Toronto Maple Leafs; Hockey's Most Disappointing Team Ever?



Disappointing 
"failing to meet expectations"
-Merriam Webster Dictionary

 The latest epoch of Toronto Maple Leafs playoff performances has been fraught with disappointment. Since the debuts of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in 2016/17, Toronto has been an outstanding regular season team. Over those seven seasons, the Leafs have 684 points in 536 games for a points percentage of .638. However, this regular season success has failed to translate to post-season results, seeing as it took the Leafs until their SEVENTH try to even win one round in the playoffs. During those seven playoffs, they have played to a won/loss record of  19-27 for a Winning Pct of .413. That, one would say, is disappointing.

The Leafs have played .638 hockey (a 105 point pace) over seven seasons, and have one playoff round to show for it. Could the current iteration of the Toronto Maple Leafs be the most disappointing team in history? Being a supposedly quality team with inept playoff results over such an extended period of time leads to nothing but disappointment.

 The question is, are there are any teams with a similar dichotomy of regular season success and post-season failure? I looked through hockey-reference.com historical data to find any comparable stretches. Obviously, any seven year period that included a Stanley Cup win were discounted. The fact is, if you can win a Cup in any seven season segment, that cannot be considered disappointing. Who cares how the rest of the seasons played out? OK, on to the disappointment.

Toronto 2016/17 - 2022/23 

Regular Season .638, Post-Season .413, One Round Win

Let's see if anyone can touch this display of playoff failure after such regular season success.

Toronto 1998/99 - 2003/04 

Regular Season .591, Post-Season .513, Seven Round Wins

I'll start with another Leaf era, that doesn't quite have the same regular season results, but Leaf fans may instantly remember the Pat Quinn era as being filled with close calls and missed opportunity. This was in fact true, but the team had nowhere near the regular season results of the current era and they actually won seven playoff rounds. Sure they lost to Buffalo and Carolina, teams they were favoured over in the Conference Finals, but at least they got that far. Disappointing, sure. Not as much as the present-day Leafs though.

Boston 2016/17 - 2022/23

Regular Season .680, Post-Season .488, Six Round Wins

As terrific as the current stretch of the Boston Bruins has been, they have not brought home a Cup. They did however, play in a Final and won a Cup less than a decade prior to this stretch. Therefore, these Bruins can't compete with Toronto's current predicament.

Boston 1972/73 - 1978/79

Regular Season .671, Post-Season .553, Eight Round Wins

The Bruins of Orr, Espo and Dave Forbes dominated the regular campaign and yet failed to win the ultimate prize. There were three Cup Final trips in this stretch though and two Cup victories in the three years proceeding this stretch. Toronto and it's fans would gladly take these results.

NY Rangers 1967/68 - 1973/74

Regular Season .639, Post-Season .478, Five Round Wins

The same points percentage as Toronto over a seven year period, far better results in the playoffs including three Semi-Finals and one Cup Final appearance. Sorry, not disappointing enough.

Washington 2009/10 - 2016/17

Regular Season .648, Post-Season .487, Five Round Wins

So far, these Capitals may be the closest match to the disappointment of the current Maple Leafs. The Caps of this era were dominant in the regular season but never made it past the second round. They did however manage to win five rounds, AND this era did lead to a Cup the following season. Toronto would take that in a heartbeat.

Vancouver 2006/07 - 2012/13

Regular Season .632, Post-Season .457, Six Round Wins

Canucks fans will surely say that this era was full of disappointment, but their team managed to win six playoff rounds and take a Cup Final to Game Seven. Leaf fans don't want to hear the complaining.

Buffalo 1974/75 - 1980/81

Regular Season .632, Post-Season .508, Eight Round Wins

This Sabres run produced a Cup Final appearance and six rounds won. Somewhat disappointing for sure, but far better than the current Leafs.

Ottawa 1998/99 - 2006/07

Regular Season .646, Post-Season .506, Seven Round Wins

Similarly to the 70's Sabres, the turn-of-the-century Sens were a dominant regular season team that won many playoff rounds and had one Cup Final appearance. Cry me a river.

