A few articles ago, a family member texted me to say it was one of my best pieces. In fairness, this was the person who initially asked me to come write for this blog, so his literary scouting skills are quite suspect. My response to him was that it’s easier to write about this team when they suck.
This is a problem that many members of the broader Leafs media/fan community have talked about. The Toronto Maple Leafs organization and Leafs fans are load-bearing walls in the hockey world. The Leafs drive eyeballs; people want to read or watch content about the team. But perversely, what does best in terms of metrics and engagement is the righteous anger that has been so common these last decades.
It is true, my writing is better when they suck. It’s easier to write; words flow out of me like water. However, I will give almost anything for the Leafs to never suck again. My firstborn for a crumb of victory.
Are the Leafs back?
Back to hockey. Since my last article, the Leafs have made basically a complete 180. I’ve said before that Mitch Marner was not the straw that stirred the drink, and that remains true. Hilariously, it seems that Mark Savard was a plank that prevented the drink from being stirred at all. The Leafs power play, which was unwatchable, has gone 7/20 since Savard was relieved of his duties. Since Dec. 22, the Leafs power play is fourth in the league at 35%. Prior to December 22nd, it was last in the league at a paltry 13.3%. Whatever Steve Sullivan is doing, keep it up, please.
So are the Leafs back? Lately, they have been. Regular readers will know that my cynicism does not get erased with a couple of good weeks; I’ve been building this for decades. The season is barely over the halfway mark, with a significant Olympic break coming up in under a month. There is plenty of hockey left, and many more storylines to be written about.
Are they a playoff team?
So what does a positive rest of this season look like? They are not Stanley Cup contenders, that much is clear. They also shouldn’t sell the farm at the deadline. Are they buyers? Also probably not. The Leafs currently sit one point back of the Wild Card spot, so they’re definitely in the hunt; however, the Atlantic division is a powerhouse. Toronto’s record over their last 10 games is 7–1–2, pretty good. The four teams above them in the Atlantic are Buffalo, Montreal, Tampa Bay, and Detroit. Their records over the last 10 games respectively are: 9–1, 6–2–2, 9–1, and 7–2–1. The Leafs are not gaining much ground.
What does this mean? The Leafs are probably going to make the playoffs, where pretty much nobody thinks they’ll have success. They might surprise us, but if history has shown anything, it’s that very rarely are those surprises positive.
A waiting game until the Olympics
It feels like January will be a slog. First of all, because living in Toronto means that January and February are always a slog. I can usually count on one hand the number of times I see the sun in these early months. But more importantly, the Leafs play basically every other day until the Olympic break. It is a nonstop, action-packed sprint to the thing that most hockey fans have been waiting for since 2014. If the 4 Nations: Face-Off showed us anything, it’s that international best-on-best is amazing.
The NHL will be jampacked, while most fans already are dreaming of Connor McDavid racing through that tiny neutral zone, or wondering whether an ice hole will take out their favourite player.
It is much easier to write about this team when they suck. I am more used to lambasting the Leafs than I am praising them. It’s gone beyond a “fool me once” situation; I’m on “fool me fifteen times.” But please know I want the Leafs to win, more than anything. I want the Leafs to win 96 straight games every season for the rest of my life. Unlikely, yes, but a boy can dream. This season, that’s obviously not going to happen, but I’ll settle for never seeing the Leafs from November/December ever again.
