Thursday, June 21, 2012

Episode 3: I Apologise for the Delay



It has been a little while. I apologise for the delay. But two years have passed, and here we are!

That whole job thing intervened. You see, what happened is: I intended to make a blog documenting a year in the life of a Leafs fan. But two years have now passed, partly due to the fact I moved from here, to here, to here.

[Points to Adelaide, then Port Pirie, then Murray Bridge on a map.]

So life's good, but my quest remains unresolved, and the Leafs still haven't got into the bloody playoffs. For goodness' sake, people.

So we're going to try this again. The tickets are booked and the trip is back on. I'm hoping to finally, after 10 years, see some NHL hockey sometime later this year, as long as there isn't a lockout, which would upset me greatly.

In all fairness, I had a third episode ready to go. Although some things have changed since then, some of them haven't. It was going to go something along the lines of...

Tell you what, these brutal Australian winters.

[Blue sky.]

The middle of the year is always an interesting time to be a Leafs fan. There's the draft - well, that's not always very interesting for a Leafs fan - there's free agency, there are all sorts of interesting things to keep an eye on.

To celebrate the occasion, we're at a place called Light's Vision in Adelaide. Let's just hope that the Leafs see the light over the next couple of weeks.

What we're about to see is Brian Burke's vision for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it should be an interesting one. We want to see a team as testosterone-filled as men who wear short-sleeved garments in the middle of winter, as belligerent as the bells of this cathedral, as pugnacious as this post, and as truculent as this truck.

...So that has all happened. But we've actually got a first-round draft pick this year, which is helpful. Tomas Kaberle, the last Leaf who was playing for them at the time I was in Canada 10 years ago, has long since moved on, so there's a bit less continuity there.

One more thing to keep an eye out for in the next couple of weeks: the draft is coming up. Forget the first round, forget the second round, forget the third round - meaningless. What you're looking for is in the later rounds. There is an Australian guy whose name is Nathan Walker. He would be the first Australian ever drafted into the NHL. He was the first Aussie ever to play professionally in Europe, in the Czech Republic. He's rated the 25th-best skater in Europe, so come on, son - I'm waiting for the Leafs to draft our Aussie boy so I can have two reasons to cheer for them.

Look forward to it. See you then, Leafs Nation.

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