Toronto Maple Leafs: A Series of Thoughts On Rage and Negativity
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs started the season off strong, but got goalied in two of their first four games.
No matter, they said, and played the San Jose Sharks last Friday. It wasn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs best game, but it was a game where they were definitely the better team, and which they easily could have won, if third string goalie Michael Hutchinson wasn’t playing.
2-3 to start the season must have been pretty frustrating for the team, especially in light of the fact that they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games to end last season, despite only losing 4 games out of 17 to them in regulation all year long, and being the better team in pretty much every game of the series.
That frustration culminated in Pittsburgh on Saturday, when the Leafs, with the game tied 1-1, outshot the Penguins 12-1, only to have the Penguins score on their next two shots. The Leafs basically quit the game after that, and while you certainly have the right to rip them for it, what’s the point?
Right now, I’m more frustrated with the constant negativity from the media and the fan base than I am with the team. The Leafs are 31st in the NHL in shooting percentage after six games, but are 3rd in the NHL in shooting percentage over the last 208 games.
It does not take anything beyond fourth grade math to understand that the results of a six game sample tell you nothing, while the results of a 208 game sample tell you everything.
It is a 100% percent certainty that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the team we thought they were heading into game five of the playoffs last season. Teams go on bad streaks all the time. Those streaks end, and the players who had them (assuming they are still in their primes, as all the Leafs best players are) revert to their former selves eventually.
If the team plays like crap for a period of time, and gives little effort, and is bad at defense, or doesn’t try, then be mad.
But this team has a .630 winning percentage under their coach for parts of three seasons, and he’s one of the fastest coaches to ever get to 100 wins. They are team that won their division last season and almost won the President’s Trophy. They were the best team in the NHL last year for much of the season.
They have an incredibly talented roster that features some of the youngest and best players in the NHL. The present is bright, the future is bright……..and it seems like all anyone does is complain about it.