TSN Radio Doughty's views on playing in Toronto

[WilliamNylander]

I really think this "Toronto hockey players living in a fishbowl" narrative is completely overblown. I remember back in the early 2000's during the playoffs that some of the Leafs were enjoying a night out at a club called Shark City (which isn't around anymore) and I can tell you from my firsthand account that hardly anyone bothered any of them; and this was during the playoffs!

I think its more of a case of "perception is truth". Thanks to such sensationalistic nerds such as: Steve Simmons, Dave Feschuk, Damien Cox etc writing all about the doom and gloom of playing in Toronto and how any player in their right mind would be crazy to play here if given the choice. Read enough negative articles about playing here, then the reader's subconcious eventually accepts it as truth. The power of suggestion.

Agreed 100%. It seems to be a very media-driven narrative. Leafs fans in Toronto (and around the world) love their team but we are not some rabid fanbase that will swarm a player if we see them in public.

I think it stems from our teams being so bad for the last few years that the lazy media people you mentioned, instead of writing about why we are bad, decided to blame the fans and the "pressure of the hockey market" for the state of the team. Meanwhile, former Leafs always say Toronto is literally the best city in the world to play in when you're winning, but of course that gets lost in all the negativity coming from everywhere else.

 

[Pocket Hercules]

Agreed 100%. It seems to be a very media-driven narrative. Leafs fans in Toronto (and around the world) love their team but we are not some rabid fanbase that will swarm a player if we see them in public.

I think it stems from our teams being so bad for the last few years that the lazy media people you mentioned, instead of writing about why we are bad, decided to blame the fans and the "pressure of the hockey market" for the state of the team. Meanwhile, former Leafs always say Toronto is literally the best city in the world to play in when you're winning, but of course that gets lost in all the negativity coming from everywhere else.

Agreed. I remember Wendel even wrote an article a couple of years ago about how Toronto is the best city to play in, and how the pros far outweigh the cons. Wendel also turned into a journeyman player after his stint with the Nordiques ended; so he knows first hand about other markets and their types of environments.

 

[egd27]

Bunch of guys using fake names and avatars judging someone harshly for their opinions on the perks of anonymity.

 

[nsleaf]

Don't play for toronto is fine. Maybe you hate the management. Or maybe you just grew up loathing the team.

That's fine.

Saying you don't want to play for Toronto because you don't like all the attention is the most ignorant, diva ******** I've ever heard.

As if you didn't know that being famous was part of the deal of being a hockey player while growing up IN CANADA.

You know I didn't want to get SHOT AT, so I avoided joining the military.

And I can't stand watching animals die so I ruled out being a vet.

Logic.

Um no that is not part of any deal. If it was there sure would be an awful lot of famous Canadians.
Being pissed at someone's personality when you don't' even know them is a bit over the top.
Message to all you introverts --don't play hockey in Canada or you will **** off anonymous posters on the internet.

 

[Rick74*]

Agreed. I remember Wendel even wrote an article a couple of years ago about how Toronto is the best city to play in, and how the pros far outweigh the cons. Wendel also turned into a journeyman player after his stint with the Nordiques ended; so he knows first hand about other markets and their types of environments.

If you've noticed Babcock is trying his damnest to promote playing in Toronto everytime he's interviewed he brings up how great of a city it is to play in.

I think he's doing that to reverse the negative stigma most players around the league have regarding our city.

It sucks because we are punished for liking hockey too much.

 

[Budsfan]

I've been saying this for years, playing for the Leafs is like playing in a fish bowl and good players if given a choice, would choose a city that he could make as much, or more money, without being hounded all the time.

A player like Stamkos, for instance, makes more money playing in Florida because of the tax situation plus the freedom of taking a shower without a TV Crew and an announcer pulling back the shower curtain and quizzing him about the game.

He could go to the beach and few would know who he is and would leave him alone to enjoy the rays, (although I understand he owns a beachfront property).

Salary Cap, Taxes and the constant media and fan frenzy, understandably make the Leafs a second choice for many Hockey players.

 

[colchar]

What about Karlsson? He'll probably have to take a pay cut too?

And McJesus when he hits free agency.

