Lack of Hockey Makes Us Appreciate How Good the Toronto Maple Leafs Are

It’s been over a week since the Toronto Maple Leafs last played and we should be reminded daily how special this team is.

I love Leafs Nation and die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fans.

From the kid playing mini-sticks pretending to be Auston Matthews to the people reading this web site, the passion that unites the city is what makes this team so special every single year.

If you’re reading our articles, you’re an individual somewhere on that spectrum. There’s no hockey being played, but you can continue to flock to this website to check the latest news and discuss your hot takes.

You’re passionate. You’re dedicated to the blue-and-white. It’s individuals like you that make this team so special, and we should all be appreciative of just how good this team currently is.

Toronto Maple Leafs Have a Great Team

This roster has Auston Matthews. The best pure goal-scorer this team has ever seen. Since 1917, nobody has shot the puck or scored at will, like Matthews. However, there are people that still find a way to criticize him.

Saying that his 200-foot game isn’t good enough, or he doesn’t try at times is such an awful take, but it’s so beautiful at the same time. No matter how good things are, Leaf fans always want a perfectionist.

Grab yourself some popcorn, and watch this video below. It’s time to remember what Matthews can do every night instead of nitpicking his every move.

Not only does this roster have Matthews, but look around. Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, Zach Hyman, Morgan Rielly. Despite arguing around the salary cap for the last two years, these players are delivering night-after-night, so in the famous words of DJ Khalded: I appreciate you!

If you were to look at the Toronto Maple Leafs roster anywhere between the years of 2005-2016, fans would have been delighted to have just one of those players.

For years around Scotiabank Arena, all you would see were former player jerseys in the stands. You’d see way more Wendel Clark, Doug Gilmour, Mats Sundin, Darryl Sittler or Curtis Joseph jerseys than you would current players.

Now, the highest selling jersey in the entire National Hockey League is Auston Matthews! During the rebuild of 2015-16, where the Toronto Maple Leafs finished in 30th place, I truly think the media and fans found more good things to say about that team, than they do now.

With no pressure on the team, fans finally sat back and enjoyed the process of a rebuild. They wanted the team to be competitive, yet lose every night to help them secure the first overall pick.

Fans need to take a few lessons from that season. It’s important that the passion burns inside, but it’s also important to realize what you’re currently watching.

Criticize Kyle Dubas all you want, but he’s done a tremendous job developing a young roster, and it’s just the beginning. In addition to Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander, Nick Robertson could be the next dynamic top-six forward on this team.

Also, on the back-end beside Jake Muzzin, Travis Dermott and Morgan Rielly, there is Rasmus Sandin who could end up being an NHL All-Star one day.

The current arguments for the Leafs are about the bottom-six forwards and last pairing defenseman, so let’s appreciate what we have. Tyler Bozak used to be the Leafs first-line centre not that long ago for goodness sake!

It’ll probably be a while until the Toronto Maple Leafs play another game, but take a second to reflect on this roster. It’s time we appreciate what you’ve got til’ it’s gone.