TORONTO (Apr. 10) — While most of Leafs Nation is consumed by the media–driven race to 70 goals for Auston Matthews, I see elements potentially more exciting for fans of the Blue and White.

From my perspective, this is the Toronto club of the Core–4 era most prepared to challenge for the Stanley Cup. Please understand: I’m not predicting the Leafs will even survive the opening round, let alone win the big prize for the first time in 57 years. Quality of opponent in the Atlantic Division guarantees that one of Boston, Florida or Toronto will be sidelined after the first series. What I’m saying is, it doesn’t have to be the Leafs. Neither against the Bruins nor the Panthers. Unlike a year ago, when the Toronto hockey market was captivated by the “all in” strategy of former general manager Kyle Dubas, the current Leafs are finishing the regular schedule with a quiet efficiency that I haven’t noticed in years. Even the Matthews watch is being handled properly and respectfully by the player and his club. The other Leafs comment on the ever–climbing goal total only when asked, while Matthews continues on his remarkable pace with humility and a focus I’m either imagining, or is actually in place.

This could be… maybe… finally… the spring that No. 34 puts it all together. I’m sensing that Matthews and Mitch Marner are fed up with hearing and reading about their playoff inadequacies. While understanding there’s only one way to reverse the narrative. The M&M boys, of course, are accompanied by William Nylander, soon to be a 100–point man in his most–prolific National Hockey League season. I remember being so impressed when Lanny McDonald broke out of his early career slump with the Leafs. In the second half of the 1975–76 season, Lanny came alive on arguably the best forward line in modern franchise history: alongside Darryl Sittler and Errol Thompson. McDonald finished with 37 goals and 56 assists for 93 points… and was on his way to the Hall of Fame. In an era of much–superior goaltending, Nylander has 40 goals and 56 assists for 96 points.

But, there’s a factor of even greater significant with the Leafs: secondary scoring that has emerged in the latter half of the schedule. Throughout the Core–4 era, it’s been clear the Leafs will advance in the playoffs as far as Matthews, Marner, Nylander and John Tavares can carry them. Which hasn’t been particularly distant. And, no one can plausibly suggest a Stanley Cup challenge without at least two of the four carrying the team. But, the notion of scoring help from other parts of the roster is hardly delusional, given the second–half performances of Max Domi, Tyler Bertuzzi, Bobby McMann, Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson. That group of five has contributed 73 goals, much of it since the calendar flipped. I am particularly drawn to Robertson, who I figured was too small to play in the NHL, even with his skill. What I didn’t realize, until recently, is that little Nick can be an ornery prick. I was impressed when he spoke out against languishing as a healthy scratch. And, more dazzled by his ability to walk the walk once given another opportunity. The closer I watch Robertson, the more I see a little Gilmour in his determination. If he adapts to the physical demand of the Stanley Cup hunt, the Leafs could have a sleeper.

LITTLE NICK ROBERTSON HAS EVOLVED INTO A SCORING STAR FOR THE LEAFS. GETTY IMAGES/NHL

Some of you may be wondering if this is actually Howard Berger at the keypad. Yes, it’s me. As much as I have criticized the club for its playoff misgiving of the past seven years, I have never withheld credit… when due. Like it is right now. I wrote the term “quiet efficiency” and I’m not certain there’s a better mindset with which to enter the playoffs. Surely, experience can no longer be a factor for the nucleus of the club. It turns out, after a rocky first half of the schedule, that GM Brad Treliving did a good job last summer augmenting the Maple Leafs. And, particularly by sticking with Robertson, who was the subject of much dialogue prior to the March 8 NHL trade deadline.

Others will be reading this and thinking “Berger, you’re nuts! What about the blue line and your theory of a Stanley Cup team needing a Norris Trophy threat? And, that the Leaf stars are all playoff soft?” Hey, nowhere have I forecasted a championship in 2024. But, I will remind you that the club’s second–tier defenseman, Morgan Rielly, is capable of elevating performance in the spring. If a couple of his multi–millionaire teammates join him in that pursuit, who knows what can happen? Yes, goaltending seems continually in flux. Even if we assume that Ilya Samsonov will be the starter in Game 1, we are less–certain about how he’ll perform. As I’ve pointed out on several occasions, in the years (after 1967) that Mike Palmateer, Felix Potvin, Curtis Joseph, Ed Belfour and Frederik Andersen were on the team, nobody asked which goalie would start a playoff game. With the 2024 tournament less than two weeks away, we still aren’t certain whether Samsonov or Joseph Woll will man the position… or if either is capable of backstopping a lengthy playoff run. But, we didn’t know that about Palmateer (in the late–70’s) or Potvin (in the early 90’s). Until it happened. So, let’s wait and see what unfolds. Potential clearly exists.

If there’s an Achilles heel to the Maple Leafs, it’s the familiar and apparent lack of team toughness. And, I don’t mean Ryan Reaves beating up the opposition slugger in a staged match at center ice. I’m talking about the capacity to not only withstand the two–month playoff slog… but to establish the physical tone of games. Which the current Leafs have never been able to accomplish. How, then, does the club survive an opening–round tilt with Florida or Boston? You watch some of the big, heavy teams in the Western Conference (Dallas, Colorado, Vegas) and can barely envision the Leafs going toe–to–toe through seven games. But, that’s why they play the games. And, neither have we witnessed a Toronto playoff club being hoisted upon the shoulders of one of its regular–season superstars. Matthews and Marner, in particular, are way overdue in paying back the Leafs when it matters.

Perhaps summer will start for the Blue and White after six or seven games. As usual. But, what if Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Rielly catch fire in a bottle at the same time? With the sudden emergence of secondary goal output from Domi, Bertuzzi, McMann, Knies and Robertson? We don’t know the answer because it’s never happened. And, it may not in this attempt. But, there’s something about the Maple Leafs of the past five weeks that makes me wonder if the spring of 2024 could be rather special for the club’s enormous and resilient fan base.

TORONTO SPORTS HISTORY…

 
Somewhere along the line, I purchased this 1959 football magazine at a collectors’ show. From the year I was born (yikes!). Thumbing through it the other day, I came across a story that should be of interest to those with a bend toward Toronto sports history. It was the year the Argonauts of the Canadian Football League moved out of Varsity Stadium at the University of Toronto and into a renovated “theater” at the CNE, with its 20,663–seat grandstand (built in 1948) and a new 12,472–seat bleacher–stand on the south flank of the football field. The Argos played in the 33,135–seat stadium from 1959 through 1974, when the south bleacher was demolished to make way for baseball expansion. This story outlines construction of the bleacher–stand and how fans might react to vacating the familiar and comfortable confines of Varsity Stadium at Bloor. St and St. George Ave.

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