The Leafs/Sens snoozer—and Dave Keon and retired numbers

I’m pretty sure the Leaf-Sens game is not one we’ll be talking about forty years from now, but two points is two points, even against a wounded opponent.

The Senators sure looked like they miss Karlsson, and understandably so.  He is an irreplaceable presence on any team’s blueline.  But the Leafs did what they have to do at home.  McLaren scored his first as a Leaf from where he needs to be—in front of the net.  Scrivens made all the saves against an admittedly struggling Ottawa offense.  (The Senators missed the net—a lot.)  The Bozak goal is one that I think would not have counted when I was a kid (nowadays we talk about “kicking motions”, but I don’t believe you could “re-direct” the puck as he did on the Phaneuf shot in the old days; maybe I'm remembering incorrectly...) but it was all part of an evening that was more about results than aesthetics.

Kudos to Phaneuf, who again—and you could tell he changed his mind at the last second—avoided his instinct to simply blast the puck.  Instead shot it where Bozak could re-direct it behind Anderson.  Orr played almost 13 minutes and was a bowling ball out there at times.  He took one for the team with an important shot block when it was still a one goal game.  And he was on the ice in the dying seconds to help preserve the Scrivens shutout.

Exciting?  I’m guessing the members of the ’63 Cup team on hand were sleeping through part of it.  I wanted to, and I’m younger than those guys.  But we won.

 **

It was wonderful to see those great former Leafs on display Saturday night as the organization feted the best Maple Leaf squad I’ve ever seen—the 1962-’63 team that won the Stanley Cup, but also accomplished something no Leaf side since that time has:  they finished first in the regular-season standings.

So many players were integral to that team’s success.  I remember them all so well;  Horton and Stanley and Baun and Brewer on defence; Kelly, Pulford, Billy Harris in the middle.  A superstar in Frank Mahovlich; the captain George “Chief” Armstrong; tough and talented Bobby Pulford  and critically important ‘pluggers’ like river skater Eddie Shack, smooth Ron Stewart and steady Eddie Litzenberger.  I think that was the year Kent Douglas was an 'old' (he was maybe 26) rookie defenseman, just like Mike Kostka is this season.

That was the year of the team’s second Cup in succession—the sandwich year, because the Leafs went on to win again in 1964.  Johnny Bower, “The China Wall”, was our stalwart in goal and he was on hand Saturday night along with teammates like Bob Nevin (the versatile winger who part of a recent “Leaf Matters” podcast)  Eddie Shack and fellow Bower Hall-of-Famers Bobby Pulford, George Armstrong and Dickie Duff. Lesser-known Leafs like Larry Hillman (who was huge in the '67 Cup win) and Johnny MacMillan were on hand as well.

(For those who have only started recently to follow VLM, there are columns here on a number of these guys.  Just click on their names.  Bower was magnificent, of course.  I wish Duff  had always stayed a Leaf.  MacMillan was almost involved in a rare hockey achievement. Pulford may have been the most under-rated player in that early '60s era.  Armstrong was the quiet, practical-joking team leader.)

**

Dave Keon was at the ACC, too, on Saturday night.  Now Keon is certainly not the only former Maple Leaf who deserves to be honoured by having his number retired, but he is one whose name has continued to be bandied about through the almost forty years since he left the organization.  That he left unceremoniously in the summer of 1975 and was essentially shoved out the door by then Leaf owner Harold Ballard was the beginning of a sadly sour relationship between the ex-Leaf captain and the organization that seems to exist to this day.

I’ve written on this subject here before, and do not intend to go on at length about my feelings today.  Suffice to say I have long felt it was not Keon who kept this simmering “dispute”, if I can call it that, alive.  It is the media (and MLSE, frankly) that has pursued him to comment on the reasons for his absence at Leaf-related events through the years.  And when he has responded as honestly as he could, he is portrayed as a bitter, curmudgeonly old man.

I’m not sure that characterization is fair.  Somehow the media, many of whom were likely fans of Keon many years ago, were perhaps hoping for the fairy-tale ending and it isn’t going to happen, no matter how much they ask.  So they have turned on Keon, unfairly, in my view, blaming him for the “impasse”.

For his part, Keon spoke graciously years ago when he was honoured by St. Mike’s in Toronto, the franchise he played junior hockey with before he joined the blue and white as a preciously talented rookie in the fall of 1960. (I've included a great old photo, left, of Keon scoring with less than ten seconds remaining in a late-season game against the Habs and Jacques Plante in March of 1963.  Keon is number 14.  That goal gave the Leafs a 3-3 tie at the Gardens on a Wednesday night, and clinched first overall in the regular-season standings.)  Keon no doubt felt the sting of Ballard’s classless way of handling the end of the Noranda native’s time in Toronto, and has not seemingly been much impressed with the Leaf organization since that time, for his own reasons.  One of those “reasons”, by all accounts, is the organization’s steadfast refusal to retire numbers of deserving players.  To say that Keon is deserving is an understatement.  Forget his “numbers”.  There were other players who were instrumental in the Maple Leafs winning four Cups in the 1960s.  Keon is not alone. But without Keon, the Leafs do not win those Cups.  Maybe any of them.  Full stop.  He was the energizer bunny, checking the other team’s best forwards when needed (Pulford was key in that regard as well), killing penalties and logging key minutes.  He was not physical as in handing out body checks but he led the team in take-outs every season. He played angles like few have in the history of the game.  And he almost never took a penalty, though he drew hundreds against the opposition in his career because of his speed and tenacity to give his team countless power-play opportunities.

My guess is Keon sees what the rival Montreal Canadiens have done to honour their legends—including retiring their numbers (both Richards, Beliveau, Lafeleur, etc.) and feels the Leafs have not measured up well against the Canadiens in this regard.

I’m with Keon.  I have no clue what legitimate reason there is not to retire numbers.  The Leafs have tried the short-cut of “honouring” numbers but still keeping them in circulation.  It doesn’t fly with me.

In any event, if you’re interested, here are a couple of links to some of the other Keon-related pieces I’ve penned here:

• Why I don't blame Keon for his relationship with the Leafs
• Wondering allowed why players still wear the number 14 in Toronto
• Why Keon was, for me, the best Leaf of my generation

You may have some thoughts on this subject.  Let me know.  For the Leafs, it's on to Florida...