Here's why Toronto Maple Leafs MIGHT actually be cursed...

Could the Toronto Maple Leafs be cursed? In this video, we delve into the history of the team and explore the possibility of a curse haunting the franchise. If you're a hockey fan or just curious about sports superstitions, this video is a must-watch!
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Larry Hillman is a former defenseman from Kirkland Lake, Ontario who won the Stanley Cup six times including four of them with Toronto. He played for 15 different teams in his 22 seasons as a professional hockey player.
Read More: editorinleaf.com/2020/08/30/m...
As a player who struggled to maintain his spot fulltime in the NHL, Hillman was furious with the Maple Leafs following their Stanley Cup victory in 1967. After an excellent showing against the Montreal Canadiens in the Cup Finals, Hillman asked the coach and general manager, Punch Imlach, for a $5000 raise in order to bring his salary to $20,000.
Imlach refused, which prompted Hillman to holdout from joining the team the following season until he was given the raise he believed he earned.
In retribution, Imlach fined Hillman $100 for each day of his 24-day holdout. Hillman was forced to pay the team $2,400 but after doing so, he hexed the franchise until the day they repaid him with interest.
Interestingly, Hillman chose to lift the curse in 2017. Leafs president Brendan Shanahan then repaid Hillman the $2,400 plus interest.
Chapters:
0:00 Toronto Maple Leafs 107 years of history
1:40 Recent Playoff Struggles
3:13 13 Stanley Cups
5:10 Sheldon Keefe AMAZING comments
6:10 Curse of Larry Hillman
8:23 Takeaways
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#nhl #toronto #hockey

[@brodiebrazil]

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[@jasonfire3434]

The real curse is ownership… Harold Ballard was the worst owner in hockey history. Their current owners, MLSE, are just a faceless and soulless corporate entity who ultimately don’t care as long as they rake in their millions.

[@viperswhip]

But the Teachers owned them for a long time.

[@stevehirzel6871]

Worse than alex muerelo? Calm down canuck.

[@Bk6346]

There’s a salary cap in the NHL. It’s bad management that the Leafs haven’t won. In the playoffs it’s goaltending, defense, checking and scoring that wins games. The Leafs don’t have a team built for the playoffs and their record shows it.

[@PatFrenchLeafsFan1]

Ballard was like the Hitler of hockey.

[@joshnewman3152]

If you created Ballard people would say he’s too cartoonishly ridiculous. Guy was a flat out monster, would absolutely recommend the documentary Offsides covers his insanity.

[@TimfromMKE]

This teams sole purpose is to make Steve Dangle to lose his mind

[@TheNiteinjail]

LOL

[@noobtubes]

Lmaoo

[@johnalwell5795]

Great video one of the most incredible things is that they have NOT even Played in the Stanley Cup finals since they won it in 1967.

[@kevinsargent6282]

Similarly, they have also *never* won 3 rounds in the playoffs in a single year… 😉

[@EricPeltz-or9oh]

They are the only original six team to have not won the cup in the post expansion era

[@JFerg393]

Brodie, get Dangle on to talk about it. I'm sure asking from an outside lens, he can shed light on the curse. Plus, I think his second favorite team is the Sharks, so you might have something in common there!

[@danpietila6555]

No please dont have steve dangle on your channel he's a tool!

[@evanschemenauer1356]

The Harold Ballard curse is the more likely curse.

[@ThomasBaxter]

That's the one I actually expected

[@quique2886]

That’s exactly it! The curse is for 100 years after the death of Ballard! That means the Leafs will not win a cup until at least April 11 2090 when that will be 100 years after his death! Yeah so maybe your great great grand kids will see a cup in Toronto!

[@frosty.winnipeg]

Not just a bad owner cost them but when Bettman came in telling teams to spend more he pretty much made it Impossible for Canadian teams to win the cup for 15 years.

