The Ottawa Sun: Your source for coverage of the Leafs and also those other guys

I've made the occasional mention of the defining characteristic of a Senators fan: a crippling insecurity about the Maple Leafs. This leads to folks in Ottawa spending a lot of time complaining that the Leafs are on TV too much, accusing every broadcaster of secretly being a Toronto homer, and pleading with Leaf fans to not make too much noise at Senator games.

But there are days when you have to feel for these guys. While it may seem pathetic to spend your every waking hour looking under your bed for Leaf fans, sometimes it's understandable. After all, it's not paranoia if it's true.

For example, today's Ottawa Sun has a 20-page sports section. Here's how their hockey coverage breaks down:

Ottawa Senators:

• One almost full-page story about last night's Islanders game
  
• An additional full page of Sens/Isles coverage with Don Brennan
  
• A one-page fluff piece about Shean Donovan, the sort of thing you expect to see in a high school newsletter. We learn that he likes Kraft Dinner and Nickelback

Toronto Maple Leafs:

• A small story about last night's Leafs/Flyers game
  
• A half-page column on Brian Burke (Mike Zeisberger's piece from the Toronto Sun)
  
• Two more full pages about Brian Burke (from Bill Lankhof)
  
• Bruce Garrioch's "Rinkwrap" rumor column, featuring four separate items on the Leafs (nothing about Ottawa)
  
• A short story about Jason Blake's upcoming return to the lineup
  
• Steve Simmons' weekly column, most of which is about the Leafs

Just to be clear, this is the Ottawa Sun.

I can only imagine how maddening it must be as a Sens fan to open your own local paper and see more ink spilled about your hated rival than about your own team. Sure, Brian Burke is a big story, but if the Sens hired a new GM tomorrow do you think the Toronto Sun would give it more than two column inches?

Hell, there's even a top ten list of famous "own goals", written by the Winnipeg Sun's Todd Wyman, that includes Bryan McCabe but somehow leaves out Chris Phillips' infamous wraparound on Ray Emery. The Sens can't even get a mention when they score a Stanley Cup winner.

So the next time you mention the Leafs to a Sens fan and they start into a red-faced, spittle-launching rant about Bob Cole and the Toronto Sports Network and the secret message you hear if you play the HNIC theme backwards and how unfair it all is... give them a break.

They may be on to something.

The most obscure jersey in Leafs fan history?

My last post mentioned Leaf jerseys and lead to some comments from fans with odd jersey choices. One guy had Jason Blake, another was thinking of getting a Jeff Finger jersey, and another had an old Sylvain Lefebvre.

Well, I'm pretty sure I can beat that. I mentioned this over at Die Hard Blue and White, but now it's time to tell the Craig Berube story.

In 1991, I decided to ask for a new Leafs jersey for Christmas. That year's team wasn't very good, so there weren't many players to choose from. There was Wendel Clark, of course, but everybody had Wendel jerseys. As a moody teenager, I wasn't going to just go along with the crowd on such an important fashion choice, so Wendel was out.

There was new goalie Grant Fuhr, and some holdovers like Gary Leeman, and Peter Zezl was kind of cool. But I decided that if I was going to be different, I'd go really different. I'd get somebody that nobody else had. I'd get Craig Berube.

Who?

Journeyman enforcer Craig Berube was acquired by the Leafs in the Damphousse/Fuhr trade during the 1991 off-season. Like most Leaf tough guys (but not all), he was a popular player with the Gardens faithful. He had some memorable scraps, including this one against Basil McRae, and this one against a future Leaf. Also, he had a bad-ass mullet.

So that's what I asked for (the jersey, not the mullet). And even though it was pretty tough to get a custom jersey back then, my parents came through. On Christmas morning, 1991, I was the proud owner of a brand new #16 Craig Berube jersey, quite possibly the only one ever created.

Some of you who know your Leafs history can see where this is going.

I spent most of the week between Christmas and New Year's doing family things, so I didn't get a chance to wear the jersey right away. But the day after New Year's, I went downtown for the day with a few friends. A perfect time to break out my new fashion statement. I even wore a thick sweater under the jersey so that I wouldn't have to cover it up with a coat.

As we walked around Toronto during the day, the jersey didn't get a lot of attention. But later in the day, I noticed people starting to look my way. And as we headed for the subway ride home in the evening, I was pretty sure that people were actually pointing and talking about me when I walked by.

I was officially the coolest kid in the world, wearing my one-of-a-kind Craig Berube jersey.

On January 2, 1992.

Yep.

When I got home that night, my dad was waiting for me when I walked in the door. "Nice jersey," he said. "Heard the news?"

It turns out that while I was strutting around downtown Toronto in my jersey, the Leafs had pulled off one of the most famous trades in hockey history, a ten player deal with the Flames. The Leafs had acquired Doug Gilmour, among others, and sent the Flames a package built around Gary Leeman that also included, of course, Craig Berube.

Eight days. That's how long it took my Christmas present to get traded. I wore it once. And I was the only person in Toronto who has mad about the Gilmour deal.

(Epilogue: I decided to keep wearing the jersey anyways, and I credit myself with single-handedly starting the retro jersey fad that would take hold a decade later.)

So what do you think? Do I win the prize for most obscure Leaf jersey of all-time? Or can somebody out there top me? What's the most obscure jersey you've ever owned, or seen? Post away in the comment section.

Ottawa Senators hockey -- feel the excitement

True story from last night's game.

With about two minutes left in regulation and the Leafs generating some good pressure, a group of Scotiabank Place ushers descended on section 103 to order Leaf fans to be quiet. Apparently you can stand during a Senators game, and you can cheer during a Senators game, but standing and cheering is just going overboard.

