Ralph Bickford has seen things that others can only dream about.
Well, if the others are all Toronto Maple Leafs fans, that is
Bickford has in fact seen the Leafs win the Stanley Cup, not once, but four times during his time as a fan.
And he wears his heart not only on his sleeves, but on his legs.
The double amputee sports large Leafs logos on his prosthetic legs to go with numerous shirts and jackets.
Ralph became a fan of the team in the late 1950s while growing up in Newfoundland. He said he adopted the team while watching them on someone else’s TV.
“This woman had a black and white TV and the only thing we could see on a Saturday night was Toronto or Montreal play,” he said. “That’s when I took Toronto over Montreal.”
As a superfan, he got to see the Leafs win it all from 1962-64 and again in 1967.
But then the drought began. Since that time, the Leafs have yet to hoist the top NHL prize. It’s been a long 58 years for fans.
Ralph lost his legs about 16 years ago. His daughter Candace MacPhee said his first set of prosthetics was just flesh coloured.
“When he first got his prosthetics, he didn’t want anything on them. It was a very difficult time,” she said. “But when he had to get new ones about eight years later, I said to him, ‘Dad, you’ve got to have some fun.’”
The physician advised them to get two Leaf T-shirts. They cut out the logos, which were then shellacked into place on the prosthetic limbs.
Ralph and his wife Rosalind moved to Chatham from Cambridge about a year ago, and despite being closer to Detroit and the Red Wings, Ralph remains a die-hard Leafs fan.
Watching the series with the Florida Panthers wasn’t easy for the family, just as it was for all Leafs supporters.
Ralph, like any dedicated sports fan, has an opinion on what’s wrong with the current Leaf squad.
“They’ve got a lot of money tied up in four players. It’s too much. The should instead spread it out and get a couple of really good defencemen, and a goalie,” he said.
Candace would love it if her dad could get to a Leafs game again in person sometime.
“He is such a phenomenal fan,” she said.