[@Mr.Ed_Wayner]

As a kid growing up in Brooklyn as an Islanders fan I experienced probably the Leaf’s greatest games 7 victory when Lanny McDonald scored the overtime winner to beat my Islanders in 1978. Then Imlach stupidly traded McDonald the next year to piss off Darryl Sittler a. Leafs legend. McDonald went on to win the Cup with Calgary. Sittler played 12 years with the Leafs all for waste. He got traded to the Flyers in 1982. Leafs are cursed because of Ballard. Read that he was a perv.

[@EricPeltz-or9oh]

The Leafs are the only “Original Six” team that has not won the cup in the post expansion era.

[@ChrisWienberg]

As a Lions fan I can tell you bad ownership is not a curse

[@robertoorrego4374]

?

[@DC-dc7ty]

Brodie - we need you to do national broadcasts on ESPN, ABC, NBC, Fox whatever… or just come to Canada and the CBC or Sportsnet. So good to hear an American voice, that is studied, respectful and clear. I’m a Toronto born fan. Born in 1970. So only had whiffs of what it ‘MIGHT’ be like to have a cup. I still play hockey, I’m a goalie… and to get a fresh perspective from somewhere who evidently loves hockey from the West Coast US… I tip my hat… keep it up. Please do more of these…!

[@sybiantongue]

The Curse of the Big M -- Leafs have not won the cup since they traded away Hall of Famer Frank Mahovlich in 1968.

[@michaelmarkowski204]

Frank Mahovlich wasn't even the best player in his own family. Pete was better.

[@denisrho1019]

Great and honest comments ! From a Montreal fan (65 years of age), I do remember 1967, that was the year Montreal city was hosting the world with Expo-67 ! ... and my Montreal Canadians lost the Stanley cup to Toronto. It still hurts. ... back to 2024, Montreal didn't win the cup since 1993, snif snif.

[@bradbradbury8561]

Interesting story and you told it well.

[@Lucky2000Zx]

This was a great video, would love to see more of this style in other sport history videos

[@stateofsurvival8457]

Harold Ballard's Ghost is the only reason why this team is losing. You do know he stole half the franchise from the Smythe family, right? No one cares about Hillman

[@markcapestro5390]

This ownership ONLY cares about selling seasonal tickets. They don't care about going further.

[@dianapearman9850]

Stanley Cup wins for Maple Leafs ended in 1967 with introduction of the NHL expansion. Back then it was just Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, Boston, Chicago and New York. Look at the number of teams in the NHL now.

[@rvirkutis]

I'm numb to it now I've gotten so used to it now

[@recurrenTopology]

The real curse is that NHL expansion started in '67. That's really the dark side of league expansion, it decreases every teams probability of winning championships. Assuming every team has an equal probability of being champions in any given year, in a 32 team league the expected number of seasons for every team in the league to be champions is around 130 years. Let that sink in, with 32 teams we should expect that one of those teams will have wait around 130 years without winning a championship. Now, in a league like the NHL which gives preferential draft picks to the worse teams, the expected time for every team to win would not be quite that long, but it is probably not too far off.

[@123blakes8]

Every original 6 team has won a Stanley cup after expansion except the leafs.

[@frogger1952]

"Assuming every team has an equal probability of being champions in any given year" WHAT!!!? Winning the Stanley Cup is not a matter of chance, its a matter of skill. To say the the Blackhawks have an equal chance of winning the Cup this year as the Stars or Panthers is ridiculous.

[@recurrenTopology]

@@123blakes8 Assuming that each of the original 6 has had on average an equal probability of winning the cup in any given year as any other team, the odds of anyone of those teams not winning the cup since '67 is about 1/8. This gives a ballpark probability that all 6 teams would have won the cup since then at ~45%, so there is a greater than 50% chance that one of the original 6 would not have won a cup since the start of the expansion era. Unfortunately for the Leafs, this has ended up being true for them.

[@recurrenTopology]

@@frogger1952 Of course, the assumption would be the probability of a randomly selected year, in any specific year the quality of the team is a deciding factor. In a league with revenue sharing and a strong salary cap, it is probably a reasonable back of the envelope assumption that the long term average of each team winning the cup tends towards equality. Of course, this is not absolutely true, as ownership/management quality varies, and some teams habitually spend significantly under the cap, but these will only serve to further lengthen the expected 130 years it takes on average for every team in a 32 team league to win the cup. As I said in my first post, the draft allocation helps to counteract this, and determining which factor wins out is a complex question, but I think 130 years serves as a good rough estimate.

