Thread for Leaf Fans OVER 40 ONLY

[Wafflewhipper]

If you'd gained any wisdom in those 40 years, you would have moved on to another team !

Wise fans discuss things here.

No thanks. Not going lol.

What is it a quit being a fan thread you linked there lol. I didn't even click on it.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

what a terrible team.

We are dropping like a rock in the standings. Columbus has three games in hand to give us their 5 th overall pick position. It shouldn't take long to drop more. That's about the only thing to look forward to with any optimism.

This draft should be looked at like a babies first step for the leafs. This is as bad as it can get in all reality. The time is now for a long 10 year planned march to a cup. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone traded.

A fresh start with a young talented,tough,caring core would be awesome about now.

 

[silentbob37*]

Hopefully the mods will sticky this? I feel most on this board are in the 15-30 age range. Let us "senior" leaf fans over 40 years old share our "wisdom" on the leafs- past, present and future. I miss the 92-93, 93-94 teams as well as the 2000-2004 teams.

Besides the Gilmour Gretzky high stick incident and some close calls in the early 2000's I think we had our best chance in 2003-04 when we had Leetch and Mogilny and Francis and Sundin and McCabe and Kaberle and Roberts and Tucker and Corson and Neiuwendyk and Nolan and Belfour etc etc... now THOSE were some warriors. Intensity personified and clutch players. Lots of HOF's on that team.

I'm 42 btw.

Today's team has to be imho the worst core of players ever. The least dedicated; the least likeable group ever.

That 2003-2004 team wasn't even THAT good. I know a lot people now look back with rose coloured glasses at the Quinn era (even more so since Quinn died), but those teams were never considered one of the best in the NHL or real contenders at the time, always a 2nd tier team (kinda like the Rangers or Habs or Predators today), and Quinn made a LOT of mis-steps as GM and got out coached in the playoffs quite often.

Outside of 92-93 I think the Leafs best team was the late 70's roster. We had Salming (is there a better D-man to ever play for the Leafs?), Sittler (our best center since Keon?), MacDonald (Kessel with heart) plus a really good, skilled, colourful supporting cast. They had a great coach. This is a group that beat the Islanders in the playoffs in 77 (I believe, maybe 78). Its such a shame that group got gutted to serve Implachs ego. If that group had been allowed to remain together and had been added too........we might have something special in the early 80's.

 

[Longshot]

Reading this thread and the remembrances of older fans (I'm 40) truly illustrates everything that is wrong with this franchise - even when things sometimes work out.

Look at the names being mentioned: Gilmour, Belfour, Joseph, Sundin, Roberts, etc. etc.

What do they all have in common?

They were all very good/sometimes great Leafs that were acquired from or signed away from other organizations.

Even today's terrible team: Kessel, Phaneuf, JVR, Bernier, Franson...

The Leafs now and historically (not always - Damphousse, Potvin, Leeman) are terrible at drafting and developing talent.

It borders on being astonishing how poor they are at this vital aspect of team building. It's almost like it's ingrained in the franchise's DNA to discard the draft as a key component. And it's not just the present management group. It dates back decades. The last run of solid drafting the team had was in the 70s: Sittler, McDonald, Turnbull, etc, etc.

The 80s under Ballard are a wash out and hard to compare to another time period - seeing as the organization was so dysfunctional. But from the 90s to the present day this poor drafting has been a common theme.

It's become more pronounced this past decade because the salary cap has eliminated their ability to outspend their mistakes and poor drafting.

But at what point does management say: "Enough, this is where our focus has to be."?

 

[Drew75]

What now reminds me of is the one time the Leafs actually DID rebuild properly in the 80's - only to completely blow it all to hell because of a bad start in the first 10 games of the 90/91 season

Remember when we had Courtnall, Clark, Leeman, Iafrate, Damphouse, Marois, et al ... all young and drafted by the leafs .... and then one bad start and bam!

Imagine what that team could have been with some goaltending and a little patience!

 

[BayStreetBully]

I enjoyed reading the posts by the older Leafs fans here. I became a fan just before Gilmour arrived, so I got to experience 1992-1994 years and the 1998-2004 years. In fact, since I missed the Ballard years, I actually grew up as a Leaf fan with more good memories than bad. Growing up watching some of those playoff teams were some of the best memories of my childhood and teenage years. It's just since the 2005 lockout that everything has gone down the drain.

I feel especially sorry for any Leaf fan born after 2000. They say that a sports team has the best chance of creating lifelong fans if the team is good when a kid is between 8-12 years old. How many kids in Toronto have passed those ages without a single memorable Leaf moment? Pretty much every kid born in 1997 or after. They'll be turning 18 this year.

 

[hfman]

I enjoyed reading the posts by the older Leafs fans here. I became a fan just before Gilmour arrived, so I got to experience 1992-1994 years and the 1998-2004 years. In fact, since I missed the Ballard years, I actually grew up as a Leaf fan with more good memories than bad. Growing up watching some of those playoff teams were some of the best memories of my childhood and teenage years. It's just since the 2005 lockout that everything has gone down the drain.

