Too Many Passengers
"We had too many passengers" is an actual line uttered by Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews following a gutless game seventh performance for the blue and white. The Leafs are now 0-6 in Game 7s in the Matthews era, after losing 6-1 to the Florida Panthers last night.
Too many passengers, including #34. The effort last night was brutal, as it was on home ice for game five. Of course, we Leafs fans have seen this movie before. It's the same as it ever was.
The fact we played seven second round games makes this the longest run for this franchise since Pat Quinn was coach in the early 2000s. My youngest son was all-in for the first time in his life, and started to cry when it was 3-0 in the second period and it was clear we weren't advancing. I had to give him a father-son reality check.
- It's just a game.
- The nature of sports, and why we love it so, is that you win some and you lose some. The Leafs have mastered losing some, but you really don't appreciate the highs without the lows.
- In 1985, I was the same age as my youngest son, and in love with the Toronto Blue Jays. Up 3-1 against Kansas City in the ALCS, I could almost taste that World Series action, and hopefully a championship. That Jim Sundberg bases-loaded triple in game seven wiped out that fantasy, but seven years later, I felt that championship high for the first time.
- My oldest son was a similar age when we watched our Toronto Raptors win it all in 2019. That one feels like yesterday.
- It's just a game.
Did Mitch Marner play his last game for the Leafs? Will Brendan Shanahan exit stage right? Surely you can't run it back with this core again, considering it takes 16 wins to reach the top of the mountain and this year's seven is their best yet.
That's 43.75% if you're doing the math at home. Pitiful.