Goodbye Leafs... Again

Leafs. Eliminated from playoff contention. Again. To me, it’s like a broken record. And all I can do about it is sit here and complain about how my heart is broken yet again by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

            Now, I know exactly what you’re thinking right now. Are the Leafs ever going to win The Stanley Cup? For me, I sit here and think to myself, am I ever going to see them lift that beautiful shiny piece of metal? Are my kids ever going to see it happen? Is my father, the biggest leaf fan I know, after 47 years of life ever going to say that he saw the Leafs win since he’s been alive? At this point it seems like a long shot, and it hurts really badly. Especially after last season (but let’s not bruise our ego’s more than they’ve already been bruised).

            Another question that is probably currently floating around in your head is, who’s gone first? Will it be Dave Nonis? Will it be Randy Carlyle? Will it be no one at all? Only time will tell. But that sure doesn’t mean that management of The Leafs is going to be sleeping easy in the next little while. 

            Now digging a little deeper. What needs to be fixed? Some claim that the Leafs need a true first line center. And yes that may be true in a sense, but if management is looking for goal scorers in the off-season, nothing will change. What people fail to realize, is that through this entire season, the Leafs didn’t have any problem scoring. THE PROBLEM LIES WITHIN THE BACK END. In the middle of the season, adding a guy like Tim Gleason was a promising idea. But an older player like Gleason is not enough to win us games. That’s a fact and always will be.

            Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly are two youngsters who will be our core in the back end soon enough. That all depending on if management decides to keep them or not. Losing guys like Jake and Morgan would be devastating. When each of those young men play within themselves, they can be superstars.

            So what else is there? Is it Phaneuf? And this is a constant issue with us Leaf fans that drives me insane. Phaneuf has a bad game, and the media attacks. He makes one bad move on the ice and everyone on twitter is dissing the guy. But none of you acknowledge just how much depth he actually has. He can shoot, he can score goals, he can move the puck, and he’s a leader. All I’m asking from you people is pick a side. Love him or hate him though, he’s still our captain, you need to respect him.

            I know it’s frustrating, and it sucks and it hurts, and you just feel like throwing something across the room (Just as I did to my phone last night. Here’s a warning, don’t do it), But it’s all about the love for the game. Let the Leaf haters keep on hating and stay proud of your team no matter what. At the end of the day, Leafs Nation will always be here. Bad seasons will come, and great seasons will come. I’ve been waiting 16 years of my life; I can wait one more year… I think. It’ll happen for us one-day Leaf fans, I can just feel it.