The first thing that comes to mind when I think about these Maple Leafs—present and past…

There’s really no serious activity when it comes to the Maple Leafs these days.  Rookie tournaments are fun and all that, but until training camp is in full gear, we are all mostly speculating about what Randy Carlyle will or won’t do with his roster and line combinations once the games start for real. There's no goalie controversy, and not a lot of spots available on the roster.

So today, I’d like to step back from that and respond to a familiar question people often get asked in media interviews: what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about…name the player.

I’ll ask myself the question, and reflect on a few Leafs present—and past:

Current roster

Jake Gardiner—skill, for sure, but I’d like fewer “wide circles” this season and for him to be more coachable. Will he ever reach that high ceiling that I talked about a year ago?

Phil Kessel—Phil has certainly upped his game in his years with the blue and white.  A dynamic threat most nights who makes the players around him better. I’m not sure it’s still fair for me to simply say, “he is what he is…”. I think he's gone beyond that, at least to a degree. So why are there always questions about a guy with all that speed and skill, who produces lots of points every year?

Tyler Bozak—a good NHL player, but forever a lightning rod in Toronto if he plays on the first line.

Dion Phaneuf—I’m not sure Phaneuf can ever satisfy his critics, but he’s a high-end NHL defenseman. Where would the Leafs have been without him most nights these past few years?

James Reimer—a guy I have liked since he joined the Leafs.  A competitor.  He has been a humble guy and popular with fans, but even I agree he needs to play well this coming season—to help the Leafs, and to give himself a shot somewhere else down the road.

Nazem Kadri—cagey player who should take that next step this season. That said, expectations will be higher than ever, I suspect, from the organization.

Joffrey Lupul—unfairly, he feels like an afterthought.  Is it his injuries that concern fans?  That said, might he surprise us this year and be the leader some of us thought he could be here?

Morgan Rielly—does anyone in the organization have a higher ceiling?

Jonathan Bernier—could not have done much more last season.  Does a healthy Bernier take Toronto to the playoffs next spring?

William Nylander—not a Leaf just yet, but it’s nice to have a young player in the organization who is widely considered a sublimely skilled young player. We need forwards who will be difference-makers.

Former Leafs

Mats Sundin—he was never quite good enough for many fans while he was here.  We’d take him in a heartbeat now, eh?

Mike Walton—if you’re a young Leaf fan, look him up.  This late ‘60s Leaf was one of the fastest Leafs on skates I’ve ever seen, maybe the fastest.

Ron Ellis—about as consistent a Leaf as has played for this organization since I started following the club in the late 1950s. He played his entire career here, too.

Rick Vaive—while his three 50-goal seasons in blue and white stand out in the early-mid ‘80s, what I remember most is that, late in his career, Vaive was still fighting for ice in front of the opposition net, taking punishment every night.

Don Simmons—I’ve written about Simmons at length here before.  He was in net the night the Leafs won their first Cup in my lifetime, in the spring of ’62.

Eddie Chadwick—one of the first Leafs I remember as a youngster.  Along with Foster Hewitt and Frank Mahovlich, he symbolized Maple Leaf hockey to me.

Doug Gilmour—for two seasons, he was about as valuable a Maple Leaf as I’ve ever seen. Could a player work any harder?

Pat Quinn—should be in the Hall of Fame as a builder.  As a coach, he won an Olympic Gold medal, a World Cup, a World Juniors and the U18 World Championships.  He twice took teams to the NHL finals.  But because he “never won a Cup”, he’s not in the Hall of Fame.  Huh?

Bob Pulford—maybe the best “third line” center in the history of the game.

Bobby Baun—a heart and soul Leaf. An old-time defenseman who used the hip check. Short but tough as nails.

Dick Duff—(right) one of my favourite all-time Leafs.  What speed and skill.  Should never have been traded. Would have been an all-time Leaf great.

Brian Spencer—another of my favourite all-time Maple Leafs.  They gave up on him too soon.  Worked so hard, and had an excellent career later in Buffalo as an energy player.

Scott Garland—he had a short career with the Leaf in the mid ‘70s, but played his heart out in Toronto.  Spent most of his time in front of the opposition net. He finished his checks.

Jim Dorey—Another guy who should never have been traded, in my view.  Not only rugged but had skills as a defenseman, too.

Few remember Bernie Parent as a Maple Leaf, but I do. Losing him to the WHA stung.

Lanny McDonald—went to Colorado in perhaps the worst trade the Leafs (Punch Imlach) ever made. Drafted in the first round in 1973, he should have been a lifetime Leaf, though I was glad he won that Cup with his home province Flames in 1989.

Wendel Clark—fans who started following the Leafs when Wendel was a rookie can probably cite a number of different “most memorable” Wendel moments. Mine would be Game 6 of the playoff series against LA in ’93.

Gary Roberts—the very definition of intense.  We never had to worry about this guy fraternizing with the enemy. Would we like him on our club now?  A resounding yes.

Johnny Bower—maybe the most popular Leaf of all time, with good reason.  He is still (now in his late 80s), by all accounts, the same down-to-earth engaging guy who played goal so brilliantly for the Leafs when they were champions. He proved you could he humble and really good at the same time.

Dave Keon—For the first half dozen years of his career, was one of the best all-around players in the NHL.  Few if any players did more things as well as he did. So consistent. Those fans who saw him play in his prime witnessed an all-time great.

Borje Salming—A hockey pioneer. And I’ve never forgotten the goal he scored at the Gardens in the playoffs in the spring of 1976 against the hated Flyers, flying in alone against Bernie Parent.  Classic Leaf moment.

Darryl Sittler—He was so much more than his famous 10-point game against the Bruins. A proud Leaf who led a good but not quite good enough Toronto squad in a difficult era when the Flyers and Habs were dominant.

Curtis Joseph—wish he had never left in free agency.

Al Iafrate—remains, in my mind, one of the most naturally gifted Leaf players I can recall.  There was a time in the late ‘80s, when he was between serious injuries, that he looked to be a budding superstar.

Sylvain Lefebvre and Bob Rouse—I put them together because they were such an important part of the early ‘90s Pat Burns ‘no name’ defense corps. Rouse was tough and could skate; Lefebvre was a cerebral defenseman.

Todd Gill—another heart and soul Leaf, who wore the jersey with pride. Tough, too.

There are plenty of other Leafs I could comment on, past and present.  But you no doubt have reflections of your own…

**

A couple of recent posts you might have missed:

• The David Clarkson rebound factor
• 10 'pre' pre-season Maple Leaf observations