Top Toronto Maple Leafs Pop Culture Moments of All-Time
Austin Powers Movie Franchise
No other pop culture figure has proved to be as dedicated to the promotion of the Toronto Maple Leafs as the Scarborough actor and comedian, Mike Myers. Myers has proven to be every bit as rabid in his support of the Buds as Drake has for the Raptors.
Myers has been dropping references to his hometown and favorite sport since his very first movie, Wayne’s World.
That initial Myers film featured hangouts such as Stan Mikita’s Doughnuts and the Gas Works-tributes to Timmy’s and the legendary Yonge Street rock and roll club, respectively. The movie itself was set in the town of Aurora, Illinois which was clearly inspired by Aurora, Ontario.
Meyers made his first reference to the Maple Leafs in the Austin Powers movie franchise with the first installment, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, where he named central characters after Toronto Maple Leafs stars of the 1990s, Doug Gilmour and Nikolai Borschevsky.
The Buds had come close to the Stanley Cup finals in 1993 and except for the infamous non-call on the Gretzky high stick infraction against Doug Gilmour, the Leafs should have had a Stanley Cup final berth against the Montreal Canadiens.
Myers rewarded those Leafs heroes of 93′ by including their surnames with characters in the first Austin Powers film. The significance of the names Commander Gilmour and General Borschevsky were completely lost on the vast majority of viewers, but were there specifically for the amusement of members of Leafs Nation.
A General Clark would appear in Austin Powers in Goldmember as a probable reference to Wendel Clark.
The third installment of the franchise, Austin Powers in Goldmember, included a scene with the character of Mini-Me sporting a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater, as well as a scene showing a TV news ticker announcement stating, “Maple Leafs Win Stanley Cup”.
The sting of losing the 1993 conference final to the Los Angeles Kings on that missed Gretzky high stick would warrant a cinematic exorcism, and Myers provided that in another film.