Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield gave the Leafs and their fans a high-profile shot in the arm when he waved a Leafs placard aboard the international space station. (Twitter)
Growing up in Toronto in the 1970s, there were a surprising number of Montreal Canadiens supporters at our high school.
Some were children of Quebecois, others were simply front-runners (as we called them derisively). Back then, the Habs always seemed to win, the Leafs not so much. In the 1970s, Montreal won six Stanley Cups. The Leafs, nada. Even the best Toronto Maple Leafs never seemed to be as good as the best Montreal Canadiens. Borje Salming was one of the greatest Leafs defenceman in history, but always seemed to lose out in the Norris Trophy voting as the NHL’s best defenceman to Montreal’s Larry Robinson, who we sarcastically called, Larry (Better Than Borje) Robinson. A lot of guys in the neighbourhood supported the Canadiens simply because they wanted to cheer for a winner. And in the 1970s, the Leafs rarely won.
