February 6th marks a dark day in Leafs history
It was 13 years ago today when the best Leafs goalie everybody forgot recorded his second straight shutout in his second game in the Blue and White. Many fans don't remember, but Stanley Cup winning goaltender Jean-Sebastian Giguere was actually a Leaf for two seasons. He shared the net with Jonas Gustavsson and Vesa Toskala and though he played the fewest games, he had by far the best save % of the three by the end of the season. He was a rare bright spot in an otherwise dark time, but not the focus of this article.
On the same date just 5 years later in 2015, the Leafs faced off against the New Jersey Devils. Despite outshooting the Devils 34-17, the Leafs fell by a score of 4-1, with Patrick Elias scoring his 400th career goal, which would go down as the game winner. Jaromir Jagr put the game on ice in the third, scoring the Devils' 4th goal with just over 2 minutes left in the game. The loss tied the Leafs franchise record for longest losing streak at 11. It was a true low point for the Leafs, who have replaced the entire roster since then, with the exception of Morgan Rielly. Yes, He's been a Leaf that long!
Now, why tell this story? Why do we need to look back to such a dark time in this team's history? The Leafs of 2022-23 are not that far removed from the club that lost 11 straight games. They've gone from perennial bottom feeders to one of the top teams in the league, led by some of the most skilled players in franchise history. They were a joke, and a bad one at that.
Now, I'm well aware that the Leafs still haven't won a playoff series with their current core. I'm aware that the roster as it is constructed is far from perfect, and I'm aware that this season will be regarded as a failure without at the very least an 8th game in this season's playoffs. Having said that, maybe we should, as a fanbase, take the time to look back and see just how far this team has come since that horrendous outing 8 years ago. Maybe we should be showing a little more appreciation for the best Leafs team we've seen since the days of the late Pat Quinn behind the bench.
This fanbase is so quick to call for the firing of coaches and GMs. One turnover can land a player on the fanbase's trade block by the next morning. Clearly the last 2 decades of despair have scarred us, but for the time being, the best thing we can all do is enjoy the ride. The playoffs will come, and when they do I'll be nervous, but until that time comes, I'm going to do my best to enjoy every minute of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander while I can, because this core will not be together forever and there will certainly come a time in the future when we look back on this group and wish that we could re-live some of the magic. Hopefully we'll get to experience some of that magic in the playoffs this year, which would certainly give validation to their legacy.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 6 | 854 ANSWERS February 6th marks a dark day in Leafs history Do you think this current core has what it takes to win in the Playoffs? | ||
| Yes | 380 | 44.5 % |
| No | 302 | 35.4 % |
| It depends who they bring in at the deadline | 172 | 20.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