[@frogger1952]

@@recurrenTopology I hear you, but still not on board. There are too many other factors to consider even if every draft pick ever made by any team was made 100% via lottery picks...not the least of which is quality of ownership, management, and coaching. As an Islander fan, I'm more than aware that only the Leafs and us haven't made a Cup appearance since our dynasty years of 75-84. Until 5 years ago, we were saddled with the worst ownership in hockey. 5 of our owners over that span ended up in prison. Now that isn't a matter of chance. That's bad ownership which led to poor drafting, horrible coaching, and resulting in no UFA wanting to get near us us.

[@wbj2000]

The problem with the Leafs is the team is owned and operated by a large corporation. They run the team as a part of a large corporation. The problem is they aren't flexible or able to accept what is needed to win in the playoffs? Core Four is all they scream ... pay half you cap space to 4 players is brutal. Goaltending?? ... thats silly. Defensive core?? ... can't afford that. Qualified head coach??? He will just question the direction of his corporate masters, just get an AHL yes man. Just waiting for the Leafs to run it back again.

[@snarzetax]

You forgot...make a player who consistently disappears in the playoffs, the highest paid player EVER!

[@granttracey4676]

Well-articulated, reasoned. I've been a fan since I was a kid, had the franchise's history passed down to me by my. immigrant grand parents and father but can't remember the 67 victory and feel it's time to win. But, yes, there are a lot of teams in a hard cap era and a 30 plus team league that haven't won: Vancouver and Buffalo for example (they go back to 70-71). So, I guess we Leafs fans shouldn't feel entitled, but it's the freakin way we lose (a goalie getting hurt before game 7) that makes us feel cursed. Aw, if only it were a six-team league again.

[@janetd5121]

The amazing thing is the last time they won it was the last year of the original 6 era where the NHL had only 6 teams so the odds were much better to win a cup. The year following the 67 cup win the league added 6 new teams and began rapidly expanding.

[@martyf5714]

Tough grinding teams win in the NHL playoffs. Even the great Edmonton Oilers had Messier who would take your head off if you messed with the stars. Teams like the NY Rangers and Carolina realized you need the stars, but you also need the tough guy who can actually skate and score to win it all.

[@kiroolioneaver8532]

I think if there was not a salary cap (like there had been back before the 04-05 lockout; the Leafs made it to the conference finals in both '93 and '02) they might've won in the intervening years. But relatively speaking (apart from not being in the Stanley Cup final since '67 as well let alone winning) the Leafs streak is relatively minor. We saw the Red Sox, White Sox, Cubs win in recent years and the Richmond and Melbourne AFL teams break long streaks recently. The issue with the Leafs now (especially post '21) is that they should've blown up the Core Four concept after blowing that 3-1 lead to Montreal (the 18th place team that year). Bad management in recent years to blame rather than a curse.

[@marksousa8595]

Only 6 team in the league before 67

[@mreppen1]

As a Toronto born/raised and now living in Orange County, it’s fascinating you brought this sensitive subject up on your channel.

[@tonycouture5608]

I am a believer in this claim that Toronto Maple Leafs are a cursed team, mainly because hockey is primarily a game determined by luck and played with a puck that is almost random in flight and bouncing around. The non-human forces in the universe work from the outside on the game and its strange events, including freak injuries and emotional lapses, are not really under complete human control, no matter how hard players work and what they deserve as a matter of justice or not. For the Leafs, there are the Bill Barilko story and the Harold Ballard demon-ownership period (1971-1990) which has some connection to Larry Hillman story but really more with Ballard's criminality and ownership tyranny over players and Maple Leaf Gardens. Curse or no curse, the sports reality is that it is so much easier to win in a 6-team league compared to a much larger 32-team league. I have always enjoyed watching Leafs crumble and self-destruct in the playoffs, despite some great individual players. They have never developed a winning chemistry capable of overcoming their spooked out state of losing in the modern era. It is entertaining to think about the this Leaf's curse, and also listen to Tragically Hip song "Fifty Mission Cap" which is about his disappearance on wilderness canoe trip in 1951 after scoring winning goal for Stanley Cup and discovery of his body in 1962 when the Leafs won the cup again. The curse lives on while the Leafs fall in playoffs once again!!!

