Monumental Collapse
Posted 4:43 PM ET | Comments 0
Two months ago, it seemed as though the Leafs were destined for their first playoff appearance since the lockout. Lupul and Kessel were clicking almost every night, and when they didn't, Grabovski and co. would pick up the slack. The defense was solid, and Jonas Gustavsson was playing his best hockey. Trips to the penalty box were few and far between. It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.
Eleven straight home losses. Eleven. How does that even happen? And for once the fans are starting to fight back. I stumbled upon kijiji looking for tickets to tonight Sabres/Pens game, and was astonished by the hoards of Leaf tickets being sold, and for cheap. Advertisements like "Under Face Value" were pretty much all I saw. And for comparison sake, gold and red tickets for tomorrow's Sabres/Leafs game were going for the same price as 300s in Buffalo. It's amazing what playoffs can do.
So what next? There are upsides. The core remains intact. A top 5 draft pick will certainly help (assuming the Leafs don't go on their typical end of season run and finish 10th in the East). The draft class is not considered very strong, but the top 5 are great players that will help the future. Unfortunately for that to happen, Leaf fans will need to suffer for 4 more games.
Eleven straight home losses. Eleven. How does that even happen? And for once the fans are starting to fight back. I stumbled upon kijiji looking for tickets to tonight Sabres/Pens game, and was astonished by the hoards of Leaf tickets being sold, and for cheap. Advertisements like "Under Face Value" were pretty much all I saw. And for comparison sake, gold and red tickets for tomorrow's Sabres/Leafs game were going for the same price as 300s in Buffalo. It's amazing what playoffs can do.
So what next? There are upsides. The core remains intact. A top 5 draft pick will certainly help (assuming the Leafs don't go on their typical end of season run and finish 10th in the East). The draft class is not considered very strong, but the top 5 are great players that will help the future. Unfortunately for that to happen, Leaf fans will need to suffer for 4 more games.