Here we are at the half-way point of the NHL season and it can be either simple or painful when trying to explain the Toronto Maple Leafs season so far. Depending on whether you are an optimist and view the Stanley Cup as half full or a pessimist and view it as half empty.
A pessimist would look at the standings and point out the fact that the team sits near the basement of the Eastern conference. A pessimist would realize they have no chance of reaching the post season where as an optimist would suggest that they are only a short winning streak away.
The truth lies somewhere in between.
A playoff berth is certainly within reach, yet it’s hard to imagine a team that cant seem to win two games in a row making up the necessary ground to do so. This situation really puts management in a bit of a pickle.
Should GM John Ferguson Jr. blow the team up as the pessimists would suggest?
Should he trade their long-time captain and the face of the franchise for draft picks and prospects and shoot for a lottery pick in next year's entry draft a la Philadelphia Flyers?
Or should they go the route of the optimist and stay the course, strive to reach the post season and win one for that same captain who has poured his heart and soul into this franchise?
So far this season, the Leafs have shown that they can compete with anyone and make John Ferguson Jr. and Head Coach Paul Maurice look like brilliant hockey minds. Then the very next night they turn in a stinker and have Leaf's nation calling for their heads.
JFJ has failed to provide Sundin with enough support and has handcuffed this team from augmenting what they already have due to long, expensive contracts given to mediocre players. Maurice has failed to motivate this team to play a full 60 minutes blowing third period leads on countless occasions. Unable to keep the team on an even keel, getting perhaps too high after just one win an underestimating opponents.
Under the Pat Quinn era, if the Leafs weren’t as skilled as their opponent, you knew they were going to show up and give the opposition a run for their money based on team toughness and heart. Just ask the Ottawa Senators during the playoff runs in the late 90’s early 2000’s.
However this team is not Pat Quinn’s but instead John Ferguson Jr.'s (and Richard Peddie’s, but that’s a completely different story for another day). There doesn’t seem to be the mental or physical toughness each and every night needed to make the post season let alone compete for Lord Stanley’s Mug. But I have seen glimpses of it, and I know it's there.
Will they rally, get their dismal Power Play going, which used to be their bread and butter and work together as a team to give captain Mats Sundin what he truly deserves, or will they waste an all-star performance by their captain and continue this bus ride to the basement? They have until February 26th to prove to their fans and themselves that they are not a sinking ship, but merely breaking the ice in their path, or there will be some serious changes made, both on the ice and upstairs.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Sinking Ship or Ice Breaker?
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4 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Andrew Iles about 1 year ago
Right on Man! Couldn't agree more. It is time they took the cow by the horns and won a few in a row!!! Go Leafs Go!
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Pucker Iles about 1 year ago
I dont know who all saw the game last night, but when i wrote this i felt a bit of optomism....man that is shrinking
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Because the Leafs have had a few impressive games and beaten some “good” teams such as the Ottawa Senators does not mean they can “compete with anyone”. The Leafs are an inconsistent mediocre team and have been this way since the post-lockout season. Mediocre teams do have a few good games now and then, but they do not have enough good games to offset all of the bad ones let alone to be a contender for the Stanley Cup.
For the Leafs to be credited as a team that “can compete with anyone” they must, on a consistent basis, beat both the good teams and the bad ones. Obviously no team will win every game or even 80% of the regular season matches, but there should be some kind of identity that forms as the season goes on. The Leafs have failed to establish this identity for the last two seasons and now halfway into the third (since the lockout) no such one exists.
I do not believe the current roster has what it takes to establish a championship identity and that is why I vote for the rebuilding process to start today. Granted, because of the bone-headed decisions made by JFJ it can’t be done overnight, and it doesn’t have to be. However, over the next several months the Leafs can start the process that may, in time, produce a team that can be a serious contender for the Stanley Cup.
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Pucker Iles about 1 year ago
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said they have yet to form some sort of team identity. And that is why i referred to the Pat Quinn era of the Leafs. His teams always had an identiy.
But to suggest the Leafs are mediocre at best, although a fair assesment, must also be applied to every team in the East other than the Ottawa Senators. Its becoming a cliche but the parity in the NHL is real and mediocrity will soon be the norm. Any team can win on any given night. Highly touted teams such as the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, and Pittsburg Penguins (until recently) have not performed up to standards with far more talent. Would you consider these teams mediocre at best that cant compete with anyone?
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