via i42.tinypic.com

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I keep reading articles about Leafs fans. Most of these articles look down their long noses at Leafs fans for not jumping on the bandwagon of other Canadian NHL teams in the playoffs. A Canadian team hasn't won the big prize since 1993 - oh the humanity!

I don't care if another Canadian team other than the Leafs wins the Cup ever again. Well, maybe Calgary, but they're mostly ex-Leafs players anyway.

Imagine (might have to imagine pretty hard) that Toronto is the only Canadian team to make the playoffs one year. Do you think a fanatical Habs fan is going to start chanting "Go Leafs Go"? Are the fine people of Vancouver going to set their PVRs every other night so they can hope to witness a Leafs victory? No. No they're not. But nobody's going to chastise those fans for being unpatriotic hockey fans because they don't want the Leafs to win.

Team loyalty is intangible, but it's so important. I am a Toronto Maple Leafs fan through thick and thin. It's been thin for a long time, but that's the price of fandom. When things get better, victory will be that much better. I can't just start cheering for another team because it's convenient, like most ex-pat Leafs-turned-Senators fans.

In my eyes, if the Canucks or Senators, or whoever, ever wins the Cup, their fans will just use it as ammunition against Leafs fans. As if we don't get enough "Maple Laffs" jokes, or "must be Autumn cuz the Leafs are falling!" comedic gems. Interesting fact: the Leafs have won more playoff games than any other Canadian team over the past 20 years. The Canucks and Senators have never won a Cup* and somehow they can berate Leafs fans for not winning in 40+ years? Imagine if they did win. It would be unbearable.

Another quick point; the team currently in the playoffs with the most Canadian players is Philadelphia. I love my country but it'll be a cold day in hell when I hope for the Flyers to win anything of consequence.

So there you have it. I'm not cheering for the Canucks because I'm a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It has nothing to do with patriotism, it has everything to do with loyalty.

*A different team called the Ottawa Senators won a Stanley Cup like 80 years ago, a team related to the modern incarnation of the Ottawa Senators in name only.