[@jfrancis6191]

What a great post 👍

[@seniormale]

The only thing that is by luck are deflections .skating, puck control, and strategies on defense and offense makes hockey one of the highest skilled sports.....

[@JohnnyReno71]

Curses can be broken, as a Rangers fan I thought we were Cursed but won in 94. What is sad is as original team and only won it 4 times in 98 years that’s very disappointing.

[@johnedwards5575]

Given valuation of the franchise, and the ones attending games... the yacht club crowd isn't going to budge out of their seats to prompt change. GM isn't going to sweat anything. The fever is too great to put any stock in to curse, or threats on the club to do anything. I saw some interesting stat on NHL teams never to have played in June... Seattle, Minnesota Wild, Arizona Coyotes/Utah XXXX, Columbus Blue Jackets... and... TML. Most fans I presume take solace in knowing most hockey media is in Toronto, NHL review room is in Scotiabank Center, the Stanley Cup is literally sitting a block away, most players in the NHL are along the hockey belt, likely with Toronto roots.

[@SalemXIII]

Here I am as a Sabers fan just hoping we make the playoffs. Forget the Stanley Cup that we’ve never won. I just want some post season games.

[@j1mster3]

nothing will change until people stopped buying these tickets then the leafs management might start doing something

[@cjkavy2299]

As Buffalo Sabres fan this is my favorite thing to look forward to every season over the past decadeish

[@DamnThatsCreepy]

He said Mike Trout was a 2-way player, I'm double checking(google) everything he says from now on! Lol!

[@ianhall6614]

I suspect head coach Sheldon Keefe was talking about the team like that because he knew going into game 7, if they lost again, his job was done.

[@LeMatt87n]

Excellent takes. Yup never seen you before, greetings from Toronto. 😓

[@dukeburger1799]

how much was the interest?

[@MrWaldorfian]

Maple Leafs fan here. I was 8 years old when they won the Stanley Cup last. I barely remember it. Been suffering along all these years.I grew up in Windsor, Ontario (across the border from Detroit). I was never a Red Wings fan.

[@gracedagostino5231]

Wow, you lived so close to the great Detroit Red Wings, one of the world's great sports teams. The Red Wings won several cups when there were 30 teams. The Leafs won all their cups when there were only 6 teams. The American based teams were at such a disadvantage in that Montreal automatically got the best prospect out of Quebec, and Toronto the best prospect out of the OHA. Now that that nonsense is over with neither Montreal nor Toronto will ever win the cup again.

[@michaelmarkowski204]

@@gracedagostino5231 Leafs would've won at least one Cup if they had Yzerman.

[@kj6446]

it's not a curse...it's the energy of everyone ELSE in Canada joining hands and praying for their defeat every year.

[@TheNiteinjail]

LMAO 😂

[@TheNiteinjail]

It's all your fault i blame others for my problems 😅

[@richardthompson6366]

Every other teams building in Canada has a large number of Leaf fans i attendance when Toronto is in town.

[@michaelmarkowski204]

@@richardthompson6366 Right on. Same in the USA. Case in point: When the Leafs played the Panthers in the playoffs, the Panthers banned people from buying playoff game tickets for Panther home games with Canadian credit cards because they didn't want Leaf fans in Florida or flying in and turning the arena into another Leafs home game.

[@FischerFan]

@Julia_Hammels Exactly. The egotism of the Toronto-based sports media networks is why people end up cheering for teams like the Bruins to put the Leafs on the golf course every spring. This same media only loves talking about the Habs, Jets, etc. when they are struggling. This is why you'll never see the Blue Jays, by contrast, become the target of such backlash across Canada.