 

[Clark4Ever]

The demographics of the city have changed. Sure, a guy like Doughty would be far more recognizable to the average citizen in Toronto than in L.A., but it's not as if he would get mobbed every time he left his home either.

There are plenty of people in this city that wouldn't recognize him if they saw him out in public, and those that do would probably be courteous enough to respect his privacy or at worst, politely ask for a selfie, lol.

 

[Rick74*]

Um no that is not part of any deal. If it was there sure would be an awful lot of famous Canadians.
Being pissed at someone's personality when you don't' even know them is a bit over the top.
Message to all you introverts --don't play hockey in Canada or you will **** off anonymous posters on the internet.

Uhm...yeah...yeah it is.

What? You think people give them endorsements because nobody knows who they are?

"hey i want that Reebok endorsement money...while at the same time I want nobody to know who I am!"

That's not how this works.

He knew what he was working hard towards all his life growing up. As made evident to him growing up within the culture of SW Ontario. If he didn't want the publicity associated with becoming a professional athlete.

DON'T BECOME A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE.

 

[moon111]

The problem with playing in Toronto is every single mistake and stat become a story of biblical proportions. As much as Kessel shouldn't of promoted salute-gate, that's the feeling about Leaf fans from players. It's not the popularity, it's the fact the players look at Leaf fans (and the media) as idiots. Believe Clark said you're either a god or a dog. Fans rip apart everyone including Hockey Hall of Famers for having faults and being human. Where everyone in the hockey universe would be amazed at how good a <$1 million/year player did on the wing, we'll rip them up for not being an All-star. The Leafs players have to be the best ever in every position and it all has to fit within the confines of the salary cap some how.

 

[leafsfuture]

Uhm...yeah...yeah it is.

What? You think people give them endorsements because nobody knows who they are?

"hey i want that Reebok endorsement money...while at the same time I want nobody to know who I am!"

That's not how this works.

He knew what he was working hard towards all his life growing up. As made evident to him growing up within the culture of SW Ontario. If he didn't want the publicity associated with becoming a professional athlete.

DON'T BECOME A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE.

Relative to other sports.... hockey players dont give a rats ass about money.

Its why when Kevin Durant and Lebron James are signing 2 year deals with opt-outs after 1, the best NHLers sign long-term contracts at lower cap hits

NHL players also value term and comfort more. Its a damn hard life to live with high risk of your career ending at any time. People also need to remember that for the most part, anonymity is a Norm as a NHL player, save for 5-6 cities.

If you are used to walking around a city as you please, coming to Toronto, or Montreal or Edmonton can be intimidating

 

[Rick74*]

Relative to other sports.... hockey players dont give a rats ass about money.

Its why when Kevin Durant and Lebron James are signing 2 year deals with opt-outs after 1, the best NHLers sign long-term contracts at lower cap hits

NHL players also value term and comfort more. Its a damn hard life to live with high risk of your career ending at any time. People also need to remember that for the most part, anonymity is a Norm as a NHL player, save for 5-6 cities.

If you are used to walking around a city as you please, coming to Toronto, or Montreal or Edmonton can be intimidating

Oh they care about money fella. Remember the lockout? Are you getting comfy for the next one coming up?

That's about money.

If you, the NHL player want the cap to go up, so you can get more money, bigger endorsements...that sweet tv contract in the states. Then it comes with the sport becoming more popular, and you become more of a celebrity.

But this dummy grew up in SW Ontario. Where hockey is a religion. He didn't grow up in some obscure part of the world where all this popularity is a shell shock...like perhaps Auston Matthews might be experiencing.

No. He grew up in the heart of Canadian hockey land where we treat them as celebs. And he said "this is the career path I want to follow"

So forgive me for calling him out on being an dick bag for suddenly deciding after he becomes successful to suddenly thumb his nose at Canadian hockey cities.

 

[AllDay28]

Relative to other sports.... hockey players dont give a rats ass about money.

Its why when Kevin Durant and Lebron James are signing 2 year deals with opt-outs after 1, the best NHLers sign long-term contracts at lower cap hits

NHL players also value term and comfort more. Its a damn hard life to live with high risk of your career ending at any time. People also need to remember that for the most part, anonymity is a Norm as a NHL player, save for 5-6 cities.

