TORONTO (Oct. 16) -- We will find out, in very short order, just how loyal the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs truly are. Some will say that loyalty is defined by routinely filling the Air Canada Centre each night, as fans once did Maple Leaf Gardens. Others will point to the Leafs' wealth of peripheral components, like the multitudes that walk around in their blue and white replica jerseys; or the skyrocketing numbers that are frequently indicated by those who keep tabs of national and regional television ratings. All of these elements imply the sheer size of the fanbase that follows the Maple Leafs, but they do not characterize the essence of loyalty... which is the ability and willingness to stand by something you cherish in times of hardship and misfortune.
In a marriage, for instance, loyalty is not defined merely by being in the the company of your spouse. Similarly, the presence of 19,000 hockey fans in an arena doesn't equate to loyalty if the majority of them are planning to gang up on a member of the home side. Which, it appears, is the aspiration among many of those who will be at the ACC for the Leafs' next game, Thursday night, against Florida. By all accounts, Maple Leaf "fans" are priming to jeer defenceman Bryan McCabe so harshly and incessantly that he'll be overcome by despair, and will eagerly relinquish the no-movement clause in his contract. The Maple Leafs will then be free to peddle his $7 million pact to the highest bidder. "Fans" will pound their chests and proudly boast about how they booed the bum out of town. Then, as the team continues to wallow in mediocrity, they will designate another scapegoat, and the pattern will repeat itself.
I've got news for you folks: The "plan" isn't going to work.
It may be the "in" thing right now to vent your frustration on the Leafs' highest-paid player. At no point in this column will I even suggest that Bryan McCabe is performing close to an optimum level, or is justifying the lucrative and restrictive deal he was offered by GM John Ferguson. But, neither -- I can assure you -- will the jeers prove beneficial. In fact, as Hall of Fame defenceman Larry Murphy stated earlier this afternoon on The Fan-590, the derision will quickly become counter-productive.
"Fans think that if they boo one player, nobody else on the team is affected," said Murphy, who is well-versed in the ire of Maple Leaf fanatics. "But, that is totally untrue. It bothers every member of the team and it turns into just another obstacle to overcome. It's even more of an obstacle if the player being booed is well-liked by most of his teammates. And, Bryan seems to fit into that category on the Leafs team right now."
In other words, jeering McCabe threatens to not only undermine one of the Maple Leafs' core players, but to thrust the entire club into a feeling of abandonment. Which is about the most DIS-loyal action that any legitimate fan could take.
Now, obviously, a situation like this is not so scientific. As a Leaf season-ticket holder in the '70s that would ride Ian Turnbull's ass without mercy, I am quite aware of the need for -- and the prerogative of -- paying customers to express their emotions. Hardly ever, though, does it bear desired results. In this case, there are any number of mitigating factors -- not the least of which is the control the Leafs surrendered to McCabe in contract negotiations. It is he, not they, who will decide how long the defenceman remains in blue and white. Additonally, there is almost no market in the salary-capped universe for a struggling player that averages five-and-a-half million dollars per season. So, heaping abuse on McCabe at the ACC may feel good, but it won't yield anything of value to the team, or its supporters.
I can also tell you this. Bryan McCabe will not succumb to pressure. I've known and admired him for the past eight years, since Pat Quinn stole him from the Blackhawks for the lazy, unmotivated, and fragile Alexander Karpovtsev. Though McCabe is unquestionably affected by the catcalls of the home crowd -- others, like Mats Sundin, are able to block out such treatment -- he is not an emotional weakling. This was proven in a far more significant way by his unremitting support and love for wife, Roberta, whose life was threatened last year by a post-pardum complication. McCabe risked losing out on the fantastic deal offered by the Leafs when he refused to sign his name until it was certain Roberta would recover from her ailment. Only then, did he put business ahead of family.
Among the thousands of hockey players I have dealt with in the past 25 years, Bryan ranks near the top as a stand-up guy in any circumstance. Whether he scores an overtime winner for the Leafs -- or inadvertantly whacks the puck into his own net for a loss -- McCabe faces the music. When more than a dozen print and electronic media poured into the funereal Maple Leafs dressing room the other night in Buffalo, there was Bryan -- with an awkward, embarrassed smirk on his face -- ready to accept responsibility for the defeat. A number of others who conspired in the third-period fold-up against the Sabres (Pavel Kubina comes to mind) made themselves scarce. It's a prime reason why the so-called "Leaf-hating" media in this town is willing to give McCabe a break.
Even when "fans" who claim love for the hockey club appear to be planning a frontal assault.
E-mail
[email protected] 
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»