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Kevin Armstrong The Hockey Writers

Published on Saturday, August 1, 2020

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Maple Leafs Desperately Need a New Goal Song

The Toronto Maple Leafs exhibition game against the Montreal Canadiens provided our first look at how games will be presented. There’s a lot of changes, from more camera angles to huge screens. But for all the changes, one thing remains the same in Toronto – the goal song.

From the Jock Jams 1999 tracks that play during stoppages in play to the worst goal song in the league – ‘You Make My Dreams’ by Hall & Oates, it’s all got to go.

Toronto Maple Leafs Ilya Mikheyev Alexander Kerfoot Morgan Rielly Rasmus Sandin
Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate a goal as a Hall & Oates song released 40 years ago plays. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov)

Before I get too critical and get hate mail from all five of the surviving Hall & Oates fan club, I’ll say this song may have been good 40 years ago when it was released. Heck, it may even be okay today. However, if you’ve watched every Leafs’ game for just the past two seasons, you’ve heard the first 45 seconds of this song 260 times. That’s how many regular-season goals the Leafs have scored at home during that time. That must be enough to make even Hall & Oates family sick of the tune.

Who Wanted this Song?

Clearly, I’ve held my disdain for this song for far too long, but the exhibition game put me over the top. It’s bad enough when this song plays under normal circumstances as the crowd noise sometimes drowns it out. But the piped in cheering was considerably lower as the song came over my television speakers. That sound is comparable to the most annoying sound in the world, as performed by Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber.

Related: Brass Bonanza – The Sound of Hockey

Let’s be clear, this isn’t Gloria. The 1982 hit put the St. Louis Blues fans in a frenzy during the 2018-19 season. That song had some relevance to the team. It was brought forward by players who saw fans loving the song at a bar, so they pitched it as a goal song.

St. Louis Blues fans
The crowd cheers after the St. Louis Blues win Game 4 of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

I’m sure there is no player on the roster who heard this, saw the crowd go crazy and lobbied his teammates to make it the goal song. If I’m wrong, please tell me so I can write my next article on why this player should be traded immediately.

Toronto Trolling Tune?

It could be looked at as a quirky trolling tune. The other team made the Leafs’ dreams come true when Toronto scores. That’s a stretch. I don’t think the opposition feels more shame when this song plays. They likely feel an overwhelming urge to cover their ears and laugh at the Leafs for having such a ridiculous tune.

Granted, Auston Matthews was asked about the song a few years ago and said he liked it. Now, look at what happened. He’s sporting the same mustache as Hall, or is it Oates? But Matthews is also buddies with a pretty famous, Toronto-area superstar – Justin Bieber. I’m not suggesting a Biebs track, my point is there are other options.

Promote the Homegrown Toronto Talent

Need more? There’s another pretty big deal in the music world from Toronto too, Drake. We all know how big he is with the Toronto Raptors, I’m sure he’d lend his talents to the Leafs. How about Toronto boy, The Weeknd? His song Blinding Lights accompanied by some strobes and flashes would be quite a presentation. There’s no shortage of local talent the Leafs should be promoting at their game. I don’t know if Hall & Oates are hockey fans, but odds are they cheer for their hometown Philadelphia Flyers.

The Washington Capitals players submit their own goal songs. This is a great idea. It’s similar to having a walk-up song that is used in Major League Baseball. The Washington Nationals, Gerardo Parra, switched his walk-up song to Baby Shark to get out of a slump. He not only got out of a slump, but the fans also loved it, and it became a rally song for the team en route to a World Series win.

Related: One for the Ages – Les Binkley’s 1967-68 NHL Season

There’s been a lot of change in the world, it’s time for the Leafs to change and introduce a new goal song.

The post Maple Leafs Desperately Need a New Goal Song appeared first on The Hockey Writers.


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