Sometimes a BeLeafer (New writer!!!)

Hey Everyone!

My name is Margo and I am a new writer for the this site. I’m really excited to have this opportunity and look forward to making you all laugh, cringe and occasionally get riled up with my comments.

I was born and raised in Toronto, but have only been a Leaf fan since 1998. I was a Wayne Gretzky fan as a kid, so the Kings were my favourite team. I used to play NHL 93 for Sega Genesis, and would rarely (if ever) choose the Leafs. I had much more fun fighting with Marty McSorley! Once Gretzky left LA, my loyalty wavered and I slowly gravitated towards the Leafs. Once they signed Curtis Joseph and brought Pat Quinn on as head coach, I was hooked.

That being said, I’ve been a die-hard fan since then. I’ve celebrated, yelled, thrown things and cried along with many of you over the past 16 years. Ok, not sure how many of you have cried watching the Leafs, but I have. I’ll admit it. I’ll get to that in a bit…

I love to follow the team and have some pretty strong opinions on players that should be traded/brought in, goaltending, coaching and more. I have a tendency to be an arm-chair GM. Sure, people might get annoyed with my opinon (aka my brother Steven, who you probably have also met), but it makes for an excellent debate!

I watch the same 3 Maple Leaf YouTube videos every single month:

(I had to pull up the link to that last one just to make sure it was the correct one, and I got emotional.)

So why do I watch these three videos every month? They bring out a raw emotion in me that I can’t explain. These moments remind me why I love this team. I remember exactly where I was for all 3 games and still feel like I’m there in a sense. When Stumpy scored that goal, I remember going absolutely nuts with my family (and partly surprised that Berezin passed the puck!) Against the Flyers, I’ll never forget that Darcy Tucker hit on Sami Kapanen. And Jeremy Roenick’s reaction after scoring… And that Sundin goal, my favourite goal of all-time. When that went in, I sobbed uncontrollably until overtime started. A friend of mine called me the moment the goal went in, and he couldn’t understand me because I was literally crying. If you can watch all three of those videos, and not get a bit emotional, then are you really a Leaf fan?