Welcome to PPP Leafs the new home of Pension Plan Puppets. We are a fan blog dedicated the the Toronto Maple Leafs and related teams.
Welcome new readers and members
If you're completely new to PPP please read the Community Guidelines. The About Page gives a brief outline of who we are and how we came into being. If you're not completely new, you should read the Community Guidelines.
If you need help with something, check out the How To section, particularly the FAQ If you can't see the comments, go to the FAQ first If nothing there helps, drop an email to us. Look for the Contact link in the footer.
You have to be a member to comment, and membership works on an email-based, no password system. You will be sent an email with a secure login link or a URL you can copy if you want to use a different browser to where you get your email. This is a fairly uncommon system, so if it causes you trouble, ask for help.
If you're going to the trouble of making an account to make trolly comments as a fan of some other team, may I suggest you start your own blog and build out the site and customize the experience for your readers. You suddenly won't have time for that nonsense.
Any other questions, just ask, someone will either know the answer or lie convincingly.
PPP Leafs is an independent blog, not affiliated with any network or site. Our primary revenue is from subscription.
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Explain that name
Pension Plan Puppets was originally a blog that still exists on the internet. If you want to see it in its natural state: Pension Plan Puppets at Blogspot.
The tag line of that blog is: EVERY LEAFS FAN HAS AN OPINION. HERE'S MINE: WE ARE ALL PENSION PLAN PUPPETS. THE TEACHERS PULL THE STRINGS AND WE DANCE.
From a history of the site written in 2021, comes the longer story:
In 1994, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan bought a stake in the ownership of the Maple Leafs. The OTPP or “Teachers’” as they like to call themselves, are one of the biggest investment funds in Canada, and their mandate is to create the wealth that will continue to pay out pensions to retired teachers for as long as they need to. They buy shares in businesses, they don’t run them.
At that time, the Leafs were in the post Harold Ballard period after his death in 1990. Ballard left the shares in the parent company of the Leafs to various charities, and a lot of buying and selling of shares in that company followed. Two things are key, Steve Stavro was one of the executors of the estate and the company had a large debt with TD Bank. Molson had an option to buy some shares for almost nothing, but they were compelled to sell them since they own the Canadiens. Stavro bought those shares, loaned the estate some money when they couldn’t pay a debt, and then, in 1994, Teachers’ joined in and a new ownership was formed with Stavro and TD Bank. In 1996, Larry Tanenbaum also acquired an interest as the business transitioned into a multi-sport enterprise that included the Toronto Raptors.
In 2003, Stavro sold out to one of the forerunners of Bell Media, and Teachers’ ended up owning the majority of the newly named Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment.
...
Teachers’ increased their share of the business as [Brian] Burke seemed to be building a better team, and then in 2011 sold out to the new owners Bell and Rogers, and the new era began just as this blog was coming into its own.
Why don't you change the name?
We get this question a lot, and there's a lot of reasons. We basically call the site PPP now. It's our history as it is the history of the team, and it serves to remind us how far we've all come.
Also, we're too lazy.
For more information on how this blog works, check out:
