The Toronto Maple Leafs won't celebrate their centennial, or 100th anniversary, season until 2017, but it's clear that preparations are already underway. Via the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, it looks as though Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the owner of the club, submitted a trademark for approval on March 9.
It looks like this:
No color here, so we'll have to use our imaginations. I'm assuming blue and white and maybe a bit of red, because it's Canada and stuff. Oh, and silver. Definitely some silver.
Technically speaking, does this mean the Leafs' centennial celebration begins now? I mean, the Leafs do have to beat the Montreal Canadiens, who celebrated their centennial during the 2008-09 season. The Habs dragged out 100th season for what seemed like years, which you can easily see just by quickly glancing at Google:
Part 1 ... Part 6 .... oh, and in Part 8 of the video, Gary Bettman took a peek at his watch.
The Leafs need to go longer. They need to prove they're the better organization, right? The clock is ticking.
h/t James Mirtle