but not if you are obscenely wealthy.

I am far from rich and I prefer Denver/Boulder, or even Los Angeles to virtually any Canadian city. Even if it's just for the weather. And now with Harper and the whacko Neo-cons in power, all Canada is is a colder, slightly more caring (for now) version of the USA. But like I said, who cares about "caring" if you are filthy rich!

You'll see. Montreal and Vancouver will have similar trouble attracting big name free agents too. Once you are rich and married to a model or actress who want's to live in Hamilton. Forget about Edmonton and Calgary - they are already doomed. You think any movie star or singer is gonna want to move there?

That's why it's 17 years and counting since the last cup in Canada. All things being equal, one of our six Canadian teams should win one out of every five Stanley Cups. Statistically. We don't. My guess, is the next one will be brought home by these Brian Burke Leafs. And then you won't see another for a long, long, long time. Maybe never again.

[harvey nagelberg]

It's a good time of year for Leaf fans to briefly imagine that things will improve. As long as their revenues are so high and fans keep attending games, there is no financial motivation for improvement. They could put amateurs on the ice and sell out. It's a business first and foremost

[Chris Shea]

@harvery - this reply is a week late but still worth noting...

To you and everyone who says that all MLSE cares about is profit and not winning, I will point out that the teams' largest expense every year is player salaries.

Player salaries are only paid out during the regular season, which means that each and every playoff game (Leafs and Raptors) at the ACC is massively more profitable than any regular season game.

Given that, and the fact that the price of a playoff ticket increases each round, means that they have literally millions of reasons to see improvement.

While they make plenty of money in their current form, the reality is that winning is good business.

[Ken Baumgartner]

Hey Big M. You picked the best name of the bunch.