The Maple Leafs recent struggles are taking a toll on their fan base, this is proof

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Liam
May 16, 2022 (8:20)

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What else can be said? It happened again. The annual flood of Maple Leafs autopsies from talking heads, analytics nerds, and Twitter reply guys will be everywhere. You've probably read or written some yourself. I hope you'll stick around for this one, where I want to capture the feeling of this moment in Leafs' history, looking at our past failures and uncertain future.

Like all the previous playoff appearances, this one was different. It felt different. Quickly, I want to run through the all too familiar losses before we get into this year.

Against Washington, they were a young team performing above expectations, and making the playoffs was enough progress to appease the players and fans. In the two seasons matched up against the Bruins, they were definite underdogs, but had grown enough to have those series *just* within reach. They maybe should have won once. But it doesn't happen. You move on, and keep building. Frustration begins to mount with players and fans.

The next two series against Columbus and Montreal were squarely disappointments. The team that faced Columbus, with a D-Core including Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci were hopeless. How could anyone ever expect to win a round with these two? It's laughable! Wait, you're telling me Cody Ceci scored a series clinching goal this year? In the NHL?

Against Montreal, the Leafs proved their reputation to be correct. They were a massively talented, yet imperfect team, that should have dominated a weak Habs club. Instead, they proved to the fans that they were chokers. They were frauds. The previous playoffs, while frustrating but understandable losses, may have revealed a truth that perhaps this team was Not Good. A team that performed amazingly in the regular season faceplanted against a historic rival in historic fashion, and the fans had never been more apathetic.

At the beginning of this year, that apathy towards the team was almost palpable. Seriously. *Palpable* apathy, built up over years of failure, of being the butt end of jokes, of humiliating ourselves by publicly supporting this team. How could us fans be expected to care about 82 games when there was no chance to truly evaluate the team until April?

But then the passion returned. The apathy left. This year's Maple Leafs were the greatest iteration I've ever seen. Matthews scores 60. Marner rebounds from owning last year's loss with an unreal season, including stretches of the best hockey in his career. Nylander posts career highs. Campbell, although he sputtered, was an all-star, and gave the Leafs a chance to win most nights. Rielly was amazing after committing to be a Leaf for life, and publicly owned his personal devotion to this team. The depth players produce and look more dangerous than ever before. The acquisition of Mark Giordano solidifies the best D-core the Leafs have ever had, and the team goes 19-3-2 heading into the postseason.

In this series, everyone played well. Our stars were stars. Tavares struggles early on, but comes up with clutch performances in the most important games. Campbell battles one of the NHL's best in Andrei Vasilevsky, puck for puck. Muzzin redeems a tough season with an unbelievable performance. The team was unbelievable, but the story is the same. We lose, again. We're a joke again. The demons live on, and this team has no chance of being truly evaluated again for 365 days.

There's more caveats to evaluating this series, obviously. Poor performances in games 2 and 4 affected the outcome greatly, they were throw-aways.

The phantom high-stick by Kampf in game six and the pick called against Justin Holl in game seven are particularly egregious. Really, both of those could be acceptable calls, but not within their context. I can understand calling Kampf on the high stick, and it could be acceptable if recognized as a mistake. The officials should convene on that play, and make sure they complete their goal of *game management*. That's not what happens. Instead of recognizing that mistake and slyly punishing the Lightning for Foote's head snap, something that does occur in the NHL, the referees call a high stick on Kerfoot in a battle for the puck which leads to a critical 5 on 3 late in the third period. As for the Justin Holl penalty, that can be reasonably called interference, but it's a soft call. It's a soft call in October, a softer call in May, and an unbelievable call in game seven, when much more egregious infractions were committed that directly lead to goals against the Leafs. Still, this loss was not because of refereeing. It's just another challenge you've got to overcome, and they couldn't do it.

In some sense, sure it's good to see them put up a fight instead of rolling over like the previous series' against Columbus and Montreal. At the same time, it isn't. In year six of the playoffs, we don't have goals moral victories or effort. It's not that which has been unacceptable for the Leafs, it's the result. Even if we lucked into one win over those years, the narrative of «total playoff failures» doesn't exist. At the end of the day, Dubas «bet everything» on seeing the eventual success this year. He constructed the greatest regular season in history, the most balanced team we've ever seen, and it still was not good enough to win.

Some talking heads will say it's a mental block, others that the personnel wasn't good enough, and some will say both. At this point though, it doesn't matter. You've just got to find a way to win.

So many stats will haunt us fans this off-season and next season. Like the fact that we're 0-10 in series clinching games in our last ten attempts. The whole season series record, wherein the Leafs and Lightning played 11 times, trading wins each time until the Lightning won two straight in game six and seven. Or that in their last six seasons, the probability of the Leafs losing a series deciding game is 1 in 27,778, or 0.0036%.

This leaves us doing what we know best - looking forward to next season. It seems more uncertain than ever. What could have been better? Kyle Dubas' contract is up, Sheldon Keefe has lost three straight series in the final game, and Brendan Shanahan has been at the helm for eight years, already having fired GM Lou Lamoriello. With reports that Leafs ownership is getting anxious that repeated losses are damaging the brand and relationship with fans, organizational change is a possibility. Despite constructing the best team in Leafs history, the team is *still* not good enough, and this can not continue. While I believe these executives are amongst the best in the NHL, you have to consider the possibility of change - because what we have is not sufficient. I don't know what kind of message is being sent if everyone returns. That of blind loyalty, or perseverance? That will only be judged by its postseason results, and that's almost sickening, knowing how good the team was this year.

The logical option is to tinker around the edges, and believe that this core and this management group can get it done. They have the talent to do so. But «running it back» after six years does fit that popular definition of insanity.

Leaf fans have got to feel disillusioned, wondering what could have been done better, wondering what impact a different bounce or penalty, wondering what it feels like to win. I hope one day we'll find out. After the passion this fan base has shown, no one can deny that we deserve it.

After it all, personally, I feel stupid for believing that this year would be different. But really, that's how hockey and sport works. You're a loser until you're a winner. Until this core, or any of its individual players accomplish anything, they will be known as perennial losers, because that's what they are. Own it, and be better. Become the winners you dream of being, and that you have been at every level of the game. It got you all to the NHL, and we know you can do it here. The question will be what iteration of players and staff will change the reputation of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

For personally feeling stupid for believing, that's just the pain of being an inherently irrational sports fan. We put our faith in the hands of others, something far out of our control. We hope it delivers some sort of happiness through the primal satisfaction of winning a competition, or having the pride that *our* guys did it.

Anyone who's won any sport competition knows it feels cathartic. For the passionate fans of the Maple Leafs, who put their god-honest faith in this team, the catharsis will be unbelievable. The release of a lifetime.

They have been champions, and they will be champions again.

Thanks for reading.

(Except for you weird losers who's personal Stanley Cup is watching the Leafs lose. If hating something profusely for years brings you joy, maybe take a look inside yourself and ask what's wrong. But for now, fuck you, and we'll see you next year.)