There’s Always Next Year

Tales from the Timebox: April 26th, 2017

It was fun while it lasted. The Leaf’s were in the playoffs! They sure gave O.V. a scare. The future is looking good, but we’ve been there so many times before that you don’t get to excited. Nice to see the young talented kids on this team, who don’t even shave yet, do their thing on the ice and an experienced coach behind the bench with a proven winning record who is letting them free wheel.

Being a true Leaf fan you bleed blue and need to be very patient. I was born in Hamilton and was born a Leaf fan. Once it’s in your blood you can never shake it or feel the same about any other team. I do cheer for the Oilers of course, lot’s in fact, and especially every time our home town boy, Mark ‘ the Marksman’ Letestu is on the ice taking as important faceoff, or scoring a game winning goal,  but its hard to explain , it’s just not the same. Same thing today with my son and son in law who grew up with the Oilers in their childhood during the Gretzky cup winning days. It’s in their blood forever and always will be, and the same as their kids now watching their hero McDavid.

In the Leaf’s hay day, back in the early 60’s. Saturday night was always hockey night in Canada in our house on the black and white T. V.  Think we only had two or three channels to choose from anyway. Esso and Ford did the commercial advertising, but I’m sure it was usually only after the period ended, not very much during the game.  If you collected corn starch labels you could send them in and they would send you your favorite hockey player’s pictures in the mail. Every kid knew every player’s name in the old six team league.  And outside on the pond everyone wanted to be Jonny Bower, Eddie Shack, or Davey Keon. Except for maybe one kid who was a Montreal fan.

My uncle George Bassett, who was a banker from downtown Toronto and just passed away last fall, took me, my brother Don and my dad to our very first game at Maple Leaf Gardens back in 1964. They played against Chicago and I remember we had standing room only tickets, leaning on a rail high up at the very top of the arena. Ticket were impossible to get even back then. People would put them in their will after their death and I’m sure they still do.

Montreal was our rivalry and still is today, but maybe not quite as much; that changed somewhat after the expansion draft in 1967, which by the way happens to be the last time the Leaf’ s won the cup. I went to a couple of games at the Maple Leaf Gardens in the late 70’s with my wife Donna and one time we sat right next to Harold Ballard and King Clancy in their pigeon hole.  Those were very interesting days to say the least.

We moved to Alberta in the early 80 ’s and the Leaf’s came with me. My first Christmas here my mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said something with the Leaf’s on it. I’ve been getting Leaf stuff from my friends ever since. Have quite a collection for sure, but I love every bit of it, and everything that’s been given to me over the years has a special memory for me. For the last 50 year’s I never gave up on the Leaf’s, through thick and thin. Hope one day to live to see them win again!! Ha ha!!!! As we say in T.O. Wait until next year…as for now….” Let’s go Oilers!!!!”

And now for the K. A. quote of the week. “ Why should I put a bunch of Cadillacs on the ice, when I can sell out with a bunch of Volkswagens.” – Harold Ballard