Until the core of the Tampa Bay Lightning break-up, the Toronto Maple Leafs will continue to be a victim of their dynasty.
Being a really good team, or player, doesn’t guarantee you anything in professional sports and the Toronto Maple Leafs are currently living in that reality.
If the Leafs held onto their 3-2 lead during Game 6 of the First Round, the entire narrative would be different. Toronto could have made their way to the Stanley Cup Finals, like Tampa, or they could have lost in the Second Round.
Nobody knows what could have happened, because the only thing we know that happened is that they lost.
Over the past 100 years of professional sports, there have been lots of great players and teams who just haven’t won, because they ran into a dynasty. Whether it was the Utah Jazz during the Chicago Bulls run, or Buffalo Bills against the Dallas Cowboys, for whatever reason, those team’s couldn’t get over the hump.
The same thing may apply to the Leafs with the Lightning, as no matter how many regular season wins Toronto gets, it seems impossible that they would beat Tampa in a seven game series.
Toronto Maple Leafs May be a Victim of the NHL’s Parity
When the Toronto Raptors won an NBA Championship, they did it because LeBron James was no longer in their conference.
For years, the Raptors would make it to the Conference Finals and lose to James, who seemingly made it to the NBA Finals every single year. No matter how good the Raptors team was, there was no chance they were going to win a title, unless James left.
With James out of the East, Toronto capitalized on an important moment and punched their ticket to the Finals. With injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, they got lucky at the right time and won their first NBA Championship in team history.
In order for the Leafs to win a Stanley Cup, a similar thing is probably going to have to happen.
As it stands right now, the Eastern Conference is stacked. Not only that, but their division (Atlantic Division) is arguably the best in hockey. With Tampa, Boston and Florida all still contenders for the title, the Leafs are unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s going to take a miracle for Toronto to not only win a round, but to eventually win four rounds because the Eastern Conference is way too good.
During the 2020-21 Covid season, the Leafs had an opportunity to walk into the Conference Finals, as there was no Tampa, Boston or Florida. All they had to beat was Montreal, Edmonton and/or Winnipeg and they would be in the Conference Finals.
Instead, they lost to Montreal and the rest was history.
The Leafs are a really good team, but until the Lightning lose their superstars or something crazy happens, Toronto is going to be a victim of their division and conference.