Missing our onu Leo VIDEO (4)
Eestlased Kanadas | 15 Apr 2024  | Otepää SlimEWR
The slimster is old enough to remember rather well the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. Ho hum. It happened regularly back then, but for the last 57 years no one on skates wearing the famous blue and white has hoisted the trophy, never mind wet his whistle from that holy chalice. The indifference must be because blue, black and white flows through the hardening arteries – black is the colour of grief, of lamenting yet another loss in the playoffs.

Which are about to begin in the most important professional hockey league in the world. And it will be an uphill battle for the Buds. Again. For they lack the two components that make up a winner – a quality goalie and stud defensemen. In 1967 they had them, Johnny Bower between the pipes and stalwarts including Bobby Baun and Tim Horton on the blue line. Who are all resting in peace, fond memories of triumphant parades long gone. Or mayhaps still playing in the Elysian Maple Leaf Fields. For such a place must exist.

Reason perhaps for the evolution of the lean machine from fervent fan to a somewhat blasé reader of game summaries. Don’t get him wrong – the hometown boosterism still exists to a minor extent. But as the trials of youth proved by not learning to skate backwards an awkward lad never played the game with any skill. Might have been different if that had not been the case. The passion was there. Might have been driving every cold winter Thursday to the arena in the pitch dark to play in a beer league with “Clear the track, here comes Shack” on the truck’s 8-track, bravely belted at a bazillion decibels.

We are now on the threshold of annual disappointment. The regular season endeth this week, the blood and guts, never mind the octopi without which the playoffs would not be complete will litter the ice. ‘Twas happenstance that the eye was caught by a new book in the library, “The Awesome Game: One Man’s Incredible, Globe-Crushing Hockey Odyssey”. The author is a comedian named Dave Hill. Piece of advice: don’t check out his comedy online. His brand of humour is, well, not funny. Relying on a foul mouth. But he writes well, and sometimes succeeds in penning a witty line. Or two. The appeal of the book is in his maniacal support for good ole hockey. In addition to his zany takes and tales, some of which are laced with dubious claims (the author, born in Cleveland in 1974, claims to remember a Cleveland Barons game and saw his first ever favourite player, defenseman Len Frig, have a thunderous impact on both the outcome and the wee lad. The Barons were in Cleveland from 1976-78; hence young Dave must have amazing recall to describe that game in such depth.)

As is oft the case, we digress. On page three we find the first Estonian reference, reason enough to continue wading through the often-puerile humour. Hill compares poor NHL visibility - read attendance coverage of games in the 2023 US sports market -favorably with Estonian kiiking, in his words a “sport where people climb up onto a giant swing and attempt to do a full 360-degree revolution, something most of us only dreamed of us as kids.” Don’t mock it Dave. The gracile guy has done it, decades ago of course, and it is a blast.

Dave sets out on his Homeric journey, (defined as from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder) to places such as Poland, Kenya, Canada, of course, and Finland. During which last trip he bopped over the Baltic Sea and visited Tallinn, a city that he strongly recommends visiting. (No, really?) In Poland he met a professional Estonian hockey player, Alex Yakimenko, a “bow-legged” defenseman for the GKS Katowice team. Born in Tallinn, but played junior for Russian teams, he is now playing in France after a season in Finland. Not a NHL prospect, that’s for sure.

That is a key position for this city’s hockey team. The defense corps is not exactly manned by stalwarts. Which made the gracile guy long for a player from the recent past. Uncle Leo Komarov, born in Narva, (he communicates in five languages, among them a smattering of eesti) policed the ice as a forward, played like defenseman should, for the Maple Leafs from 2014 to 2018, after which the Leafs foolishly let him go to free agency, This after he had represented the team in the 2016 NHL All-Star Game. Onu Leo has also competed internationally on the Finnish national team and was a member of the 2011 World Championship and 2022 Olympic teams for Suomi, winning gold at both. And for what it is worth Komarov has also twice won the Gagarin Cup, the Russian version of Lord Stanley’s giant goblet, with the Moscow Dynamo team. Helluva pedigree!

So as we prepare for the inevitable, seeing Canada’s trophy be raised by yet another team (defending champs Las Vegas Knights are an expansion team fer crissake, only around since 2017!) one can only think of how the odds would have been better had the local management eggheads kept Komarov on the roster. He could have added to his impressive list of championships.

Oh, well. Even allowing for Dave Hill’s juvenile writing, his book, as an evening companion, with the TV screen dark in June is better than an elbow to the noggin from Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, the best ever, bar none.

OTEPÄÄ SLIM



 

Viimased kommentaarid

Kommentaarid on kirjutatud EWR lugejate poolt. Nende sisu ei pruugi ühtida EWR toimetuse seisukohtadega.
lugeja to the Slimster17 Apr 2024 05:49
Huh, that's interesting. According to Wiki he only speaks 4 languages and Estonian isn't among them so I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that can speak Estonian as much as you say. If I happen to see him on the street, I'll be sure to say something nice to him, he was a big favorite of mine!
The chagrined slimster16 Apr 2024 11:29
Thanks for the correction. A definite brain fart. Onu Leo plays like a defender, thus the senior moment. The article has been corrected. Apparently, onu Leo is able to have a brief polite conversation in esto, though like many here do, it is peppered with English….
Õ16 Apr 2024 07:25
Jah, see on õige, Leo ei ole ennast ise kunagi eestlaseks tunnistanud. Ta peab ennast peamiselt soomlaseks, tema isa on Soome päritolu ja ta on ülesse kasvanud Soomes. Aga siiski mängijate tutvustamisel NHL's kuulutati ta iga kord välja kui 'Leo Komarov from Estonia', kuna tema sünnipaik on Narva.

Loe kõiki kommentaare (4)

Eestlased Kanadas