OT: Popularity

[Bullseye]

There's a few different reason in my humble opinion. The uneven amount of coverage the Leafs used to get on the CBC HNIC over other teams with better records and trajectories but mostly it's because of the annoying homerism of die-hard Leaf fans despite having awful teams on the ice. Peeps across Canada hate the fans not so much the Leafs.

I can't stand most Leaf fans but I've always loved the team (All of you on here excluded of course - none of you are annoying )

 

[Preisst*]

Why would someone from Montreal or Edmonton or Vancouver like the leafs?

Why would someone from sask like the leafs when their are closer teams in their time zone??

This whole tread assuming others should like the leafs is also part of the reason people hate the leafs?? I mean do people on vancouvers thread go around asking - hey how come people in Toronto don't like us?

What does time zone have to do with anything?

History lesson for you. There are millions of fans who liked hockey before there were teams franchised in their time zone. Are fans expected to abandon their favourite team just because a new team is created in their time zone?

 

[Sens Rule]

What does time zone have to do with anything?

History lesson for you. There are millions of fans who liked hockey before there were teams franchised in their time zone. Are fans expected to abandon their favourite team just because a new team is created in their time zone?

Living in Ottawa it took me until after the Gilmour era ended in Toronto... Or at least after the 1994 playoffs to really not be a Leafs fan and be a full-on Senators fan. After all the terrible Leafs teams of the 80's I cheered for, actually having a legit contender, and the great Gilmour... A terrible expansion team did not take hold in my fan conciousness for a few seasons. And I didn't start hating the Leafs until Pat Quinn and the first playoff loss the Senators had to the Leafs.

Now as a Sens fan... I don't even really hate the Leafs. I actually kind of like most of the teams in the Senators division. Though I cheer for the Senators completely. Lots of likeable teams. Hope that the Leafs turn it around and become a decent team to have a rivalry again.

I think, in hindsight, I hated Quinn most of all, and Domi, Tucker, Corson... More then actually hating the Leafs. Since then I really have not hated any team or player much... Except Chris Pronger. But I used to really hate the Leafs back in the late 90's early 00's. Now I feel sorry for their fans... And even their players. Like Kessel. I mean he got so much flack for actually doing his job well as a scoring winger. You would think he was a child murderer. I do hate the Toronto media. They are hot garbage. And HNIC hires a total hack to be part of their broadcast? Really? All the guys to choose from and they pick a hack tabloid writer who knows crap about hockey?.... And just writes offensive things for attention? I don't care if Cherry talks about the Leafs too much... Or other things that come from the Leafs being the most popular team in the country... But Damian Cox? Yeah... That is a symbol why the Leafs nation gets hate. The whole country gets hacks that talk about petty unimportant Leafs crap while other teams actually do interesting things on the ice. And we hear about Kessel being fat or eating hot dogs, or Kadri missing practice. Not just in Toronto but everywhere in the country. It is like a Thansgiving dinner where a drunk boring uncle never shuts up. It gets pretty annoying... The noise. The endless useless banter about nothing from the Leafs nation. That every hockey fan is subject to in Canada. On every broadcast. In every paper, on all the TSN, Sportsnet websites, on HF.

I hope and wish the Leafs to become elite soon... So the endless Leafs talk might actually be interesting and matter to average hockey fans that aren't members of Leafs Nation.

 

[Preisst*]

Living in Ottawa it took me until after the Gilmour era ended in Toronto... Or at least after the 1994 playoffs to really not be a Leafs fan and be a full-on Senators fan. After all the terrible Leafs teams of the 80's I cheered for, actually having a legit contender, and the great Gilmour... A terrible expansion team did not take hold in my fan conciousness for a few seasons. And I didn't start hating the Leafs until Pat Quinn and the first playoff loss the Senators had to the Leafs.

Now as a Sens fan... I don't even really hate the Leafs. I actually kind of like most of the teams in the Senators division. Though I cheer for the Senators completely. Lots of likeable teams. Hope that the Leafs turn it around and become a decent team to have a rivalry again.

I think, in hindsight, I hated Quinn most of all, and Domi, Tucker, Corson... More then actually hating the Leafs. Since then I really have not hated any team or player much... Except Chris Pronger. But I used to really hate the Leafs back in the late 90's early 00's. Now I feel sorry for their fans... And even their players. Like Kessel. I mean he got so much flack for actually doing his job well as a scoring winger. You would think he was a child murderer. I do hate the Toronto media. They are hot garbage. And HNIC hires a total hack to be part of their broadcast? Really? All the guys to choose from and they pick a hack tabloid writer who knows crap about hockey?.... And just writes offensive things for attention? I don't care if Cherry talks about the Leafs too much... Or other things that come from the Leafs being the most popular team in the country... But Damian Cox? Yeah... That is a symbol why the Leafs nation gets hate. The whole country gets hacks that talk about petty unimportant Leafs crap while other teams actually do interesting things on the ice. And we hear about Kessel being fat or eating hot dogs, or Kadri missing practice. Not just in Toronto but everywhere in the country. It is like a Thansgiving dinner where a drunk boring uncle never shuts up. It gets pretty annoying... The noise. The endless useless banter about nothing from the Leafs nation. That every hockey fan is subject to in Canada. On every broadcast. In every paper, on all the TSN, Sportsnet websites, on HF.

I hope and wish the Leafs to become elite soon... So the endless Leafs talk might actually be interesting and matter to average hockey fans that aren't members of Leafs Nation.

Yea it's a combination mostly of the media hype which is largely due to the population base in and around Toronto and the reality that a lot of the rest of Canada believe that many ppull in Toronto are pompous.

As for Kessel, if anything he gets less flack then he deserves. He was being paid to play hockey which he is incredibly horrible at. I guarantee you his contract did NOT stipulate that all he is supposed to do is score a few goals here and there. He can skate fast, is a good passer and has a good shot. Other then that he is pretty much the worst player in the league at every other component of the game. Top it off with how much he was paid and him telling coaches he wasn't going to do what they wanted and frankly he gets off easy.

 

[Swarez]

What does time zone have to do with anything?

History lesson for you. There are millions of fans who liked hockey before there were teams franchised in their time zone. Are fans expected to abandon their favourite team just because a new team is created in their time zone?

Because you do have a choice now. In baseball sure there is one Canadian team, it's on tv every day so it's easy to be s fan. If you have several hockey teams in your area/time zone most people will chose a local team.

Say Quebec gets a team back tons of habs fans in Quebec City will make the switch.

The leafs play at 4-430 in Vancouver - just based on life if one has a job, kids etc you won't be able to watch many games. Same reason for local ratings leafs ratings drop when we play in west coast. People have other things to do in their lives.

 

[Kessely Snipes]

What do you mean they aren't popular? Every time we go on a west coast trip their building ends up full of Leaf's fans.

This. The original six helps as well, tradition gets passed down through families, etc.

 

[The Podium]

Good points all around. I grew up in Ottawa and was constantly exposed to the negative Toronto stereotypes (although not as bad as in Western Canada). When I moved to the GTA, I was always surprised to hear that whenever I mentioned Ottawa or other Canadian cities to people, the response was "I love that place! It's beautiful". Rarely did i get a negative comment. This, of course, led me to the conclusion that the Toronto hate is pretty irrational and probably fuelled, in part, by an inferiority complex.

When I went to Vancouver the people I met were shocked that I loved the city and when asked how often people at home talked bad about Vancouver they were amazed when I said only towards the Canucks. So there is this weird notion going around Canada that Torontonians are arrogant looking down on the rest of the country.