I have been pretty sympathetic to Dave Keon the former Leaf great and Hockey Hall of Famer who was treated so shabbily by that disgusting bully Howard Ballard. If I were him I would be plenty angry over that.

But to continue treating the current Leafs ownership and management (and by default the fans) as if it were the same regime that was so unfair to him is a little bit ridiculous.

David Keon, the Leafs’ captain from 1969 to 1975, said this was not a signal his long estrangement from the club is at an end. He was there yesterday with eight of the nine captains in the Captains Row portrait only because it was not an official club function.

“The Leafs aren’t involved with this, it’s as simple as that,” he said.

Keon was equally terse when pressed for the reasons behind his long-standing rejection of pleas by the club to make an appearance at the Air Canada Centre to have his number 14 hung from the rafters.

“It just doesn’t work for me, okay? Leave it at that,” Keon said

To this day, Keon will have nothing to do with the Leafs’ organization. It does not matter that Ballard is long in his grave, as two succeeding regimes have attempted to bring him back into the family. He has come close once or twice, playing in a couple of old-timers games and attending a game with former owner Steve Stavro, but has always pulled back when asked to participate in something formal.

Asked why he won’t come back even though different people are in charge, Keon says “they’d like to say they’re different, but it’s all the same.” He wouldn’t elaborate.

Apparently, one of Keon’s major objections is the club’s policy of honouring numbers with banners, but not retiring them.

That’s the extent of his anger? Some other hockey player is wearing his number? Dude, I know you were wronged by Ballard but now your just being petty. Everyone in this town worships you and you are acting like a child.

When asked if a reconciliation was possible Cap’n Dave had this to say:

“I would say never say never, but I would say it’s highly unlikely,” Keon said. “Things happen in your life and you move on.”

Funny, doesn’t seem like he has moved on at all.

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