Toronto Maple Leafs: The Passion That Unites Us All, Except the Players

It’s very ironic that the Toronto Maple Leafs slogan is “the passion that unites us all” when their players showed zero passion during Game 3 against the Florida Panthers.

Being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan is the worst. Even when they have their most successful season in 19 years, this team still finds a way to disappoint us.

If the Leafs lost their second round series against the Florida Panthers, but did it with passion and hard-work, I don’t think any of us would be angry. I mean, we definitely wouldn’t be happy with the result but we would have appreciated the effort.

It’s the same reason why players like Gary Roberts and Darcy Tucker are still beloved to this day.

Neither of them scored 50 goals or 100 points, but instead played with a fire and dedication to win. They had the passion and although they never won a Stanley Cup in Toronto, they at least gave their sweat and tears every shift they were on the ice.

The current Leafs roster does not have that same passion.

Toronto Maple Leafs Are on Brink of Elimination

Actually let me rephrase that.

The Leafs “core” does not have that same passion. I hate to be harsh, but in sports terms, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews are losers. They’re skillful players that know how to score but they don’t know how to win when things get tough.

It’s the reason why they haven’t been able to get through the Game 7 hurdle over the past few years and it’s the reason why they’re down 0-3 in this series against the Panthers.

During Game 3, Toronto’s bottom-six was 10 times better than their top-six, which should never happen in the playoffs, especially in the biggest game of the season! Sam Lafferty, David Kampf, Noel Acciari, Ryan O’Reilly and even Alex Kerfoot played better than Marner, Matthews, Nylander and John Tavares.

It’s crazy that O’Reilly, a player who’s only been on this roster for two months, is the most passionate and hardest working player on the ice every night. You’d think that his dedication to want to win in Toronto would motivate the rest of the team, but clearly that’s not the case right now.

I’m the biggest Matthews fan out there, going back to even before he was drafted, and think that he can still be that player you win with, but if he thinks he should be paid like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon or Leon Draisaitl he needs to give his head a shake.

In nine games thus far, he’s been the best player on the ice, maybe two games? He hasn’t taken over a series or a game like we expect him too, so why should he deserve to get paid like a superstar?

The same logic applies to Marner, Nylander and Tavares who are all overpaid. I thought that “running it back” made sense regardless of the outcome in the second round, but this current outcome is pathetic. I should’ve seen this coming, but my optimistic approach prevented me from thinking logically.

I know this series isn’t over, but nobody comes back from down 0-3 to win a playoff series. Maybe the Leafs will be that one-in-a-million team, but I doubt that happens.

This team needs a major face-lift this offseason and if Kyle Dubas is still the GM, he better start making some phone calls.