Fans paying big bucks not to watch
Tom Anselmi, the chief operating officer of the corporate entity that owns the Maple Leafs, ducked his head into Thursday night’s blowout loss to the Flyers.
Standing in the tunnel that leads to the Bay St. seats, Anselmi found himself surrounded by the quietest crowd on the Canadian side of the NHL, an announced gathering of 19,415 that sat through most of a 7-1 defeat in a depressed hush.
Along with no joy, there were no-shows all around, even in the expensive areas. Two rows up from the home goal net, there was a chunk of four platinums sitting unoccupied. Two rows above those, another foursome of empties. At a face value of $458.50 apiece, that added up to $3,668 in paid-for rinkside real estate. Those gaping holes in the crowd represented a season ticket holder or four who’d footed the bill for the ducats but decided they’d rather pass on watching a dead season’s final throes over $15 beers and $36 glasses of Pinot Grigio.
It was hard to argue with the decision. The Maple Leafs continued their abysmal slide with a gutless lambasting at the hands of the playoff-bound Flyers. Officially eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday night, the Leafs played with a institutional listlessness that suggested the organization had ordered the tank job that Brian Burke, the president and GM, has so sternly spoken against. Whatever the motivation, or lack thereof, the late-season no-shows suggested the club’s fan base has grown as apathetic as its on-ice employees.
On a night when the crowd broke into late-game chants of “Let’s Go Blue Jays!”, Anselmi said the mood is to be expected.
“Late in the season when you’re not in the playoffs — (the empty seats) are disappointing, obviously. I’m disappointed for our fans,” Anselmi said. “We’re seven years into it.”
It’s actually going on eight years since the Leafs last played a postseason game. If Leaf fans are patient by nature — one grey haired supporter wore a No. 67 hometeam jersey emblazoned with the words “STILL WAITING” to Tuesday’s game — this season appears to have tried the collective patience of Leafs Nation more than the run-of-the-mill journey to no- where. “Right now the fans are upset, and the fans should be upset. Because everyone’s upset. We’re upset,” Anselmi said. Still, Anselmi expressed faith in Burke. “You’ve got to stick with the plan and assess things and figure out where you are. Obviously there’s some holes in the team. So you’ve got to plug those holes. But you stick with the plan, don’t do anything rash and hopefully get it turned around,” Anselmi said. “Brian’s got lots of credibility. His track record speaks for itself. He and his whole management — no one saw this coming, obviously. But now they’ve got to step back and take stock. We believe in the plan, but obviously some parts of it haven’t come together.” The COO was asked to offer his interpretation of Burke’s plan. “The plan is to build through the draft. They’ve had three drafts.” It was pointed out that the idea to build through the draft must be a new one for a franchise that traded its first-round picks in 2010 and 2011 for sniper Phil Kessel, forfeiting to Boston the rights to current star Tyler Seguin and future star