TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished two surprising feats Saturday night -- they swept the Chicago Black Hawks out of the playoffs and revived the uninspired Maple Leaf Gardens fans.
With the glory days of the Maple Leafs long past, the Garden crowds have become known for their indifference. But Toronto's first victory in a playoff series since 1979 triggered a startling transformation.
A capacity crowd of 16,382 rocked the arena with standing ovations when the Maple Leafs appeared during their pre-game skate and to start the game. Banners declaring 'Bye-Bye Chicago' and 'Leafs, Stanley Cup champs' decorated the walls. In the closing seconds of Toronto's 7-2 victory that elimated the Black Hawks from the best-of-five Norris Division semifinal, the fans tossed brooms on the ice to signify the sweep.
'I had heard that the fans here could make big noise, but I thought that it was just a rumor, a legend,' said Toronto's Ken Wregget, who provided outstanding goaltending in his first playoff series.
The triumph was especially sweet for a pair of Leafs veterans, defenseman Borje Salming and right wing Rick Vaive. Things had deteriorated so badly for Toronto over the past few seasons that Salming was afraid to walk the streets of the city for fear of being recognized.
'This is just great and it makes up for all those bad years, all the times when we missed the playoffs or figured we should climb the ladder but didn't,' said Salming, who has endured 13 seasons with Toronto.
It has been a frustrating campaign for Vaive, who had three straight 50-goal seasons before tailing off to 33 this season. He was stripped of his captaincy earlier in the year for sleeping in and missing a practice.
'This is the first time I've won a series in professional hockey and I feel good about it,' Vaive said. 'It's time to forget about the problems and concentrate on all of this.'
Toronto center Russ Courtnall collected two goals and an assist in Saturday's victory.
The outcome capped Toronto's baffling domination of Chicago this season. The Leafs, who finished 29 points behind the Norris leading Black Hawks in the regular season, won nine of 11 meetings between the teams. The playoff rout also marked the first time Toronto has managed three straight victories this season.
'It's hard to say,' said Toronto coach Dan Maloney when asked to explain his team's success against Chicago. 'Some times, you just get a team's number. We certainly had the edge over them psychologically this season.'
Chicago center Denis Savard, who scored four goals in Thursday's 6-4 loss at home, said this was the low point of his NHL stint.
'This is the biggest disappointment of my career,' he said. 'Even after (losing to Edmonton in the Campbell Conference final) last year, I thought we were capable of going a step further.
'Toronto deserved everything they got. I couldn't believe we lost the first two games in Chicago, but a good goalie (Wregget) can do that to you.'
The Maple Leafs will face the winner of the Minnesota-St. Louis series in the Norris Division final. The Blues lead that series 2-1 with Game 4 Sunday night. Though Toronto managed only a tie in eight games against Minnesota and split the season series with St. Louis, the players said they had no preference on their next opponent.
'It doesn't matter who we play,' Salming said. 'We're a confident team now. We're pretty high now. We've got to keep on doing the same thing.'
While the team and its fans glow with optimism, the realists still concede the only real chance the Maple Leafs have of seeing the Stanley Cup this season is if they pay the admission price at the nearby Hockey Hall of Fame.
