A New Low

In 1978, the Leafs made the semi-finals and were just four wins away from competing for the Stanley Cup. Lanny McDonald’s game seven OT goal set the Leafs up against the mighty Montreal Canadiens. I was eight years old and smitten with all things blue and white.

Seven months later, Lanny McDonald was traded to the Colorado Rockies for Joel Quenneville, Pat Hickey and Wilf Paiement.

I have no memory of Leafs GM Jim Gregory being replaced by Punch Imlach, the machinations of the club were beyond a boy whose primary off-ice focus was Star Wars and the original Muppet movie. But I remember that trade and the hurt it caused. I remember it as Darryl Sittler losing his best friend.

I blamed Ballard and I blamed Imlach. I thought that if they were replaced, the Leafs would rise again.

* * *

In 1986, the Leafs upset the Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs, dumping them in three straight. Leafs coach Don Maloney was heralded for getting the right match-ups and out-coaching Bob Pulford’s Hawks. Those Leafs put up just 57 points and were a pretty awful team, but winning a playoff series? That was a serious change of pace.

Maloney’s contract expired that summer and as talks dragged on a feeling of dread settled in. Ballard wouldn’t budge and Maloney quickly landed in Winnipeg. The always-angry John Brophy was the new Leafs coach. It had been seven years since the team had a .500 record. It would be another seven before they crossed the 82 point threshold.

I hated Ballard and thought GM Gerry MacNamara was a joke. If they could only be replaced by real hockey men, this franchise might have a shot. If only…

* * *

In 1990, I lived in Ottawa. It’s not that long ago, but it might as well have been the Stone Age. There were no dedicated sports channels, no internet and no access to round the clock real time information. I tried everything imaginable just to pull in a lousy AM signal to hear a static-infused mid-season Leafs game. Leafs coverage was rare. I’ve never read more agate type in my life. Between Doug Carpenter and Tom Watt, the joke was no Leafs lead was safe, no hole was too deep to climb out of.

As awful as it may seem, I cheered when Ballard died that spring. I may have even prayed that Donald Crump and his push to bring in Anne Murray’s business manager to run the club would be thwarted.

Just give me some good hockey men and no meddling owners. That’s all I ask and this team will be ok…

* * *

My God the Cliff Fletcher years were sweet. Hard working talented teams. Good coaches. An air of professionalism and, believe it or not, beer finally sold at the Gardens. Gilmour in the top four in scoring, Andreychuk notching 53, then 54 goals. Buying scalped Greys at Christmas for $20.

This is what happens when meddling owners die and legitimate hockey men run the show. 100 points in a season. That’s only ten more points than the Leafs had from 1987 to 1989.

Then Steve Stavro went broke. The team shed salary. Took a pass on Gretzky. We had brutal losing seasons with Mike Murphy swimming behind the Leafs bench, way out of his depth.

Just give me an owner with deep pockets. Just give this franchise some stability…

* * *

JFJ was the anti-Midas – everything he touched tuned to lead. His mistakes are legion and the franchise still suffers for them.

I’ve never been so torn as a Leafs fan as I was during JFJ’s reign of error. I desperately wanted the Leafs to succeed, yet each mistake brought the club one step closer to firing JFJ, the architect of so much of my misery.

It’s telling that the core debate of the time didn’t centre on whether JFJ was qualified to run the club or whether he was even competent enough to be a GM. No, we all argued about the degree of board interference and how many fingers Richard Peddie had in the pie.

If only this club could get a GM who had the spine to tell the MLSE board to stuff it. If only Richard Peddie would retire (or get lost swimming in his gold plated money pool). If only, if only, if only…

* * *

I had always presumed there was a systemic or structural flaw that kept the Leafs from, well, not greatness but at least fielding a team that wasn’t a complete embarrassment.

In the low times, and there have been too many to count, there was always something or someone to cheer against – Harold Ballard, an incompetent GM or coach, the meddling MLSE board, the stupidity of JFJ – there was always a reason to keep me engaged with the team, a reason to hope.

For just the third time in the last 45 years, the Leafs have deep pocketed hands-off ownership and talented hockey men at the helm, yet I’ve never been more disengaged than I am now.

I don’t watch the games, I don’t look for highlights, I rarely read the sports pages and I seldom blog. I haven’t tuned into a Leafs game in nearly eight weeks. I don’t even know what nights they’re playing anymore.

Six months ago, such apathy was unfathomable. Now? There is no boogey man to cheer against, no meddling owner, evil board of directors or incompetent coach. There is only another wasted season, another year of my favourite team plumbing new depths, and a mistake-prone GM who has been reduced to a blustering, lying, bully.

Everything I’ve ever wanted as a Leafs fan is at the team’s disposal. They’ve never been worse and I’ve never cared less.

A new low.