An open letter to the Leafs from a frustrated fanbase
I write this with a heavy heart and a lot of concern, following a downright awful performance from our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3. What many were calling a "must-win" game started with the right level of pace and intensity. Unfortunately, it's not about how the game starts - it's about how it ends. In this case, it ended with a 3-0 series lead for the Florida Panthers and a lot of Leaf fans left with their heads in their hands wondering why we keep doing this to ourselves.
I think I'd be doing a disservice to Leafs Nation as a whole if I didn't start by flat out telling the "Core 4"; you blew it. You absolutely blew it. You had an opportunity to put this team on your backs and lead them to victory over a bunch of pretenders who don't even belong in the postseason. You just disposed of the Tampa Bay Lightning - a team with two Stanley Cups and 3 Cup Final appearances in the last 3 years - in Round 1. Then, by the grace of God, you were gifted the Florida Panthers in Round 2, completely avoiding a matchup with a record-setting Boston Bruins team that was almost certainly in your heads before the playoffs even began. How did you handle this nicely wrapped gift? You picked it up very carefully, so as to not damage the beautiful gift wrap, took it into the barn and threw it into a woodchipper.
The Florida Panthers finished the 2022-23 season in 17th place. They edged out the Pittsburgh Penguins and *checks notes* the BUFFALO SABRES by one single point to sneak into the playoffs as the absolute lowest seed with just 92 points. It's like the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Montreal Canadiens all over again. You drew an inferior opponent and instead of putting your nose to the grindstone and going to work on them, you trusted that your skill and a medium effort would be enough to get the job done. Now you find yourselves in a 3-0 hole against a team who you can beat in your sleep if you simply worked harder than they did.
I know that, in your minds, this series is not over. Well, forgive me for saying this, but I've seen this movie before. We've all seen it. You're either going to turn up the heat when it's already too late and give us false hope before bursting our bubble, or you're going to simply roll over and present your belly to the Panthers in submission in Game 4 and hand the series away. There is no third option for us, and it makes us incredibly sad.
As far as Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and John Tavares go, if you guys didn't want to show up for Game 3, you should have just stayed back in Toronto. That performance in Game 3 was about as uninspired and ineffective as it could have possibly been. As for William Nylander, you played pretty well, but as a member of the "Core 4", unfortunately when your 3 running mates forget to show up, it's up to you to pick up the slack or you all go down together. The fact that all four of you have failed to score a goal in the series is embarrassing and, quite frankly, unacceptable.
Too often has this team relied on depth guys to get it done - the guys making next to nothing, taking league-minimum deals and out-working the Leafs' star players way too frequently for anyone's comfort. Last year, it was Jason Spezza bailing the team out. On Sunday, it was Erik Gustafsson and Sam Lafferty doing the heavy lifting. Does anyone else see anything wrong here?? Over $40M being paid to 4 players and it's the depth guys having the biggest impact in a crucial Game 3.. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
As for Sheldon Keefe, we wanted you to be the guy, but for all of your regular season success, you just can't seem to motivate your guys the right way when the games really matter. For all the talk of accountability, we sure don't see anyone holding anyone accountable in Toronto. We don't see the will and desire that your team only seems to show when your backs are against the wall and you're playing from behind and completely pissed off. If and when Florida eliminates your team, your head should rightfully be the first to roll. With that much talent, experience, leadership and grit on your bench on any given night, you should be beating your opponents into oblivion each and every night. If your guys aren't showing up to play a full 60 minutes, they're not prepared. They're not up to the task - and it's your job to prepare them. As far as we're concerned, you failed to do your job in this series and your players probably bailed you out in Tampa as well.
To Kyle Dubas, I know this is going to sound strange, but I feel for you, I really do. My heart goes out to you, because you're obviously very good at what you do and you deserve a much better fate after providing this many weapons to an inept coach and surrounding your highly skilled guys with an amazing supporting cast. I know that you believe in this core - and you know what? YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO. These are some elite players we're talking about and the fact that they're not getting enough out of one another and the fact that Keefe can't properly motivate these guys is probably going to cost you your job. It's a damn shame, really, because you're very likely the best GM this team has seen in maybe 3 decades.
Look - I know this sounds like a bunch of doom and gloom, but we, the loyal fans of Leafs Nation, have spent our lives affirming year after year just how "different" this team is. Well, you're only different when you decide to play hard. The rest of the time, you coast. Your lackadaisical play has become tiresome and predictable at this time of the year and we're sick of it.
This fanbase doesn't deserve another firesale and a top-to-bottom rebuild. We deserve a team who wants to show up to every game with the right mindset, work ethic and commitment to executing the game plan each and every night. We spend our hard-earned money on tickets, merchandise and all sorts of Leafs-related consumer products, from shot glasses to key chains, to flags, to car decals and a variety of other products to show our passion and our support. Sadly, we've gotten nothing for it in 56 years.
If by some miracle, you come back and beat Florida in 7, I'll be the first to man up and admit that I was wrong. However, things are looking as bleak as they often do this time of the year - but don't worry, we're used to it. We don't like it, but we're conditioned for it and for that, you should all be ashamed of yourselves. You've let down Leafs Nation once again, and we deserve better. For a short time, we thought we were going to GET better this time around. Instead, we have egg on our faces - again.
Thanks for that,
Leafs Nation
