NHL camps will not officially open until mid-September, however, many NHLers are filing into their local rinks to get a sweat on with the boys.
Tim Connolly played shinny with his new friends and bunker mates in suburban Toronto on Tuesday. After the session, TSN caught up with the mercurial, and at times aloof, former Buffalo Sabre to get his opinion of his move to Toronto. You can watch the interview on tsn.ca. I had to watch it four different times in order to fully drink in its awesomeness.
"I think it's going to be good for me to have a fresh start," Connolly said. "I'm re-energized and a little more excited to play now."
If the scrutiny he faced from fans in Buffalo was ever a concern for the playmaking centre, he certainly isn't talking like a man afraid of the limelight.
"It doesn't get much better than Buffalo when you're in the U.S," Connolly said. "But Toronto is the New York Yankees of hockey."
Wait a Western New York minute. Connolly didn't just compare the experience of playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs to that of playing for the ubiquitous New York Yankees, did he?
I'm confused. How many Stanley Cups have the Leafs won in their existence?
Being a devout NY Yankee fan, I take umbrage with Connolly's comparison of the two teams. Perhaps what Connolly meant to say is that the Leafs are an Original Six team and that they wear blue and white colours just like the Yankees do. Thats where the comparisons begin and end.
The Yankees have won a leading 27 World Series in 40 appearances (which, since the first World Series in 1903, currently amounts to an average appearance every 2.7 seasons and a championship every 4 seasons).
The Leafs have won 13 Stanley Cups. None since 1967.
Perhaps Connolly thinks he's playing in Montreal, where the Canadiens have won a Yankee-like 24 Stanley Cups in their existence, not 13.
Silly, Timmy. The Leafs are not the Yankees of the NHL. They are the Blue Jays of the NHL. Close, but no cigar.
Connolly would not bite at the bait when asked to comment on the "Tiny Tim" smack that Sabre fans have foisted upon Connolly for his inability to stay healthy for a large chunk of the ten years that he made Buffalo his NHL home.
"Everybody's entitled to their own opinion and it's not really an issue for me," he said after a practice session with his new teammates. "I had a great time there. Great fans, great city to play in, it's a great hockey city. We had a few great runs there to Conference Finals and came close, but overall I had a great time."
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