The Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase has often been characterized in a certain way. It’s been criticized by other fanbases, sometimes by the media, and even the players at certain points in time.
It’s hard to play in Toronto. It’s hard to please the fans.
There’s merit to those statements to an extent. Playing in Toronto is hard. It’s a fishbowl. The pressure is relentless. The expectations are sky-high. Every mistake is exacerbated by the ever-increasing weight of 57 seasons without Lord Stanley.
But that’s the point. It should be. Putting on the blue and white comes with the history and weight of expectation. Being a Toronto Maple Leaf is hard, and that’s part of what makes it special.
Relentless Leafs fans
It’s no secret that this fanbase has put its fair share of players in the doghouse over the years. Jake Gardiner wore the goat horns for stretches during his tenure due to his disastrous decision-making in key moments of pivotal playoff games. Stars Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf drew the ire of the fanbase in its dark ages when the team didn’t win much.
But despite the cynicism and often combative nature between the players of this team and this fanbase… it’s not all bad. This fanbase, this doom-expecting, heartbroken-a-few-too-many-times, and sometimes disenfranchised fanbase does have its heroes.
Wendel Clark. Tie Domi. Borje Salming.
In a league that has rapidly evolved since Toronto’s glory days, perhaps there is still a hint of nostalgia from its fanbase that yearns for a whisp of the magic that imbued those Leafs legends all those years ago.
This fanbase worships players that want to be here. That bleed blue and white. They adore the players who wear their hearts on their sleeves. They want players who see the Maple Leaf the same way they do. Most importantly they want players who show that passion both on and off the ice.
That’s why just two games into the new season Steven Lorentz is already worming his way into the hearts of Leafs faithful.
Enter: Steven Lorentz
His media presence has been refreshingly authentic and a change of pace from the sometimes artificial nature of PR-prepared answers.
“Being able to hoist the Stanley Cup here in Toronto would be just incredible for everybody.”
“Coming from this area of town or being just an hour away it was my dream to be a Maple Leaf my whole life.”
Then after that came the photo gallery, picture after picture of Lorentz as a child in a Leafs jersey, his Grade 8 Yearbook self-prophesizing that he would become a Toronto Maple Leaf in 15 years, and Pajama Boy 2.0.
Steven Lorentz is all of us in that aspect. A die-hard fan of his childhood team. Only he gets to live it.
The 6’4” forward with a baby face started off this season with a multipoint performance against the New Jersey Devils; bringing a wrecking-ball style of play at the forefront.
In a Berube system that often emphasizes a suffocating forecheck, and constant tight pressure on opposing defenseman on retrievals, Lorentz has taken to it like a fish in water.
He’s been engaged, throwing his body around on the forecheck, using his speed to apply pressure and he’s been all around the net while providing some value on the penalty kill.
He’s checked every box so far except one.
A fight.
Lorentz stepped up for Max Domi two years ago when the two were with the Carolina Hurricanes after a Trouba hit. Something tells me it won’t take long to see him step up again if the situation calls for it.
Steven Lorentz isn’t the next Tie Domi or Wendel Clark, but the 28–year–old Kitchener, Ontario native brings exactly what those Leafs legends did in one respect.
Passion.
I like that. Leafs Nation will love him for it too if they don’t already.
