If you happen to know a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs this morning, cut them some slack. This is arguably one of the most positive sunrises they’ve ever known.
On the surface, what went down in the capital city of our aspirational 51st state last night may not prove to be all tha big a deal. It was merely a clinching of a division quarterfinal round. But as THE ATHLETIC’s Joshua Kloke reminded his readers this morning, that unto itself isn’t all that common an occurrence:
Tie Domi threw his arms out wide. In the bowels of the Canadian Tire Centre, the place he had celebrated his own wins in the Battle of Ontario a generation ago, he hugged a bare-chested Mitch Marner.
The Leafs star winger nearly spilled his can of Molson Canadian under Domi’s weight. It would have been worth it in the moment. For just the second time since 2004, Marner and the Leafs had won a playoff round.
One Leafs legend embraced another future legend in the making, connected by a now-common thread: playoff wins over a provincial rival.
Despite the anxiety that was seemingly swallowing the Toronto Maple Leafs whole coming into Game 6 after laying an egg in Game 5, the Leafs kept their playoff demons at bay for one night, and one round, with a 4-2 victory.
And for this win to come where and when it did, in a week where a new and feistier Prime Minister was enthusiastically elected by an increasingly determined and challenged nation, the fact that a team that has disappointed so many of them for so long was especially noteworthy.
GLOBAL NEWS DIGITAL gave the game context in a preview story that dropped earlier yesterday:
Hockey has been part of Canadian identity for decades, but right now, the sport may once again provide a symbol of unity and sovereignty for many Canadians in the shadow of the Trump administration.
Add to that the fact that two Canadian teams — the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs — are facing off in the playoffs for the first time in 21 years, with a do-or-die game Thursday night, and fans who spoke to Global News outside the Canadian Tire Centre said they’re seeing more pride.
“Hockey represents our nationality, it’s everywhere, it’s what we do,” said Maureen Dubé, a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, to Global News.
“I think there’s more pride because of what’s going on in the U.S. I think that we’re prouder and we’re louder and we’re more united together.”
Seventy-four per cent of respondents felt hockey holds a deep significance to Canadian national identity, according to a 2022 Environics Survey.
Another 62 per cent of Canadians reported they felt a connection to hockey when playing, watching or just being involved in the sport, according to a 2021 Angus Reid survey.
And for Torontonians and, it would appear, an awful lot of other Canadian cities’ residents, this was a crucial first step that may yet end a drought that puts even those of long-suffering American teams’ fans to shame:
With the exception of the Cleveland Guardians and Browns, the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills no major professional sports league team has had a longer period since its last title than have the Leafs. (Sorry, Vikings and Chargers lovers, you haven’t won a title yet so you don’t count). Toronto last won a Stanley Cup in 1967, the last season the league was a mere six teams. One-fifth the size it is now.
Red Sox fans? Hush. Rangers fans? Stick it. Sixers fans? Stuff it. These are the damn Leafs.
And as Kloke concluded, there’s simply a better vibe to all of this than in the recent past:
Was this team different? Did it feel different? Would this season offer different results?
Their post-game actions following their series win would suggest so. Two years ago, when the Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning for the core’s first playoff series win, you could have charged admission to the vibrant party around their dressing room after the game.
But within minutes of the game ending and a shirtless Nylander lugging his hockey bag onto a cart to be carried back to Toronto, the Leafs dressing room was empty and silent. A few bags of pretzels and empty cans of beer were scattered through the room. For the most part, there was nothing but empty bottles of expensive water to suggest a professional hockey team had occupied the space for hours earlier.
The Leafs themselves didn’t want to hang around and soak up their surroundings and their victory. They were too focused on what was coming next.
What’s next for them is a battle with the Florida Panthers, defending Cup champions and freshly crowned winners of their own rivalry Derby. A team that just happens to play their home games just a few exits down I-95 from the turnoff to where Mr. 51st State occasionally hands up his Depends.
And bear also in mind that no Canadian team at all has won a Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens did 32 years ago. The Edmonton Oliers, who knocked out Los Angeles once again last night, had a chance to break that drought in Broward County early last summer versus a Panthers team on the verge of losing a 3-0 finals lead, but Florida had just enough left in their talk to avoid that ignominy.
So yeah, there’s a lot at stake in the days ahead. But just for today let this one marinate and if you do know a Leafs fan, shout them out. I think they’d love to hear that at least some of America still cares about their passions and priorities.
Courage…