Hockey-playing buddies Thomas McCole and Jake Mednick were like most fans when they heard that the Leafs had hired straight-shooting Mike Babcock to guide the team during its re-build. But unlike most fans, these two area men also were hit by a brilliant stroke of whimsical genius — call it Babsocks. Yes, hockey socks comically inspired by the new coach. They started to work designing the socks and sourcing a maker. They didn’t even bother to ask Babcock if they could use his likeness. (He thinks it’s hilarious.) In a year, McCole and Mednick have gone from zero to a hundred on the novelty sock scale. There has been the St. Patrick’s Day Babsock, the Team Canada (Molson) Babsock and the Purple Babsocks in a special benefit for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). But the main show is the Leafs sock, blue and white (home or away) sold for $20 a pair (two for $35) with ten per cent going to benefit CAMH. Now Babsocks is open at 553 Mt. Pleasant beside the Regent Theatre near Belsize Drive. Don’t get caught without yours at Game Three.
