The Toronto Maple Leafs Have No Real Problems

The Toronto Maple Leafs are having an awesome year and I personally am having a blast.

I’ve heard some people say differently, but for me, this is the best season of hockey I can remember.  The Toronto Maple Leafs are finally good, and I’m enjoying it.

For the first time in my life, people don’t laugh when you suggest the Leafs could win the Stanley Cup. (Except, weirdly, their own fans).

Prior to the last two seasons, I believe the Leafs made the Playoffs once in a decade.  The longer you’ve watched this team, the worse it is.  Other than a couple of bright spots in the early nineties and the early aughts, it’s been the worst team you can possibly cheer for.

Which only makes it sweeter when they win. 

Leafs Rule!

I run into a lot of self-pitying Leafs fans, but the truth is, the more you lose, the better it is when you win.  The Leafs, post-Mats Sundin, were so mismanaged, and so poorly run it was tough to watch.  Additionally, when they fired Brian Burke, they gave the team to Dave Nonis and Dave Poulin who turned out to be the two most incompetent hockey people on earth.

Imagine Peter Chiarelli and whoever his right-hand man was, and now imagine that they were 10000x worse.  That’s Nonis and Poulin.  The Leafs, before Shanahan got here, weren’t just bad, they were completely unprepared to adapt to the changing ways of the post-lockout NHL.

But now, our biggest problems are that not everyone agrees with the coach widely considered to be the best in the game.  People are upset their favorite player isn’t playing higher in the lineup, or complain about the  construction of the fourth line, or the back-up goalie.  Others inexplicably hate two of the best players the team has ever developed.

These are the hockey equivalent of first-world problems.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in fifth place in the NHL.  Throw out the month of January, and they’re likely the second best team in the NHL.  Their two main competitors have been building their teams for a decade.

The Leafs team features not one, not two, not three, but FIVE franchise level players (Matthews, Rielly, Marner, Nylander and Tavares).

The Leafs have one of the best goalies in the world.

They have the deepest team in the NHL at centre ice and left defense.

Their top prospect is about to become the highest scoring defenseman in AHL history for his age.

Sure, Ron Hainsey plays on this team, but that’s about as important as the back-up goalie.   Who cares?

The bottom line is this: the Leafs are in year one of what promises to be a decade long run of competitiveness.

Yeah, the internet can suck because it’s annoying when it turns out that not everyone agrees with your opinion, but that’s no reason to let it ruin this special time for you.

And it is special, as far as sports can be.  The Leafs have been terrible for years. They now have a great management team, a great coach, and best of all, incredible players.

They might not win this year.  So what?  There’s a 48% chance, even if they get home ice, that they lose the Bruins.   Who cares?  If they don’t get by the Bruins – I think they’re way too fast and talented for the old, slow Bruins – it doesn’t even matter.

They’ll just regroup, focus on how they can get better, and then come back next season as the odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup.

This team has a soon-to-be 100 point winger who isn’t even a top-three player on the team.  Maybe think about that next time you get upset with your boys in blue.