After years of raking Leafs, it's time for a new tradition

Sporting News, The, Feb 22, 1999 by Larry Wigge

Curtis Joseph admits to shedding a tear or two watching the ceremonies last Saturday as 68-year-old Maple Leaf Gardens hosted its last NHL game.

Joseph could be excused for getting misty-eyed before the 6-2 loss to Blackhawks that followed, especially after seeing all the Toronto tradition pass by him that day.

"Seeing Frank Mahovlich, Johnny Bower, Red Kelly, Darryl Sittler and meeting Red Horner (who played on the first Maple Leafs team that played in the Gardens in 1931-32), to me, was a reminder of how great the tradition is of this franchise--and how good it can be," Joseph says. "Red Horner reminded all of us that his team lost its first game to Chicago--and it went on to win a Stanley Cup that first year in the Gardens. He said, `Don't despair, good things can happen to this team with a little more work.'"

Take away the faces and names and Maple Leaf Gardens is a house of memories indeed--but a dingy barn. The Hall of Fame players and coaches are the ones who brought fame to the franchise and life to the old building at Carlton and Church streets in Toronto.

Thought to be an optical illusion when they opened the season with a 5-1-1 record, the surprising Maple Leafs lead the NHL in goals (172 in 53 games) and are in contention for the lead in the Northeast Division with a 30-20-3 record after finishing 23rd of 26 teams last season.

And this team has the speed and goaltending to surprise a few teams in the playoffs.

"It all starts in goal," says coach Pat Quinn, in his first season behind the Toronto bench. "Curtis Joseph makes saves at just the right time to give us a chance to gamble a little more on offense than we might otherwise--and we would never have been able to break in three young defensemen without Cujo back there behind them.

"A goalie like Curtis can steal points for us."

Also in his first season after signing a four-year, $24 million free-agent contract last summer, Joseph is a proud man, a character athlete--and he admits getting a chance to play for one of the NHL's original six teams was important in his search for a new team. When he begins to talk about the Stanley Cup and starting a new Maple Leafs tradition, it's clear he can be a big part of that success. And its new tradition begins Saturday at the Air Canada Centre against Montreal.

The Maple Leafs won 11 of 19 Stanley Cup finals played at the Gardens. But they haven't won a Cup since 1967. In fact, they've had only three winning seasons in the past 19 years and did not make the playoffs the past two seasons.

Now they have a new coach, new No. 1 goaltender and more than 20 goals by bargain-basement free agent Steve Thomas and have improved by trading backup goalie Felix Potvin to the Islanders for starry young defenseman Bryan Berard. And another deal or two could come before the March 23 trading deadline to give the Leafs a better chance to do well in the playoffs.

"Berard doesn't stand still," says Stars coach Ken Hitchcock, who points out how important the young defenseman has been to Toronto's power play in particular. "He moves the puck, and that forces a reaction from opposing defensemen, and once that happens, openings are created."

The Maple Leafs didn't break the bank to buy Pavel Bure from Vancouver, but team president Ken Dryden says he thinks this team is better than the Capitals, who were the Eastern Conference champions last spring.

In helping the Blackhawks close out the 2,330th hockey game at the Gardens with a win, Doug Gilmour, a former captain of the Leafs, sounded as if he might like to come back and help this team. "There has been a lot of talk about me being traded to Buffalo, but if I had to leave Chicago, I think the way this team is being built is pretty exciting," he says. "There is a great new attitude on this team--and I think moving into the new building, with more seats and more luxury boxes, will help them financially."

With the Canadian dollar worth only 65 cents compared with the U.S. dollar, flee agents rarely stay north of the border.

Since the great Edmonton teams won the last of their five Stanley Cups in seven years in 1990, the only Canadian team to make it to the finals is Montreal in 1993--and that was the last Cup as well.

For Toronto to make it to the finals, Joseph and his teammates will have to shed another tear or two along the way.

RELATED ARTICLE: Young exposure

Trying to find the dollars to compete with bigger U.S. cities is difficult, forcing more of the Canadian teams to build with young, inexpensive players. In some cases, the process has worked.

Here's the Canadian report card:

Ottawa--The Senators may be the best team in the Eastern Conference--and they've done it with some terrific drafting and timely trades. Ottawa, which has six players in double figures in goals, is tenacious on defense in the neutral zone, with a group of big, strong, fast forwards. Grade: A-

Toronto--Well-distributed scoring up front, solid goaltending. The young defense will be the key down the stretch. Grade: B

Edmonton--No team is faster and at the same time as aggressive as the Oilers. Replacing Curtis Joseph in goal with Bob Essensa and Mikhail Shtalenkov, however, won't do. Grade: C