I'm a Likeable Leafs Fan...No, Seriously, I Am!

Thanks for letting me join. Yes I am a Leafs fan and darn proud of it. Trust me, I can handle the Leafs jokes - 40 years & counting, yes I'll heard them all! I am however a very confused Leafs fan because the Habs are my second fave, and I have a soft spot for the Sabres. Sherry asked that I post my intro questionaire replies so you lot can get to know me so I am doing just that.

1. Where you're from, what you do - I live in Toronto, and my day job is is finance. What I do in my spare time though is knit, hockey research, and take improv classes when I can get them into my schedule.

2. Your team and why you like them. - The Toronto Maple Leafs - yes insert 40 years and counting joke. Growing up near Toronto made me a Leafs fan by osmosis. I love the history, the connection to the city, the tradition, the passion fans have for the team. That said, my second favourite team is the Habs. I was lucky enough to watch those great 70s team win all those Cups.

3. Your least favourite team and why? - The Senators. Being of Slovak heritage, I should be able to like a team that has had that many on the roster, but I can't do it. I think Ottawa has had good teams but there seems to always be a comparison to the Leafs, not against themselves. Hope that makes sense.

4. Your favourite player of all time & now? Only one player is going to be incredibly difficult, but I will have to default to the sound of my heart strings and go with Rocket Richard. I know Howe and Gretzky have more records, Orr changed the way way D is played, but Richard, even though he did not want to be, ended up an inportant cultural and historical figure. I think that's hard to beat. My favourite current player, since he is technically still on NHL payroll, is Alexander Mogilny.

5. If you had to punch one hockey player or member of the NHL
organisation, who and why?

Gary Bettman, whilst he is standing in front of Bill Wirtz and Charles Wang. I can't stand how Bettman is dinking around with the game making useless cosmetic changes that do nothing to improve the game. Wirtz has all but destroyed a great hockey market, and Wang is just nuts in terms of hockey management.

6 What you'll be looking forward in this group blog.

I want to learn about other teams and their situations from fans who are like me - smart, fun women who love the sport of hockey and are as passionate about their teams as I am about mine.

7. What you don't like in general?

In a hockey on non-hockey context? To answer both in one fell swoop, people who are unwilling to learn, people who for example, won't bother welcoming the Sens fan to the Leafs board. Everyone has something we can learn and I feel sorry for those who refuse to learn from others.

8. What role do female fans play in keeping the game alive?

In the most basic role, women are usually the ones who wake the kids up to get them to 06:00 practice, the ones who organise the hockey team fund-raisers, the ones who drive the kid and teammates 1000km to spend a weekend billeted with strangers, the ones drinking crappy arena vending machine coffee to cheer the kids on. But, females now are not only fans more and more actually play the game, which is the best way of all to keep it going on from generation to generation.

9. What role do female fans play in picking heroes for the community?

Good question, and one I have not seen asked anywhere else. From discussions with fellow female hockey fans, we want our hockey heroes to be more than just the top scorer, the best shot blocker. We want the ultimate combination of tender & tough; those old enough will recall the classic photo of Pat Lafontaine skating on the ice with his baby. We want hockey heroes who will help lace up a kid's skates, then deck the SOB who cheap shots his team mate.

10. Hockey just isn't the same without...

Sound. For me hockey is all about the sound of blades slicing through ice, bodies on boards, pucks hitting posts...and my geek answer, knitting. I have to knit when watching a game. To me it combines two great traditions.

11. If you were on a deserted island, which player would you pick to
stay with you?

Alexander Mogilny. For one, he loves to read so he wouldn't be pestering me all the time trying to come up with crazy schemes to get off the island(think Gilligan's Island) He spent time working for Tikhonov and lived in Soviet army barracks so he can tough it out and not whine about his lot in life!

12. Crosby, Ovechkin or Phaneuf (hey he tried!)?

I've seen Crosby play in person, but I'm going with Ovechkin because he had to go through more hassle to get where he is today.

13. The player you'd like to take for a grand night out/a movie/a boring event?

Alexander Mogilny, for the reasons listed in my answer to 11.

14. If you could make your own team, regardless of whatever players,
what would it be called and where will it be/how would it be like?

Another great question. Off the top of my head, the Hockey Heritage sounds like a good name. I'd have them based in Winnipeg and tour the globe showing what classic old-time hockey is like. I'd have two line passes and ditch all the interference calls that interfere with the game!