Tampa Bay 2013/14 - 2018/19

Regular Season .651, Post-Season .529, Seven Round Wins

I chose to make this a six year segment as opposed to seven since the year before, Tampa was just plain bad and just after these six years, they won back-to-back Stanley Cups. During this period they were fairly disappointing in the playoffs (although they won seven rounds), but it DID lead to two Stanley Cups. Worth the wait I'd say.

Dallas 1999/00 - 2006/07

Regular Season .632, Post-Season .468, Five Round Wins

This period of time covers the time immediately AFTER the Stars won the Stanley Cup. The team continued it's regular season dominance, even made the Final the year after the Cup win, but failed to win another. Still, not as bad or disappointing as the current Maple Leafs results.

Anaheim 2012/13 - 2017/18

Regular Season .655, Post-Season .531, Five Round Wins

Five consecutive divisional first-place finishes, and no Cups is disappointing. Two Semi-final trips and five round wins definitely softens the blow, as does the fact the Ducks had won the Cup less than a decade prior.

NY Islanders 1974/75 - 1978/79

Regular Season .658, Post-Season .552, Seven Round Wins

I'll highlight these five seasons of the early-Islanders as the model of how things are supposed to be done. The pre-Cup years was an increasingly great run that included four Semi-final appearances and a total of seven round victories. As disappointing as these five years may have been, it was made up for in spades with four consecutive Stanley Cups. Ideally, all the disappointment eventually leads to success. 

Pittsburgh 2009/10 - 2014/15

Regular Season .649, Post-Season .475, Four Round Wins

Here's a six-year segment to illustrate how it's supposed to play out. Three Divisional first-place finishes in five years and only one Semi-Final. Not ideal for sure and nearing the ineptitude of the Leafs. However, a Cup win just prior and back-to-back Cups right after renders this five year period meaningless and forgettable.

San Jose 2003/04 - 2018/19

Regular Season .629, Post-Season .516, Fourteen Round Wins

This fifteen year stretch of the Sharks is bordering on unprecedented. They missed the playoffs only once and played at an average of a 103 point pace each and every season. They won fourteen playoff rounds, an average of one per season. They also made at least the Semifinals on five occasions and even one Cup Final. The current Leafs will have to make five Semis in the next 8 years to even get to the Sharks apparent lack of success. I commend San Jose on the longevity of playoff failure, but the Leafs have been more disappointing in half the time. That's something.

Minnesota 2016/17 - 2022/23

Regular Season .615, Post-Season .303, Zero Round Wins

Here's the only real contender to the Leafs ineptitude. The current Minnesota Wild hasn't had quite the recent regular season success as Toronto over the last seven seasons, topping out with only two Second-place Divisional finishes and even missing the playoffs once. Toronto has never finished lower than 3rd in Division in the last seven seasons. That being said, Minnesota has an atrocious playoff record in this span, yes even worse than the Leafs. They only once have made it past six games in an opening round and needless to say, haven't won a round in those seven seasons.

The question is, which team has been more disappointing? The Wild was the favourite in only two of those first round matchups. Toronto has been a prohibitive favourite in four of those series. In 20/21, Toronto played a Montreal team that finished 18 points behind them (in a 56 game season, remember) and this year in the second round they lost to a Florida squad with 19 fewer regular season points. The Wild have never been more than seven points better than a first-round opponent in the last seven years, only in 2016/17 against St.Louis. 

The higher expectations, the superior regular season performance and standings placing, as well as the supposedly inferior quality of many of their opponents makes Toronto the more disappointing team than Minnesota. 

Therefore, the current Toronto Maple Leafs simply must be acknowledged as the most disappointing team in NHL history. The numbers tell the story, and the heart doesn't lie.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Team Canada 1972, What Might have Been

WHA Ottawa Civics, The Two Week Franchise

Denman Arena, Vancouver - "The Pile"