Quinn era was much better than Burns era

[zeke]

The leafs gave Mogilny 5.5m per for 4 years in 2001, which was more than any team was offering him. That was a massive contract for the time.

The top prime free agents were already getting $9+ mil back then.

 

[Judas Tavares]

I wasn't cognizant during the Burns Leafs but Quinn's Leafs were highly entertaining. Great cast of players and characters. Quinn himself of course was a character, skilled players in Sundin, Kaberle, Mogilny, McCabe, warriors like Tucker, Roberts, Domi, and in net Cujo and Belfour with their unique mask designs. And that's just the core guys, from 98-99 to 03-04 there were a ton of interesting players that made this team a joy to cheer for. "Stumpy" Thomas, Berezin, Yushkevich, Markov, Green, Corson, Belak, the list goes on.

I've seen footage of the Burns era Leafs, specifically th3 '93 run, and that era will always be the one that got us as close as we've been to Stanley Cup glory and resurrected this franchise after the nightmare that was Ballard. But Quinn's teams being successful for longer I think gives him the edge.

Same for me. Too young to remember the Burns era, but the Quinn era was my jam. Because of Leafs tv and Maple Leafs classics, I've seen most of if not all the games from the '93 and '94 runs. Seemed like an exciting time and the team seemed like a well-oiled machine.

 

[TheScandal89]

I consider the Quinn era a failure tbh, we had a Franchise player in Sundin and failed to surround him with enough talent to win despite being able to spend anything we wanted. Our teams should have stacked up to the like of the Red Wings, Avalanche and Devils in those days and did not.

If you compare Sundin to Matthews as a franchise player, Sundin never had an equivalent to a Marner, Nylander or Tavares. Mainly just good players at the end of their careers, many with nagging injuries (Mogilny Hip I think, Roberts back?)

The Burns era I still think was the closet the team has gotten to making the finals, as we were perhaps a missed penalty call away from beating the Kings. We were never really ahead in either conference finals with Sundin against the Sabres or Hurricanes.

The day we drafted Matthews to join the young core we were building gave me some hope that perhaps we can finally win 1 cup, but that hope is fading slowly year by year. We know we got the talent to make that run, but it has appeared they haven't been able to put it together in the playoffs, and perhaps, never will

 

[Mess]

So the measure of success for you is either a Cup, or nothing?

From last place regular season to Cup finalist is equal in nothingness? And then of course the Cup is the be-all, end-all?

Name one Stanley Cup winner that didn't win a playoff round in the fifteen years preceding it...

Because that's where the Leafs are.

That should tell you roughly where they are in their Cup pursuit, quite plainly.

They aren't there.

Not even close.

Apparently you don't believe in Cinderella stories as those are only fairy tales to you.

Just imagine a team that hasn't made it, or let alone competed in a Stanley Cup final series (as neither the Burns nor Quinn era teams did) in 54 years since 1967, not even won a single playoff series in a Salary Cap World (the only team) since 2005, suddenly catches magic in bottle and hoist the Cup.

At least the Burns and Quinn Era's both produced 2 X final 4 appearances on their ways to a Cup run, adding both plausibility and reasonable probability to the equation of potential success.

The "miracle on ice" will no longer belong to the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team that beat all the odds against the high powered Soviet Union, but rather the 2022 Toronto Maple Leafs for ending the NHL's longest Cup drought in NHL history.

Because that's where the Leafs are, and only a Mount Everest like task stands in Leaf Nations way to have a fairy tale ending to this season.

Let all logic and common sense reasoning go, and climb on board Aladdin's magic carpet ride. This is one ride you don't want to miss.

 

[Jojalu]

Trading three consecutive years' 1st round picks?

That's just business as usual for a team?

Please.

TB, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, the Islanders would all be 3 years in a row if they trade their first this year.

It happens more than you think

 

[Hoglund4MvP]

The era with me is best

 

[Anthrax442]

Well keep in mind we had problems beating Philadelphia as well, going 1-2 against them in 1999-2004. Very similar to the Flyers veteran teams in terms of quality during the 2003 and 2004 runs but they seemed just a little deeper up front to overcome their horrible goaltending against Toronto.

true

 

[Lightsol]

The loss vs the Carolina had something to do with injuries rather than talents. The first line had nothing in the tank after the long wars against the Isles and the Sens, and Sundin obviously wasn't 100% in that 3rd round series after the injury he suffered in the Isles series.

To be honest, it had everything to do with bringing in the injured players before they were healthy enough to help...

 

[Aki Berg]

If you compare Sundin to Matthews as a franchise player, Sundin never had an equivalent to a Marner, Nylander or Tavares. Mainly just good players at the end of their careers, many with nagging injuries (Mogilny Hip I think, Roberts back?)

False.

You have forgotten Captain Mats had a young Finnish stud on Defense.