Carl Brewer was a complex person and was prone to do the unexpected.
He had quit the Leafs in September of 1965 and after a few comebacks decided for one last shot at the NHL. Brewer said, like a lot of players, that he always wanted to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and had a burning desire to finish his career with the Leafs. That was one reason.
The other reason was monetary.
Its ironic that the GM (Punch Imlach) who brought him back in 1980 was the coach who drove Brewer away in 1965.
Imlach saw Brewer play in an Old-timer game and that's what convinced him to give Brewer a tryout. That doesn't reflect well on the Leaf defencemen who played on the team at that time and resented Brewer trying to take one of their jobs. So, the Leaf players (most of them controlled at the time by Alan Eagleson) decided to treat Brewer very horribly. They wouldn't pass him the puck in the game and they ran at him in practice. On one occasion, a Leaf defenceman (maybe Ian Turnbull) crashed Brewer's head into the goal post cutting him. Dave Hutchison kept running at Brewer as well.
The players also viewed Brewer as a spy for Imlach (which was absurd given Brewer's reputation for bucking the establishment).
I don't know what that tells you about that Leaf team but it probably further convinced Imlach to break up that bunch and trade them away. (We only hear the Leafs players opinions of the dismantling of the team but there is another side to it).
Although it was a crazy and desperate move to bring in a 40 year old player who hadn't played pro for years, it is also apparent that Brewer wasn't given a proper chance to do much in this 'comeback' attempt. After all, its pretty hard to play well if your teammates won't give you the puck.
And people wonder why Imlach grew so disenchanted with the Leaf team. That particular Leaf team was very close knit and under the leadership of Darryl Sittler. Personally, I don't think the situation with Brewer reflects very well with Sittler as a captain. Brewer's enmity at Eagleson at the time didn't help as Sittler and others were Eagleson clients and there may be some relationship there to the way Brewer was treated. At least, that was Brewer's opinion and I think has some merit.
So, I wouldn't be too hard on Brewer. He still had enough skills that he might not have looked so out of place but the situation with the team at the time (the players hating Imlach for one) made the 'comeback' attempt more difficult than it should have been.
I always say that there is always more to the story.
crump said:
Without a doubt....Carl Brewer's comeback attempt 1979-80
He did a lot of great things for the pension fund, and was a good player in his day but man WHAT WAS HE THINKING
