Although 2020 was a year to forget, the Toronto Maple Leafs 2020-21 season will be remembered forever.
After only playing five games from March to December, Toronto Maple Leafs fans were starving for action. The pandemic shortened the 2019-20 season, which resulted in a five-month break between games.
Nobody knew what to expect after the long break, as Toronto faced a pesky Columbus Blue Jackets team in the newly formed “play-in” games. They played well against the Blue Jackets, but couldn’t score, and in a matter of days, their season was over once again and another five month layoff ensued.
Toronto may have been bounced early but the 2020-21 season brought optimism. The addition of Wayne Simmonds, Joe Thornton, T.J. Brodie, Zach Bogosian and others were a welcomed-sight as Toronto decided to value veterans and grit for the first time in the Auston Matthews Era.
The season was going to be weird, regardless of how Toronto finished. They no longer had to face the power-houses of Tampa Bay and Boston, but instead were stuck only playing the other six teams in Canada, without fans.
Also, instead of starting in October, the season didn’t get started until the second-week of January, after plenty of uncertainty. Teams all across the NHL continued to face Covid concerns, and the season looked in jeopardy, but five months later, everything seems resolved and the playoffs are about to start without a hitch.
Instead of getting sad about not possibility enjoying a Stanley Cup parade, as Ontario continues to face pandemic restrictions, let’s try to enjoy the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs are at least playing hockey and are one of the favorites to excel in the playoffs.
Watching hockey in the winter is great, but hockey in the summer, poolside, is even better.
To recap the year that was, here are the top five moments of the Toronto Maple Leafs 2020-21 season.