Leafs = Yankees?
Jan 10, 2006 9:45:23 GMT -5
Post by franko on Jan 10, 2006 9:45:23 GMT -5
He said: "We're like the New York Yankees of hockey," Leaf defenceman Wade Belak declared yesterday. "We're the biggest team in Canada, and we have a huge fan base on the road. Everybody wants to see the Leafs."
I say: Ya, Wade, you're just like the Yankees -- only you don't win!
Leaf fans can be found coast to coast
Elliott Pap, CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, January 10, 2006
VANCOUVER - The Toronto Maple Leafs are at GM Place tonight and, love 'em or hate 'em, they bring a buzz like few other teams in hockey.
They haven't won the Stanley Cup in 39 years, yet their following seems undiminished.
"We're like the New York Yankees of hockey," Leaf defenceman Wade Belak declared yesterday. "We're the biggest team in Canada, and we have a huge fan base on the road. Everybody wants to see the Leafs."
The fascination with the Leafs obviously began before the NHL expanded to western Canada. But the Vancouver Canucks have been in the league since 1970 and they still have to share the home crowd's affection whenever the Leafs hit town.
"They have so much history, and I think it's just ingrained," said Canuck forward Anson Carter, a Toronto native. "It always cracks me up when I hear my friends talk about the 'Leaf Nation.' It's like being a Yankee fan."
"They've been in the league for a long, long time and they have a great heritage," noted Canuck coach Marc Crawford, who grew up in Belleville, 100 miles east of Toronto, and worshiped the Leafs as a kid.
All this seems to have been lost at NHL headquarters, where the schedule-makers have decreed the Leafs will come west only once every three years. The Canucks will visit Toronto similarly only once in three while there is a season coming, likely 2007-08, when the western and eastern Canadian teams won't meet even once.
As a former Canuck coach and GM, current Leafs' coach Pat Quinn has been both host and visitor when the Leafs visit town.
"I'd like to see them re-visit the schedule," he said. "I understand the concept behind eight divisional games but that's probably too much. I, for one, would like to see our Canadian teams play a little bit more in the west."
I say: Ya, Wade, you're just like the Yankees -- only you don't win!
Leaf fans can be found coast to coast
Elliott Pap, CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, January 10, 2006
VANCOUVER - The Toronto Maple Leafs are at GM Place tonight and, love 'em or hate 'em, they bring a buzz like few other teams in hockey.
They haven't won the Stanley Cup in 39 years, yet their following seems undiminished.
"We're like the New York Yankees of hockey," Leaf defenceman Wade Belak declared yesterday. "We're the biggest team in Canada, and we have a huge fan base on the road. Everybody wants to see the Leafs."
The fascination with the Leafs obviously began before the NHL expanded to western Canada. But the Vancouver Canucks have been in the league since 1970 and they still have to share the home crowd's affection whenever the Leafs hit town.
"They have so much history, and I think it's just ingrained," said Canuck forward Anson Carter, a Toronto native. "It always cracks me up when I hear my friends talk about the 'Leaf Nation.' It's like being a Yankee fan."
"They've been in the league for a long, long time and they have a great heritage," noted Canuck coach Marc Crawford, who grew up in Belleville, 100 miles east of Toronto, and worshiped the Leafs as a kid.
All this seems to have been lost at NHL headquarters, where the schedule-makers have decreed the Leafs will come west only once every three years. The Canucks will visit Toronto similarly only once in three while there is a season coming, likely 2007-08, when the western and eastern Canadian teams won't meet even once.
As a former Canuck coach and GM, current Leafs' coach Pat Quinn has been both host and visitor when the Leafs visit town.
"I'd like to see them re-visit the schedule," he said. "I understand the concept behind eight divisional games but that's probably too much. I, for one, would like to see our Canadian teams play a little bit more in the west."
