The Leafs are on pace for their best season ever, with the worst timing ever
If the title didn't give this one away, the Toronto Maple Leafs are on pace for the best regular season in franchise history. They are currently on pace for a 116-point season, with the existing record being 105. You wouldn't know it by the way the fans and media talk about the team, but this is literally the best they've ever been in the regular season. Crazy right? What's even crazier is that if the playoffs were to start today, they wouldn't even have home ice advantage in round 1.
Now, the schedule has been crazy, especially in Canada. The Leafs have games in hand on the teams ahead of them. In terms of points percentage, the Leafs sit 4th in the NHL and second in their division.
It's just awful luck for the Leafs that when they finally put together a truly great hockey team, two of the top three teams in the league happen to be in their division. For a team desperate for playoff success and having historic regular season success, their first round matchup is going to be ridiculously difficult. If we were to go by points percentage, they'd play the 2-time defending cup winners in Tampa right now. If they take off in the second half and pass the Panthers, they'll get the Boston Bruins.
This isn't to say that the NHL is biased or unfair, or that there's an easy road to the Cup somewhere else, it just feels extremely Leafy that, in the midst of their best season ever, they'll more than likely start the playoffs on the road against a top-5 team in the NHL.
If they do manage to get through the first round with a win, I can see it propelling them to a very deep run. Maybe I'm crazy, maybe the Leafs have finally broken my brain after all these years, but this team feels different. I think they can do it.
