For as long as I can remember, I have had this bizarre connection with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It all started when I was about 4 years old siting down with my Nonno and Dad on Saturday night glued to the tv watching Hockey Night In Canada. It's interesting to now look back and understand how much taking part in this simple deep rooted, Canadian tradition shaped my childhood and life. Becoming a Leaf fan at 2 feet tall puts some serious hair on your chest well before nature puts it there!  A few things come to mind when I look back at the last 35 years and reflect on what it has meant to be a Leaf fan: incredible highs and even more disastrous lows, commitment to seeing things through, hard work ethic and many broken tv remotes! I vividly remember my dad taking me to games on Wednesday nights at Maple Leaf Gardens with a pack of twizzlers stuffed in my jacket and a feeling of awe that I still get today when I watch a game at the ACC. I have been fortunate enough to watch the great Leaf's teams of the 90's with Gilmour and Clark as well as the always exciting early 2000's teams lead by names like: Sundin, Roberts and Domi. We also can't forget about Don Cherry and Ron McLean. To this day if I miss a Coaches Corner, I will watch every second on YouTube because I have this connection and respect for Don and Ron and what they represent not only in hockey but in their communities. These Leaf and hockey icons shaped not only the way I played hockey as a kid but also shaped a part of me and fueled my incredible love for the game. The game like everything in life has changed so much over the last 20 years. Instead of a fight or a big hit, I'm now drawn to the television by Mitch Marner jumping around the ice or a deceiving Auston Mathews wrist shot. Either way, my relationship with the Leafs is a strange one. A love hate relationship is the best way I can describe it. I'm a: yell at the television, armchair GM, die hard leaf fan through and through but when I reflect back on what being a leaf fan has really meant to me, I am really lucky to have had a the chance to sit down with my family on that first Saturday night in '84. Now as a parent I will try and give my kids the same outlet and opportunity to get lost in the wonderful world of Leaf land so they to can one day reflect back and have their own interesting experience. GO LEAFS GO!