New Maple Leafs statue doesn’t depict players trying to flee team (Photo)
The Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday revealed plans for a new statue in front of the Air Canada Centre.
The bronze monument will feature a 30-foot granite bench, and we know what you’re thinking: If it’s the Leafs bench, Colton Orr should be on it, right?
WRONG! This bench, called “Legends Row,” is going to feature some of the greatest players in the history of the franchise, like David Clarkson Teeder Kennedy, the player first announced for the honor.
“In addition to our focus on building a winning team for today and the future, there is an important responsibility to celebrate our team’s history and to create opportunities for a strong connection between our fans and that tradition,” said Brendan Shanahan, President and Alternate Governor of the Toronto Maple Leafs. “Legends Row will be a fitting tribute that honours many of the greatest players to ever wear the Maple Leaf while giving our fans the chance to feel a part of that history. We are thrilled to include Ted Kennedy, a player who always gave everything he had to his team, and two other Leaf greats, as the first three players to be recognized.”
It’s actually a really cool looking statue, as these things go. Much better than the Penguins’ tribute to Rich Pilon, for example. And far less creepy than having the ghostly visages of dead players in front of you in the press box on those ACC banners. STOP STARING INTO MY SOUL KING CLANCY!
The Leafs are going to announce the other two "first additions" for the sculpture at their first ever Fan Fest on Sept. 6. To hear Kennedy’s son Mark tell it, this is going to be quite an honor: “I know that the idea of being immortalized in his number 9 Maple Leafs sweater, alongside some of the best players to ever play for this great franchise, would bring a tear to his eye.”
That’s what’s it’s all about, folks. It’s enough to make you ignore that the statue sorta looks like a group of players hauling ass to get away from the Leafs. But then James Reimer would have been the first player announced …
