Nuts to another team coming to Toronto (or Markham, whatever). I swear allegiance to the Blue & White Maple Leafs Flag, and vow that my bones will be long dry by the time they put me in a jersey that says "The Hogtown Beavers" or whatever stupid name they'd inevitably come up with.
I'm at least glad to see that there are a few others out there that share my view. Michael Langlois reassures me:
I don't really have a good argument for my views other than this: I'm a Leaf guy and Toronto hockey, for me, means Maple Leaf hockey. All the great names who have played in Toronto for the past 80 years or so have been Maple Leafs, from King Clancy and Babe Pratt to Charlie Conacher, not to mention Syl Apps, Turk Broda, Teeder Kennedy and all the greats of my own youth-Johnny Bower, Frank Mahovlich (at right), Horton, Keon, Duff, Ellis and so many more in recent years. Conn Smythe built the Toronto Maple Leafs. They represented more than just Toronto, for sure, but those players, and this proud franchise, have always been a huge part of the fabric of this great city.
You tell 'em Mike. Now for the rest of you, jump for more links or you'll be considered a GTA Team Sympathizer.
Some thoughts on a second GTA team
An interesting read from Cam Charron at The Leafs Nation.
Builders of Markham arena look familiar
Why, they're the same friendly folks who built the ACC. From David Shoalts.
The Leafs should trade Joffrey Lupul, now
Cma Charron can get pretty emphatic.
Kadri Looks at Carlyle as a Second Chance
Well, I think it's nice he's optimistic like that. A good read from Kyle Cicerella.
Capitals’ Joel Ward discusses the difficulties of onanism after sports hernia surgery | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! Sports
After you use a dictionary to figure out what 'onanism' means, you're realize this is a stranger story than you initially expected. From Harrison Mooney.
Short on defense, Flyers sign Marc-Andre Bourdon
From the AP via the Globe.
The 1992-93 Pinnacle Sidelines Subset (Part 2)
Dirty Dangle has some sweet hockey cards for you.
Carolina extends Jeff Skinner with a 6 year contract
This is another one of those 'just in case you haven't seen this already' links. Article from JB.
Introducing the hockey side of this year’s Blogs with Balls panel
This sounds like a really interesting thing to attend. Link from JB.