[@fppenque]

Sabres ...... "Hold my beer".

[@WayWillow]

Ballard was worse than corporate ownership and now we have that 😢😢😢

[@Forceful-cu3he]

I mean I dont want to defend them but their division has been stacked every single year since they got Matthews. Talking Cup finals teams in Boston, Tampa, Florida. If they were in the Pacific or Metro they would have made the conference finals every year

[@LeoMajor1]

As a leafs fan born in early 90's and witnessed all these game 7 losses and have fond memories of the past with Sundin CUJO and a few playoff rounds. Never seen a cup or even a finals. I'm 31 now. I don't think I ever will. Even if I live to 60.

[@rogersalles200]

Curse? tell me what hockey team in this league have 4 players making over 10 mil each?

[@justjohnny420]

Currently, nobody. The leafs only* had 3 this year. The leafs have 4 next year if they don't move a player

[@robertrankin6134]

It is the Ballard curse I was 9 when they won i am now 66 got to see the game and had Bobby Baun as a neighbor

[@markastoforoff7838]

If there is a curse I blame it on Ballard. I also blame the 93 series, we all know which one I'm talking about on Kerry Fraser. I think that was our best chance to win a Cup.

[@gillesjacques1022]

They had some great seasons in the past, on the cusp of actually having a cup winning team, until Ballard destroyed it. He did more to destroy the Leafs in his era, with some great players, even having Sittler stuck for a couple of seasons. His curse still lingers!

[@Jon_FM]

I am 55 years old, I have never even see the Maple Leafs in a Stanley Cup Final in my lifetime. That right there is amazing. Not Boston Red Sox/Chicago Cubs level but whoo boy.

[@Jon_FM]

and I am not a Leafs fan but my dad was.

[@Simon-tc1mc]

This is what the NHL wanted to happen when they went to the divisional playoff format. This makes for great stories when the same two teams keep playing

[@scottcawthorne633]

1967 was a fantastic year for both Montreal and Toronto The country celebrated its 100th year of existence with Expo 67 for Montreal and a Stanley Cup for Toronto It was the NHL in a bygone era The modern NHL today began in the 67-68 year with the first wave of expansion in the US. An argument can be made that Toronto has never won the cup in a remodelled revamped and American dominated sports league

[@klausschraud7303]

The Ballard curse, there may be something behind it the last 7 years just not good enough

[@bikingD]

Last time Leafs won the cup was only 6 teams on black and white TV. Put that into perspective.

[@marklittle8805]

Brodie, as a Leafs fan, I compare it to what Red Sox and Cubs fans used to deal with on steroids. The Leafs keep finding new ways to break our hearts. Often in the most spectacular and sad fashion. I was 2 when the Cup was last won. I am now looking at retirement. I am asking for 6 Leafs as my pall bearers so they can let me down one more time....

[@MayerKyle]

It's not just about the cup, it's also about the fact that they have only advanced past the first round once since 2004. That amount of non success wears out a fan base.

[@AndresKickball]

The Toronto Maple Leafs were a high-level minor league baseball club located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which played from 1896 to 1967. During their last season (1967) there was discussions to sell the club, hoping to find an owner to keep the team in Toronto. But the deal ultimately fell apart due to Harold Ballard owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs ( hockey). the Toronto Maple Leafs (baseball) cursed the Toronto Maple Leafs (hockey) for taking their name and making them relocate to Louisville, Kentucky. the Louisville Colonels, then the Pawtucket Red Sox, then the Worcester Red Sox for the 2021 season

[@Kwolf1]

I kept telling Leafs fans last year was a fluke.

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

Bless Harold Ballard. His curse has brought me decades of schadenfreude. Trawna,ya seck.

