Anytime the Maple Leafs blow a lead the way they did Tuesday in Pittsburgh, the temptation among some fans and media is to go full-blown Chicken Little and start squawking for major roster alterations and/or coaching changes.
Luckily, general manager Brian Burke and Toronto management don’t live in the moment and are more focused on the big picture.
And you don’t need to be Nostradamus, a magic eight ball or the most popular member of Miss Cleo’s Psychic Network to know that, on a very young Buds team, there are going to be more than a few nights that start out promising but finish like a horror show.
That’s what happens when you’re dealing with a team whose top offensive player (Phil Kessel) is one of its youngest. That’s what you should expect when you’re talking about a squad that at the start of the season had an average age of 26.4 years, tying Toronto with Colorado and Winnipeg as the NHL’s second-youngest team (ahead of only Nashville, at 26).
That’s the natural state of a team still trying to cement its identity and decipher which players to keep around for the long haul.
Before anyone gets overly excited about any crushing Leafs loss, look at the saga of Henrik and Daniel Sedin in Vancouver and the expectations they almost immediately faced after the Canucks drafted them second and third overall in 1999. In their first NHL season, the Sedin Twins made the playoffs, but the Canucks were swept in the first round. The next season, Vancouver managed two playoff wins, but still bowed out in Round 1. In two of the five seasons that followed, the Canucks missed the post-season altogether.
It was only last year – a full decade after their NHL debut – that the Sedins were able to have all the puzzle pieces come together. OK, they and their Canucks fell one Stanley Cup final win short of truly having all the puzzle pieces fit, but my point remains: It takes years, good management and drafting and, yes, a little bit of luck, to capture an NHL championship.
That’s something Leafs fans would do well to remember as they gnaw on their cuticles and marinate in their frustrations. It’s fine to have heightened expectations, but only if they’re based on realistic projections. Demanding virtually instant on-ice gratification is a surefire recipe for constant disappointment.
