from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,
Shanahan used to urge patience, as did his former GM Dubas, but the time for patience has passed. This Leafs team has proved to be more frustrating for Leafs Nation than the Maple Leafs teams that missed the playoffs 10 of 11 years after the lost season to lockout of 2005.
Back then, the Leafs were just pathetic. That we much understood. You are not pathetic when you have Matthews, Marner and Nylander up front, which is not that far off from the Red Wings once having Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and Shanahan up front.
That Detroit team played in three Cup finals, with three different goalies, won their three championships winning 12 of 13 Stanley Cup final games.
That team, in performance, with Nicklas Lidstrom on defence, with the legendary Scotty Bowman coaching, had an all-time feel about them and still does.
The Maple Leafs are known now as the team that almost won in Round 1. That came so close.
Not in Round 2. Not in any round beyond that. Not losing in the final or any final....
There aren’t any teams like the Leafs out there. They have been the third-best team in hockey in an Shanahan era that began with gifts named Matthews, Marner and Nylander. Gifts that were covered in riches before they had earned them. And now what?