Last night’s loss by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Boston Bruins set social networks ablaze for a variety of reasons.
Whether it was the words of the Leafs’ stars on the bench, or Sheldon Keefe’s comments after the game, everything is being picked up and analyzed this morning to talk about another Toronto playoff collapse.
We’ve all come to expect big changes from the Leafs over the years, but will this be the last straw?
Personally, I really believe that losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round in 2021 after leading the series 3-1 should have been a huge wake-up call.
But no, here we are again, laughing at the same Maple Leafs with the same core three years later.
This season marks the eighth year in a row that the Toronto Maple Leafs have qualified for the playoffs, and in eight years, they’ve only won one series.
What’s even crazier, and really should be another huge red flag, is that in the last five years, the Montreal Canadiens have more playoff wins than the Maple Leafs.
And yet, the Habs have only made the playoffs twice in the last five years.
In the last 5 years the Leafs have played 34 playoff games, Montreal has played 32…Montreal has 18 wins, the Leafs have 14…Montreal has only made the playoffs twice. pic.twitter.com/PHDenfP9rb
– Matthew McAnanama (@MMcananama) April 28, 2024
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14 wins in 34 playoff games for the Leafs and 18 wins in 32 games for the Canadiens.
0.41 winning percentage for the Leafs and 0.56 for the Tricolore.
We could even add another full year and therefore another playoff appearance for the Maple Leafs, namely 2019, and the Habs would still have more wins, given that the Leafs lost in seven games to the Boston Bruins that year.
So we’d add just three wins, making them 17 in the last six years versus 18 for the Habs.
It’s crazy to think that a rebuilding team has more playoff wins than a team that’s been a Stanley Cup contender for years.
It just goes to show that the Leafs’ core is simply never going to win and needs to be dismantled.
This first-round loss to the Boston Bruins (because yes, if all goes well, the Leafs will lose a fourth game in this series) has to be the trigger for a huge shake-up both behind the bench and in the dressing room.
New, for @TheAthletic: Barring an unlikely and unexpected comeback, this is the end of the Maple Leafs as we know them.https://t.co/DwvG9XYRJEhttps://t.co/DwvG9XYRJE
– Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 28, 2024
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Just imagine if the Montreal Canadiens became competitive and Stanley Cup contenders again before the Maple Leafs did any damage in the playoffs…
It would be a monumental embarrassment for the entire city of Toronto.
The Habs might even end up playing the Leafs in the first round soon, and imagine if the Habs won.
In short, the Maple Leafs haven’t had any playoff success, and haven’t for far too long, as evidenced by this statistic involving the Habs’ playoff success.
In a gust
– Ouch.
… when we get there.” The Leafs drafted top 10 for number of years (Matthews, Marner and Nylander) and had consistently strong regular season success. But just 1 playoff round win since that letter was sent.
– Tony Ambrogio (@Tony_Ambrogio) April 28, 2024
– An excellent Bruins playoff power play.
Bruins on PP last two seasons (11 games):
17-for-40, 42.5 pct.
– Kevin Paul Dupont (@GlobeKPD) April 28, 2024
– Just for fun – why not?
Just for fun – if #Habs win lottery, sacrifice a bunch of futures (Reinbacher, picks, etc) to add Marner (via third team) and dump Anderson (Barron, picks) to San Jose with no retention… pic.twitter.com/5UVoSJsesA
– Dan Kramer (@DanKramerHabs) April 28, 2024
– What’s on today.
Two hockey games today
Noon #RDS World #M18 Canada vs Switzerland
4:00 PM #RDS2 Final #CoupeTelus Brandon vs @CantonniersAAA de Magog – Canadian Championship #M18
Quebec aims for 2nd straight win @LHM18AAAQ
Townships have a perfect 6-0 record
– Stephane Leroux (@StephRDSJunior) April 28, 2024
– Indeed.
The Islanders’ hard work has finally paid off | JDM https://t.co/EjV2CyknR1
– Jonathan Bernier (@JBernierJDM) April 28, 2024