Wouldn't it be nice . . .

. . . if McFarlane Toys came out with a complementary piece to this one of Toronto's Darcy Tucker showing a player, such as Boston's Zdeno Chara or Buffalo's Paul Gaustad, milliseconds away from applying a clean, but body-rocking snot-knocker to the Maple Leafs' pest?

There's just something about seeing a Toronto player with his head down, especially one like Tucker, that warms the heart of any Leafs hater.

Rivalry aside

There are a couple of reasons why I'm not enamored with the Toronto Maple Leafs. As a Sabres fan, the Leafs are one of our biggest rivals. And, from a hounding standpoint, they are one of the most arrogant teams, though that has changed since Tie Domi, uh, "retired."

Neither of those reasons, though, kept me from hounding the Leafs earlier today. Granted, the fact that the team was staying less than three miles from the house didn't hurt.

All in all, it was a decent way (eight pucks and six cards) to end nine days of vacation. And, given the quality of players who stopped to sign, I certainly don't have any complaints.

Pucks shown above (clockwise, from top left):
St. John's Maple Leafs: Tomas Kaberle
Medicine Hat Tigers: Bryan McCabe
Quebec Nordiques: Mats Sundin
Toronto Maple Leafs: Andrew Raycroft

Also signing were Nikolai Antropov, Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Hal Gill, Pavel Kubina, Paul Maurice, Jeff O'Neill and Matt Stajan.