[@gondolacrescent5]

I started watching the leafs the 67-68 season. If the leafs organization managed to hire the best 25 players in the world, the best coaches, goalies etc.,…they would still lose- but they’d find ever more creative, gut wrenching ways to do it. The team is cursed by its accumulated 56 year history of failure; the malicious effect of that causes leaf players to have the most incredible mental lapses or losses of confidence at the absolute worst moments. The only solution is to dissolve the TML’s and build a new Toronto NHL franchise (!!!)…..and that’s why I think the Leafs will never again win a Stanley Cup- world without end. Amen.

[@jimlangdon1947]

The issue is the Core 4 and Matthews belongs on the wing

[@johnscustomsaws]

Leafs fans are SOFT AF...Try being from Minnesota 🤨 Minnesota is "The hockey state" in the US... EVERYONE plays hockey!!! NEVER won a cup... LOST the North Stars to fn Dallas (which is in Texas... yes TEXAS...) And we STILL love our team (also NEVER won a cup)... but we don't cry about it... GO WILD 💯

[@michaelmarkowski204]

I think problem #1 is being called the Wild. Who picked that name? North Stars was very cool.

[@swneighbours]

The Cubs and Red Sox were cursed...then they finally won...

[@richardthompson6366]

The Keon curse.

[@ryanbros99]

The Toronto curse picked up after 2017. The leafs invite the first round exit jays at a game and vice versa. Toronto sports can’t stay out of each other’s way

[@UFCMania155]

As a Sens and Oilers fan I love it 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@dannielturba9642]

The Hillman curse,,,does not matter,,,the Ballard curse, is the curse that is a concern!

[@buelahland]

Curse is on Toronto…

[@intentionaloffside8934]

Back when, Canadian players used to dominate, with Montreal and Toronto holding regional rights to the best junior players. The draft and predominance of European and US born and developed players eroded the advantage those teams once had.

[@GerardPalmeri]

Brodie, in terms of the Bruins/Maple Leafs, consider the conference structure of the NHL. At some point the better teams have to play each other. We know that in-season performance determines the playoff structure, but the Bruins and Maple Leafs are frequently playoff teams and the conference structures will have them play each other. I know that, over periods of time, there have been coincidences where, particularly it seems in the East, that the Bruins/Flyers would play each other, and other examples, the Bruins and Canadiens back in the 70s and 80s played each other in the playoffs frequently. Also, I think the Flyers and Penguins have a playoff history together. So, long-winded answer, these patterns aren't all that strange. What is strange to me is the result, that the Bruins have won so many times. Maybe Toronto needs to take a look at the true talent and also the style of play and whether both are able to win the Stanley Cup. I'm not going to judge them but you always hear about how one team doesn't "match up well" with another team. Maybe that's what's going on? If so, something's got to improve or at least change.

[@brodiebrazil]

To your point, no surprise they meet so much. Only that every season brings different teams/people on both sides, and the same result keeps happening

[@johngibson8636]

It’s more analogous to the Sharks run, all world talent and expectations but no significant playoff success. At least the Sharks made it to a couple of finals.

[@razorgee2873]

Cursed!?! It's a foolish suggestion. The Leafs as an organization have panicked over the years. Instead of building slow, steady, and solidly, they have jumped the shark time and again, changing their game plan to speed up the process of winning the Cup. They've pushed their young talent out of the organization and abused their draft capital. They had an opportunity with the core but grossly overpaid them, which crippled their abilities to build a foundation to support the core. The market demands a Cup and, management always capitulates to the fans' demands. They have once again placed themselves back at square one as the Leafs are forced to watch their core waste away.

[@lewatoaofair2522]

I’ll say this: Their recent series, looking at it in isolation, I thought was damn exciting. But damn, it must feel numb for these fans.

[@seniormale]

Something always. Happens injuries, illness....🤔👹

[@jexsheffield]

Leafs fans still have 40 more years until they get to Chicago Cubs levels of curse. Plus market size is way more important in baseball since there’s no cap

[@floxy20]

Media and Leaf fanboys are so entitled they think the team is owed a Stanley Cup. Every player who dons a Leaf uniform is regarded as a hockey God because he wears the uniform. Then when reality sinks in and he proves to be human these same fanboys want to run him out of town. They also love to get (super)stars near their sell by date to achieve instant success. Little patience to do things like smart clubs do: build from the goaltender and defense out.

