Can This Please be the Year?

 

May 2^nd, 1967, that’s the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. April 20^th, 2004. That’s the last time the Leafs won a playoff series. Just to put it into perspective I graduated High School that summer. This isn’t so much a playoff preview it’s more a plea to the hockey gods if they exist because haven’t the Leafs and their fans suffered enough? The Leafs have lost seven consecutive first-round series with Kyle Dubas at the helm for five of them and all but one of them have gone to the final game of the series with the Leafs losing every one of them.

The Leafs will once again meet the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of the playoffs with the Leafs beginning the series at home. Last year everyone thought Toronto had the team to get by the Lightning but sadly Vasilevskiy became unbeatable and Jack Campbell when his team needed him the most couldn’t answer the call. So, Kyle in the final season of his current contract at this year’s deadline added Ryan O’Reilly a Playoff MVP and Stanley Cup Champion with St Louis, he added Luke Schenn on defence a Cup Champion with the Lightning and he added Matt Murray in goal a 2-time champion with the Penguins. Unfortunately for Matt despite having a decent season with a 14-8-2 record injuries continued to be an issue but for Ilya Samsonov, this has been the best thing for him because he stepped up and rose to the occasion every single night he was in goal. In 42 appearances Samsonov posted a record 27-10-5 showing Sheldon Keefe that he is strong enough to handle the responsibility of starting in the postseason. With the addition of Ryan O’Reilly, he has made the team’s depth at center even better because he’s someone who usually performs well on faceoffs and can also pick up points on seemingly a regular basis. Along with him is Noel Acciari who may not score many goals, but he will happily throw his weight around making this difficult for his opponent. Then there’s Luke Schenn, all season long with this blog I said he would be the perfect addition to the Leafs’ blue line, I got called every name you can think of by readers of this blog. I was told I had no idea what I was talking about but Luke returned to the Leafs and has been great. He leads the league in hits and his play brings a physical presence that the team has desperately needed. Another positive is that when Luke throws his weight around or drops the gloves to protect a teammate his teammates bring their game to another level. They see that he’s willing to do anything to win, and his teammates begin to do the same. You’ll Jake McCabe sacrificing his body by blocking shots or Mark Giordano at 39 years old when most players are enjoying retirement, he’s still out there every single game giving everything he has for the team and their fans.

You heard me say this last season and I am going to say it again. This Leaf team is different, there is more of a winning mentality in this group, and we saw it all season because on more than one occasion we saw the Leafs did not have their best effort, but they would battle and find a way to win a game or at least earn a point by going to overtime. We saw the Maple Leafs face adversity dealing with countless injuries to very important players, but they overcame the challenge. That is a sign of a mature team ready to step to the next level. Throughout the season, friends and readers asked me what was wrong with Auston Matthews. Or why is John Tavares not producing? Listen to me carefully the core four were fine all season long. Here are some more numbers for you.

Mitch Marner has 99 points in 80 games
William Nylander has 87 points in 82 games.

Auston Matthews, 85 points in 74 games
John Tavares has 80 points in 80 games.

The Leafs got consistent production from their big four, and then the blue line of this team. Toronto’s defence scored 139 points but, in my opinion, the most important stats are that they totalled 559 hits and 652 Blocks. Those numbers alone tell me this defence group are difficult to play against a lot like the Lightning or the Boston Bruins. We have seen those teams have success in the regular season and playoffs because every single night they make things difficult for their opponent. This time around I think that the Toronto Maple Leafs have made all the necessary additions to have success. For the seventh time in franchise history and the third time under Kyle Dubas, we have seen Toronto finish the regular season with 100 points or more and we can only hope that the team’s strong play through these 82 games carries over because next week Toronto begins their journey with 16 other teams to see who will reach the top of the mountain and lift Lord Stanley’s precious trophy.

The most important factor in this series is of course the goaltending. Vasilevskiy has been great for Tampa, but we saw signs of struggles last year as Jack Campbell had better numbers all series than Andrei despite losing game seven. This year we saw signs of fatigue from the Lightning because the other night when the Leafs faced Tampa Bay for their final regular season matchup in the previous 32 games to that point Tampa not only had a losing record, but the Leafs bettered them in every category. Of course, I know the regular season and playoffs are two different things, but we have seen Toronto perform better than their first-round opponent which is a positive heading into next week. Can Vasilevskiy steal a series for his team? Yes, we have seen it many times I mean teams don’t just stumble their way into three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, every dynasty comes to an end we saw it in the early 90’s when the Pittsburgh Penguins were knocked out of the 93 playoffs by the Islanders when everyone thought they would win their third cup. Look at this season, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins will miss the postseason for the first time since 2006 his rookie season. We’ve seen dynasties end in the NFL where we found out that Tom Brady is human and can lose playoff games. The Tampa Bay Lightning is no doubt a dynasty in the NHL, and I am sure many Leaf doubters are picking them to beat Toronto I get it but for me, there’s something different about this team. Like I said last year I think the Leafs can win this series of course it will be a battle, but I think this version of the Toronto Maple Leafs has every tool necessary to get by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

With the NHL’s version of the sweet sixteen about to kick off next week, I ask the hockey gods Can this please let this be the year? Can this finally be the year the Leafs and their fans see the second round or maybe the final four? Haven’t we suffered enough?

 

We will see what happens but to everyone thank you for following along during the regular season thanks as always for reading and of course, enjoy the playoffs.