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Toronto Maple Leafs Can’t Beat Worst Team in NHL

By Stephen Nixon

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 21: Karel Vejmelka #70 of the Arizona Coyotes takes a drink during a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on November 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 21: Karel Vejmelka #70 of the Arizona Coyotes takes a drink during a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on November 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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After assuming the Toronto Maple Leafs would win by a touchdown last night, they lost to the worst team in the league.

In terms of disappointing finishes by the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, this has to rank at the top. The fact that it was a 10:00PM EST start was hard enough to stay awake, but continuing to watch an unknown goaltender stop everything the Leafs threw at him, made all of us want to punch a hole through our TV.

25-year-old Karel Vejmelka was a name that nobody had ever heard of before Wednesday, but after that game,  he appears to be on a hall of fame path.

Before I talk more about last night’s loss, let me tell you a sports gambling story. Heading into this game, like many others, I thought the Leafs would win by three or four goals and then party their faces off in Arizona for a few days.

After back-to-back tough games against two powerhouses, beating Arizona seemed like a lock, and scoring five goals against them also seemed like a lock.

Never Bet on the Toronto Maple Leafs

As I do most nights, I loaded up my sports gambling account and decided to place a big wager on the Leafs to win by three goals and the team to score a minimum of five goals on the night.

Scoring that many goals is tough any night, but the Leafs had done it 10 times already this season and doing it against a back-up unknown goalie and a last place team riddled with Covid seemed like a smart bet.

However, 10 minutes into the game, I knew the bet wasn’t going to cash.

Vejmelka played like an absolute rockstar and the Leafs weren’t scoring on him. It was a disgusting effort to see them fall short, especially after I read this stat this morning:

"“Toronto outshot the Coyotes 46-18, outchanced them 48-23, and generated 5.89 expected goals to Arizona’s 2.07 (via: sportsnet.ca).”"

This is supposedly the most expected goals from a team in a decade. The Leafs were supposed to score six goals last night and I was supposed to win my bet, but instead, Toronto did the most Toronto thing ever and lost.

Vejmelka deserves all the credit in the world for that Arizona win because if he was mediocre, he probably would have been pulled and the Coyotes would have lost 7-1.

Josh Ho-Sang on Olympics Long List. dark. Next

Overall, if this article teaches you anything, it’s that you should never bet on the Leafs. Bet against them and you’ll win a lot of money but if you bet on them, you’ll be broke and regret it for the rest of your life.

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