A Toronto Maple Leafs Year to Remember That We May Soon Forget

The Toronto Maple Leafs are just about to finish their greatest regular season in 104 years, but it may all be for not.

If you’re an optimistic Toronto Maple Leafs fan, you should be incredibly excited for the next two months. However, if you’re slightly pessimist, you probably already think this season is over.

Although it’s not official, it looks like the Leafs will be facing the Tampa Bay Lightning in the First Round of the playoffs this year.

Getting the Lightning in the First Round is like beating your favorite video game, then without realizing, there was another final boss you had to destroy. You thought finishing second in your division and third in the Eastern Conference would give you a decent opponent to get through the First Round, but nope, you get the fourth best team in the conference and the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.

And if for whatever reason, the Leafs don’t face the Lightning in the First Round, it’ll be the Boston Bruins instead.

It’s never easy being a Leafs fan. And even when we think it’s easy (like last year), the team blows a 3-1 series lead to Montreal and disappoints us again.

Toronto Maple Leafs Have Magical Season, But…

Auston Matthews scored 60 goals, Mitch Marner may hit 100 points, Jack Campbell was an NHL All-Star and Michael Bunting will be a candidate for the Calder Trophy, all while the team over 50 times for the first time in it’s history.

However, all of those accolades won’t mean anything if they lose in the First Round again.

Ever since the regular season started, this Leafs team knew they were going to be judged on what happened in the post-season. Everyone said that even if they went 82-0 and lost in the First Round, the season would be a disappointment.

Although I think we need to celebrate the achievements of the regular season and enjoy the ride of the playoffs, it’s no secret that if Toronto loses again in the First Round, that this season will be a complete waste.

If Matthews and Marner don’t deliver in the biggest moments, then the regular season will just be a fun beginning that ended in pure misery.

If Jack Campbell turns into the goalie we saw from January-March, instead of the netminder from October-December, then we’ll all be yelling at management to find a new number-one goalie in free agency.

With all of that being said, Leafs fans should be as excited as they’ve ever been. The built-up anger and disappointment around this team gives us all a shield that we use a coping mechanism, but we need to embrace the ride because this team is better than any other team we’ve seen. 

The golf courses may have just opened up in Ontario, but let’s pray nobody on the team is swinging their sticks until July because it’s possible that the Leafs may be ready for that long playoff run.

Time will tell, but embrace the playoffs, because there’s no better time to be a fan than now.