Hang On Leafs Fans, It's Going to Be a Bumpy Ride!!!

Following the Toronto Maple Leafs season opener vs. the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night, I, being a Leafs fan felt absolute elation, as I'm certain did all other fellow fans of the Blue and White.  That elation turned to curiosity the next morning, as I couldn't wait to get on the ol computer and see just what types of stories would be found in the media, and Bleacher Report regarding the win.  It always amazes me that year in and year out, if the Leafs have a big win, we fans automatically think that we have a good shot at, at the very least a playoff run, and following that, who knows.  To paraphrase an all too familiar byline, "Once we reach the playoffs, anything can happen." 

Then Saturday night came.

Montreal Canadiens.  What more can one say?  In what should have been an easy victory for the Leafs, in the minds of many of the Leafs faithful, considering the glorious start on Thursday, our boys were revealed for what they are, a youthful team playing a new system against an extremely fast and skilled team which has been playing together in a familiar system for much longer.  The Leafs were simply overwhelmed.  How things can change over the course of only a few days!  Montreal's players, many small, fast and skilled made it much more difficult for the Leafs to counter, as they did against Detroit.  With speedy players like Grabovski, Blake, Moore, and the list goes on, they were able to capitalize on any mistakes Detroit made.  Montreal has similar types of players, although more than Toronto and arguably with more skill.  This style of play made the Leafs players look relatively slow, and the result would argue the same.

Unfortunately, as is all too often the case in "Leafland", many of the fans will now be looking for the nearest, tallest bridge to jump off of, while many in the local media will be even now constructing a guillotine for use on the Leafs brass and players because of the horrendous blowout of Saturday night.  It seems with our fans and media surrounding the team, it is always feast or famine, sink or swim...insert your own appropriate metaphor...Call it what you will, our fan base often deserves many of the negative assesments placed upon us by those outside of Leafs Nation.  Many of the fans tend to see either the best or worst possible scenarios, depending upon performance.  If this manic-depressive behaviour continues throughout this year, it truly will be a year of extreme ups and downs.  Fans of the Leafs, along with the media need to come to an understanding that Thursday nights win against Detroit is no more indicative of the season than Saturday nights horrific loss to Montreal.  The Leafs simply had an off night against one of the premier teams in the league, just as on Thursday, one of the premier teams in the league had an off night against a young inexperienced team, which on paper should not have won.  It happens.

For the remainder of the season, there will be more amazing and surprising wins.  That's hockey.  There will also be more horrendous blowout losses.  That too is hockey!  Let's just try, as fans of the Leafs and of the game in general, to support the team as it goes through the trial and error process of not only learning new systems and learning to play with each other, but also of rebuilding a team that has been decimated by inept management in the past.  If we critique the fortunes of the team on a game by game basis, it truly will be a rough road for the rest of the season.  Enjoy it.