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Wednesday, October 6, 1999
Leafs Watch
To mock or not to mock. That's the tightrope the Air Canada Centre operations department is walking with Maple Leafs general manager/coach Pat Quinn these days.
While the team has been poking fun at the visiting team on its huge video scoreboard, Quinn is sensitive to ridiculing opponents.
"I don't like it, never did. To me, it's not fun, it's not funny," he said yesterday. "But I'm speaking maybe from an old-school situation because so much has changed about what the public feels.
"They seem to feel it's funny. I don't. If somebody was fooling around with my sweater, they would have a big problem."
The Leafs' season-opener at the Air Canada Centre on Monday night featured a skit on the scoreboard involving a Bruins fan being scared back to Boston, with the Leafs mascot, Carlton The Bear, in hot pursuit.
The team also ran clips from the movie Happy Gilmore -- showing Bob Barker punching and kicking Adam Sandler, who's wearing a Bruins jersey.
"I'm very aware of Pat Quinn's sensitivity to our team jersey as well as every other team's jersey," hockey operations spokesman Casey Vanden Heuvel said. "That's why we don't deface a sweater or try to embarrass or slander (the visiting team)."
The Leafs began running the Carlton the Bear skits during last season's playoff run.
Quinn, who years ago attempted to confront a Calgary Flames mascot after it wiped its bottom with a Canucks jersey, thinks all uniforms deserve respect.
"You work so hard to have people who work in an organization respect who they are and feel good about it and to have someone else playing with it ... It's like your flag," he said.
MAKING HISTORY:
Toronto's 4-0 victory Monday over the Boston Bruins marked the first time the Leafs had shut out an opponent in their home opener since 1939.
Sixty years ago, Leafs goaltender Turk Broda blanked Boston 5-0. Monday's shutout was Curtis Joseph's 18th in the past three seasons.
"I'm growing and maturing as a player," Joseph said.
"I wasn't as good a goalie as I am now when I played in St. Louis (1990-95), even though I was getting more shots then. I've learned how to close the deal."
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