Of all the sad tales in Leafs Nation right now, consider my own of the past three playoff exits:
Two years ago, the Leafs lost in Game 7 to the Montreal Canadiens. It was my birthday.
Last year, accompanied by a friend who was celebrating his own as well, I went to Game 7 versus the Tampa Bay Lightning as a milestone birthday present to myself.
Last night, after “winning” a lottery for Game 5 tickets when they went on sale two weeks ago, I was in Scotiabank Arena to witness the Leafs’ season end in overtime.
The 2021 loss to the Habs was played in an empty building, or I may well have been on hand back then to witness that carnage. Instead I sat alone in my darkened basement.
Small victories.
Over the past 10 days or so, I knew this space would be occupied with some sort of Leafs content. So, I reached out to former Leafs who either lived in town or had a tangible connection to the area. Though I routinely deal with both active and retired hockey players, the ones consulted for this column were more personal friends and acquaintances than any sort of professional relationship. The idea was to give a perspective from across the decades of what makes playoff hockey different, and what makes the Leafs so different from other NHL clubs.
In total, I spoke with three former Leafs and two other former NHLers who didn’t play for Toronto but were all part of teams that had long playoff runs. There was even a Stanley Cup champion among them. Because the tone changed with each twist and turn since the Leafs beat the Lightning two weeks ago, it was difficult to create a consistent narrative and line of questioning. So, I’ve decided to not identify the players because each spoke to me at different times under different circumstances.
By speaking anonymously, they also spoke more freely, especially one recently retired player who was simply chatting with me while we played golf together.
What they said was interesting and foretold the events of Friday night.
“It was different for us,” remarked one former player who has been retired for decades. “We didn’t have to deal with all the stuff related to (not having won the Stanley Cup) since 1967.”
“That’s a huge difference now … and we never had all the social media stuff. There was pressure, sure, and a lot of media coverage but none of the social media that you see now.”
Another former Leaf said the way the game is played now and the way the Leafs play it has turned him off watching, although he still supports his former club.
“I can barely watch it, to be honest,” said the former player, who is long retired but is a notch younger than the first player quoted here. “I don’t find it as enjoyable as when I played.”
And, like so many critics are now suggesting, are the Leafs a fatally flawed team? To varying degrees, all the players I spoke to agreed they are but were measured in their criticism.
“I guarantee you that every single player on that team wants to win every bit as bad as fans do, even more,” said one former player, who added he finds it odd Brendan Shanahan is president of a team that plays so differently than his own style that won him three Stanley Cups.
The only player who was singled out specifically for criticism was Auston Matthews; his lack of physical engagement in scrums was cited as perhaps a sign his compete level is not what it needs to be. While all former players consulted marvelled at the Leafs’ skill level, they pointed out much of what Matthews, Mitch Marner and Willie Nylander are so good at is a largely ineffectual way to play in the playoffs.
To wit, Nylander was flying all over the ice last night and scored the tying goal to send the game into overtime. And while it’s visible watching on television, too, being in the building especially reveals Nylander’s lack of physicality when he doesn’t have the puck. On at least three occasions Friday against the Panthers, Nylander moved a greater distance away from an opposition player when it would have been much easier to engage the puck carrier.
Marner, for his part, struggled with the relentless Panthers pressure at both ends of the ice. It wasn’t so much a beat down as it was a blunting of the Leafs winger’s brilliant skating and puck skills. Marner was plenty engaged; he was just unable to create scoring chances to the same degree he does in the regular season.
Virtually the same thing was true of Matthews throughout the Panthers series and in the conversations I had with former players.
Though the game is vastly different now, playoff hockey in that regard has changed little. One former Leaf, who played for the team in the 1970s, when they beat the emerging powerhouse New York Islanders in Game 7 on the road, drew comparison to how Toronto held the late Hall of Famer Mike Bossy in check that series to how Marner, Mathews and Co. were largely hamstrung by the Panthers.
On a lighter note, three players I spoke to had attended playoff games this season. All remarked how much they enjoyed it. In one case, it was the first time a player had attended a game since he retired.
“I had a chicken sandwich, a beer in each hand, headed up to the 300 level,” he explained, “I looked at my wife and was like, ‘Now I know why you had so much fun at my games.’”
On a more serious note, two former Leafs said they understood fans’ frustrations with how the Leafs’ lack of playoff success in recent years has had little effect on the business side of the operation. One player told me he won’t pay the sticker price to attend games. Instead, he occasionally uses his access as a Leafs alumnus.
“It’s not worth it for me and I’m not sure it’s worth it for anyone at that price, but the market is the market,” he said. “… That’s true of any business.”
The seats I sat in Friday night had a face value of $1,180. The guy beside me got his StubHub for $750, 90 minutes before puck drop.
And now consider how my night ended. Slumped in my seat in the fourth row of greens, I was finishing off a $20 beer as the last remnants of fans were leaving.
An usher, one I easily recognized from the almost 200 Leafs games I’ve attended since the building opened in 1999, prodded me and my friend to finish up and leave.
“We have to get ready for basketball,” he bellowed in a friendly but firm tone.
The usher was referring to the WNBA’s first exhibition game in Canada that was slated for Saturday afternoon.
They haven’t won a championship since 1967, but the Leafs’ relentless ability to make money has never stopped.
