The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot of good things going and some questionable things happening as well.
My final Toronto Maple Leafs thoughts:
1) Mike Babcock is not god. Is he the best coach in hockey? He might be, but that’s debatable with Joel Quenneville around. It depends on which side of the coin your loyalties (re: bias) lie. Regardless of what you want to call him, he makes mistakes. He makes questionable decisions and we don’t have to trust every single thing he does or give him a digital pat on the back to please the masses.
2) Confirmation Bias:
"the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities. (Wikipedia)"
It’s a common thing in Leafs Nation. This is why certain players will always get the blame (Gardiner, Kadri, etc.) and others won’t (Rielly, Brown, etc.). Just because a player is a fan favorite, doesn’t mean they are invincible. Just because you like to highlight a certain players’ mistakes doesn’t mean they are as bad as you think. The “eye-test” alone is an ignorant, garbage, way to view hockey in 2017.
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3) Frederik Andersen has been great for Toronto. He’s had his ups and downs but he’s generally given the Leafs solid play and a chance to win on a most nights. I think it’s incredible that he fought through the savage fanbase through the first 5-10 games of his Leafs career to rebound and have a good season. It’s probably the best and worst fanbase to have behind you in the entire league. When the going is good, it’s really good. When it’s bad, you might find yourself in a hangman’s noose outside the ACC.
4) This team can be disgustingly great if Lou Lamoriello and Mike Babcock can catch up with the times and lose the bias towards veteran players and players who are bad but “try hard”. Imagine a team without Hunwick/Polak this year, and one that didn’t play Nikita Soshnikov all year despite his bad play. That’s a team that likely has more breathing room at the end of the season. With Hunwick and Polak both expiring, next year has a chance to be fantastic.
5) Auston Matthews should be the captain of this team. He’s been conditioned for the role much like McDavid and Crosby were since they were very young. He’s the face of the franchise and he can handle the media. Choosing anyone else for captain will be a poor choice. You don’t need a letter to have a voice, but wearing the ‘C’ comes with huge responsibilities in Toronto and I don’t think anyone else on that team can handle it as well as Matthews can.
6) This team can make some noise in the playoffs this year, if they make it. Getting in and playing either Montreal or Ottawa in the first round would be a gift. Toronto can hang with both clubs and, I think, are the superior team. Will they win the Cup? No, probably not, but getting into the Conference Finals shouldn’t immediately be laughed at. One of Washington/Pittsburgh/Columbus will knock one of the others out. Being an Atlantic seed provides an easier path. McEhlinney has played well for Toronto, so don’t panic yet if Andersen is gone for awhile.
7) The Leafs need to find a way to fit in Leivo and Griffith – at a minimum – into the lineup next year. It’s not an easy task with their current makeup, but it needs to be done. They should be playing now, but I digress.
8) There’s a bandwagon full of casual fans on the way. The Leafs are a team everyone loves to hate, but they’re also a team with people who pretend to not pay attention to the team that are about to show up. This team is finally legitimate and that’s going to bring out everyone from the woodwork. Embrace them and don’t be a shitty fan-base.
9) Kyle Dubas should be the General Manager of this team. He embraces all factors in analyzing players and is a modern NHL GM type person. Mark Hunter needs to be kept in a role where he can provide as much scouting opinion as possible and I think being the GM would take away from his true talents of finding players. The Leafs need both of them and someone will take Dubas away if he’s not the actual GM when Lamoriello is done.
10) It’s been a lot of fun being here for most of the last three seasons. Thanks for reading, commenting, sharing and sending me angry e-mails. I’ve enjoyed it all and keep coming back because there’s a great staff with lots of good content coming.