Long-suffering fan bases traditionally have sympathy and a rooting interest for one another because they know the pain and suffering that the other has gone through.
That feeling may have been in the hearts and minds of some Toronto Maple Leafs fans early Thursday morning when the Chicago Cubs ended their 108-year championship drought with an 8-7 extra inning victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series.
There are quite of few parallels in the history of the two clubs and their long streaks of futility. Both clubs are among the richest franchises in professional sport and have no problem filling the stands even when the clubs are not competitive, which may have contributed to each not going the extra mile to putting a winning team on the field/ice for many years.
Each have a large and loyal fan bases that include Saturday Night Live alums; Bill Murray for the Cubbies, Mike Myers for the Leafs.
The Cubs had not made it to the Series since the end of World War II, the Leafs have not reached the Cup Final since the Canadian centennial and NHL Expansion.
Chicago had their Billy goat and black cat as symbols of a “curse… on the franchise and an emotional scapegoat for their misfortune in Steve Bartman, while Toronto has the lesser known Hillman Hex, perhaps bad karma for the treatment of Hall-of-Famer Dave Keon and of course, Kerry Fraser. Both franchises have taken a similar path in rebuilding their management, coaching and roster.
The Cubs brought curse-slayer Theo Epstein from Boston to be team president, added one of the most prominent managers in the game in Joe Maddon and assembled a young core group of prospects headed by Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell. Toronto did likewise with Brendan Shanahan, Lou Lamoriello and Mike Babcock and are in the process of acquiring franchise cornerstones, with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander already in the fold.
Epstein was able to find gems in minor trades, acquiring pitchers Jake Arrietta from Baltimore and Kyle Hendricks from Texas, while also spending using the Cubs financial might to sign free agents Jon Lester, Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist and use the depth of the organization to trade for closer Aroldis Chapman at the MLB Trade deadline.
For the Leafs to follow in the Cubs footsteps, they will have to develop contributors from within the organization, add support players with the money cleared off the salary cap this summer and use their depth to fill whatever holes are left over.
If that happens, then perhaps a few years from now, there will be a celebration in the streets of Toronto that will be similar to this:
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The Leafs take on the Sabres at Key Bank Center in Buffalo on Thursday. The Atlantic Division rival is 4-3-2 this season and winners of their last three games.
The trek down the QEW has long been fraught with peril for the Maple Leafs, as the club is 27-62-6-6 all-time in Buffalo. Toronto has gone 1-17-1 in the last 19 games vs. the Sabres.
After a 44-save effort against Edmonton, Frederik Andersen will make his second consecutive start for Toronto, while Robin Lehner will be in goal for Buffalo.
The Sabres are already without forwards Jack Eichel and Evander Kane due to injury and have lost defenseman Zach Bogosian to a knee injury. The Leafs will go with the same lineup that won 3-2 over the Oilers on Tuesday.
Lines
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner Komarov-Kadri-Brown Hyman-Matthews-Nylander Martin-Smith-Soshnikov
Pairings
Rielly-Zaitsev Gardiner-Polak Marincin-Carrick
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