[@djexpo6655]

They're the Cubs of the NHL. Chicago came around eventually, as will Toronto. Hopefully in my lifetime.

[@azisles02]

As an Islanders fan, watching them continue to fail when they KNEW bringing Tavares in from us would allow them to win, I love watching it. Yeah we haven't win a cup either since he left, but we made the conference finals 2 years in a row, but that's still more times than they've seen round 2. PS, I didn't have Toronto because they took Tavares. My hatred came from the 2002 Isles Leafs series

[@frogger1952]

I'm with you and I'm old enough to remember the 78 series v Leafs where they knew they didn't have our talent so decided just to goon it up. Jere Butler ran Mike Bossy into the boards and he was carried off the ice on a stretcher.

[@michaelmarkowski204]

Islanders were great in that era. It went Habs in the mid to late 70s to the Isles in the early 80s to the Edmonton Gretzkys in the mid-80s. Bossy, Trottier, and Potvin were great. Gillies = the most over-rated HOFer in history.

[@unclealan31]

Bettmans NHL is a curse to canada

[@thomass2451]

On a positive note, the Leafs also hold the record for longest streak without losing in the Stanley cup finals. 😂

[@IronSikh44]

There may be a curse but…the Leafs goaltending was a concern all year. Yet they didn’t go out and get an upgrade. And what cost them in game 7? Samsonov letting in a soft one on Lindholm. So is it a curse or miscalculation?

[@chelseafcfanisy]

Markstrom is awful. 😢

[@hockeyfan7100]

That's NOT what Vegas does. They've had multiple legitimate players with long term injuries(2nd most in league this year) go on LTIR able to play in playoffs with no cap hit- like ANY team can do, IF such a team has players injured under LTIR. If your team doesn't have such injuries, good for them. ANY team can still play whoever they want in the playoffs though.

[@Dratchev241]

Woll kept them in the series with wins in 5 and 6. idk if he would have gotten the W in gm7 but it is odd he got injured gm6 with .01 sec left in the 3rd thus putting samsonov in gm7.... not saying curse but to get injured with .01 left in the 3rd which puts the bad goalie in for the do or die game really smells like curse.

[@seniormale]

The only reason the ruski was in net is because woll got injured in game 6...

[@bethany_dawn5222]

In all sports teams go decades without winning the championship. Look at the Chicago White Sox, they went from 1917 to 2005 without winning the World Series. And the Red Sox went from 1918 to 2004. And let’s not forget about the Cubs 108 year drought.

[@VitoAnthonyD.-ow7oo]

Harder to win a WS than a SC.

[@bethany_dawn5222]

It was until baseball added the wildcard.

[@FoodFollow]

I'm 60. Have watched almost every Leaf game over the years. Don't remember seeing them win the cup. I feel as cursed as the team. It's hard to watch seeing the same results over the years. There's probably more than one curse. Leafs ownership and management ie Harrold Ballard and Punch Imlach were not the nicest of people to say the least. And present and future generations are paying for it.

[@willjam3068]

As a Sharks fan, I consider this the curse of Tavares. The Leafs needed a #1 D and the Sharks needed a #1 C, instead the Leafs went after Tavares to get over the Boston hump, closing the window on both the Leafs and the Sharks. Leafs ended up top heavy with redundant forwards, no depth, and no D or G, and the Sharks ended up with two top D who were each worse together than on their own, and then breaking up the team with the overpay to Karlsson. The Leafs have earned their curse

[@mariodejuliis4493]

Dont forget about the Frank Mahovlich curse , also 67

[@cls57]

Hillman is one curse theory. But the largely held one is the curse of the scum, deceased former Owner of the Leafs, Harold Ballard. His unlawfulness has cursed this team forever. The fans deserve better, but they are stuck in Cup he**!

[@sjtube6198]

Boston Red Sox had a pretty long Drought

[@guyh.4121]

They’re Cursed by Bad Management since the early 90’s.

[@rjmb9272]

As a ontarian yes they are….

