I have been a Maple Leafs fan for years. I enjoy reminiscing about the good old days. I remember watching a game on Youtube, and my son came in and noticing it was not in colour, wanted to know if there was something wrong with the TV. I know, right? LOL. Those were the good old days.
I especially remember a trade that rocked the hockey world in the 1968 season. The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Doug Barrie, Paul Henderson, Floyd Smith, and Norm Ulman from the Red Wings. The big news was who was going the other way. The Toronto Maples Leafs shipped FRANK MAHOVLICH, with the rights to Carl Brewer (contracts problems with Leafs), Pete Stempkowski, and Gary Unger to the Detroit Red Wings. Do you notice that I put Frank Mahovlich's name in capital letters? Heck, I even bolded it for more emphasis. I put his name in bold letters.
Frank, who was known his nickname of the big M (not that his name was hard to pronounce) because he also had a younger brother. Frank was Toronto's favourite son and the Leafs took him away from us. Well, in a six-year-old brain anyway. We just traded the greatest player in the history of the Maple Leafs. The big M was, by far, the Maple Leafs' best player; if there were an untouchable player, it would be him. The Leafs fans were outraged. Everyone was expecting a shake-up, but not the man you don't mess with the man.
Neither the Maple Leafs nor the Red Wings turned things around. Both teams missed the playoffs. To this day, I say the Maple Leafs have the Big M Curse. They have not won the Stanley Cup since. That is my story, and I am sticking to it.
Randy
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