The Toronto Maple Leafs Franchise's Greatest Accomplishment Is in Danger
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a historically significant franchise that has been around for over 100 years.
In this time, the Toronto Maple Leafs have won the second-most Stanley Cups, something we tell ourselves all the time even though we haven't won a single one since the league expanded beyond six teams.
But of all the things the Leafs have won or done, the greatest is being the only team to ever come back and win a Stanley Cup after being down 3-0 in the Finals.
The Leafs performed this amazing accomplishment in 1942 against Detroit. If you're a Leafs fan, it's like knowing the words to the national anthem or understanding traffic lights - its just one of those things everyone knows, and that's because it only ever happened once.
After the Edmonton Oilers tied their series last night against the Florida Panthers, coming all the way back from a 3-0 deficit, the Leafs greatest accomplishment is in danger.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Franchise's Greatest Accomplishment Is in Danger
According to the Washington Post, this is the 10th time in 210 chances that a team has came all the way back from 3-0 in the NHL.
What's crazy is that means there is a 4.7% of a team coming back to tie the series whenever they go down 3-0. That seems insanely high to me, and it's only like 20 to 1 odds.
For perpsective, the Leafs lost 11 straight games where they had a chance to win the playoff series, and there was under 1% chance of that happening. When Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson that was more unlikely than a 3-0 comeback. In any given baseball game, there is a 0.1% chance of a perfect game.
So a 3-0 comeback isn't all that rare, it's just that the circumstances of a 3-0 lead to possibly comeback from are themselves fairly rare. But still, only one hockey team has ever done it in the Finals.
And that team is the Leafs.
But while it's nice to be the only team to ever have done something, I'd take far more delight in the hated Florida Panthers being the all-time chokers than I take in the Leafs accomplishment that happened 40 years before I was even born.
I hope the Oilers get it done. I don't care if they're full of ex_leafs or if the Zach Hyman contract gets mentioned to me every day for the rest of time, this potential comeback is amazing.
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I hope Zach Hyman scores a hattrick and sets the all-time goals record while the Oilers win the best Stanley Cup Final in decades.