[URBAN NOTE] On the Toronto Maple Leafs apology to the hockey fans

[rfmcdonald]

Of Toronto's many generally sub-par professional sports teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the worst. I've commented in the past about how the fans have come to accept subpar performances from the team's players and coaches, linked to a management policy aimed at maximizing profit as opposed to athletic success, notwithstanding a ticket sales policy that ties up seating for Toronto games not for fans but for corporate events. The Maple Leafs have been able to get away with anything.

That's why I'm surprised that the Toronto Maple Leafs actually issued an apology to their fans, publshing an open letter in the various dailies.



The team did very badly.

[The] Maple Leafs team [sat] sixth in the Eastern Conference on Feb. 6 but plummeted to 11th place and five points out of both a playoff spot and last-place in the 15-team conference.

It didn’t end there as Toronto went on to lose a franchise-record 11 straight games on home ice, dropping 12 of 18 starts after head coach Randy Carlyle replaced the fired Ron Wilson on March 3, and finishing a once-promising campaign 26th of 30 teams with a 35-37-10 record and seventh straight season out of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Refreshingly, the fans don't seem to have been placated by this.

A Twitter poster who uses the handle HockeyHumor said “Q: What do college students and the Maple Leafs have in common? A: They've both finished their year by April.”

CBC News showed copies of the newspaper apology to fans. Their reaction was mixed.

“That’s sports, you win some, you lose some,” said a fan taking a break outside the Air Canada Centre shortly after Burke’s press conference.

“Go Blue Jays,” said another.

Another fan who spoke to CBC outside the Air Canada Centre said the team needs "less apologies, more action."

Might things be made to change?