For all the nonsense being spewed about how difficult it is to be a successful NHL team while boiling alive in Toronto鈥檚 allegedly oppressive pressure cooker, here鈥檚 an undeniable truth: It鈥檚 inarguably hard to be a Maple Leafs fan.
Whether or not it鈥檚 harder to be a Leaf than it is to be, say, a Florida Panther, as various Florida-based trolls have been suggesting, here鈥檚 one thing we can say for sure: To be a fan of the Leafs is to be fed no end of bull splatter. It means you鈥檝e had to endure at least a part of a Stanley Cup drought that will be going on 59 years next spring. And it means that on Tuesday you had to listen to another in a long line of delusional season-ending press conferences that strangely resemble a parent-teacher conference for a hopeless pupil.
Bad news, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews: Little Auston bombed another final exam. But good news: He鈥檚 a wonderful kid, he’s trying hard and he鈥檚 learning at his own pace!
Serious teams don鈥檛 watch themselves get devoured like the Leafs did in Game 7 against the Panthers.
Mike Babcock used to insist it was necessary for young teams to suffer 鈥渟cars,鈥澛爐o lose before they win. Now that the Auston Matthews era resembles a giant festering collection of playoff-induced hurt, you鈥檇 think the Leafs鈥 post-season messaging might change. But on Tuesday the guy who took over for Babcock鈥檚 successor essentially said the same thing Babcock used to say, using a different set of words.
鈥淲e have to learn from this Game 7 going forward,鈥 Leafs coach Craig Berube told reporters Tuesday. 鈥淎nd we will learn from it. And we鈥檒l be better.鈥
That Berube presumes he’s going to teach this core group something from the wreckage of Sunday鈥檚 6-1 Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena is downright laughable to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the past decade of playoff failure in Leafland. The Leafs have gone 0-for-6 in Game 7s and 0-for-7 in winner-take-all games. They鈥檙e 2-for-11 in playoff series.
Over that span of missing umpteen chances to step on the proverbial throat of an array of opponents they鈥檝e had three different coaches, three different general managers, a rotating cast of role players and one remarkably consistent habit: When the final exam comes, they almost always flunk.
Head coach Craig Berube, along with select players, spoke ahead of a summer that could see major
And yet, Leafs fans are fed drivel. More than once Tuesday Berube said his team鈥檚 biggest sin in the worst loss of the season was tactical.
鈥淲e lost structure for a bit, and they capitalized,鈥 he said.
Lost structure? More like they lacked any semblance of fight. And yet Berube diminished the significance of losing the biggest game of the season in a 6-1 rout, the same score by which the Maple Leafs lost a tilted-rink Game 5 in which they were also booed off home ice.
鈥淪ometimes scores get blown out of proportion a little bit,鈥 Berube said.
So 6-1 is the new 2-1, one supposes, just like losing is pretty similar to winning, save for the part about not being allowed to play any more playoff games.
When Berube was hired last year, GM Brad Treliving lauded him for 鈥渉is ability to hold people accountable.鈥 Berube didn鈥檛 do much of that Tuesday, when he implied that the Leafs didn鈥檛 get 鈥渢he bounces鈥 required to advance and spoke of Toronto鈥檚 Game 7 laydown as though it was nothing much to be concerned about.
鈥淲e just have to learn to do things a little differently in big games, in big moments,鈥 Berube said.
It鈥檚 the 鈥渏ust鈥 that鈥檚 concerning. It reminds you of how, when the Leafs were mere novice choke artists, blowing a 3-1 series lead to Montreal four years ago, Shanahan said the only thing holding his team back from playoff success was 鈥渒iller instinct.鈥 As though a package of it could be ordered on Amazon. As though the kind of winning-is-everything beastliness required to raises banners could be injected into Matthews on a quick trip to Munich. Alas, Matthews has yet to score a goal in a winner-take-all game. Ditto Mitch Marner.
The Leafs’ top scorer, who will be an unrestricted free agent July 1, is trying “to figure out
And they say pro sports is a results-based business. Apparently not if you bring in a few playoff gates on Bay Street. Matthews and Marner will both be starting their 10th NHL season in the fall. And yet Toronto鈥檚 new coach is insisting they鈥檙e still absorbing valuable lessons. They鈥檙e definitely getting schooled.
鈥淵ou live and you learn,鈥 Leafs veteran Max Pacioretty said. 鈥淕reat things don鈥檛 always come easy. In fact, they never come easy. You look at all these scenarios of people having to fail so many times in their careers. Michael Jordan聽鈥 no one talks about how many times he failed until he won all these championships. I don鈥檛 see anything different with this group.鈥
There鈥檚 just a slight difference. In the ninth season of the Matthews-Marner Leafs, the Leafs have won a grand total of two playoff series. In Jordan鈥檚 ninth NBA season, he won his third of six championships. Failures are relative. Toronto鈥檚 are farcical in their repetitiveness.
The only thing Leaf fans keep relearning this time of year is simple math: The Shanaplan doesn鈥檛 work. It never really has. No more exams required.
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