Hello Leafs Nation;
It’s @Kreebs29 here. It’s been a while since I’ve done an article, so, please bear with me. As of this writing, our Leafs are at game 23, with a record of 6-3-4/3-7-0 (home/away). A lot has happened this far into the season, with key players like Marner and Tavares having time off (the former still out until December).
Many other injuries are taking a toll on this team and it has showed. This time last year, for 23 games played, the Leafs were 6 games farther ahead in the win column, 65 goals for, 31 GA in 15 wins/23 GP. This year, 35 goals for, 17 against, with 9 wins/23 GP.
We are all aware of the amount of skilled players this team has and yet, the cohesiveness is still missing. 9 players are gone, some of them favorites and others became the butt of jokes and dumps for our criticisms of their decisions (more often than not, the negative always won).
Goal-tending went sideways in a hurry when CMac was claimed by Carolina and the revolving doors were spinning freely. I don’t really need to regurgitate what happened after CMac, but, goalie # 3 is here and was let down in a huge way by the players in front of him against Pittsburgh last Saturday night.
Which brings me to the men in front of the goalie and the coach responsible for every one of them. You all know what happened to Babcock. The coach is the easiest to send packing. For so many reasons, he was the man to bring this team back from the dead and success to the city of Toronto. Lord Stanley was on the radar and the rebuild was in full swing. Playoff success was short, with three 1st round exits to Washington and Boston x2.
A lack of adaptability and line matching hurt the team’s progression through to the next round. After last year, it was evident that patience with Babs was running thin. The players looked to also be done with Babs and did what we have witnessed at one time or another, as fans of this sport: players not playing to their potential “on purpose”.
Yeah, in quotations, because we don’t know for sure, but, speculation is fun, right twitter peeps? Mike Babcock is no longer here. Sheldon Keefe, who, as some have mentioned, is very similar to Babs, takes the helm. I ask those who have read all the way through, this question:
Has this team just traveled back in time? Does the rebuild “reset”? Will the players come out scoring like men possessed? Has the right decision been made by Kyle and Brendan?
Peanut butter and jam or Peanut butter and bananas?
I thank you, whoever you are, that took the time to read this. It isn’t my strong suit, but, I figured an outlook on the current happenings of our Leafs from a person who doesn’t store Leafs trivia and stats like so many do, would be worth a skim, at minimum.
P.S., the 2019-2020 season marks 30 years of Leafs support from yours truly.
Thank you to all those that follow me on Twitter, as well as my burner account…
Sincerely,
@Kreebs29
Centre Of Leafs Nation 