Toronto Maple Leafs Are Cheering for the Blues

The Toronto Maple Leafs are out of the playoffs.

But just because the Toronto Maple Leafs are out, doesn’t mean they don’t have a rooting interest in the final.

The Bruins have been destroying the Leafs for nearly a decade, and so if you’re a fan of the blue and white, odds are you’re cheering for the St. Louis Blues.

Not only do the Blues have that thing going for them where they are not the Bruins, but they’ve also got an assortment of ex-Leafs in their lineup.

Go Blues!

Tyler Bozak, who left the Leafs as a free-agent last summer, is there.

So too is Carl Gunnersson, who played five years for the Leafs before being traded for Roman Polak in a trade so terrible it calls to mind that of Alex Steen.

The third ex-Leafs player on the roster, Alex Steen was traded to the Blues back in 2008 when the Leafs made the incredibly stupid decision to bring back the geriatric Cliff Fletcher, a man so old he may well be the inventor of hockey, to be their GM.

Fletcher, possibly cogent, probably not, then decided to ship Steen to the Blues for Lee Stepniak, in a trade so ill- conceived I am getting into a rage just remembering it.

Steen went on to play 11 years for the Blues and (hopefully) win a Stanley Cup.  Fletcher went on to hand the Leafs off to Brian Burke where they were ran completely into the ground by a succession of idiots.

Oh well, it got us Auston Matthews, so who can complain?

Just kidding, I can complain.  The Leafs never should have traded Steen (or Gunnarsson).  I was glad they didn’t re-sign Bozak, however.

The Blues are up 3-2 and on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup.  This isn’t exactly  great news for the rest of the NHL, because they are also considered to have one of, if not the best, group of prospects in hockey.

Oh well! If the Blues beat the Bruins, I don’t care if they play in every Cup Final for the next decade.

As for the Leafs, it’s really crappy to watch the Bruins make it this far knowing that if Mike Babcock waited to pull to have possession of the puck before pulling the goalie, it might be us enjoying this run.

Or maybe it’s because Dermott and Gardiner were injured.  Or perhaps it was the insane ice-time given to Patrick Marleau.  Or maybe it was that Tavares and Marner were mostly held off the score sheet.  Or Kadri’s suspension.  Or Boston’s preposterous, unsustainable special teams.

Whatever the reason, it’s important to remember that all that happened, and the Toronto Maple Leafs still pushed the series to game seven, where they only lost because their goalie let in three goals he’d normally save 99.99% of the time.

Am I bitter?  Nah!

Go Leafs!