Hope Springs Eternal (Unfortunately) in Toronto for the Maple Leafs

Don't look now, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to prove everyone wrong, and eyeing one of the final playoff spots in the East.

They aren't listening to the fans' cries for last place, the critics saying this team can't win, or even Cliff Fletcher who has promised that this team will not look the same come next October.

Whether they're feeling the tightening of the noose with that premonition, or they're just turning it on during the last month and a half of the season (like they have the past few years) remains to be seen—but whatever way you look at it, this team is exceeding expectations.

At one point, the Maple Leafs were just barely keeping their heads above water (if you can call it that) as they were last in the East, just barely making ends meet in an attempt to stay ahead of the Los Angeles Kings in the Surge for Stamkos (pretty catchy eh?), and they were the bane of Toronto's existence.

Steve Simmons anti-anything Blue and White vendetta was so full of ammo the man was crapping bullets, Cliff Fletcher seemed to age ten years since he got here (a curse that seems to befall any GM coming to work in Toronto—if John Muckler gets a position here, he might just fall over dead), and there were some empty seats at the ACC—something that hadn't happened in a long time...I mean, even in the Ballard years, fans were showing up the the Gardens—they had bags on their heads, but at least they were showing up.

Heading into February, the Leafs were 20-24-9, and by February 14th they were 23-27-9.

Then something happened. Maybe everything just started clicking on the ice. Maybe it's the fact that Andrew "Red Light" Raycroft (as my buddy Woz calls him) hasn't seen the light of day. Or maybe it's because that none of the Leafs got any..."special time" after their 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders on Valentine's Day (Graphic, eh?).

Whatever it is, for some reason it's worked.

Since February 14th, the Leafs are 6-1-1, and although they haven't been beating the one, two, or three seeds in the East (except for Ottawa...who's out of first, I might add—I'd like to think Toronto had a little hand in that) they have been winning.

What's more is that they're now only five points out of eighth, which is refreshing. 

So is tearing out your hair though, which is what I'm left to do (Ok, tearing out your hair isn't refreshing, but I need some kind of a lead-in, don't I?).

I mean, how do you choose between rebuilding with one of the top picks in this year's entry draft, or getting your hopes up for a month and a half while watching your team play excellent hockey, ultimately to fail on the final weekend of the season and have them try and turn a thirteenth overall pick into something magical? 

I hate choices. 

What's even more frustrating (or rewarding I guess) is who the Leafs have been doing this with. 

Mats Sundin wasn't supposed to be here after the trade deadline—he was supposed to be laughing it up with Anaheim at the top of the West, while the Leafs were going to be stuck with the Ducks' 27th overall draft pick (which in hindsight, doesn't look that attractive—unless, as reports are now suggesting, that they could have gotten the Edmonton pick...I still don't know what to think).

Well, in the past eight games Sundin has tallied five goals and six assists (eleven points), and has carried this team. Now that's not really out of the ordinary (especially considering this season), but he was producing like this through people trashing him, being asked to leave a team he loves, and writers speculating about his "desire" to win.

Yeah it's his job and he's a professional and blah, blah, blah—but I don't care about that. There are a select few people who can go out there and perform like this when the world is literally falling down around them, and Sundin is one of them, and I'm impressed.

Nik Antropov, who was mentioned throughout the world it seemed as being at the "height of his value", had a good chance of going somewhere. Well he didn't, and after the deadline Fletch gave him (and V-Tosk, but we'll get to him in a minute) a HUGE (note the bold) vote of confidence in saying that Lil' Niky was staying in T.O. for the long haul. 

But during these past eight games, Antropov has six points (four goals, two assists). Not huge numbers, but for a guy who had been cooling off as of late after an extremely fast start, it's a sign that those first few months of the season may not have been a fluke, and JFJ's best decision (the decision he made to keep Nik around when all of us would have rather had our grandmothers on the ice) may yet exceed our wildest dreams.

What of Alex Steen? Sure he was given a contract, but up until that point (and probably after) there was said to be some interest in him around the league. Well, after writing about how Steen could be a building block for this team for years to come, Alex went out and scored two points the following game. 

And you can add another two points (for 2 goals and 2 assists) since the contract signing (6 points since Feb. 16th) as well as a +5 rating to the past eight games for Steen. Granted, they aren't numbers that would blow you out of the water, but it's certainly production that the Leafs have lacked over the course of the year.

And what of Bryan McCabe? I mean, he was all but assured to be back home in Long Island by 3:00pm (Eastern) on February 26th right? Oh...you mean he's still here? In Toronto? And producing? Really?!?! 

Well, McCabe has four assists, and a +1 in these past eight games, but at least he hasn't tripped over the net, right? That's the main thing.

But then you've also got guys like Tomas Kaberle (six assists) who have been producing like this all year, Dominic Moore (two goals, three assists) who were brought in just to add some depth during an injury-plagued stretch and could now have a career-season (oh wait...I jinxed him now.....right), and Darcy Tucker, who up until the month of February (eight goals for the month, four since the 16th) had been playing like....well....Dominic Moore before he came to the Leafs.

Oh...and Vesa Toskala isn't Andrew Raycroft, which is good. And just so you know, if the Leafs were to win 12 more games with Tosk in net then we wouldn't have to hear the words "Andrew Raycroft" and "most wins in a season by a Leafs goalie" uttered again. I mean, there's 15 games left...but that would be nice...wouldn't it?

So are the Leafs going to make the playoffs? Probably not (I would say I hope not, but I'm not even sure what I want anymore). Is this team going to be drastically different come next fall? You better believe it will be. Are they going to turn this season into a mirror image of the last two and come bitterly close but just miss out, handicapping themselves for the rest of eternity?

Probably. History's a bitch, ain't it?

But hell, it's fun to be along for the ride I guess. And I mean, if you're unsure of what result you want for this team, Semi-Pro will be playing all month.

And it's pretty damn good.