If you are used to walking around a city as you please, coming to Toronto, or Montreal or Edmonton can be intimidating

Pretty ignorant for someone so confident. Reason they have opt outs is cause the cap was going up something like 30 million each season for 2 seasons so the best players were maximizing their value. IF the NHL came out tomorrow and said next season the cap would be 100m, you can guarantee that a lot of players if given the opportunity would have opt outs next season to maximize their profit. To say players dont want the $$ is silly.

 

[egd27]

Oh they care about money fella. Remember the lockout? Are you getting comfy for the next one coming up?

That's about money.

If you, the NHL player want the cap to go up, so you can get more money, bigger endorsements...that sweet tv contract in the states. Then it comes with the sport becoming more popular, and you become more of a celebrity.

But this dummy grew up in SW Ontario. Where hockey is a religion. He didn't grow up in some obscure part of the world where all this popularity is a shell shock...like perhaps Auston Matthews might be experiencing.

No. He grew up in the heart of Canadian hockey land where we treat them as celebs. And he said "this is the career path I want to follow"

So forgive me for calling him out on being an dick bag for suddenly deciding after he becomes successful to suddenly thumb his nose at Canadian hockey cities.

When did he do that?

 

[Rick74*]

When did he do that?

By stating that he doesn't want anything to do with playing in Toronto because apparently the fans will hound him.

I read in an article that In the last 20 years their hasn't been 1 major free agent who's opted to sign in Canada.

They come here when they are on the decline of their career. But not when they are in their prime.

 

[egd27]

By stating that he doesn't want anything to do with playing in Toronto because apparently the fans will hound him.

I read in an article that In the last 20 years their hasn't been 1 major free agent who's opted to sign in Canada.

They come here when they are on the decline of their career. But not when they are in their prime.

Is there another quote besides the one in this article?

https://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2017/06/15/kings-star-drew-doughty-admits-hes-a-leaf-fan.html

We all want to play here, especially with the team getting better, but it always comes down to how hard it would be to live in a city and being that big of a celebrity,†said Doughty. “I’m spoiled in L.A., where I can walk anywhere I want and not one person is going to recognize me.

“If for some reason I would play for the Leafs, I don’t know if I could get used to that or not.

Where does he say he want's nothing to do with Toronto?

 

[Pookie]

Uhm...yeah...yeah it is.

What? You think people give them endorsements because nobody knows who they are?

"hey i want that Reebok endorsement money...while at the same time I want nobody to know who I am!"

That's not how this works.

He knew what he was working hard towards all his life growing up. As made evident to him growing up within the culture of SW Ontario. If he didn't want the publicity associated with becoming a professional athlete.

DON'T BECOME A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE.

I would respectfully suggest a little more of a conservative reply.

You are assuming people play for the money. There are countless examples of athletes that pursued the sport because it was all they were good at and/or were pushed there by parents/handlers.

You also never know what's going on in a person's life. From racist taunts to death threats, many good athletes from Jackie Robinson to Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams had to endure more than we will hopefully ever know.

There are many athletes with anxiety/depression disorders too that might want a little less public profile to deal with their off ice recovery.

Who are we to judge a person's rationale for wanting a little private time?

 

[AllDay28]

no major players sign with Canadian teams..

the Oilers were able to sign Pronger to a five-year, $31.25 million contract

just 1 name off top of head.

 

[catgoldfish]

If you don't want to play in Toronto don't. We don't want nor need you here. Tired of hearing things like this. These guys make millions of dollars every year and they ***** and whine like little babies. Get the f out.

 

[AllDay28]

If you don't want to play in Toronto don't. We don't want nor need you here. Tired of hearing things like this. These guys make millions of dollars every year and they ***** and whine like little babies. Get the f out.

Why does whatever you make determine if you can get **** on by the fans of a franchise? Like for example, look at your petty reply. Have you seen these boards after 1 L? dont worry tho they make millions of dollars so theyre allowed to get that kind of treatment. Stupid thought process

 

[LeafsNation75]

I realize that this is a completely different situation than a star player from Southern Ontario not signing with the Leafs, however if Jonathan Drouin doesn't live up to the expectations in Montreal does anyone think their media will take things easy on him? Considering he is their first well known French Canadian to play for them in a long time why is no one talking about the pressure he will be facing everyday?

