RIP Borje

[Beaumaris]

Followed the Leafs since 1974. Borje my all time favorite.
God love you son.

 

[CapspaceKiller]

Sad to see him go, glad he got those 2 recent moments in Toronto. RIP

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

The happy part of this story is they honoured him and made him smile before this happened.

 

[ER89]

It was pretty sad, must admit.

When he cried during the standing O..

That got me ugh

 

[JT AM da real deal]

RIP Borje
We lost one of our greatest if not our greatest ever
Sad day for Leaf Nation

 

[Jozay]

So sad. Glad he had his moment here in Toronto.

RIP

 

[horner]

RIP King
Loved watching you play ( my favorite leaf of all time )
Glad leaf Nation was allowed to give you what you deserved.
To your family iam so so sorry for your loss, I can only imagine that he was a great family man .

 

[Habs10Habs]

My condolences to his family and to Leaf Nation. For those of you too young to have seen him play. Take a few minutes and check out some youtube clips. He was so fun to watch.

This is a very sad day for this hockey fan. I'm so glad to have been able to see his last tribute.

 

[On-the-Fly]

I hope the man left surrounded by elements most loved.

The ovation rings louder today than it did a few short weeks ago.

 

[Tak7]

In the building the night he was honored, it felt less like a tribute and more of a parting farewell.

I'm a younger fan, who never got to see Borje play live. However, you could feel the weight of his contribution to the sport amongst the older members of the fanbase that weekend. I'm finding comfort in the fact that he had one last opportunity to smile with us.

Rest well, legend. Thinking of his family tonight.

 

[LeafSteel]

This is just such a heavy loss to take….

Just devastated right now.

Rest In Peace Borje, and condolences to his family.

Such a crushing sense of loss right now….

 

[ItalianLeaf]

Really glad he got that ceremony before he passed. Young too at just 71. Really puts life into perspective that the government has essentially set the retirement age at 67 to receive full benefits. If you were Borje’s age and worked until 67 to receive your non reduced pension, you would have had just 4 yrs of retirement. Blows my mind when I think about it every time I hear someone has passed away so close to that age.

 

[Alamo Leafer]

Rest in peace hero

 

[Eddo22]

Thinking of Borje brings me back to my childhood in the 70's. Love that guy. My Mom also passed away from ALS, so I feel this one a lot.

Sad day, I hear ya, my mom passed away in 2018 from ALS. Many people don't realize this but one day an ALS patient can be doing decent, then the next day it all goes downhill and they are gone within a week.

 

[sittler rules!!!]

Although expected, still devastating. I was 12 when BJ came over. With Sittler's star rising, he and BJ quickly became my favs. Those colossal playoff battles against the Flyers, Roger Nielsen, some great memories. BJ is a legend.

 

[kihei]

Among a very short list of my all-time favourite Leafs. A great player and a class act.

 

[thewave]

 

[timlap]

Sad day, I hear ya, my mom passed away in 2018 from ALS. Many people don't realize this but one day an ALS patient can be doing decent, then the next day it all goes downhill and they are gone within a week.

It's true. In my Mom's case it was a long agonizing slow decline, but the transition from nearly fully functioning to lying in a hospital bed permanently happened virtually over night. I find once you've lost of a parent to ALS, ALS is always in subconscious somewhere.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

His former team in Sweden playing today and the fans chanting for him.

 

[timlap]

His former team in Sweden playing today and the fans chanting for him.

That gave me chills.

 

[Pete2000]

 

[aphyro]

So sad how the swedish government treated him his last days on earth... by refusing him his medication from Canada... R.I.P Börje!!! a hugh loss for Sweden! and i hope #21 will get retired in the National team and in SHL...

 

[nsvoyageurs]

I'm not a Maple Leafs fan, but I remember watching Salming play in the early-mid 1980s. He was one of their best lights on Leafs teams that were horrid on the ice and not much better off it, thanks to the reign of terror by Harold Ballard. When the team was competitive in the mid-late 1970s, he was among the best defencemen in the NHL.

He was a pioneer as one of the first European players to play in the NHL; took a ton of abuse from opponents but stood tall in the face of it. He was underrated as a player, lost in the shuffle a bit to the big 3 in Montreal (Robinson, Savard and Lapointe), Brad Park, etc.

My condolences to his family, the Maple Leafs organization, their fan base (especially whoever saw him play) and to all of you.

 

[Northernguy10]

I'm 70 years old so saw Borje throughout his entire career and absolutely loved him. The abuse he took especially from the Broad Street Bullies was phenomenal and he never ever backed down. The best Leafs defenceman ever in my opinion and only Tim Horton was even close. Bob McKenzie just gave a perfect analysis and tribute to Borje on Overdrive so I encourage anyone to find it online and listen to it. A true legend gone but never forgotten. R.I.P.

 

[rickthegoon]

Habs fan coming in peace.
Deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. Salming .
This fantastic D man was larger than life, and a genuine game changer.
Genuine legend.
Rest in peace sir.