Round 1 Primer: Senators @ Maple Leafs

Once upon a time I would have gladly written an in depth analysis of this 1st Round matchup.

Once upon a time I had high hopes for the core of this Maple Leafs team as well.

Those times are over, so while I could run through every stat, line and matchup to give you the low down on who should win this series, as a writer should, instead I’m going to approach this from a fans point of view, because today that’s all that I am, a Leafs fan.

There is no team that the Leafs can beat in the playoffs if they continue to do what they’ve done in years past. The San Jose Sharks, who beat the Leafs (twice!!) down the stretch, would be my odds on favourite to win a series if they had made the playoffs and not finished dead last in the NHL. That’s a statement, if ever there was one.

While some may argue that this is being dramatic, all I can say is they lost to 2 different teams during the covid years that wouldn’t have made the playoffs had it not been for the circumstances that a global pandemic placed the NHL in.

A lot has changed since then, would be the response in this imaginary conversation. Yet a lot remains the same, is my argument. Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly, the backbone of the team, are still here. John Tavares as well, though he was noticeably absent against the Habs during that series, due to injury.

While I would agree that Rielly is less important now that Jake McCabe, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Carlo have joined the club, I would still point out that you can’t win if you don’t score and the stars up front have continually failed to score in the most important of times.

So, the writer in me wants to believe that they can not just win a series, but dominate it. The numbers I have failed to provide, but others have gladly shown, say they should.

But the fan in me has a broken spirit. Broken by the very team that I’m going to cheer on to win tonight. Broken by their failure to do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, to make me believe that they have what it takes to win anything of consequence.

Tonight, I’m not just watching because I love the game of hockey, the jersey with the Leaf on the front and the passion that the playoffs bring, I’m watching in hope of being able to buy in again. I’m watching to believe that it’s okay to believe.

My hope this year isn’t for a series win. My hope this year isn’t even for a Stanley Cup, although it would be great. My hope this year is to believe. So my message to the overpaid, overhyped, spoiled and pampered core is to get down from that fucking pedestal that you were prematurely placed on and get to work.

Make. Me. Believe.