The biggest dissappointments were Blake and Bell. Blake shoots the puck from horrid angles, while Bell just sucked. Bell was the guy who was traded for star Martin Havlat. He was the guy who was supposed to be Thorton's tough-as-nails line mate, but never materialized.
Mabye as a Leaf though, right?
Half way through the season, he was relegated to the fourth line of a non-playoff bound team. His wasteful salary makes the first round draft pick trade for Toskala seem even dumber.
McCabe and Kubina gave us a mixed bag. It wasn't until the second half of the season before they both started playing to their potential.
Coliacovo was his usual oft-injured self.
The remainder of the team, for the most part, lived up to expectations. But when a significant chunk of a team's top two lines don't produce, it hurts.
Number Five - The Fans and the harsh media.
Toronto might be the hardest market for a professional athlete anywhere in the world. They are under a microscope, and underperforming/overpaid players get booed relentlessly when the team is losing. Players may say it doesn't get to them, but it does. The stress compounds their bad play, and instead of a three game skid, they might go on a ten game slide, all because the scrutinizing fans and negative media attention.
There is a flip side to this argument. When the team is doing well overall, the fans can forgive a few bad games and be a real boost to help get the team out of a funk. Unfortunately, Toronto didn't put any consistency together until it was too late.
Better luck next year.
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