Sunday, February 11, 2018
Tales from the Toronto Maple Leafs Locker Room
The title of
this column is actually the title of a book, written by David
Shoalts. The revised and updated edition has recently been released,
and will be on the shelves of the Wellington Public Library as soon
as I can get it there. I shared it with a couple of my friends, Leaf
fans, mind you, and both they gave it a “Thumbs Up”.
Shoalts is a
hockey writer, a columnist with the Toronto Globe and Mail. On notes
from the book cover, we read the following: “He has covered hockey
there since 1989. He has managed to survive the final days of Harold
Ballard, one National Hockey League strike, and two lockouts.” When
it comes to the Maple Leafs, he has seen a thing or two, he has heard
a thing or two, and he has written a paragraph or two.
The new
edition takes the reader up to the 2017 season. The rift between Dave
Keon and the Leafs has been patched, and, under Shanahan's guidance,
the Leafs are entering a new phase. Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark are
informed that their numbers are being retired. Clark responded to the
news by saying, “This is the greatest honour you can get as a
hockey player.
But if you
did not get your hands on the original book, there are plenty of
laughs awaiting you. The words of JimMcKenny are always the best. I
have seen him speak, and he is really hilarious in person. Like all
great comedians, he laughs at himself more than at anyone else. Nut
he is not afraid to poke some fun at others, especially if they
happened to be riding along with him. Incidentally, he was nicknamed
“Howie” because of his resemblance to Howie Young.
McKenny
could have played for the Leafs in 1966; because he was a teenager,
and a defenceman who loved to rush the puck up the ice. Leafs GM and
coach at the time had no time for him. So Howie spent the next few
years in the Leafs chain with stops in Tulsa, Rochester, and
Vancouver. After the 1969 playoffs, he joined the Leafs for 8
seasons, and then was jettisoned by Roger Neilson, who wanted to play
a more defensive style.
McKenny's
tales about Bower, Armstrong, Ballard, Ian Turnbull, Sawchuk, Derek
Sanderson, Sittler, Gary Sabourin, and a host of others are woth the
price of admission all by themselves. Shoalts captures the spirit of
McKenny's wit and wisdom perfectly.
Shoalts
covers the days with Joe Bowen, when he arrived in 1982. That
included tales involving Bill Watters, Harold Ballard, Cliff
Fletcher, John Brophy, Pat Burns and the Stellick brothers. Bob
McGill is also a fine story teller, and has some priceless notes
about Al Iafrate.
I spoke with
Shoalts about a month ago about the book. “It was originally
written in 2007, a collection of anecdotes. I made a deal with the
original publishers that I could use authentic language. I tried to
find a player to empty his head of really good stories.”
This is a
definite read for all members of the Leaf nation. Shoalts agreed with
me that it is becoming really difficult to get good anecdotes from
players nowadays. Teams work hard to control the access to the
players. “As soon as you pull out the notebook, or the recorder,
they just clam up”. You will enjoy the tales in this book, without
a doubt!
James Hurst
February 4,
2018.
# posted by James Hurst @ 7:08 AM 
