Editor In Leaf
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Toronto Maple Leafs: Sheldon Keefe, Analytics, Mistakes and Excuses

By William Cann

Feb 22, 2020; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe during the post game press conference after a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2020; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe during the post game press conference after a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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TORONTO, ON – MARCH 27: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – MARCH 27: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

The Excuses

If Tavares wasn’t hurt.

If Muzzin wasn’t hurt.

If Campbell made more saves.

If the shooting percentage would just regress to the mean.

If the referees would just call it by the book.

If they weren’t too old.

If they weren’t too young.

If the hockey gods would just listen…

What IF we just deleted all the statements that start with IF, and started to see this team for what they are?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team that needs to be perfect and is uncomfortable when that perfection is unattainable.  Hockey, by definition, is an imperfect sport.  That, is a conundrum.

Teams that win do so by navigating chaos and imperfection better than their opponent.

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to embrace the randomness and overcome it.  This is their way out of the darkness caused by the excessive pressure of continued futility in an unforgiveable market.

Next. Top 10 Leafs Prospects. dark

Somebody just needs to burn the IFs with a torch and hope that the rest of them will follow the light.

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