Which are about to begin in the most important professional hockey league in the world. And it will be an uphill battle for the Buds. Again. For they lack the two components that make up a winner – a quality goalie and stud defensemen. In 1967 they had them, Johnny Bower between the pipes and stalwarts including Bobby Baun and Tim Horton on the blue line. Who are all resting in peace, fond memories of triumphant parades long gone. Or mayhaps still playing in the Elysian Maple Leaf Fields. For such a place must exist.
Reason perhaps for the evolution of the lean machine from fervent fan to a somewhat blasé reader of game summaries. Don’t get him wrong – the hometown boosterism still exists to a minor extent. But as the trials of youth proved by not learning to skate backwards an awkward lad never played the game with any skill. Might have been different if that had not been the case. The passion was there. Might have been driving every cold winter Thursday to the arena in the pitch dark to play in a beer league with “Clear the track, here comes Shack” on the truck’s 8-track, bravely belted at a bazillion decibels.
We are now on the threshold of annual disappointment. The regular season endeth this week, the blood and guts, never mind the octopi without which the playoffs would not be complete will litter the ice. ‘Twas happenstance that the eye was caught by a new book in the library, “The Awesome Game: One Man’s Incredible, Globe-Crushing Hockey Odyssey”. The author is a comedian named Dave Hill. Piece of advice: don’t check out his comedy online. His brand of humour is, well, not funny. Relying on a foul mouth. But he writes well, and sometimes succeeds in penning a witty line. Or two. The appeal of the book is in his maniacal support for good ole hockey. In addition to his zany takes and tales, some of which are laced with dubious claims (the author, born in Cleveland in 1974, claims to remember a Cleveland Barons game and saw his first ever favourite player, defenseman Len Frig, have a thunderous impact on both the outcome and the wee lad. The Barons were in Cleveland from 1976-78; hence young Dave must have amazing recall to describe that game in such depth.)
Dave sets out on his Homeric journey, (defined as from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder) to places such as Poland, Kenya, Canada, of course, and Finland. During which last trip he bopped over the Baltic Sea and visited Tallinn, a city that he strongly recommends visiting. (No, really?) In Poland he met a professional Estonian hockey player, Alex Yakimenko, a “bow-legged” defenseman for the GKS Katowice team. Born in Tallinn, but played junior for Russian teams, he is now playing in France after a season in Finland. Not a NHL prospect, that’s for sure.
That is a key position for this city’s hockey team. The defense corps is not exactly manned by stalwarts. Which made the gracile guy long for a player from the recent past. Uncle Leo Komarov, born in Narva, (he communicates in five languages, among them a smattering of eesti) policed the ice as a forward, played like defenseman should, for the Maple Leafs from 2014 to 2018, after which the Leafs foolishly let him go to free agency, This after he had represented the team in the 2016 NHL All-Star Game. Onu Leo has also competed internationally on the Finnish national team and was a member of the 2011 World Championship and 2022 Olympic teams for Suomi, winning gold at both. And for what it is worth Komarov has also twice won the Gagarin Cup, the Russian version of Lord Stanley’s giant goblet, with the Moscow Dynamo team. Helluva pedigree!
So as we prepare for the inevitable, seeing Canada’s trophy be raised by yet another team (defending champs Las Vegas Knights are an expansion team fer crissake, only around since 2017!) one can only think of how the odds would have been better had the local management eggheads kept Komarov on the roster. He could have added to his impressive list of championships.
OTEPÄÄ SLIM