TORONTO (Jan. 21) -- Though the Toronto Maple Leafs have been in a state of flux since mid-November (11-16-2 in their past 29 games), Saturday night, in Pittsburgh, was the first time I truly felt embarrassed for the players and coaching staff. The 8-2 humiliation at the hands of the Penguins -- a young, exciting club, but one that entered the match two points behind Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings -- simply cannot be looked upon as an aberration. Or, an isolated event. In fact, it's the sort of result that could become more common during the stretch drive of the season. The reason I say this is elementary: Almost 50 games into the 2006-07 campaign, the Leafs are not yet the sum of any parts. While injuries have taken a toll, this has increasingly become a rag-tag outfit that plays with an absence of purpose and structure on most nights. And, ominously, the situation could well get worse.
Any member of the Leaf organization, or any fan of the club that feels vindicated by a 2-1 road trip just completed, is in a serious state of delusion. Fact is, the Leafs played three horrible games. They were rescued by goalie Andrew Raycroft during undeserving wins in Tampa and Sunrise, Fla. And when Raycroft could not bail them out, a more genuine, foreboding result occurred in Pittsburgh.
Most visitors to this corner, or listeners to The Fan-590 here in Toronto, would agree that I've given the '06-07 Leafs every benefit of the doubt. Starting with the Bryan McCabe signing last June, and continuing through the rocky middle portion of the season. But, it's becoming nearly impossible to find any redeemable qualities on the club. Its best players -- as handsomely compensated as any top-level performers in the NHL -- come up with a decent game here and there, but have generally played like dogs this season. While some will argue that the Leafs have expended reasonable effort most nights, I don't see it. Repeatedly, almost comically, the players speak on the virtues of staying out of the penalty box, only to earn lazy, silly infractions borne of apparent indifference. It's almost as if they have increasingly come to sense there is little hope to the season.
McCabe, in my mind, has been a colossal disappointment. Others will suggest he's playing to his level after posting a career year while seeking a contract. I don't buy that. To me, McCabe personifies the defeatist attitude of the hockey club. After incorporating more discipline in his game, he is back to taking needless penalties, and expending much of his energy yapping at the referees for their unfair treatment. Whatever focus he attained last season -- and he did play exceptionally well in 2005-06 -- has gone out the window. The Leafs deserve much better after handing him the most lucrative, restrictive deal in club history. What GM John Ferguson agreed to pay last summer was close to the going rate for top-level defencemen -- the type of performer McCabe was a season ago. That's why I robustly defended the contract, in the face of much scorn. I truly expected better from the veteran rearguard -- not a return to his hissy-fit days of yore.
Mats Sundin is simply wasting the golden years of his career playing for the Leafs. And, he has to know it. Not only should he be letting Ferguson know that he'll waive his no-trade clause at the deadline next month, Sundin should be all but demanding a deal to a club that is serious about winning. Unless, that is, the captain has caught the same malady affecting most of his teammates. If it's become too much of a bother to pack up and move elsewhere; if wasting away with the moribund Leafs is the path of least resistence for the classy Swede, then Sundin's competitive fires have been all but extinguished. Professing loyalty is a wonderful trait, but there comes a time when the urge to succeed should prevail. Sundin knows, without question, he alone cannot boost these Maple Leafs to any reasonable heights, and his competitive instincts should be screaming for a change of scenery. So far, there is no evidence of such inkling.
The young players on the Leafs that showed so much promise last season -- Matt Stajan, Alex Steen, Kyle Wellwood, Ian White chief among them -- have either been stymied by injury, or have hit a plateau well beneath expectation. This, however, is not unusual. Inexperienced players -- those in their first three years of NHL duty -- generally do not have the self-assurance to compensate for sub-par performances by veteran teammates. None of the Maple Leafs' youngsters appear to have star qualities, but they are poised and talented enough to play key support roles on a functional team. The Leafs of 2006-07 cannot be considered in such a category.
The goaltending problems on this season's club have been well documented, and there appears to be little hope for consistency.
All of this must be agonizing for Ferguson, coach Paul Maurice, and any of the players who still care. Even through the travails of the first two-thirds of the season, the Leafs have stayed in contention for a playoff berth in the East. And, key skaters like Wellwood and Darcy Tucker might be around to help out down the stretch. So, all is certainly not lost. But, at whose feet do Leaf fans draw inspiration right now? If anything, the players are flaunting a growing sense of doom and failure -- one that is very difficult to crack. They appear to wilt at the slightest hint of adversity on home ice, and while they have performed admirably on the road, they clearly sense that it just isn't enough. With good reason.
The losing culture here in Toronto -- so overwhelmingly established in the past 40 years -- has gripped this team in a death-lock. It has at least temporarily conquered even Maurice, a coach I continue to believe is a perfect match for this city and all its hockey baggage. But, there has to be a genuine sense of catastrophe within Maurice after the debacle in Pittsburgh this weekend. It will take every bit of his optimistic value to believe that his players haven't packed it in -- regardless of the words they speak.
E-mail
[email protected] 
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»