The Toronto Maple Leafs already had a pretty long road trip, but they’ve made it longer.
Tonight’s game was to feature the triumphant return home of the Toronto Maple Leafs after a road trip where they beat Las Vegas, and St. Louis and earned one point against the Avalanche.
Unfortunately, due to attendance restrictions, the Leafs and the NHL have postponed the game until they can play in front of a full arena.
The Leafs played their last home game, which was against Edmonton on the 5th, but their home game against the Hurricanes on the 3rd was postponed, as was their last game in Canada, a January 6th game against Montreal.
As of right now, they are scheduled to play Anaheim at home next Wednesday. So far they have postponed nine games. The team that has played the most games is Anaheim, who’ve played 41 times. The Leafs have played 36 times, and the Islanders just 30.
Toronto Maple Leafs Game Postponed
It’s too bad the Leafs didn’t get to play the Devils tonight, because I was really looking forward to seeing potential future-Leaf Damon Severson in action, as well as getting a chance to witness the breakout season of Jack Hughes.
I have four of his Young Guns cards, so I’m hoping he really takes off!
Since tonight’s game is off, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a nice little three-day holiday to relax before they take on the Rangers on Wednesday.
The Rangers are a top team and other than the Florida teams, this road trip has seen the Leafs take on pretty much all the NHL’s best teams. They will need just one OT loss in their next two games to guarantee that they break even on this road trip.
Considering the competition, that isn’t too bad, but games against both New York teams are winnable, so there is still a chance that they will end up taking 9 of 12 points, which would be incredible.
Despite their .708 points percentage (good enough for a President’s Trophy in most seasons) the Leafs somehow find themselves in 6th overall in the NHL, and 5th by points-percentage.
Were the Leafs to win both their next games, they would have the same amount of wins as Florida, but would be down by two loser-points.
Were the playoffs to start today, the Toronto Maple Leafs would find themselves facing off against Tampa on the road. That is pretty stupid, and unlucky, but it’s not like it’s a walk in the park for Tampa either. Florida would be first overall and they’d have to face Boston, which is also ridiculous.
This is what happens when you have the dumbest playoff format imaginable. Meanwhile, one of Los Angeles or Anaheim (two pretty average to bad teams) would be automatically sent the second round.
Oh well, no one said it would be easy.