THE MOST REVILED MAPLE LEAF EVER.

Mitch Marner has nothing on Larry Murphy. Not even close.

Maple Leafs all-star defenseman Larry Murphy in 1996.

It’s not often that you hear a player booed by his own fans in his own rink. It happened this postseason at the ScotiaBank Arena when some frustrated Maple Leaf supporters booed Matthews, Marner and Nylander during the team’s unsuccessful playoff run (again). Marner probably got the worst of it. They say Toronto is a tough town to play in, so why would Marner want to put up with all this bullshit? If I were him, I’d be thrilled to get out of town via free agency and kickstart my career with a team that wants me and a fanbase that appreciates my talents. I mean, who wants to play in a place where the fans are constantly pointing out my (and the team’s) shortcomings?

All this hate for Marner reminds me of the time the Maple Leafs had a player on their team who incurred the wrath of the fanbase like never before or since. A lot of times, a player gets booed, not so much for poor play, but because he earns millions of dollars a year and isn’t providing a good return on investment. The fact that he’s seeking even more money for his next contract just rubs some people the wrong way. And with social media fanning the flames, Mitch Marner knew that, even if he had another 100-point season, he would still have to endure the haters in Toronto.

Toronto Star article from February, 1997

Imagine getting booed every time you touched the puck in your own rink. That’s what happened to Hall of Famer Larry Murphy late in his tenure with the Maple Leafs. He was despised. The boo-birds were relentless, but Murphy was 35 years old and making $2.35 million (U.S.) so he was the scapegoat on a team of aging veterans that Toronto Star reporter Paul Hunter termed “a remarkably awful team”.

A lot was expected from that 1996-97 squad. The year before, under Pat Burns and, later, Nick Beverley, the Leafs were bounced by St. Louis in the first round. Larry Murphy was an all-star on that team and third in scoring behind Mats Sundin and Doug Gilmour. But when Mike Murphy, his former teammate in Los Angeles, took over behind the Leafs bench in the fall of ’96, he put Larry in the difficult position of having to cover for his teammate’s mistakes most of the time. The Leafs had a lot of “passengers” on that team, and Larry Murphy, despite giving an honest effort most every night, was singled out by his coach one evening in Calgary.

I was doing colour commentary on the radio broadcasts and was travelling with the team. I was on all the charter flights as well as the bus rides to the airport, the hotel and the rink. I had many conversations with the players and the coaches during these times and got to know some of them very well. We had just gotten off a flight from Los Angeles, where the Leafs had tied the Kings 4-4. Larry Murphy did not have a great game, but neither did most of the Toronto players. At the time, Murphy had a 279 consecutive games streak going, which was impressive, especially for a defenseman. Mike Murphy sat down next to me as we waited for our luggage to arrive and asked me flat out.

“What did you think of Murphy’s performance?”

Now, Mike and I had chatted a lot, but he never once asked me how I thought somebody had played. I told him he was no worse than any other Leaf player. The Leafs were in last place in the NHL at the time, a huge disappointment, and rumours were flying about Doug Gilmour getting traded and breaking up the entire team prior to the deadline. Gilmour would be traded a week later to New Jersey along with Dave Ellett. Kirk Muller and Larry Murphy would be gone three weeks later.

“Well, I’m thinking of scratching him tomorrow night and playing Matt Martin instead.”

Matt Martin had sat in the press box for 34 of the Leafs first 57 games to that point. When he did play, he reminded many of a scared kitten. He was not an NHL defenseman, and this would be his last season, but coach Murphy wanted to prove his point and send a message to the other veteran players. It was the wrong message.

“You know that Murph has a consecutive-games streak going, right, coach?”

Coach Murphy didn’t care. He needed to use somebody as an example, and he threw his best defenseman, Larry Murphy under the bus. The next night, Larry was out for the pre-game warmup, unaware of the coach’s plan. When he came back to the dressing room, he was told to take off his uniform and go to the press box as a healthy scratch for the first time in his career. The Leafs lost 3-0 in Calgary, and Larry Murphy brushed past reporters after the game, while his coach explained why he had scratched him.

“Larry Murphy made mistakes of mental laziness the other night. He’s not the only one, but something had to be done.”

After that, the booing became more aggressive at Maple Leaf Gardens. I mean, when your coach is calling you lazy in the press, the fans are not going to forget that. Even before Murphy received a pass from a teammate, the leather-lungs let him have it at Maple Leaf Gardens. It got to be ridiculous, almost comical.

I remember hearing some Leafs fans boo Bobby Orr and Guy Lafleur when they came to Toronto and couldn’t figure it out. Are you booing because you dislike them or are you booing because you wish you had them on your team? Larry Murphy would never admit to hearing the boos in Toronto until after he was traded. He was very professional about things when he spoke to Paul Hunter.

“Booing me seemed to be the trendy thing to do and it got to the point where it had no reflection on how I was playing. It was constant.”

Indeed, Murphy was the team’s number one defenseman after Matthieu Schneider went down for the season with a recurring groin injury. But since he wasn’t the quickest player in the league, his mistakes were magnified and some of the louder fans at the Gardens would make their feelings known. Coach Mike Murphy wasn’t crazy about him either, so he had him shipped to Detroit for nothing. I happened to call the Gardens switchboard on a whim and asked to be connected to the trainer’s room. I expected Brian Papineau to answer, but instead it was Larry Murphy, who confirmed the trade and was just packing up his gear when I called. I wished him good luck in Detroit and then watched as the Leafs crumbled without him and the other veterans who had worn out their welcome.

The Leafs did not make the playoffs, but Detroit ran the table that year, taking out St. Louis, Anaheim, Colorado, and finally, sweeping Philly to win their first Stanley Cup in 42 years. Larry Murphy led the Wings with a plus 16 in the playoffs and then won a second Stanley Cup with Detroit the following season, making it four Cup rings in his career, that culminated with induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Mike Murphy, the coach who scratched him and ended his consecutive-games streak for no reason other than to make a point, lasted two miserable seasons in Toronto where his teams failed to make the playoffs. His record was 60-87-17. He never coached another NHL game and is not in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

I suspect that Mitch Marner will be a Hall of Fame candidate in the next few years, barring injury or a prolonged, unexplainable slump. He’ll register his 1,000^th NHL point in the next three or four years, and could very well be playing for a championship team while the Maple Leafs continue to try to figure out how to win a playoff series. Too bad the fickle fans won’t have Marner to kick around anymore.

Good luck, Mitch. Hopefully you won’t get booed when you show up in a visitors uniform next season

.