Leaf fans left crying into their beer

May 10 2001

Desmond Brown
National Post

The 300 Leaf fans at Wayne Gretzky's bar and restaurant stayed until the bitter end, hoping for

a miracle. They stayed even though the outcome of the game was decided in the second period, when the New Jersey Devils scored four straight goals.

"Even though they didn't win, I'm still happy with the way they played," said Angelo Berlasso.

"They showed a lot of enthusiasm and really brought the city together," he added.

"I thought they'd come out stronger after they scored the first goal," said Jeff Chambers, one of the four owners of the Leaf Mobile parked outside the restaurant. The vehicle, a Chevrolet Malibu, had been painted blue and white with Leaf players names emblazoned on the team's logo and a replica Stanley Cup attached to the trunk.

"I guess we're going to have to put the car away until next year," said Mr. Chambers, who named his cat Darcy, after Leaf centreman Darcy Tucker.

When Toronto took a one-goal lead into the first intermission, the raucous crowd, many wearing Leaf jerseys, thought the drought of 34 years without a Stanley Cup was finally coming to an end. Or, at least, it looked like the Leafs were ready to advance to the next round.

But the enthusiasm soon died when the Devils scored the slew of goals in the second frame to take control of the game.

When someone mentioned that the Toronto Raptors had tied their second-round playoff game against Philadelphia, one woman yelled, "Who cares! We're here for the Leafs." The Raptors eventually lost.

Over at the Hard Rock Café at the SkyDome, where the Blue Jays were losing to the Oakland Athletics on the field below, hockey ruled.

The overhead sound system, which usually broadcasts the play-by-play of the baseball games, was tuned to the hockey game.

And most of the patrons ignored the live ball game to watch the Leafs on the bar's television sets.

"We surveyed people as they came in and 95% of them wanted the hockey game and the sound turned up," said Jason Snow, the Hard Rock Café 's floor manager. "The majority rules."

Paul Uppal and his two friends had tickets for the baseball game, but decided to catch the hockey and basketball games at the Hard Rock Café instead. "We had to beg them to put the basketball game on," said Mr. Uppal.

Leaf fans hurled catcalls at Steve Harrison when he whooped it up after New Jersey scored their first goal.

"I'm a big Montreal Canadiens fan. I hate the Leafs and I have some money on the Devils," Mr. Harrison said.

The interest in the Leafs' fate was even high among those who did not flock to bars or bother to watch the game at home.

At the Canadian Tire store on Yonge Street at Davenport Road, customers in the checkout line craned their necks to get a glimpse of a row of 13 television sets on a shelf that were broadcasting the hockey game.

On Front Street, the play-by-play of the hockey game could be heard bellowing from a radio in a hot dog vendor's cart.

Passersby stopped to ask the vendor the score and shook their heads with disappointment when told the Leafs were losing