5 Reasons For Toronto Maple Leafs Fans to be Optimistic
By David Agnew
Culture Change Can be Good
This has been Kyle Dubas’ team for the last five seasons. Credit to Dubas for building a skilled, high-performing roster. However, there have been times when the culture of the team has been called into question.
Of course none of us know what really goes on in the dressing room, but there have been multiple hints of dysfunction. Rumours suggested that at least part of the reason for Ryan O’Reilly’s decision not to re-sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs was that he didn’t like the atmosphere in the room.
We also had the curious incident earlier in the season when coach Sheldon Keefe called out his top players for lacklustre play, only to do an abrupt reversal in a media scrum shortly afterwards. Speculation was that Dubas coddled his stars too much, and instructed Keefe to walk back his criticism.
Add to that the decision to insert emergency goalie Jett Alexander into the late stages of a blowout win against the Canadiens, a move that Keefe claimed “wasn’t his idea”, and one starts to wonder who was in charge of the bench.
New GM Brad Treliving has not been shy about his preference for a more old-school style of play, one that will have many fans singing his praises. With the new grittier players incoming, there is some hope that the new Toronto Maple Leafs roster will be less soft and more cohesive.