The Maple Leafs “played their first Super Jackpot on Saturday night with $20,000 at stake,” according to the TORONTO STAR. The Super Jackpot is “in place for every home game against a Canadian team.” The terms of the licence state that the jackpot will be “limited to $15,000 for home games against American teams.” Money raised from the team’s “50-50 draws pale in comparison to that in other NHL jurisdictions where such draws are allowed.” The Maple Leafs “typically give away $10,000 -- on Saturday it was $12,000 -- as compared to more than $50,000” by the Oilers. The reasons include “provincial regulations, the feeling among some fans that they pay enough to attend a Leafs game without also indulging in gambling and the fact the charitably inclined might rather get [a] full tax receipt” (TORONTO STAR, 2/17).
SUBDUED CELEBRATION: In Toronto, Dave Feschuk wrote honoring the 10 members of the Maple Leafs’ ’63 Stanley Cup champions during the Senators-Maple Leafs game on Saturday was “a decent idea in theory.” But it “would have been far better if the gaping empty rows of platinum and gold seats that greeted the greats were actually filled with respectful throngs,” and it would have been “nice if those throngs offered a rousing and lasting ovation.” The significance of Saturday’s ceremony, whether “because of bad messaging or short notice, seemed mostly lost on those who made the snowy trip.” The pregame crowd was "sparse,” and the ovation was “friendly, but it was far from frenetic” (TORONTO STAR, 2/17).
