Nitzy's Hockey Den

Training camp methods have certainly changed over the years, I did some google.news digging and found some good descriptions of Toronto Maple Leafs training camps from years gone by. 1930 The Leafs have encountered wintery conditions in the Parry Sound district. On Sunday some of them attempted to motor to that town, but had to turn back after reaching the Muskoka district because of the snow drifts on the highways. Most of the players took their golf sticks to the camp, but reports from there tonight are that unless mild weather comes soon, the outlook for golf is poor indeed. Come to Parry Sound for camp, bring your golf sticks, enjoy the snow drifts!  1938 "Yesterday was the last rehearsal for fancy-skating. Sonja Henie has her partner." This read the not posted in the Leafs hotel lobby by Maple Leafs coach Dick Irvin after a lacklustre practice by his men. Apparently this "burned up" his 15 Maple Leafs, 16 Syracuse Stars and the six amateurs invited...

Here we go again.  Another year, another training camp, another season filled with hope for my Toronto Maple Leafs. It's been the same way every year for the last 50 seasons just about. The hope that this will be the season in which the Leafs finally climb the summit once again. Each and every season for the past 46 years, they have failed. As a realist I ask myself, is this season really going to be any different from the past? I doubt it. I've been a die-hard Leafs fan since my childhood in the late 1970's and early '80's. I've seen a LOT of hope and potential come and go. From the potential arriving in the form of draft picks like Gary Nylund and Dan Hodgson, to the acquisition of my favourite Stastny brother, Marian. The drafting of Wendel Clark first overall brought excitement, as did the trade for Doug Gilmour six years later. The 1990's brought repeated deep playoff runs aided by electrifying goaltending from the likes of Felix Potvin and C...

Legendary coach Pat Quinn had a tough time transitioning from his career as an active player to that of a coach. This is evidenced by the fact that a mere few days into his career as head coach of the American Hockey League's Maine Mariners he engaged in an on-ice brawl with an opposing coach. His opponent, coach of the New Brunswick Hawks and fellow ex-NHLer Ed Johnston. In 1978, Quinn was 35 years old and just over one year removed from his last season playing with the Atlanta Flames. Ed Johnston, just shy of his 43rd birthday, had played 16 games the previous year in net for St.Louis and Chicago. The mid-October match between Maine and New Brunswick unfolded as follows; Oct 18, 78 AP An AHL game between the New Brunswick Hawks and the Maine Mariners was delayed for more than an hour after both teams became involved in a brawl that eventually involved both coaches. The fight began when Rocky Saganiuk of the Hawks got into a scuffle near his team's bench with John Pa...

Bashin' Bill on the Toronto Maple Leafs blue line in the 1950's. The first thought is this is a reference to Bill Barilko the great young defender who perished in a plane crash in 1951. However, there was another Bashin' Bill...Burega, who had but a mere cup of coffee with the big club in 1955. Over these, his only four NHL games Bill Burega collected his only point, an assist and four minutes in penalties. "Booger", another of Burega's nicknames was by all rights a poor-man's Barilko. Five years younger than Barilko, Burega was cut from the same cloth as a legitimate hard-checking defenceman, ending up in near the top of the penalty minute parade in every league he played. He was an inch taller and slightly heavier than Barilko but lacked the offensive talents of Barilko who scored at least  five goals in each full NHL season he played. While Barilko was scoring the winning goal for the 1951 Stanley Cup, 19 year-old Burega was helping his junior...