[@user-he1jk3ho9c]

Thank you for the acknowledgement of the fact that, yes indeed, they are cursed. When I put a curse on the Maple Leafs after the 1967 playoffs, I really didn't have any idea how powerful my words were. I meant every word as I can't stand the Leafs, starting with Foster Hewitt and is horrid " down homer " verbalization of the team. The owners were an ignorant bunch starting with Harold Ballard. and things like pyramid power, the unknown fans ( paper bags etc ).Just to be clear, the curse is to be spread out over 101 years, meaning NO STANLEY CUP before 2068 at the earliest. I am holding onto a pretty powerful record. 57 years and counting. Leaf fans each year after their first Win, claim in unison that this is OUR YEAR. Shhhh 44 more years to go !!! Have a good summer playing golf !!!

[@bjorkstrand7773]

yep. they have 3 owners. should have one. Rogers Communications (37.5%) BCE (37.5%) BCE Inc. (28%) BCE Master Trust Fund (9.5%) Kilmer Sports (25%)

[@TheMcIke]

They're cursed by bad management... Brendan Shanahan has been the one consistent item across the last decade. Nice of him to try to appease the "curse" with money, but it's failed. Yea, they've made the playoffs 8 of the past ten years, but he's overseen a team that is not built for the playoffs. Just ask @steveDangle over at @sdpn... they live and die Leafs...

[@pkb4316]

Life and death are in the power of the tongue

[@David-ll2nq]

The Toronta 🍁 are cursed?GOOD!!

[@Salvatore1268]

My friends husband bailed after the 93 loss to the kings, he said it broke him

[@PatFrenchLeafsFan1]

I assumed it was like the day John Lennon was brutally murdered.

[@jamierichardson9888]

The state of the NHL has never been worse. The salary cap needs to reflect the fact that some teams players pay 20% more tax. They actually need to contract and not expand. Officiating is so far below par. The department of player safety is a joke. And Boston had an “ illegal redline “ rule 1.5 in the 2024 NHL rules guide

[@LeoMajor1]

As a leafs fan... they honestly depress me when I think about it. THink about how many leafs fans their are and how many people get a little down/stressed about the leafs. They aren't just "ruining out life" like dangle says... but even our health

[@BobM-kj6th]

If you like conspiracy theories, my is what I would refer to as the curse of the Centennial. After winning the Cup, in 1967 during our centennial, the cup was placed in the Ontario pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. Parading the cup, for the whole summer, in the city who you beat can be viewed insulting and therefore a curse was put upon the Leafs. This curse is equal to the curses of the Bambino in Boston and Billy Coat in Chicago. Like all curses they eventually end and for the Leafs it may be soon.

[@mariovaccarella6854]

Great Video, Brodie. I jokingly call it The Frank Mavhovlich Curse. LOL. I think that they'd traded him to Detroit not too long after The 1967 Stanley Cup Championship.

[@BillyJoeMcallister]

It's the Vancouver Curse, let me explain! After 1967 the Leafs last Stanley Cup the league expanded by six teams to twelve. The Leafs organization blocked the Canucks bid to enter the league that year over national television rights shared with Montreal. The league put a team in Oakland instead of Vancouver called the Golden Seals. The Seals failed as a franchise and years later were relocated. The Toronto Maple Leafs have never been to a final since 1967! The Vancouver Curse!

[@michaelleroy9281]

If you believe in curses then you're beaten even before you take the ice or the field

[@jamesdecember7323]

Yes Hillman lifted his curse in 2017 but the Chief Dan George curse remains.

[@shaunlitt]

The leafs aren't cursed. They have bad management. Anyone who thought the leafs were going to win a series this year, give your head a shake. Leafs lost their last 4 games of the regular season. The core is way overpaid for not proving themselves in the playoffs. Giving them all no trade clauses was stupid. They had no incentive to win.

[@dompalozzi4384]

Truth is they don't need to win to sell the game other teams do! That's it. Stop bs

[@GhostWizard138]

You’re a Bay Area legend Brody!