TORONTO (Jan. 15) — Here we go. Groundhog Day. As always at this time of year, fans and media implore the Maple Leafs to add “depth pieces” prior to the National Hockey League trade deadline. Nothing too risky. Just nibble around the edges. And, as always, the Leafs bow out meekly in the playoffs. So, what’s the vibe this season?

Same sh**. The team is set. Just needs an extra center or winger. Maybe a sixth defenseman (sigh).

At the moment, however, there is considerable angst over a three–game regulation losing streak… and a maddening inability to score goals. Never mind the $47 million locked into Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and John Tavares. The Leafs can’t score. Makes sense, right? So, why not add a depth forward? Maybe an ancient, immobile blueliner? Then… rinse and repeat the following year. With virtually no pushback from docile fans and media that have grown desensitized to failure. And, no one amid mainstream pundits willing to offer the barefaced truth: the Leafs are having difficulty amassing goals, particularly while on the powerplay, because almost all scoring thrusts begin in the defensive zone. And, the club has no one capable of wheeling with the puck. Or, shooting it with velocity and accuracy from the point. Particularly given that Morgan Rielly is suffering through the worst season of his NHL career. Even when healthy, Morgan is a sizable tier beneath Norris Trophy types… and he does not have a heavy shot from the point. I mean, what’s the friggin’ mystery after all these years?

Through 45 games, the team has a grand total of ten goals from its defensemen.

Cale Makar of Colorado has 13 by himself.

How can the Maple Leafs solve this forever issue by procuring “depth” at the deadline?

It’s a silly, rhetorical question.

Just as silly as the notion of the Leafs actually “going for it.” Pulling an Alex Anthopoulos and believing that a gifted club can be nudged near (or over) the top by adding a “closing” piece. Not some third and fourth–line dreck, as every losing playoff year. What more do Keith Pelley, Brendan Shanahan and Brad Treliving need in order to break the paralytic pattern? You’ve got these cap–choking, uber–talented forwards dying for someone to coordinate activity with the puck. So, maybe — just maybe — they can reverse their career–long playoff inefficiency.

This is normally the purview of a strong, offensive blueliner. Only problem is, the Leafs have no–such player. And, they constantly refuse to trade for one. Hiding behind preservation of a future that never arrives. It’s a cycle that seems perfectly acceptable around here. And, will continue until the Leafs embrace the undeniable fact that a defenseman like Roman Josi on this year’s team is more valuable than Easton Cowan five or six seasons from now.

When the record–long championship drought is approaching 65 years.

What, pray tell, are the Leafs waiting for? The Core players to be in their 30’s and past their biological primes? It’s insane that management continues to sit on this gold mine of offensive flair. Refusing to compliment Matthews, Nylander, Marner and Tavares a front–line performer at such a mandatory (for Stanley Cup success) position. The Leafs have far from the worst blue line in the league. But, it’s an orchestra without a conductor. And, the music will not blare through four rounds of playoff slog. Imagine, however, a Top 4 NHL defenseman joining this group. A horse, even at age 33, coming off remarkable seasons of 85, 59 and 96 points. Josi must be available, with Nashville light years from a wild card spot in the West. He has a full no–move, but why would he insist on staying put, as he enters the twilight of his career, with such a terrible club? As for the immediate impact he could make here in Toronto… well, we just don’t know because we’ve never seen it with this team. Only when Rielly enjoyed the playoff series of his life did the Maple Leafs advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup tournament (defeating Tampa Bay in 2023). But, it wasn’t sustainable and the club got its doors blown off by Florida in Round 2.

If the Leafs traded Cowan for Josi and threatened to win the Eastern Conference title this spring, would fans be complaining? Of course not. But, it won’t happen. Simply because it doesn’t have to. Not in a market where the hockey club controls (and owns) the media… and, thereby, the message being relayed to fans; most of whom have no concept of a Stanley Cup challenge. It’s an unwinable circumstance that continues to fool the masses.

And, a particular shame, this season, given a head coach that seems to know his way around.

Craig Berube, of course, won the 2019 Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues.

Why the paralysis, I haven’t a clue. A hockey connoisseur isn’t needed to understand, many times over, that the Core–4 Leafs are doomed in the absence of an anchor on the back end. Just watch how they stumble and misfire with the man–advantage. There’s no excuse for such a gifted unit to be so impotent and disorganized. In the expansion era (since 1967), only Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull, Tomas Kaberle and Rielly have been developed by the club. That’s four blue–liners of impact in 57 NHL seasons. Pathetic. The only other option is to acquire such a component. Which the Leafs simply will not do. Even now, with a potential difference–maker available. Precisely what is at stake, no one can figure. Maybe it gets back to my theory that the Leafs are actually afraid to win.

Not knowing what may transpire once the interminable chase ends.

Easier to flirt around the trade deadline periphery.

With the guarantee that no one around here will create a fuss.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: 1967–68

In many ways, it remains the most–historic season in the history of the National Hockey League; perhaps in all of North American pro sport. For never before, or since, has a professional circuit doubled in size from one year to the next. Expansion of the NHL west of Chicago was inevitable and picked up steam when the old Western Hockey League began to negotiate a network television deal in the United States. To retain the lucrative California market, the NHL — in March 1965 — announced it would expand by six teams for the 1967–68 season. Joining the established clubs (Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York, Toronto) were Los Angeles, Oakland, Minnesota, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The old and new teams were grouped into separate divisions (East and West) with the playoff champions meeting for the Stanley Cup. In the first expansion final, Montreal swept St. Louis in four close games. The Blues, coached by Scotty Bowman, were perennial West Division champions. But, did not win a Stanley Cup game against the East in 12 attempts over three springs (1968–69–70).

Here are several covers of The Hockey News in the expansion season of 1967–68.

And… 25 game summaries. Randomly displayed. How many names do you remember?

 

 


 

 



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