I was a Leaf fan for over fifty years, since 1968, the year I came to Canada and the year after the Leafs won the Cup for the last time. But I was never a fanatic Leaf fan. I liked watching good hockey whether it was the Canadiens, the Bruins, the Islanders, the fabulous Oilers of the Gretzky era (my favourite team to watch), or, even, the eye-opening Red Army teams of the '70s. Sure, I wanted the Leafs to win and I watched them every HNIC, but it wasn't a life and death sort of thing. Eventually the hullabaloo around the team--the fanaticism, the media frenzy. the sheer amount of time in Toronto focusing on all things Leafs--just wore me out. It became like rooting for General Motors or IBM, just not fun any more.
Since becoming a Kraken fan, I've watched maybe five Leaf games in their entirety, if that. Sure, if the Kraken are eliminated and the Leafs still in it, I would root for the Leafs to win the Cup. But I am very comfortable being a Kraken fan now. If the Kraken played the Leafs in the Stanley Cup final, there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind whom I would root for--Seattle, of course, without a backward glance. I don't really feel a strong allegiance to any other hockey team besides the Kraken. And being a night owl of long standing, it turns out that rooting for a west coast team with late starts by East Coast standards actually suits me to a tee. I'm happy where I am. And I am happier than where I was.