The “Harold Ballard curse” refers to a widely held belief among Toronto Maple Leafs fans and hockey observers that the team’s decades-long struggles and lack of championship success are a direct result of the mismanagement, toxic culture, and damaging legacy left by former owner Harold Ballard.
_____________
I don’t believe in silly things like curses but I do believe in the power of suggestion and mind meddling.
The Leafs blowing a 3-0 lead in series has happened before. Leafs squandering playoff gold is not an isolated occurrence. Here we are again, a week ago, the Leafs were 3-0 in their series with the Ottawa Senators and now they are 3-2 playing their next game in Ottawa.
Not wishing ill on the poor Leafs, but Ottawa holds many advantageous cards in game 6: home ice advantage, home crowd, winning last 2 games in a row, momentum. Leafs hold no trump card: losing last 2 games, loss at home, now away in their next game. Things don’t look good for the Leafs.
Not to be all doom and gloom, the Leafs played a good game in their Game 5 loss. The score, 4-0, is not indicative of how well the Leafs played. They outplayed Ottawa in every way, shots on goal, offensive hits, power play advantages, face off wins…to no avail. Don’t blame it on Leaf goalie, Tony Stolarz. He played tremendously. Two of the Ottawa goals were into the empty net when Coach Berube played the card any coach would have in the situation, pulling his goalie for the extra attacker. The Leafs could have had a battalion of attackers in that game and they were not scoring any more goals. Lady luck was dancing with the Senators, not the Leafs. The Leafs had numerous goal opportunities but fate co-partnered goal with Linus Ullmark. He was particularly outstanding but Lady Luck played by his side. Leafs, 0 for almost 3o shots.
Where does that leave us? Senators on a roll, confidence climbing, momentum growing, returning home. Leafs? Slipping, sliding in confidence, sensing upcoming challenge as insurmountable.
Next game….Leafs will lose. And then returning home for the final, every bit of determination, drive, motivation gone. They will play their hearts out. The outcome, another upset, another year down the drain. Leafs eliminated.
I’m a Leaf, but maybe the kind of fan they don’t need or want. Fair weather friend.
-
Harold Ballard was the principal owner and president of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1972 until his death in 1990.
-
During his time, Ballard became infamous for his greed, poor financial decisions, and refusal to invest in the team.
-
He frequently mistreated players, underpaid them, and interfered with coaching and management decisions, leading to a toxic and unstable environment.
-
Ballard’s actions drove away star players, alienated staff, and contributed to a culture of dysfunction and failure.
-
He was also convicted of fraud and tax evasion, serving time in prison for his illegal activities connected to the team.
-
Ballard was known for firing coaches and general managers at a rapid rate, trading away top talent, and making decisions that prioritized his own interests over the team’s success.
-
Notably, he refused to re-sign franchise legends like Dave Keon and forced others like Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald out of Toronto through hostile actions.
-
His management style and personal behavior were widely considered abusive, racist, and detrimental to the team’s reputation and performance.
-
Ballard once told his son he would “run the club from his grave,” a statement often cited as the symbolic origin of the so-called curse.
-
Since the end of the 1960s, and especially following Ballard’s rise to full control, the Maple Leafs have endured one of the longest championship droughts in NHL history, failing to win a Stanley Cup since 1967.
-
Many fans and commentators attribute this prolonged lack of success, at least in part, to the lingering effects of Ballard’s mismanagement-hence, the “Harold Ballard curse”.
-
The curse is invoked whenever the team experiences bad luck, collapses, or organizational turmoil, symbolizing the shadow Ballard cast over the franchise.
-
While there is no empirical evidence for an actual curse, the concept serves as a shorthand for the damage a toxic owner can inflict on a sports organization.
-
The “curse” is often discussed alongside similar narratives involving other infamous sports owners whose teams suffered long-term consequences due to their leadership, viz. Boston MLB because they traded away Babe Ruth.
