Me, the Leafs, and this Crazy Season...

While I’ve used this blog to write about the Humber Hawks, it’s no secret to my friends that I am also a huge fan of professional sports, especially those from Toronto. There’s no bigger team in the city than the Toronto Maple Leafs, and when it comes to sports teams, they’ll always have the number 1 spot in my heart. But, oh boy, is following this team a crazy roller-coaster ride. I’ve been watching this team for over 20 years, and have been an especially avid fan since my early teenage years and have some highs but a hell of a lot of lows in that span. This team hasn’t even won a playoff series since 2004. I was 11 in 2004 and now I’m 27, but if I think about that too hard, I’ll just be really sad. Things were finally looking up since a few years ago when the Leafs acquired a slew of talented young players…what could go wrong?

The Leafs have been to the playoffs for 3 straight seasons with this exciting young core, but playoff success has not come as easily as many fans would have hoped. Year 1 with the youngsters came with low expectations and when they eventually qualified for the playoffs on the second-last game of the season, it was a pleasant surprise. The Leafs met up with the first-place Washington Capitals in the first round. Even though the Leafs lost, they pushed the Capitals to six games and even took 5 of the games to overtime and it was viewed as a huge success. The next season, the Leafs would finish with 100 points for the first time in 14 seasons, and things were once again looking up. The problem was the dreaded Boston Bruins would be matched up against the Leafs in round one of the playoffs. The Leafs would lose in 7 games to the Bruins this year and the next and act as the Leafs “white whale”. That takes us to this season.

This season got off to a rocky start like no season I can remember. A lot was made of Mitch Marner’s long contract negotiation, even though he would sign on before the start of the season. But despite a strong start from Auston Matthews, the team never looked in proper form, and had a hard time getting solid performances from back-up goalie Michael Hutchinson. A lot of the blame was thrown on head coach Mike Babcock, and he would be fired in the middle of his massive eight-year deal. He would be replaced by Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe, and for a brief shining moment, the Leafs were fun again. But once mid-January rolled around, the Leafs started to sputter once again, and for the first time in a few years, a spot in the playoffs was in doubt. However, with a road trip to California on the horizon, things were looking up again, as San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim all have weak teams.

The trip began with a meeting in San Jose with the Sharks. The Leafs don’t have the best record in the Shark Tank, but the team stinks right? A 5-2 loss later and the Leafs got their trip on a shaky start. The Leafs looked pretty good a couple days later in Los Angeles against the Kings. While the Leafs would get their chances, they couldn’t get any into the net and would lose the game in the shootout 1-0. Well at least they got a loser point for going into overtime. One last chance for a win would come the last night in Anaheim against the Ducks. An early goal by Anaheim would set the tone and the Leafs would lose the last game in California 2-1. A week that looked promising, ended in supreme disappointment.

Only a handful of games are left of the Leafs schedule, and the Florida Panthers are only behind them by 5 points (with games in hand) for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic division. It looks like whichever team pulls through will match-up with the powerful Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs. No matter how things shake out, you have to agree that things will certainly be eventful for the Toronto Maple Leafs.