The Curse of Number 13
The curse of number 13 doesn’t have anything to do with Mats Sundin. However, the day that the Toronto Maple Leafs ended the Curse of Retired Numbers, the captain’s number 13 was raised to the rafters. He happened to have played 13 years in Toronto.
This number has a great deal of significance to the Leafs and not just because it represents what the Carolina Hurricanes have taken from the organization. Even though 13 is the number of new players that joined the Leafs at this start of this empty season, it’s also not why the number looms large.
In 1967 Toronto won its 13th Stanley Cup. It was their last, keeping the Leafs stuck on that unlucky number.
Historically, people have a fear of the number 13. Paraskevidekatriaphobia, the fear of Friday the 13th, afflicts eight-percent of Americans. The number itself is considered evil in numerology. That’s because it follows the perfect number, 12.
The number is also found to be evil thanks to its biblical appearances. In the Christian New Testament, the 13th guest to arrive at the Last Supper, the Passover meal where Jesus Christ was betrayed, was Judas Iscariot. In Norse lore, evil and turmoil were inflicted upon the world thanks to the mischievous god, Loki. He was the 13th guest at a dinner party in Valhalla.
Stuck at 13 titles, the Toronto Maple Leafs knew that they were cursed by the unlucky number on the 13th day of May in 2013. That was the date of the franchise’s worst game in history.
It was when the Boston Bruins took Game Seven of the opening round even though they were up by three goals with just 5:29 remaining into the third period.
Whether or not any of the curses are to be believed, the facts are indisputable. The Maple Leafs fans are the longest-suffering group in the NHL, having gone far longer than any other team without capturing a title.
In the major North American sports, only the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, and Buffalo Bills have longer droughts. What’s unclear is whether all those teams are also cursed.