Here's why so many fans are proud of this season's Leafs

Listen, I get it. I've been a die hard Leafs fan for most of my 30 years, my 2 year old has a poster on his wall the features Curtis Joseph, Mats Sundin and Sergei Berezin. I've been here a while. I get the disappointment, we missed out on the second round and beyond once again. This year though, I'm not upset about the team, or their effort. No, this year its different. The effort was there, the compete, the skill, the strategy, they had it all. They ran into a team on the verge of creating a dynasty in Tampa, and to be honest, they didn't get much help from the guys in the striped shirts. I feel like its important to appreciate just how great the Leafs were this season. Even if the result is the same.

Auston Matthews missed all of training camp recovering from off season wrist surgery. By the end of October the prospects of him defending his Rocket Richard trophy were bleak at best. Matthews turned it around and put together a 50-game stretch where he scored 51 goals. Fifty one goals in fifty games. Yeah, he did that. He also became the first 60-goal scorer in the NHL in a decade, breaking Rick Vaive's single season franchise scoring record along the way. Even more impressive, he missed 9 games this season, so he did it all in only 73 games.

Mitch Marner, man. we gave him so much crap after his dismal showing in last year's playoffs. Even before the COVID shut down, his points totals were pedestrian. After that, Marner was a man possessed. MOre than making up for his early season struggles, Marner managed to tally 97 points by season's end. Marner also put up 8 points, including 2 goals against the Lightning in the playoffs. Marner proved a lot of people wrong this season, myself included.

John Tavares took flak from Leafs fans all season, admittedly, his goals total was down from previous years, but he still managed to be just shy of a point per game player this season. His disallowed goal in game 7 may be remembered with the same pain that Gretzky's missed high stick on Doug Gilmour is. Tavares was fantastic in the final 3 games of that series. Its going to take a long time to forgive Eric Furlatt for that interference call.

Those are the big highlights, sure, but we also saw personal best seasons points wise from so many players on the roster. The oft criticized William Nylander had a career season, and aside from one play, he stepped up his game in the playoffs. Jack Campbell had a rough patch, but was otherwise fantastic. He played well when the chips were down in the playoffs as well, including a gutsy performance in Game 7. Finishing the game after being run over by Nick Paul. The Leafs finished with the best PP in the league and managed to score more short handed goals than any other team. There were just so many great things this season, I still can't believe its over already.

Through 89 games this season the Leafs were an excellent hockey team, a team worth watching, worth believing in. They made history as individuals and as a team. As a fan, I have no regrets in cheering for this team, and I'll be excited to see what's next for this group. I'm proud to be a Leafs fan today, and you should be too.