I could not think of a more ideal way for the Toronto Maple Leafs to start the season.
Not ideal for the players, not ideal for Sheldon Keefe and the coaching staff, not ideal for Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas, and certainly not ideal for the Toronto Maple Leafs fan base.
Record over first ten games: 4-4-2
Goals for: 27
Goals against: 30
Leafs Nation has been in an uproar from the season opening loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and all the way through their west coast road trip that just ended with an overtime loss to the last place Anaheim Ducks, in another lacklustre performance.
There have been very few bright spots for the fan base to point at throughout the first ten games to give some optimism that this too shall pass. The players all seem like they aren’t having fun, Sheldon Keefe seems to have aged ten years in this ten game span, and Kyle Dubas can be seen every game shouting expletives from above the rink.
So why do I think this is such an ideal start? It’s given everyone a reason to care about the regular season.
Had the Maple Leafs won eight of their first 10 games or had a record of 7-2-1 or 7-1-2 no one would care.
The team would not be patting themselves on the back for cruising through a fairly soft schedule to start the season, and the fan base would care that they were winning in the regular season, they would just be saying “let’s see what happens in the playoffs”.
But now that the Toronto Maple Leafs only have 10 points in their first ten games, and frankly have looked awful, the team and the fan base are suddenly ignited. Before the season began I thought that it would be a zombie walk through the regular season and the real season wouldn’t start until April. I’m glad I was wrong.
Toronto Maple Leafs After Ten Games
Current Position in Standings:
7th in Atlantic Division
13th in Eastern Conference
21st in the league
One thing has become clear this early on in the season, the Atlantic Division is no longer filled with bottom feeders. The Montreal Canadiens have been surprisingly competent and the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres seemed to have turned a corner.
Then again, the Leafs aren’t the only team affected by only playing a short sample of games.
If every team around you got better and you stayed where you are, you’ve ostensibly gotten worse. The Maple Leafs clearly need help on the blue line, and I hope that this tough start has made that abundantly clear to Dubas and Shanahan. This issue can no longer be ignored and it will need to be addressed before the season starts to get away from them.
Matthews Rocket Richard watch:
Goals in last 10 games: 3
Total Goals: 3
Odds to win Rocket: +250
Of all the issues the Maple Leafs and their fan base could have imagined to begin the season, Matthews scoring only three in the first 10 games was probably the last thing anyone would have anticipated.
This type of cold streak from the best goal scorer in the league is unlikely to continue, so I don’t think anyone should be too concerned with Matthews’ chances of winning another Rocket Richard. The odds continue to reflect that confidence in Matthews getting going and pulling his shooting percentage up from its current sub 3% at 5v5 where he currently has just one goal. ( via NHL.com )
Next ten games:
The Toronto Maple Leafs just came out of a relatively easy ten game stretch and are about to enter a ten game stretch against some tough competition.
Fortunately, seven of the next ten games are home games, unfortunately, the Maple Leafs fans may boo them harder than they are booed on the road. I predict that the Maple Leafs will rise to the occasion and play up to their competition.
The record over the next ten games will be 7-2-1, Auston Matthews will bring his goal total up to 13, and Leafs Nation will breathe a collective sigh of relief.