The seemingly endless debate over how Leaf fans should greet Mats Sundin when he steps onto the ice as a member of the visiting team will be mercifully laid to rest Saturday night when Vancouver drops by the ACC to play Toronto.And to that I say, hallelujah. This silliness has been going on since mid-December when the former captain signed with the Canucks. Heck, the stimulus package hasn't received this much attention during this time, for heaven's sake.
Things escalated so much last Saturday that I had to unplug the TV and radio and cancel my newspaper subscriptions to get a break from the commotion.
Sadly, it didn't even make a dent, so Sunday I disconnected my phone and computer, too.
Still, the onslaught continued.
Family Day was the last straw. When neighbours started pounding on my door to find out where I stood on the subject, I took the only option available to me. I snuck out through my bedroom window and made a beeline for the library, immersing myself in the collected works of William Shakespeare.
Alas, that didn't help matters either. Even the venerable Bard of Avon was a closet Leaf fan, it turns out. There are numerous mentions of the Sundin controversy sprinkled throughout his plays. Here is but a snippet:
"Too boo or not to boo, that is the question."
Hamlet, Act III, Scene I
"Let's carve him with a diss fit for the Gods."
Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene I
"Uneasy lies the head who wore the 'C'."
Henry IV, Part II, Act III, Scene I
"A hoarse, a hoarse, my kingdom for a hoarse sports talk show host, so we don't have to listen to any more of this ridiculous drivel."
Richard III, Act V, Scene IV
"All the league is a stage and all the men merely players. They have their exits and their entrances and one man in his time plays on many teams - unlesseth of courseth he haseth a noeth tradeth clauseth. Then, when he playeth out his optioneth, he can goeth anywhere he wanteth."
As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
"If you prick me, do I not bleed? If you tickle me, do I not laugh? If you poison me, do I not die? And if you razz me, do I not seek revenge by setting up Demitra in the slot for the winner in overtime?"
Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene I
"Friends, Romans, countrymen and hello Canada and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland, I come to praise Sundin, not to boo him."
Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene II
"Beware the ides of March trade deadline, for we may soon be wondering if we should stick it to the gallant Kaberle on his first return to town, too."
Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene II
"Good night, Swede prince. Parting is such sweet sorrow. But don't get too complacent if you got off easy this eve, because you can bet your sweet bippy you'll be getting the raspberry big time, when the Canucks play in Montreal, two days after tomorrow."
Romeo and Juliet, Act II Scene II.