Toronto Maple Leafs: Making the NHL News All About the Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the midst of one of those weird runs where they are playing quite badly, but circumstance and their record are hiding most of their problems.

The Toronto Maple Leafs almost lost five games in a row, but avoided doing so with a three-goal comeback against Tampa.  They would go on to win five of their next seven, despite playing from behind and blowing leads almost constantly.

The Leafs could easily be 2-10 in their last twelve, but a 3-1 record in OT, 2 x multi-goal comebacks and the insane ability to get points in games where they blow huge leads has somehow made their record respectable.

They played the Penguins and Kyle Dubas last night (results pending at the time of writing) but barring a dominant performance, their problems are mounting, even if a trip to Sweden, a decent record,  and two weeks without many games has kept the lid on most of them.

Making the NHL News All About the Toronto Maple Leafs

This is a segment where we run down all the headlines on NHL.com and relate them to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The New York Islanders have placed Adam Pelech on the LTIR.  This reminds me of the time I spent $200 on a box of hockey cards and the best I got as a $5  Adam Pelech autograph.  I was in search of an Auston Matthews Signature Sensation, which is one of four I need for my set but I never did find it.

Taylor Hall is out for the season, which only makes Friday’s loss to the Chicago Blackhawks more embarrassing.  I was hoping Hall might be a cool late-season addition to the Leafs, but I guess it won’t happen now.

A Predators Prospect is gaining confidence?  You know who else is gaining confidence? Me! I learned how to play the riff from “Come Out and Play” on guitar this week and my confidence is sky-high!  I write about the Toronto Maple Leafs, so there’s the connection.

Next up: New jerseys for the Kraken and Golden Knights, which, let’s face it, are a scam.  Every week a new jersey to sell, but as long as they put adds on jerseys I’ll never buy one. Did anyone see the great retro Canucks jersey that was completely ruined by a stupid nuclear-green patch from a terrible company?  Of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs have already embarrassed and disgraced themselves by going down this gaudy and greedy path.

The Oilers won a big game.  This is true, and they’ll win a lot more.  They are too good to flounder for long, and unlike the Toronto Maple Leafs, their underlying numbers are actually good and project them to have a much more successful rest of the season.

That’s it! I hope you had as much fun as I did.