I hope I never have to write this again

I hope I never have to write this again because I'm looking at the 2009/10 version of the Toronto Maple Leafs as a step away from the dark side and heading towards the light.

Playoffs without Toronto don't seem very much like playoffs to me. We are in the Hockey Mecca of the world in a market that lives, eats and breaths everything that is Maple Leafs.

I find that watching TV just isn’t the same without my remote clicker looking for a Leafs game at this time of the year. It’s the absence of the Maple Leafs that’s really playing with my playoff emotions. I feel I have been let down or even robbed of the opportunity to be part of a hockey season where skilled players are displaying their very best skills. Being on the outside looking in and getting used to life without hockey is a very disappointing place to be, but once “again” that’s exactly where we stand as Leaf fans.

Living with mediocrity, and expressions like “almost”, “maybe next year” “we were so close” "must win game" and so on, has become part of our everyday sports vocabulary. The mediocre performance of the Leafs has robbed fans of their sports emotions in so many ways. I know that many non-Leaf-fans will say “Well, what did you expect from a middle-of-the-road team, the Stanley Cup?"

As a long standing Leafs fan (almost 50 years now) my answer would be a resounding “YES!”

Every time my Leafs take the ice I expect a win.
Every time my Leafs complete a regular season, I expect to make the playoffs.
Every time my Leafs make the playoffs I expect a Stanley cup.

After all that is purpose of icing a team in the NHL last time I checked.

The last few years were below middle-of-the-road performances by the Leafs and has finally sunk in that that team (as many, many others of the past) were going no where, and fast. The next 2 or 3 years will be the "tell" because I’m absolutely sick and tired of being robbed every year.

The Leafs (MLSE) stole my unbridled optimism and robbed me of the regular season passion of looking forward to each game. I feel robbed of the excitement and thrill of making the playoffs that give me those opening round anxieties every sports fan so looks forward to. They stole away from me the great hockey conviction that any team can win just by making it into to the playoffs. They stole my hopes and dreams of the Stanley Cup coming home. (And make no mistake, Toronto is its home)

Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, gave the obligatory yet fragile and pathetic apology, printed in the Toronto Sun and sent out to every “Leaf Insiders” email box, which really showed how low the objectives and expectations of this hockey team have become. The apology (if you can call it that) they gave on missing the playoffs went like this:

"We share your disappointment," --- "However, we accomplished much along the way that puts us in a great position moving forward to pick up those few points in the standings needed to reach that next level."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! I wanted to scream… this is yet another unconvincing rationalization for optimism. The goal, it seems, is to obtain a few extra points to make the playoffs. AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE? I thought the goal is to win a cup. Yes you do have to make the playoffs to win the Stanley Cup, but that statement sounds like the goal in Leaf Land is to make the first round for next year. I guess that would increase the coffers to an acceptable level after a years play.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs miss the playoffs it can't be good for hockey in general, especially when Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary are out with Vancouver and Ottawa the only Canadian representatives. Numbers don’t lie and the biggest draw in hockey is The Leafs. How can I get passionate about watching the hated Ottawa Senators, yes I used the word hate, we all have to hate somebody in sports, or the Vancouver Canucks which I never see. I couldn’t even find it in my heart to really cheer for Gary Roberts, who was one of my favorite players as a Leaf; after all he is a Penguin now. Well on second thought, I guess it would have been nice to see him lift the cup… but that’s another story.

So the passion for hockey is gone once again, taken away from me, simply robbed, I watch as a casual observer now. The passion is gone. It's not the same when there are no horns honking, no flags on cars, no TSN, SportsNet, or The Score, analyzing every play, sports radio discussion are a thing of the past.

Hockey life has once again been put to bed, in hibernation, for yet another long hot summer in Leafsville.

But hey, there’s always next/this year!

Naffael