Clark4Ever
What we do in hockey echoes in eternity...
I am a third generation Leafs fan. My grandfather became a wheat farmer on the family homestead in Western Saskatchewan. Times were hard for the family in the Dirty Thirties. The fields dried up from drought and much of the topsoil blew away in the dry winds. There was almost no market for what wheat could be grown and one of the ancestor institutions of Canada Trust seized half the family farm. The other half they could not get because my grandfather had put it in my grandmother's name. One of the few joys in those grim days was for my grandfather and my father, then a boy, to listen every Saturday night to Foster Hewitt braodcasting the Leafs game from the Gondola in Maple Leaf Gardens. "Hello Canada and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland!" It is entirely possible that they listened to the very first Hockey Night in Canada in 1931 and they missed very few thereafter.
When I came along, my Dad used to tell me stories about the Leaf teams of the Thirties. He was a natural storyteller and I grew up hearing about King Clancy and how he would start fights that Red Horner would finish. He described the "Kid Line," the artistry of Joe Primeau, the scoring knack of Busher Jackson and the sheer power of Charlie Conacher. His stories were so vivid that I was in my late teens before I realized that he had never actually seen any of those Leafs play. But the magic of radio, the skill of Foster Hewitt and something wonderful about the Leafs of that era made the stories come alive in his mind and through him in mine.
During World War II, my Dad was a student at the University of Toronto. Intercollegiate competition had been suspended during the War but the university was full of young men on a variety of short courses. Consequently, there was a lively and highly competitive intramural league. My Dad's college was coached by one of the heroes of the earlier Leaf teams, Hall of Famer Red Horner. They won the league championship and Dad centred the top line which led the league in scoring. I expect some of the stories came not from Foster Hewitt's broadcasts but from those days playing for Red Horner.
By the time I was born, my family was living in Ontario and I was raised in the Toronto area. In the spring of 1959, two things happened. The first was that our family bought a TV, largely to watch Hockey Night in Canada I think, and I would sit with my Dad to watch the Leafs play. History does repeat itself from time to time. The other was that the Leafs, who had suffered through a mediocre spell after the 1951 Cup, had begun to wake up and emerge as a force. That spring the Leafs made a nearly miraculous run to catch the Rangers for the final playoff spot on the last day of the season, fourth place in the days of the Original Six. They even made the Cup finals before losing to the powerhouse Canadiens of the era. Excitment! I was hooked. The next few years I watched as Punch Imlach put together the team that would win four Cups in the sixties. It was fascinating to see them bring up and develop young stars like Brewer, Mahovlich and Keon and acquire key veterans like, Kelly, Bower and Allan Stanley. Actually, I am getting a feeling in my bones that the Leafs may at last be doing it again. I hope so. I would like to be able to change my handle!
In due time, I had two sons of my own and more often than not when they were small, Saturday night still centred around the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada. We had a connection with Mrs. Dodo Imlach, Punch's widow and one day Mrs. Imlach, who was a very gracious and generous lady, decided to give the boys the prime tickets that she still had from Punch's day. From a very close viewpoint, the boys saw Doug Gilmour score his 1000th point, twice, in fact, since the first goal was waved off. Two more fans confirmed.
I have two grandchildren now, aged six and four. They live far away and I can't watch games with them. But now that I think about it, maybe this is a good time to buy them their first sweaters, for the upcoming season that will be the first step on the way to what I hope will be another Cup while I am still above ground.
Great post.
I was flipping channels, (Survivor Australia JUST finished airing, Tina won, and I was bored). I saw hockey (I knew what that was 
- I was a huge fan of Olympic hockey but that was every 4 years). There was a blue team from Toronto (oooh, said I), and a white team from Ottawa), (Ahh, went I). I literally said, "The team that wins today, I'll cheer for that team"
