from Jack Todd at the Montreal Gazette,

It’s not really Toronto we hate. It’s huge and bland, but Toronto is only a place and it’s more colourful than it used to be. And it’s not the fans. The crowds for Leafs games at the Bell Centre are the most placid in hockey, but Toronto fans certainly don’t behave worse than the Montreal fans who regularly invade the Senators arena to bully Ottawa fans into silence.

No, the Toronto problem lies almost entirely with the national media. Sportsnet’s Hockey Central is a perfect example. For the past few years, I’ve made it a habit to watch Hockey Central at lunchtime. I’ve now switched to That’s Hockey 2Nite because Craig Button is terrific at breaking down plays, but also because Hockey Central had begun devoting a full 20 minutes to the Leafs off the top of each hour-long show.

The last time I watched the program, I gave up after 20 minutes, but went back at the 40-minute mark to find the panel was talking about Toronto’s goaltending. When Nick Kypreos finally said: “enough about the Leafs.” Doug MacLean offered that sickly courtier’s smile and said: “but they’re Canada’s team.”

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