The Toronto Maple Leafs and Me: Childhood, Adolescence, and Old Age
When my Slovak father-in-law reached his dotage – at about the age I am now – he took to repeating “V krátkom čase budem mŕtvy” (In a short time I be dead) and “Čoskoro ma k sebe zavolá pán Boh” (Soon Mr. God will call me to him).
I’m not so sure about Mr. God, but it’s quite clear that “In a short time I be dead.”
And I may never see the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup again.
As a child growing up in Georgetown, Ontario, the Leafs were my team. From the age of five or so, I would sneak a listen to games on the radio under the cover of darkness or cajole my parents into letting me watch a period or so of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights.
In those days, regular-season games were not broadcast in their entirety, and only one game was televised each Saturday evening. From 1952 to 1964, the telecast followed the lead of the radio broadcast by beginning at 9 p.m. ET; games were joined in progress shortly before (or during) the second period. (Its start time was moved up to 8:30 p.m. ET at the beginning of the 1963–64 season, allowing games to be joined in progress late in the first period.) It was only in 1968 that full regular-season games were shown, beginning at 8 p.m.
Hockey Night in Canada – Wikipedia
I was an extremely fretful child and teenager, and the fate of my beloved Leafs took on inordinate importance for me as I tried to stay afloat in a household where anxiety and strife ruled the waves.
I would work myself into a lather over the fate of the team, my bladder nearly exploding with anguished anticipation before the score was announced at 9 p.m. by Foster and Bill Hewitt.
Sports were my escape hatch and I memorized all the statistics helpfully provided by bubble gum hockey cards, a huge set of which I purchased at the local convenience store with purloined loot from my vintage coin collection.
I especially despised the Montreal Canadiens, who always ruled victorious, happy and glorious, during my childhood and adolescence.
It wasn’t until 1967, long after my family moved to London, Ontario, that the underdog Leafs prevailed, in the Stanley Cup final against the arch-rival Canadiens:
1967 Maple Leafs overcame coach, Black Hawks to reach Cup Final | NHL.com
I vividly remember the spring of 1967. As the caddy of Johnny Moffat Jr., the assistant pro at the Thames Valley Golf Club, I had become the golf equivalent of a rink rat. Not only would I haul his bag during rounds at the local course, but I would also shag balls for him, a term that has gained a rather licentious connotation, but which simply entailed his whacking hundreds of practice balls and my running around the practice field gathering them up like a compliant Labrador retriever. But best of all, he took me with him to tournaments in all corners of Ontario, an opportunity to hang out with cool young golf pro dudes with platinum blonde girlfriends or cherubic wives in tow, where we caddies got to sleep over at the digs of the budding pros and sometimes spied nubile maidens scuttling out of their boyfriends’ beds during those 1960s summers of love.
One such dude, the irrepressible young assistant pro, Peter Boyce, was a Leafs fan too. In those days Peter had the look and swagger of Peter Fonda, the star of Easy Rider. He was a hero and role model for me. ( I resembled Lumpy Rutherford from Leave it to Beaver.)
Peter Boyce – Peter Boyce Golf
For a brief and shining moment in the spring of 1967, the Leafs reigned supreme, and there was celebratory air at the Thames Valley pro shop, where hot dogs cost a quarter and dreams were available for free.
And now, as the irony of fate would have it, my new hometown team, the Ottawa Senators, are about to confront the Leafs, their most despised rival, in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs.
The current state of hockey affairs is a wonderful trigger for primal memories of an irretrievable childhood and adolescence that I’m delighted to share with you.
Your friend,
Robert
Robert McBryde – robertmcbrydeauthor.com
Game on!
But only if you’re masked, tested and vaxxed.
Ha! Ha!
Back in the day even the goalies weren’t masked!
Thanks so much for reading this little sketch.
Cheers!