Leafs still have the golden touch

Although the Toronto Maple leafs have struggled to do almost anything on the ice rink in recent years, their standing off the ice, and in the local community, has continued to be respected far and wide.

With few players creating excitement or drama for those who like to bet on hockey, almost no real success coming as a result of the action on the ice, and the fact that it has been a tough time financially recently for the average hockey fan in Canada, the continued commercial success of the Leafs shows just how important the franchise is to the identity and daily lifestyle of people living in and around Toronto.

With the Leafs recently able to persuade the teen global superstar Justin Bieber to join them on the ice (even managing to convince him to have a shot or two at goal - sign him up now GM!), they managed to, in effect, retaliate against another franchise with an extremely famous and well-known fanbase: the Vancouver Canucks.

Although the Canucks have been more successful in recent years, the reality is that the Leafs still remain first choice among NHL picks and manage to hold that special draw and appeal that somehow eludes teams such as the Canucks, and even the Senators, a franchise who have never really grabbed the public’s imagination despite their best efforts.

Should the Leafs manage to turn that off ice success into on ice success sometime soon, their long suffering fanbase, and the city as a whole, would truly enjoy revelling in the success while looking optimistically towards a far brighter future for the hockey community as a whole in the city.