PRE- GAME SKATE

I’ve been a Leafs fan for as long as I can remember. And if you’re reading this, chances are you’re a Leafs fan, too. As far as I can tell, I didn’t pick the Leafs. My mom is actually an even bigger Leafs fan than me, and I suppose she’s the reason I started cheering for the team. I’m not sure how someone who hails from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, a place that boasts the likes of players such as Phil Esposito, ended up cheering for Toronto instead of the Boston Bruins, but I am certainly glad she did.

The Leafs have been with me throughout my life. Some of my earliest memories of trying to stay up late was when Toronto was playing on Hockey Night in Canada . My parents would let me stay up, especially if the Leafs were in the playoffs, but I realize now, as a parent myself, they agreed to it because they knew I’d fall asleep partway through the game. And sure enough, no matter how hard I tried to stay up, I would always wake up later in my bed. I’d learn the score from my mom the next morning and tell myself that next time I would catch the entire thing, although I never would.

As I got older, the Leafs were part of some important milestones in my world. When my mother’s authentic Doug Gilmour jersey was stolen from my locker because I forgot to lock it up, I remember how disappointed she was with me. I eventually understood it was not because it was expensive, but because it was a parting gift from some of her friends and colleagues before we moved to a new city. While I eventually replaced the jersey many years later, I learned the importance of protecting something valuable, especially if it doesn’t belong to you — a lesson that has always stuck with me.

A couple of weeks after my first daughter, Zoe, was born, the Leafs started the 2016–17 campaign. I remember how excited I was to put her into her teeny tiny Maple Leafs pajamas for the season opener. That night Auston Matthews made his NHL debut. And although Zoe slept soundly through all four of his goals, I will always be able to tell her we experienced that together. It was an important moment in Leafs history, but as a new father, it was a special memory I will always cherish.

Even some of my career benchmarks have Leafs footnotes. After earning a big promotion in 2018, I wanted to treat myself to something to mark the occasion. We happened to be in Toronto at the time, and I could think of nothing better than to buy a Matthews jersey. While I had collected a number of replica, and even counterfeit, jerseys over the years, mostly for my regular shinny ice times, I had always shied away from buying an authentic one because of the price tag. But since my hard work at the office had paid off, I rewarded myself.

It remains my most prized Leafs item, and I only wear it for important games.

As you can tell, the Leafs have been with me for some important parts of my life, and they have probably been there for you as well. Since the Leafs are often such an important backdrop in our lives, day after day and year after year, it only made sense that I would put together a book so you could experience a different piece of Leafs history for every day of the year. When I wrote the first Hockey 365 in 2017, it had never crossed my mind that it would lead to this. Although both volumes of Hockey 365 include plenty of Leafs stories, I had never considered there would be a full book there. But of course there would be. The franchise has been around for more than a century, and there are more than enough tales to fill these pages.

From the team’s first Stanley Cup in the NHL to some of the more recent struggles to avenge the ghosts of the past, Leafs 365 includes stories from across eras. While there are recurring characters such as Doug Gilmour, Börje Salming, and Darryl Sittler, there are also stories featuring players you may have forgotten about but are still an important part of the team’s fabric. Many of these tales will, hopefully, make you smile, but some of them will undoubtedly frustrate you as you relive some of the moments that have pushed your fandom to the limits. There have been plenty of times when the Leafs have probably made you want to tear your hair out, and there’s more than a few of those stories in this book, but it’s those episodes that really make the good ones worth celebrating.

Some people say the Leafs are cursed, but anything that’s able to give you this many memories worth revisiting year after year is obviously a blessing. And while you may disagree with my optimism, we certainly have one thing in common: You’re reading this because no matter what has happened in the past or how the season unfolds, you’re a Leafs fan until the bitter end.