 

[AllDay28]

I realize that this is a completely different situation than a star player from Southern Ontario not signing with the Leafs, however if Jonathan Drouin doesn't live up to the expectations in Montreal does anyone think their media will take things easy on him? Considering he is their first well known French Canadian to play for them in a long time why is no one talking about the pressure he will be facing everyday?

cause this isn't the Montreal boards

 

[LeafsNation75]

cause this isn't the Montreal boards

Obviously I know that. However in terms of the media it's fair to say that the Montreal media can be just as bad as the Toronto media and even worse to French Canadian born players who play in Montreal. So if Drouin plays like the way David Clarkson did for the Leafs they won't give him a free pass.

Do I wish that the Leafs could possibly sign or trade for a star player like Drew Doughty? If it helped them win I wouldn't be upset at that, however there is also the salary cap to consider and why in the long run them not signing Steven Stamkos last year will turn out for the best.

In fact looking back on that I think Stamkos intended all along to stay in Tampa Bay. He just wanted the experience of talking to other teams and seeing what they had to offer. Considering him growing up in Markham and being a Maple Leafs fan did they really need to sell him on playing here?

 

[Mitchy]

as a Euro guy, this "fame" BS talk makes me sick. In soccer if you want to make $$$ you have to play for big firms and fame comes with it. You cannot make the same money i.e. playing in la liga on Las Palmas vs. playing on Real M. or FC Barcelona. If we didn't have revenue sharing, guys like Doughty, Stamkos or Jonny T would be "very happy" to be playing on Leafs (or maybe other 4 teams willing to pay them $$$).

It's similar in the other major North American sports leagues. A lot of the big players in the NBA, MLB and NFL want to play for a major market.

]Relative to other sports.... hockey players dont give a rats ass about money.

Its why when Kevin Durant and Lebron James are signing 2 year deals with opt-outs after 1, the best NHLers sign long-term contracts at lower cap hits[/B]

NHL players also value term and comfort more. Its a damn hard life to live with high risk of your career ending at any time. People also need to remember that for the most part, anonymity is a Norm as a NHL player, save for 5-6 cities.

If you are used to walking around a city as you please, coming to Toronto, or Montreal or Edmonton can be intimidating

lol, this is not true at all. LeBron took a MASSIVE pay-cut when he signed with Miami. Durant's also not going to sign a max contract because he wants to keep the team together.

Also, if the NHL's cap did rise like the NBA's then you would see a bunch of players signing shorter terms contracts too to sign a big contract once the cap rises.

You are fooling yourself if you think NHL players are some angels who willingly sign below what they think they are worth.

 

[Buds17]

Obviously I know that. However in terms of the media it's fair to say that the Montreal media can be just as bad as the Toronto media and even worse to French Canadian born players who play in Montreal. So if Drouin plays like the way David Clarkson did for the Leafs they won't give him a free pass.

Do I wish that the Leafs could possibly sign or trade for a star player like Drew Doughty? If it helped them win I wouldn't be upset at that, however there is also the salary cap to consider and why in the long run them not signing Steven Stamkos last year will turn out for the best.

In fact looking back on that I think Stamkos intended all along to stay in Tampa Bay. He just wanted the experience of talking to other teams and seeing what they had to offer. Considering him growing up in Markham and being a Maple Leafs fan did they really need to sell him on playing here?

Don't know if the possibility would align at any point, but Doughty would appear to fill a need more than Stamkos would've last offseason. Obviously coming off a last place in the NHL finish, I get why we were interested in - and made an offer to - Stamkos, but it would've been closer to improving a strength rather than addressing a weakness (Matthews being a C and Nylander hopefully soon to follow). It's only one side of the situation as Doughty would have to be interested in us too, but I could see the reasoning a bit more from a need perspective at least. I understand Stamkos' decision as Tampa was the better situation at the time of him re-signing. I'm also thrilled with what we're building here.