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Toronto Maple Leafs on Valentines Day: How Do I love thee?

By Andrew Kogut

TORONTO - OCTOBER 4: Too celebrate the achievements of three former Toronto Maple Leafs players, Leonard "Red" Kelly, Clarence "Hap" Day, and Borje Salming, members of the Toronto Maple Leafs wear their numbers on their jerseys prior to the raising of the banners barring the numbers 4 and 21 to honor their contributions to the hockey club on October 4, 2006 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Senators defeated the Maple Leafs 4-1. (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)
TORONTO - OCTOBER 4: Too celebrate the achievements of three former Toronto Maple Leafs players, Leonard "Red" Kelly, Clarence "Hap" Day, and Borje Salming, members of the Toronto Maple Leafs wear their numbers on their jerseys prior to the raising of the banners barring the numbers 4 and 21 to honor their contributions to the hockey club on October 4, 2006 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Senators defeated the Maple Leafs 4-1. (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – FEBRUARY 7: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Valentine’s Day is upon us, Toronto Maple Leafs fans, so I thought I’d set the mood right, after providing a little background history first, of course.

Valentine’s Day can be traced all the way back to the 3rd-century, commemorating Saint Valentine, a Roman clergyman, who attended to persecuted Christians during the Roman Empire. He was martyred and buried on February 14th, which ultimately became associated with the Feast of Saint Valentine (Although he is just one of three martyred saints who is recognized as being the potential inspiration for Valentine’s Day).  

The connotation of love and romance in connection with this day is widely believed to have occurred much later on, sometime in the late 14th-century, based on the writings from famed poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Whatever the case, in modern times the occasion has morphed into an industry in and of itself, responsible for mass-production and commercialization to such extremes that would make an amazon executive blush. Chocolates, flowers, greeting-cards, horrible movies, the abhorrent Hallmark channel; the possibilities to capitalize on susceptible human emotions are endless!

And speaking of capitalizing on emotions for profit, MLSE’s Toronto Maple Leafs are riding high this season, sitting near the top of the standings in wins, winning % and goal-differential, all while sporting a top-5 PP and PK. Oh my, just writing that is enough to make my heart melt.

So as Valentine’s Day nears (just as, yearly, the Oilers seem to fire their coach) let me take a moment to conjure my inner poet from the Romantic period and serenade key Toronto Maple Leafs contributors with rhymes and prose that profess my love and admiration:

AUSTON MATTHEWS (Sonnet 18, Shakespeare)

Shall I compare thee to a Mats Sundin?
Thou art more moustachey yet as temperate
Rough winds do shake these Buds past May
As playoffs’ lease hath too short a date
Sometimes so hot, the wrist-shot shines
And often, when his facial hair dimmed
And his scoring, fair, with no declines
Even as moustache grew, untrimmed
But thy eternal Sundin shall not fade
Nor lose possession of fair home seed
Nor shall death dissuade you from Finals made
When in eternal first-round losses breed
So long as fans can breathe, or eyes can see
So long lives this, thy must give life to Stanley

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