The Maple Leafs are again within the playoffs, so we now have a couple of questions as our bandwagon followers are working laborious on the most important leaf at CBC Toronto’s digital desk.
, we sound good at sports activities bars.
(And actually, this will even be a barely emotional check-in for reporter Adam Carter, who has been following the buds for many years – for higher or worse.)
Adam, straightforward query to begin: Are the leaves good?
The staff has simply received their first division title in a daily season for over 20 years and boasts gamers near the highest of many essential classes throughout the NHL, together with scoring, factors, assists and goaltending statistics.
For different groups, it might be very straightforward to say clearly, “Yeah, they’re good.” However is that this the leaf we’re speaking about right here?
However do you are feeling it… okay? Give us a phrase of reply about your emotional state.
(Cautiously) optimistic.
It is two, however contemplating that a couple of years in the past you wrote that being a Leafs fan right now of yr “I really feel prefer it’s similar to expectations earlier than Christmas morning, we’ll permit it.
And there is a rub there – this staff has but to show that they nonetheless have the flexibility to win within the playoffs, the place it counts. Aside from the one sequence victory with the Tampa Bay Lightnings earlier than the ultimate season (earlier than they had been shortly decimated by the Florida Panthers within the second spherical), these leaves appear to all the time discover a strategy to stumble within the postseason.
Perhaps that is the yr when the whole lot will lastly click on for this core and go for a correct run, however I will not guess in your life financial savings or something like that.
What are you optimistic about?
This staff could also be legally completely different from previous seasons. He’s the goaltending chief amongst them. Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll type one of many league’s greatest goalkeeper tandems, and followers ought to be capable to really feel assured in one of many internet.
Because the Toronto Maple Leafs start to face off in opposition to Ottawa, CBC’s Gregross breaks down what he sees as if his rivalry within the so-called “Battle of Ontario” is rekindling once more.
Most of the greatest gamers on the staff had been simply that: their greatest gamers. Mitch Marner lastly cracked 100 factors within the season, William Nylander potted his private greatest to steer the staff in aim, and John Tavares turned the clock again in certainly one of his greatest seasons over time.
One other factor which will instill a sure diploma of confidence is how the membership performs underneath new head coach Craig Belbe, prioritizing the forecheck type that some specialists consider will work higher within the playoffs in comparison with the common season. Mix it with an improved defensive core and a few bigger gamers basically. It is a staff Ought to We get up a little bit of the harshness of playoff hockey.
What’s worrying about you?
It appears the franchise may legally plague the ghost of former proprietor Harold Ballard, and there are nonetheless sources of concern right here – amongst them Orton Matthews’ well being director.
The Leafs captain did not appear to be him all through a part of the common season and did not method the lofty aim whole he managed for the previous few years. You possibly can see the docs together with some stints on the injured reserve and a midseason journey to Germany. And it is clear that the staff’s largest stars are combating by way of persistent accidents.
For top-heavy groups just like the Leafs, the celebs have to play once they matter most. If Matthews will get injured, that tall order (contemplating this core’s common postseason flavour) will likely be even taller. It is equally a bit worrying that some key defenders are coping with accidents within the last week of the season.
The staff’s energy performs alternate between highly regarded and really chilly relying on the month, with their penalty kills slandering at greatest. If the celebs are all in place and each groups buzzing with respectable clips, the staff’s chances are high stable, but when they stumble, it will be laborious to overhaul these points.
However we’ll beat Ottawa, proper?
I, like most Leafs followers, definitely [insert choice expletive here] I hope so. SEN is making its first postseason look since 2017, and on paper, Leaf is extremely most popular to win this sequence.
Nevertheless, this core has expertise blowing up a sequence that ought to be received (see 2021 in opposition to the Canadiens or 2020 in opposition to Columbus), and Ottawa has received seven of all 4 video games between groups this season and the final 10 outings between the 2 golf equipment.
This Ottawa staff will not be pushovers, however has authentic expertise all through the lineup. Leafs followers who suppose this new iteration of the Battle of Ontario is straightforward could be kidding.
Each time the playoffs start, we fear about your coronary heart. Given how nerve-racking playoff hockey is, why are you coming again?
Merely put: As a result of that is one of the best. (Until the leaves are blowing once more within the first spherical, that is the worst.