I feel especially sorry for any Leaf fan born after 2000. They say that a sports team has the best chance of creating lifelong fans if the team is good when a kid is between 8-12 years old. How many kids in Toronto have passed those ages without a single memorable Leaf moment? Pretty much every kid born in 1997 or after. They'll be turning 18 this year.

That's why I say this is doing more damage than they think. My kids know I watch hockey, but they know nothing about who our home team is because I don't talk about it, and I haven't been watching it - so naturally they know very little about our team. So in other words they're not being "hooked" as new Leaf fans at their young age... so when they get a bit older, they'll know nothing about the Leafs except that they're a horrible team and that other teams are where the actions is at. I know at this point already that my kids will not be Leaf fans, a) because they don't see their dad cheering for the Leafs and they notice he isn't watching much anymore, and b) they will have access to nightly games from many other teams at their fingertips on television... the Leafs are losing a generation of fans at this very moment and it will become noticeable not now but a little later on.. the fallout is to come

 

[BayStreetBully]

That's why I say this is doing more damage than they think. My kids know I watch hockey, but they know nothing about who our home team is because I don't talk about it, and I haven't been watching it - so naturally they know very little about our team. So in other words they're not being "hooked" as new Leaf fans at their young age... so when they get a bit older, they'll know nothing about the Leafs except that they're a horrible team and that other teams are where the actions is at. I know at this point already that my kids will not be Leaf fans, a) because they don't see their dad cheering for the Leafs and they notice he isn't watching much anymore, and b) they will have access to nightly games from many other teams at their fingertips on television... the Leafs are losing a generation of fans at this very moment and it will become noticeable not now but a little later on.. the fallout is to come

It's a shame, but certain cohorts do get all the luck. I saw the Blue Jays make the playoffs at the age of 7 (only 4 teams made the playoffs back then), and then they won the World Series when I was 8 and 9. Now, it doesn't matter how much and for how long the Jays will stink, I am a Jays fan for life. Had I been born 3 years later, I might not have had any attachment at all.

 

[BayStreetBully]

Reading this thread and the remembrances of older fans (I'm 40) truly illustrates everything that is wrong with this franchise - even when things sometimes work out.

Look at the names being mentioned: Gilmour, Belfour, Joseph, Sundin, Roberts, etc. etc.

What do they all have in common?

They were all very good/sometimes great Leafs that were acquired from or signed away from other organizations.

Even today's terrible team: Kessel, Phaneuf, JVR, Bernier, Franson...

The Leafs now and historically (not always - Damphousse, Potvin, Leeman) are terrible at drafting and developing talent.

It borders on being astonishing how poor they are at this vital aspect of team building. It's almost like it's ingrained in the franchise's DNA to discard the draft as a key component. And it's not just the present management group. It dates back decades. The last run of solid drafting the team had was in the 70s: Sittler, McDonald, Turnbull, etc, etc.

The 80s under Ballard are a wash out and hard to compare to another time period - seeing as the organization was so dysfunctional. But from the 90s to the present day this poor drafting has been a common theme.

It's become more pronounced this past decade because the salary cap has eliminated their ability to outspend their mistakes and poor drafting.

But at what point does management say: "Enough, this is where our focus has to be."?

I just looked up NHL teams' drafting history for fun. Only 3 of the 21 NHL teams pre-1991 expansion have not drafted or originally signed a player after 1980 that would eventually go on to enter the Hall of Fame: Boston, Buffalo and Toronto. In Boston's case, they will have Joe Thornton eventually make the Hall (and they drafted Bourque in 1979). Buffalo at least has Hall candidates in Mogilny, Housley and Andreychuk. Toronto has no one post-1980 that is even close to making the Hall. Damphousse is the only name that is not laughable, but I haven't included him just as I haven't included Pierre Turgeon for Buffalo.

Sittler, Salming and Macdonald from the 1970-1973 era is the last time the Leafs drafted and signed hall of famers. This, I suppose, goes hand in hand with the Leafs' overall futility dating back to the 80's. I'd hate to think about the Leafs' few bright spots in modern history if we couldn't spend our way to the top in buying Cujo, Mogilny, Roberts and Belfour.

 

[crump]

This market eats its young. It's hard not to think we are jinxed in the drafting department. How could so many GM's be so wrong. Well it doesn't help when we trade away so many first round picks. But the ones we do draft either bust or get injured or traded. We haven't had many top 10 picks, so I am hopeful for Nylander, Rielly and Kadri.

Is this officially the worst Leaf team ever? The 84/85 team will be hard to beat.
Toronto Maple Leafs 20 wins 52 losses 8 ties 253 goals for 358 goals against 48 points
20 games under .500

Oddly enough, it was bad enough to draft Wendel Clark as One of our only successful draft picks since the Sittler era.

Maybe there is hope for McDavid in this seasons draft.