The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in the playoffs this past May.
As usual, the Toronto Maple Leafs were mocked for their loss by outsiders, while their own fans proceeded to eat them alive.
The coach was fired, change was promised, then rescinded, the GM did his usual low-risk name-brand thing, and those susceptible to the social media group-think phenomenon attempted to run slam-dunk future Hall of Famer Mitch Marner out of town for reason that remain vague (attitude?), non-sensical (playoff stats lies) and embarrassing (mentioning his father).
Now, in my opinion, the only thing Marner deserves criticism for is his penchant for bucket hats, but that's not why we're here today.
Today we are here to remind you that the Leafs don't deserve any criticism for their loss to Boston, and in fact, they deserve praise.
Set Aside Your Emotions and Praise the Toronto Maple Leafs Loss to the Bruins
Look, I know that the Leafs have not met expectations, at all, with this team. However, I don't think losing your mind over every loss, while specifically ignoring what led to that loss, makes any sense.
When the Leafs lost to Montreal, I excused them due to Tavares being hurt and bizarre circumstances like outshooting the Habs 12-0 in OT of an elimination game and then losing when the first shot they allow, a 90 foot knuckle-puck, beats their goalie while one of their players lays on the ice 180 feet away due to an uncalled head-shot.
Now, clearly that is bad luck, but they did lose three in a row to blow that series, so in retrospect I should have blasted them and not excused them.
Be that as it may, it makes no sense to complain about the loss to Boston.
First of all, they made it to overtime of game seven against a team that they were expected to lose against. That's a successful series, at least technically.
Secondly, they did this while Mitch Marner played on one leg after returning from a high-ankle sprain in half the time.
Thirdly, they did this while Auston Matthews suffered from a mysterious sickness that forced him to miss two games, and score only 4 points in 5 games when he usually scores a goal per game. Matthews even played game seven on a third line with Pontus Holmberg and Calle Jarnrkok because he couldn't handle his usual role and probably shouldn't have been playing.
Fourthly, they did this while William Nylander suffered a migraine that kept him out of the lineup and made him less effective when he played.
How is a team supposed to win when they are already an underdog and have zero of their three best players playing at anywhere close to full capacity?
Fifthly, their GM thought that sitting out the trade deadline (Edmundson and Deward don't count as actual moves) was the right idea. Despite getting no vote of confidence from their GM, the team still played their hearts out and obviously, considering they lost by a single goal, probably would have won if not for Treliving's disgraceful performance.
Sixthly, their GM thought it was OK to stick with the starting goalie he put on waivers in January. This was perhaps one of the worst moves in franchise history.
Seventhly, when, against all odds, Joseph Woll stole the net and made the Leafs think they finally had their own invincible goalie, he got hurt and couldn't play in game seven.
In my opinion, these seven things are enough to forget about the previous playoff exits and give the Leafs some praise for a hard-fought series. They played great. They played excellent defense and even if they couldn't score, guys like John Tavares showed so much heart by taking on defensive roles they normally don't have to and limiting the Bruins so much the Leafs almost won despite only scoring three goals in one of the games.
The Bruins series was the best series the Leafs have played in the Auston Matthews Era. We should use it to build good will around this team, because they played like winners. Any intelligent hockey fan should be able to understand that variance in the playoffs is a big thing and that the best team doesn't always get the results they deserve.
The Toronto Maple Leafs deserved to win that series and do not deserve any criticism for losing it.