If the Leafs want success this coming season…

When I was guesting on the Preds on the Glass podcast earlier this week, host Buddy Oakes and I were discussing how the Nashville Predators ...

Few care about A-Rod’s 600th; but Howe surpassing Richard was huge in the early ‘60s

Statistics mean a whole lot in baseball, and to a certain extent, they can mean a great deal in hockey as well. And when it comes to rec...

The calm before the storm? New to Vintage Leaf Memories?

Things appear to be quiet in Leafland these days but sometimes that’s an indication that something is actually about to happen. I’ve posted...

Vintage Leaf on Preds on the Glass podcast

One of the hockey blogs I’ve really enjoyed visiting regularly over the past year or so is the site that follows the Nashville Predators and...

Leaf fans: comfort in numbers

Just the other day I was thinking about the Leafs and their fans. We all come from different backgrounds, some old, some young. Whether 10 ...

As we wait for the Kaberle move, Vintage Leaf remembers the big Plante-Worsley trade of the summer of ’63

It’s summertime and while hockey is a twelve month of the year business, there is not much for most fans to get excited about these days....

How many current Maple Leafs would make a six-team NHL?

I lived through a lot of the era, so I’m among those who loved old “Original Six” hockey. Yet the truth is, other than the “Flying Frenchme...

102 million dollars, but it’s about the Stanley Cup

It never ceases to make me shake my head. An athlete signs for ridiculously large, stunningly absurd, amounts of money (see any NBA contrac...

After Kovalchuk and Gagne, where—if anywhere—do the dominoes fall for the Leafs?

While it’s always fun to see where a big name free-agent signs, Leaf fans are now more interested in whether the long-awaited Kovalchuk “d...

It was more than “truculence” in the 1970s; before the “Broad Street Bullies” came the “Big Bad Bruins”

In hockey, being able to compete physically is obviously important. This is no doubt why Brian Burke talks a lot about “truculence”. You don...

Simon Gagne in Toronto? Remembering guys the Leafs acquired too late in their careers

Toronto media speculation (hey, it’s summer and there’s not much actual hockey news this week) has the Leafs denying any current interest in...

The voices of our sporting life: Remembering Paul Morris, the “voice” of the Leafs

The passing of long-time New York Yankee “announcer” Bob Sheppard, a legendary voice in the Bronx for almost 60 years, triggered emotional...

Summertime dream: why the Leafs still matter

One of my favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs was released in the mid 1970’s, entitled simply, “Summertime Dream”. It’s one of those perfect, u...

LeBron TV fest not for me; give me Bill Russell, Jean Beliveau, Ray Bourque and the good old days

For many, the LeBron James TV drama this week was must-see TV. Where would LeBron sign, everyone seemed to wonder? I didn’t watch, and wasn...

Lebda exactly what Leafs needs; Feaster enhances Flames’ credibility

There was significant talk in Leaf country yesterday about the free-agent signing of a rather low-profile defenseman, Brett Lebda of the R...

A departure for Vintage Leaf—re-discovering the folk music of my 1960s youth

This is a site devoted to hockey past and present, the current Leafs and particularly my memories of some wonderful and not so wonderful mom...

Waiting for the next Leaf move; Stunned that Kovalchuk stays with the Devils- stunned they want him

While the recent draft day for the Leafs was anti-climactic (if you were hoping for a trade up to the first round) we can’t say the roster...

You want truculence? The biggest hit of the ‘60s was Maple Leaf Pat Quinn’s on Bobby Orr in the ’69 playoffs

The 1968-’69 season was kind of middlish for the Leafs. It was better than the year before, when they missed the playoffs completely—afte...

How can Hawks repeat? Kulemin stays; Armstrong now a well paid mucker for Toronto; free-agent musings

To win a Cup, so many factors come into play. Think of all the clichés we use when talking about building a team- clichés that are rooted ...

Leafs “win” Versteeg trade today; longer-term, who knows? Can this be like Litzenberger in ’61?

Trades have always been one of the more “fun” aspects of professional sport- not always for the players, of course, but certainly for fans...