The Toronto Maple Leafs have clinched a playoff spot for the ninth straight season.
While a lot of people view the current Era of Toronto Maple Leafs hockey as a disappointing failure, I do not. I think this team is amazing, despite a lot what I happen to write about them.
Let me explain:
Nine years of competitive hockey is fantastic, no matter how little playoff success the Leafs have had. I've gotten to do what I always dreamed my favorite team would allow me to eventually do: watch an exciting young group of players get drafted and developed into a contender and, eventually, a championship. They haven't won yet, and they might not, but overall, getting to experience the Auston Matthews Era has been the best Leafs hockey of my lifetime.
The Toronto Maple Leafs vs Regression vs Their Own Fans vs Reality
The Leafs are about 100 years old, and this is, by far, their longest streak of competitive hockey. Yeah, I think their midling management is blowing a great opportunity to win, but that doesn't mean I don't cheer for the actual players, or believe that they might still have success.
The Leafs are racking up wins. They are 7-2-1 in their last ten games during the most important time of the season. The stats aren't where they should be, but does it matter?
They have some of the best players and goalies in the NHL. For a long time, I said that regardless of everything else, all the Leafs have to do is put Matthews with an elite goalie. Well that's what they've done.
If Auston Matthews and Anthony Stolarz are on their games at the same time, the Leafs are more or less unbeatable. Doesn't matter how anyone else plays, or what wacky lines the coach puts out there or how bad the stats are at the end of the game.
Stats help teams make smarter decisions, but there is a randomness to sports that makes most fans reject statistical analysis or basically believe only what is in front of their eyes at any given moment. The bottom line is the Leafs are winning and could win and might.
But how can you believe in a team that hasn't won in 60 years? how can you believe in a team whose players have repeatedly failed to get it done when it counts? Why should this year be any different?
How do you believe in a team that is winning every game but posting statistics that correlate heavily with getting a lottery pick in the draft?
The reality is that the Leafs are winning almost every game they play and that they have an awesome roster. This reality must faceoff against the indisputable fact that, statistically, they are due for regression and it won't be pretty when it comes. But this must go up against the equally prevalent fact that that regression might never come.
The fans just want to beleaf - they don't want to hear what they're due for, since, if anything, they're due for a Stanley Cup.
How do you assess a team like this? They're playing bad, and yet they win constantly. They have a great roster, but its filled with players who are, historically, losers. The team's history makes us skeptical of anything good. The league's history says randomness rules.
What to think?