Leafs' Shannon Survives California Nightmare

SAN FRANCISCO - Bizarre occurrences have a way of overtaking the Toronto Maple Leafs during their western swings and the NHL trip that wound up last night in Los Angeles was no different.

On Tuesday night, after a team dinner, Darryl Shannon came face to face with the reality of urban life in the United States. The cost was substantial - a broken nose, a cut over the eye, a jacket and $500.

Veteran Maple Leaf watchers will recall a whole series of incidents on the West Coast:

-- There was Ken Yaremchuk's ill-fated Manoleto routine outside a Mexican restaurant in suburban Los Angeles. Yaremchuk was the toreador and passing cars were the bulls. It was an engaging performance, but one that briefly deprived Yaremchuk of his freedom.

-- There was the Vancouver team-dinner fight between Allan Bester and John Kordic, which teammates said would have been much more entertaining had there been someone to cheer for.

-- There was the armed robbery of three Leafs who had stopped at the drive-through lane of a fast-food restaurant near their Los Angeles hotel. The one-liner that swept the league shortly afterward was that the robber was obviously not after Stanley Cup rings.

-- There was the time the Leafs arrived in Vancouver without goaltender Grant Fuhr, who had missed the flight from Winnipeg. This time the one-liner was that Fuhr's feat marked the first time that anyone had missed a plane out of Winnipeg.

-- There are many other West Coast anecdotes, going back to the '70s when Tiger Williams and George Ferguson had a disagreement about the nature of Ferguson's pregame preparation. Williams hid Ferguson's shoes so he couldn't go out in Vancouver; a fight ensued and Williams broke his hand when he missed Ferguson and hit the wall.

Tuesday night's incident in San Francisco didn't seem particularly amusing at the time, but by Wednesday morning, when Shannon proved to be alive, the participants realized that the ramifications could have been much more serious.

As Shannon and teammate Todd Gill arrived at the team's hotel by taxi shortly after midnight, they accidentally jostled a passer-by. Some words were exchanged and a wrestling match ensued but the matter quickly fizzled. They had been carrying their overcoats and jackets, and after they stepped into the hotel, they realized that Shannon's jacket, which had his identification and credit cards in a pocket, was missing.

There's no shortage of street people in the area and when the two went back outside, they were directed to a diner adjacent to the hotel. Gill went inside to ask about the missing items and while he was there, someone came up to Shannon and told him that the man who had his jacket was just around the corner in an alley.

It was at this point that a lecture about the differences between night life in Canada and the United States should have been delivered to Shannon. There being no lecturers handy, however, he followed the directions.

"It was a set-up," explained Toronto Coach Pat Burns, a former policeman who, unfortunately for Shannon, was not around at the time.

When Gill came out of the restaurant, there was no sign of Shannon. Gill returned to the hotel but when he found that Shannon wasn't there, went back outside again and was told where Shannon was and that he had just been mugged. Shannon, barely conscious and bleeding, was taken to hospital by ambulance and the police were summoned.

But events like this are routine occurrences in downtown San Francisco and not much hope is held out for the recovery of the money. Wendel Clark, however, was able to make a deal with one of the street people to buy back Shannon's ID, which allegedly had been found on the sidewalk.

Shannon was not a pretty sight the next day. His nose was cut and out of line. His face was bruised and he had a cut over his right eye that required a few stitches.

But it could have been worse. A lot worse.