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Wednesday, November 8, 2000
Toronto holds nation's chances
By George Johnson
Special to ESPN.com
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How long ago was it when the Toronto Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup?
The guy who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP used a straight stick.
How long ago?
The Beatles had just released the Magical Mystery Tour album.
For Maple Leafs fans across Canada, most particularly Torontonians, of course, the 33-year-old wait for a Stanley Cup championship feels like it's stretched into centuries, not mere decades.
Oh, the Blue Jays captured the hearts of the city by winning two World Series. The CFL Argonauts celebrated four Grey Cup triumphs since 1967. But as wonderful as these moments were on the local sporting landscape, they don't hold nearly the allure of claiming that big silver cup, out of reach since guys like Frank Mahovlich, Terry Sawchuk and Tim Horton were the undisputed kings of Carlton Street.
For most everyone living outside the Ontario borders, the city of Toronto is a rallying point of disdain. Fat. Sassy. Corporate. Smug. The Suits from Bay Street. Lacking the innate sophistication of Montreal, the old-world charm of Quebec City or the drop-dead beauty of Vancouver.
But sprawling. Undeniably important. Wealthy.
... and Toronto also has Canada's best shot at winning the Cup.
|  | | Goalie Curtis Joseph is the type of goalie who could backstop a long playoff run at the Cup. |
You see, no Canadian franchise has carried the Stanley Cup, the nation's most holy of grails, since 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens, through a series of fortuitous circumstances, knocked off the Gretzky-led L.A. Kings in a six-game finale. As salaries began to explode and the Canadian dollar began to shrink, a very real fear gripped that Canada might never see a team from these shores win a Stanley Cup in our lifetime.
Or, worse, maybe ever.
Well, Toronto, like it or loathe it, is the long tangible hope remaining.
For starters, they'll pay the players. To address a problem and add grit to the lineup, they went out in the offseason and signed unrestricted free agents Gary Roberts (three years, $8 million) and Shayne Corson (three years, $7.5 million).
No other Canaidan franchise made such bold financial moves.
The Vancouver Canucks spending spree is over. Owner John McCaw didn't become a billionaire by losing $25-$30 million annually on a single investment. They wouldn't match the two-year $11 million offer the Rangers threw at their captain, Mark Messier. They dumped the maddening Alexander Mogilny and his $4.6 million salary during the season.
For the first time in six years, the Canucks won't have a $3 million player, and their payroll has been slashed $4 million to $30 million. The Flames, Oilers and Senators, of course, tread water in the shallowest end of the spending pool.
Surviving in the marketplace is a more tangible goal for these franchises than soldiering on until mid-June.
The fabled Canadiens, with a shockingly-small season-ticket base of 12,000 and awaiting sale from long-time owner Molson breweries, wouldn't ante up the cash to re-sign Corson and are under a mandate to start trimming the fat immediately.
Which leaves us with the Leafs.
Money for them is no object as they attempt to exorcise this 33-year championship failure. With a budget already topping $40 million, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment won't hold back on adding any parts deemed necessary -- an adept puck-handling defenseman to replace Bryan Berard would be a good starting point -- to push Pat Quinn's charges over the top.
And there are certainly reasons for hope.
Most crucially, the Leafs have the goaltender to make a run at the title. Curtis Joseph is one of a handful in the league at the moment capable of piggybacking a team through four tortuous rounds -- although Joseph has been beset this preseason by a groin injury, which can be difficult to shake.
Every time he feels a twinge, the entire city flinches.
The Leafs have been built on speed and offense, and despite a puzzlingly poor power play are quite capable of putting up big numbers.
What they lack is a focal point, a la Scott Stevens, a fulcrum around which everyone else can revolve. Captain Mats Sundin is an undeniable talent, but he hasn't shown a particular aptitude in leading the troops out onto the playoff battlefield. And certainly no one else on the current roster has the profile for the job.
Toronto also must improve its overall team defense, find a nice blend between their game and the more traditionally successful stay-at-home style, to really make a run at the likes of Colorado, Detroit, New Jersey and Dallas.
There are, of course, countless passionate Leaf fans strung out across Canada's provinces; baby boomers who lived through the Darryl Sittler years, their fathers who remember with pride the Punch Imlach Stanley Cup '60s and grandfathers who'd swear under oath that Teeder Kennedy had everything Gretzky did, and more.
They'll all be screaming themselves hoarse this winter, trying to drive the blue-and-white forward to a place they haven't been in 33 years. And the rest of Canada? They'll have to make up their minds which way to lean.
The Leafs have changed gears. They feel they're more prepared now for the relentless grind of the postseason, more a war of attrition than four rounds of hockey. They have the resources to add that extra ingredient needed along the way.
Are they gilt-edged contenders? No. Do they have more than a passing chance? Yes. As long as Curtis Joseph holds up. As long as he receives more help.
It's been seven years for a country and 33 for a franchise.
On Cujo's shoulders (and groins) rest the Leafs' hopes. And, distasteful as it may be for some to admit, all of Canada's, as well.
George Johnson covers the NHL for the Calgary Herald. His NHL National column appears every week during the season on ESPN.com.
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