WASHINGTON (Mar. 15) -- I just finished reading a lengthy Canadian Press article on the Rogers-Sportsnet website that points out -- for about the 50th time this season -- that Andrew Raycroft has not been embraced as warmly by Toronto's hockey fans as his two goaltending predesessors, Curtis Joseph and Ed Belfour. It is true (and becoming rather repetitive) that spectators at the Air Canada Centre have been quicker to chastise Raycroft than they were Joseph, though it seems to be conveniently forgotten that Belfour was unmercifully booed at the start of his Leafs tenure, when he struggled in the opening weeks of the 2002-03 season. In the CP article, Leafs' winger Darcy Tucker, whose popularity among the current players is matched only by captain Mats Sundin, derisively says to Raycroft, "Welcome to Toronto", then is quoted as suggesting there is no rhyme or reason to the reactions of Toronto's hockey followers. Given how long he's been around the city, Darcy should know better than to make a silly remark like that.
If there is a group of professional sporting fanatics more worthy of voicing discontent than followers of the Maple Leafs, I'm not aware of it. Perhaps the die-hards that cling to false hope every summer with baseball's Chicago Cubs rank in the same category, but few teams have put together as impressive a championship drought as the Leafs' famine of the past 40 years. At no time in that juncture has there been even the slightest threat of Toronto's hockey zealots turning their backs on the organization; if anything, the Leafs' popularity seems to have grown on an annual basis. Those who can get into the Air Canada Centre pay the highest average ticket price in the NHL, and many long-time season-seat holders have forked over "licensing" fees to ensure they maintain their rights to the tickets. As the cost of watching the club has gone through the stratosphere, the Maple Leafs have returned the favor with five trips to the Stanley Cup semifinals since 1967. While expansion team after expansion team has qualified for (and won) the Cup on a fairly regular basis since 1974 -- and while the other five pre-expansion clubs have made at least two appearances in the Cup final since '67 -- the Leafs stand alone on an imaginary island. In return, however, the club has received nothing short of unconditional reverence from its followers, who refuse to abandon hope that the championship drought will ultimately end.
It is therefore commendable (if not miraculous) that Leaf fans have only occasionally voiced displeasure with the team. A smattering of boos will arise from Air Canada Centre patrons if the club butchers a two-minute powerplay, or leaves the ice trailing an inferior opponent by two or three goals. And, yes, several players over the years have been lightning rods for discontent undoubtedly aimed at the hockey club as a whole. Jim McKenny was the 1970s' poster boy after being mindlessly compared to Bobby Orr during his junior career. Later in the '70s, Dan Maloney got the gears when Toronto hockey fans grew to realize why his nickname was "Snowshoes". Goalie Alan Bester heard guffaws in the late-'80s when cement-gloved opponents like Sergio Momesso were found capable of beating him between the wickets from 80 feet out. Future hall of famer Larry Murphy was booed out of town on a terrible Leaf team in the mid-'90s, bringing into question the supposed "intelligence" of Toronto hockey fans. All Murphy did was go to Detroit, team on the blueline with Nik Lidstrom, and win the third and fourth Stanley Cup rings of his career. And now Raycroft, on the heels of a terrible sophomore season, has come under scrutiny after GM John Ferguson traded one of the world's top goaltending prospects (Tukka Rask) to Boston last summer.
I'm not suggesting that the hoots aimed at Raycroft have been wholly deserved; again, Leaf fans have a well-honed propensity to single out a player for the organization's inadequacy. Certainly, Andrew was a major contributor to the Leafs' possibly fatal slump in November and December, but he was terrific in the opening weeks of the season, and has been extremely reliable since the all-star break. All I'm saying is that displays of emotion from Toronto's long-suffering fans most certainly have their place. And, there is very much rhyme and reason for mumblings of discontent -- if not towards a specific target, then certainly at the club for its innordinate string of failures.
The Leafs are, in fact, decidedly fortunate to have such a loyal and patient legion of supporters... many of whom grumble on talk radio and Internet chat sites, but only rarely aim their darts at players in person. This is a love-fest that has probably contributed to the organizational lethargy over the years, and is certainly not at all deserving of any form of contempt from those lucky enough to wear the blue and white jersey.
E-mail
[email protected] 
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»