Should the Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Skill for Toughness?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have arguably the best roster in the NHL.

But the Toronto Maple Leafs are a highly skilled, fairly small, definitely not imposing team.

Will they struggle to win in the playoffs without a tougher lineup?

Should they be willing to sacrifice skill in favor of toughness?

Don Cherry thinks so.

Toronto Maple Leafs Lineup

Don Cherry was one of my heroes when I was growing up, but the times have changed and now he’s just screaming for kids to get off his lawn.

Cherry really went over the deep end when he voiced public support for a political figure too disgusting to name , and called people who believe in the scientific fact of global warming “cuckaloos.”  For me, that was a bridge too far.

It reminded me that, hockey legend or not, Cherry hasn’t exactly kept up with the times.

Last night on coaches Corner, Cherry told the people who don’t own a fast forward option that “the Leafs will never win Cup because they aren’t tough enough” while implying that they don’t have enough Canadians either.

This is awful.

First, the Leafs outplayed the Bruins last year in the playoffs.  They lost because the Bruins scored seven powerplay goals in seven games (which is a lot even if the PP is good and the PK Is bad) and because Nazem Kadri was suspended.

Think about it – they took too many penalties, and had a suspended player. Those are the results of toughness, not the lack of it.

Had the Leafs won – which they would have if not for bad luck – they almost certainly would have played the Blues in the Cup Final.

The idea that the Blues and Bruins making the final proves anything is intellectually offensive.  You can’t just take a random result and use it to prove your pre-determined views.

If there is proof that either Boston or the Blues are super tough teams, I haven’t seen it.  They aren’t bigger than average, and they didn’t lead the league in penalties.

The Bruins played seven games against the Leafs, and in none of those games were the Leafs pushed around.  The Leafs didn’t lose a single game because they were intimidated, beaten up, or otherwise out-toughed.

It’s a ridiculous concept.  All Cherry is doing is viewing the game through his own bias, and refusing to allow for alternative ideas.  It’s true no one has abandoned the typical hockey lineup in such a way as Kyle Dubas has, but perhaps he deserves some time to see if it will work before it’s summarily dismissed?

Worse though, is Cherry’s qualification – he said (I’m paraphrasing) that the Toronto Maple Leafs might win a round or two, but wouldn’t win the Cup.  Well, here’s the thing: there’s an 89% chance he’s right.  Even the league’s best team has phenomenally low odds of winning the Cup.  According to the Athletic, the Leafs have the second highest odds of winning the Cup, but only an 11% chance to do so.

So even if Cherry is 100% wrong about the reasons why, there’s a good chance he’ll end up being able to say “I told you so,” which is very, very intellectually dishonest.

The fact is, skill wins games, and being tough is overrated.  You don’t need to fight, or check or intimidate anyone.  You just need to put the puck in the net one more time than your opponent.

The entire game has undergone a revolution.  Toughness is not as important as it once was, and the Leafs are betting it’s even less important.  Kyle Dubas has doubled down on his philosophy of skill and this season he let his toughest player go (Kadri) while bringing in Ceci, Kerfoot, Barrie, Spezza and Mikheyev.

He also brought in Garrett Wilson, Ben Harpur and Kevin Gravul, but surprise surprise, they didn’t make the team.

The Toronto Maple Leafs might win, and they might not.  But the results won’t have a thing to do with toughness.  I tell you this: at this point in time, Kyle Dubas is a much, much more reliable source of information than Don Cherry, and Dubas is betting on skill.