See my previous post describing ottawa nuking themselves. It sucked. Adds a year to the rebuild. But then again having San Jose's first turn into Stuetzle was pretty cool. Slings and roundabouts.
The leafs have had Harold Ballard and 56 years of incompetence on the highest budget (coaching, scouting and management in cap era). You might win the saddest franchise in sports, let alone the NHL.
Its unparallel futility for a team that seemingly has every single advantage. Its truly incredible how bad they have been while being the most wealthy team in the league.
Three things about the Leafs organization and fanbase stick out to me most.
1. They have never won 3 consecutive playoff series in a row in one season. Forget about the cup drought since the league had more than 6 teams. They've never been to a Stanley Cup Final.
2. This streak of not having won a playoff series that is approaching 20 years. Truly incredible.
3. The overall arrogance of the fan base given 1 and 2. Where does this come from? The audacity should be a study in human nature and behavior. Where is this need to put down fans of other teams all the time? Is it built in insecurities? Perhaps if unrealistic expectations and pressure werent put on players like Marner he would perform better in the playoffs. I am not sure but I think the fan base/media is a big part of the problem and might be part of the answer for 1 and 2.
As a sens fan its quite clear why they have struggled. Its not hard to look at the situation objectively. They had the worst owner in the league who hired the least expensive options while being volatile and meddling with management. Resulting in a skeleton staff with people that weren't qualified for their jobs. Meanwhile tearing it down the studs. The teams big draft was 2020, thats what the rebuild is built on. Until those players start to seriously mature the rebuild is still in full effect.
The hilarious comments saying stuff like 'Brady is the reason the sens arent in the playoffs'. When its obvious the team is still in its rebuild and still has the unqualified people running the organization and team. He is performing very well given the pressure his age etc. He shows up for his teammates drops the gloves, finishes his checks and scores goals while leading the team in scoring. Any team wants a player like this.
Seems like most of the fans that are unable to identify with Tkachuks skillset and how that has traditionally translated to post season success likely havent followed the leafs for very long. The last time the Leafs were successful they were built on a physical brand of hockey that scored dirty goals and was hard to play against.