Toronto Maple Leafs: Bruins Curse or Bad Timing?

We've had two hockey teams in Toronto this season, both wearing the blue and white. One team has been exciting to watch, while the other makes us question our faith from time to time.

James Reimer made the surprise start for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday against the Boston Bruins, but even his return wasn't enough to inspire his mates. Most of the Leafs skaters looked confused on the ice, as if all of them were playing for the first time in weeks.

Those who weren't confused were overwhelmed.

Where were the Leafs who crushed the Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning a couple of weeks ago? Where was the resilience they showed in a 4-3 shootout win over the Dallas Stars?

Where was the skill, speed and efficiency they showed in an easy 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks?

Looking down the Leafs roster, you can see many players who can skate with the best of them; speed is one if the Leafs' greatest assets.

Boston doesn't possess the speed that Toronto does, so instead of trying to match Toronto's speed, they merely prevent any opportunities for the Leafs to ever use their speed.

A great strength for the Bruins is their physical style of play, but in normal circumstances a strength versus speed matchup would make for an entertaining show.

So how is it that the Bruins are always able to negate every one of the Leafs' strengths while also making them look like a bunch of rookies?

Nobody can argue that the 2011-12 Leafs are better than the Leafs of recent years, but by how much is a point of hot contention.

Are they a legitimate playoff team that had the misfortune of playing the Bruins three times during their amazing 13-0-1 run, or are they are bunch of posers who will end up fighting for ninth place?

Back in high school, I played volleyball (usually in the bench position). We had a pretty good team, so we were used to rolling over most of the teams we played. After a lot of these games, the guys would joke, "Well, at least they had spirit!"

Sadly, the Leafs haven't even had that during their four losses to the Bruins this season.

It's been that bad.

The Leafs currently have a 14-10-2 record. If you take out the losses to the Bruins, you get a 14-6-2 record. If you replace those four games against the Bruins with four games against any combination of other teams, the Leafs would undoubtedly have a better record than they do now.

This, and the fact that there are two Leafs near the top of the NHL scoring race, should tell you that the Leafs are a good team this year.

Good, I said, not great.

The Boston Bruins are a great team.

Great teams, as well as great players, have a way of messing with your head. Great players will make you change the way you normally play—they'll back you off, wear you down and make you look silly.

Great teams, like great players, can shake your confidence. When they repeatedly show their dominance over you, you start second-guessing yourself and start panicking a bit.

This seems to be what is happening with the Leafs and Bruins.

The Bruins are dominating the Leafs so badly that every time they meet, the normal Leafs are replaced with bone-headed klutzes who couldn't pass their way out of a wet paper bag.

Between the lockout and the 2010-11 season, the Buffalo Sabres absolutely dominated the Leafs, leading to a "Buffalo curse."

After going 0-2-1 against the Sabres in 2010-11, the Leafs finally freed themselves from the curse by winning three straight.

Now it seems the Leafs have been placed under another curse, this time against the Bruins.

Let's just hope it doesn't last as long as the Buffalo curse.