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A young Terry Doyle poses with the Stanley Cup, the Holy Grail for Toronto Maple Leaf fans. (Submitted)
I am a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I have suffered
It started for me in 1991.
I was an impressionable person of nine years and our hometown St. John's Maple Leafs m & # 39; presented not only live hockey – goals, fights, saves, etc. – but also to the queen, and the sound of singing and singing in a stadium full of people.
Stomp, stomp, clap. Stomp, trample, clap. Stomp, Stomp, clap.
And we rock they did.
I became a hockey fan this year. It was suddenly more than just negotiable cards and collectible stickers; From October 1991, a vintage video of Jonathan Crowe for Here & Now 4:20
Felix Potvin presented awards and medals to our Goulds. End of year Banquet of the Minor Hockey League. He lived in Durdle Drive in a basement apartment and I still tell how I knocked on his door and asked him to sign some hockey cards
He declined our invitation to play street hockey [19659012]. , the team is gone.
I could not blame them, really. I'll leave too, for a moment.
Chess? Oh, we are used to it
Since then, there have been too many embarrbadments, too many decisions to make to upset the head, and yet the Leafs' supporters have persisted. We are nothing if we are not loyal.
We had Gretzky's high stick, Dave Nonis, Vesa Toskala, Sundin in Vancouver. We had David Clarkson, and Jarred Smithson, and Game 7 in Boston.
We had year after year of failure.
Of course, there were a few seasons of hope. Real, honest hope. Like when the team played with Ron Francis, Brian Leetch and, sadly, Dougie Gilmour (who played two periods before the end of his career).
But this hope was crushed and burned. Sami Kapanen fighting to get up from the ice while Roenick finished the race embodied our fandom
But now? Now, Sami's son, Kasperi, is playing for the Leafs
Now we still have hope
Wait a minute, it's a real list
There is a Shanaplan.
There is the boss. Kyle Dubas
We were lucky for Auston, Mitch and Willy, and now
John Tavares
The Maple Leafs have signed a seven-year contract for a seven-year contract with John Tavares. million from the United States. (Chris Young / Canadian Press)
You will forgive the Leafs fans if you hear us go "Stomp, stomp, clap, stomp, stomp, cheer" while we wait for October to turn around.
You will forgive us for talking about our team all summer.
Or maybe you will not do it. It's good. Hate is the opposite side of the same fandom piece, and we get that. Believe me, the Bruins-Sens fans, we understood.
And We Remember
But be forewarned: if you thought the Leafs' fans were unbearable before? Whoo boy, wait until We are the Champions .
