The Toronto Maple Leafs Have A Bigger Jersey Issue To Address

There’s a bevy of fan interest around the look of the Toronto Maple Leafs as I type.  The attention is currently directed towards whether or not the Leafs should make a permanent switch to their alternate logo for the 2010-11 hockey season.  Their alternate logo is currently their original logo, or alternatively known as the one they had when they actually won something.  The shift in design movement is the project of Jeff Veillette and his website LeafsLogo.com.  Veillette has been receiving mixed to wholly positive reviews in his effort to petition the changing of logos via Twitter, Facebook, and from several notable hockey blogs.

While Veillette appears to be completely genuine with his desire to force change in the house that pension plan built, a Leafs-resistant Toronto resident like myself can’t help but think that those nationalistic bastards at MLSE have a keen interest in this, and maybe even their own filthy hands.  With the days of having the ability to throw wads of cash and draft choices at the eldest available players from around the league far behind them, Larry and Richard may have become ultimately more clever at diverting the fan-base’s attention from more serious matters at hand.  Like the issue of acting like a normal team and naming somebody on the current roster team captain for the upcoming season.

Hockey teams have a captain, I know this because I was a fucking captain once on my Pee-Wee hockey team.  So I also know that when you have plans to play nothing but meaningless hockey, you can still name someone captain for nothing other than sake of having someone on the ice appear as “the leader”.  The NHL is a pro’s game so it’s accepted upon reasonable circumstances that when a captain is not present due to a trade, injury, or departure via free agency then a club can take some time to search for a new one.  Take for example in Montreal, and the laundry list of health problems and injuries that Saku Koivu faced over the past five seasons.  In his  absence there was usually a rotating “C”, which eventually defaulted to Alex Kovalev.  You can have a freebie season to rotate a “C” or issue an extra alternate captain, but waiting around for a couple of years to anoint some kid the guy to carry you to the promise land is a really fucking stupid idea.

Most die-hard Leaf fans like to point to Luke Schenn as the “future captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs”, which granted is a pretty decent bet to happen… some day.  What about now, what about this season?  Is it not fair to the fans, and the current players as well to go about business like they’re not serious enough yet to need a captain?

Take a look at those four guys in the picture at the top of this post.  You see them?  Not one of those guys won anything while captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  What they did was wear the “C” and represent the team on and off the ice, like the guy wearing the “C” on the worst of teams and the best of teams.  The Carolina Hurricanes won a Stanley Cup in 2006 with Rod Brind’Amour as their captain, does anyone suppose that ‘Canes’ management will take a full season or more to name his replacement when he’s gone?  No, because that would be ridiculous.  Don’t even think of giving me any of that “long history” or “Leafs’ culture” bullshit either.  Again, please see picture at top of post dickheads.

I’ll take some heat if you want to give it to me, that’s fine.  One of these days though, we’re all going to have to accept that Mats is gone man, he’s gone and should never come back.  As for the logo thing, I like the Ballard-era symbol best.  The Chicago Blackhawks have what is possibly the coolest jersey in all of sports, it’s not their original, but it’s the one they got right and stuck with.  The Leafs should do the same, and by the way, Chicago’s captain is Jonathan Toews.