The ushers furiously waved for Leaf fans to sit down and be quiet, even writing up some sort of citation for one guy (although I don't think he was kicked out). They seemed to be worried that the fans could block somebody's view. And while I'm sure the 5'4, 110 lb girl in the Wendel Clark jersey was just impossible to see around, I should probably point out that nobody seemed to mind during the rare occasion when a Sens fan made some noise.

Only in Ottawa...

A few other notes from last night's game:

• Hey, does anybody know if the Senators have a new black jersey? Can these be purchased by fans? I'm not sure, because there was about 30 seconds during last night's game when the PA announcer wasn't begging Sens fans to buy them.
  
  
• By the way, is there some sort of league bylaw that insists that every team must break out their third jerseys against the Leafs? I don't even know what teams' real jerseys look like anymore. This whole argument about how the Leafs don't matter anymore and are overexposed would hold a little more weight if every team in the league didn't treat games against the Leafs as their biggest marketing opportunity of the year.
  
  
• Speaking of jerseys, here's a fun game to play when Toronto comes to town: scan through the hundreds of fans wearing Leaf jerseys, and try to find one with a name and number of a guy who's still on the team. For extra degree of difficulty, don't count Curtis Joseph.
  
  Last night I saw dozens of Clark, Gilmour and Sundin jerseys. I saw a McCabe, a couple of Tuckers, a few Domis and even a Lindros. But the only current Leaf I could find was a Matt Stajan jersey. That was it.
  
  Then again, given that Burke is coming in to dynamite the whole organization, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for everyone to hold off until March before shelling out for a new jersey.
  

Five for fighting: The five worst Leaf goons

Over the years, the Leafs have had their share of entertaining tough guys. Tiger Williams and Tie Domi are two of the all-time greats, and guys like Ken Baumgartner, John Kordic, Craig Berube and Wade Belak all had their moments.

But you can't win them all. And if you're one of the guys below, you couldn't win any of them some nights.

In honor of Andre Deveaux's debut, and the inevitable flood of goonery that's about to start as a result of Brian Burke's arrival, let's take a look back at the five least effective Leaf enforcers.

#5 - Greg Smyth

Here's what I remember about Greg Smyth: I remember the trade that brought him to Toronto in exchange for cash(!) being announced during a mid-week Leaf game on Global TV. I remember him having hockey hair and a pornstache. And I remember he had two stints with the Leafs, once in 1993 and again in 1996.

That's it. I have no recollection of him ever doing anything with the Leafs. At all.

Neither does youtube, apparently, so here's a clip of Smyth fighting Bob Probert:

#4 - Nathan Perrot

Perrot was a minor league tough guy who had enjoyed a brief stint in the NHL with Nashville before the Leafs acquired him and assigned him to the AHL. He played a half season in Tornto in 2003-4, not doing much, and made the team in 2005-6. However, Perrot's claim to fame in Toronto is his (alleged) refusal to fight Brian McGrattan. That lead to the veteran Domi feeling obligated to step up, which didn't go well for him.

Perrot never played another game for the Leafs, who shipped him to the Stars for a late-round pick a week later. Oddly enough, he was reacquired by the organization in 2007 and played a handful of games with the Marlies, but never made it back to the NHL. He's currently in Russia.

Here's Perrot doing what Leaf enforcers do best: feeding Chris Neil.

#3 - Kevin McLelland

Remember when Kevin McLelland was one of Wayne Gretzky's bodyguards in Edmonton? He was a pretty good enforcer back then. A few years later, when he wound up with the Leafs in 1991... not so much.

Here he is taking on Mike Peluso. I'm using this clip because of the bonus clip at the very start.

#2 - Ryan Hollweg

He's terrible.

When Ryan Hollweg isn't trying to cripple guys with cowardly hits from behind, he's busy viciously attacking opponents' fists with his face. Here he is doing what de does best (bleeding) against Michael Rupp of the Devils.

#1 - Kevin Maguire

Maguire made his debut with the Leafs in 1987, then went on to establish a name for himself in Buffalo. He was perhaps best known for trying to fight Steve Yzerman, which isn't a good idea when Bob Probert is on the ice. (Watch the whole clip, and compare Probert to Stu Grimson's reaction to the Clark/Marchment fight. This is the difference between a guy who wants to fight, and a guy wants to look like he wants to fight.)

Maguire wound up back in Toronto in the early 90s, where he briefly formed a tag team with McLelland that gave opposing tough guys the chance to brutally beat up two Leafs on the same night.

But he earns top spot on the list based on this:

Yes, that's Maguire fighting Wendel Clark in practice.

I mean... what would have to... how could you ever think that...

Are you fucking insane?

It's never a good idea to fight Wendel Clark, but at least guys who played for other teams had some sort of obligation to try. There was something vaguely admirable about seeing another team's enforcer challenge Clark, willing to take one for the team even though he knew he was about to die.

But when Clark is your teammate, and you still try to fight him... you, sir, are the dumbest man in the history of time. That kind of stupidity is more than enough to earn top spot on this list.

DGB readers speak; Leafs listen

Mere hours after Down Goes Brown readers rose up and demanded the callup of Andre Deveaux in the comment section of this post, the Leafs have bent to the power of public will and announced that they'll do exactly that.

I'm not going to say that MLSE reads this blog and reacts immediately to our every whim. But I'm also not denying that.

Here's the scouting report on Deveaux, courtesy Steve at HockeyAnalysis.com.

I'm not completely sold on Deveaux as the answer to our glaring need for an enforcer. He can fight, and he's big, but I don't see him being a guy who'll drop them 20 or 25 times a year in the NHL. But every little bit helps, and hey, he can't be worse than Ryan Hollweg.