You don’t have to be a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs to understand what the team’s first round win over the Tampa Bay Lightning meant last weekend. You don’t have to like it, either. But, if you’re any kind of Canadian sports fan, you should be rooting for the Buds the rest of the way. And here’s why.
This team—the one with Matthews and Marner and Rielly and Willie—is different than all the other ones that you’ve learned to love or hate. They have carved their own path. Yes, John Tavares was a big deal free agent signing, but that’s about it. If you’re talking about big deal free agent signings, think about the last time the Leafs won a playoff series. Late season additions and Hall of Famers Ron Francis, Brian Leetch and Joe Nieuwendyk were all on that team. This year’s team is different. The current team has grown up together, and they have learned all the lessons, good and bad. They are only fighting their own battles. There are no ghosts of the past, at least not after last Saturday night. To move onto the second round only felt like winning the Stanley Cup because it was further than the Blue and White have climbed up the mountain than they have the last two decades.
It’s funny, for all the hate that the Toronto Maple Leafs and their legion absorb, it’s pertinent to remember that every single team in the National Hockey League grew up wanting to be the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens. Every single hockey fan grew up wanting their team to be like the Toronto Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens. Maybe your crazy uncle from Sudbury might have wanted to be the Bruins, but everyone else looked to the originals for inspiration. Since expansion, the equations and expectations have changed for sure, but there is no denying that the Toronto Maple Leafs are on hockey’s mantle, regardless of their playoff record “lately” (ie. half century plus six).
The numbers sure aren’t pretty. Here are some of the ugliest: 50, 18, 10 and 3.
I’m almost 50 years old and have never seen a parade down Yonge Street. There are 18 teams that have won at least one Stanley Cup since the Leafs’ last win. The Montreal Canadiens have won 10 Cups since 1967. (Yes, that is absolutely the worst, ugliest, stinkiest, most upsetting number I’ve seen since my Grade 12 calculus exam.) The Tampa Bay Lightning, who played at the Florida State Fairgrounds for their first few years, have won three Cups in the last 19 years. But, as ugly as those numbers are, the forward momentum of this spring’s squad doesn’t care about math, or history, and that’s the point.
Of course the Leafs and Leafs Nation would be most satisfied with a Stanley Cup win. But fans of the Blue and White should celebrate this new era, and the dead skin of history that this team has shed on their way to the second round.
When the Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated from the NBA playoffs last week, Giannis Antetokounmpo was asked whether or not he considered this season to be a failure because they hadn’t won the championship. The NBA champion and two-time MVP said, “There’s no failure in sports. You know, there’s good days, bad days. Some days you are able to be successful. Some days you are not. Some days it’s your turn, some days it’s not your turn. And that’s what sports is about. You don’t always win.” Well known winner Steve Kerr, the Golden State Warriors’ head coach agreed with Giannis: “It can’t just be a zero sum game.” There are winners and losers, but they are all pulling in the same direction. They are all trying to get to the same place.
Just because the Bucks didn’t win the trophy doesn’t mean that their fans didn’t enjoy the season, that their players didn’t get better, that the value of their franchise didn’t grow. Likewise, this season is a success for the Leafs because they have moved the puck forward. Regardless of how you feel about the team, or the emotional baggage you carry from decades of disappointment, do yourself a favour and enjoy the rest of the playoffs.
With monkeys off backs, chips off shoulders, these Maple Leafs should be really fun to watch the rest of the way. While they haven’t yet won their Stanley Cup, they’ve already slayed their demons and put the wicked curse to bed. They are, as “they” say, playing with house money from here on out. As fans of hockey, we should enjoy the ride. I, for one, know that my unwashed Leafs’ hoodie has room for a few more stains before this playoff run is over.
