It Was Now or Never For The Toronto Maple Leafs
July 16, 2002

Courtesy of On The Wall
Story by: James Bisson

What was shaping up as possibly the most exciting Stanley Cup final in some time has inexplicably become a good old American snoozer.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, where hockey lags far behind NASCAR and college basketball in popularity, fans will flock by the pickup truck-full to watch their beloved Hurricanes try to do what no other professional sports team has been able to do; bring a championship to Carolina. Of course, most Carolinians prefer the Winston Cup to the Stanley Cup, but I digress.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, hockey's unofficial "center of the universe", the suffering continues. It's now 35 years and counting for the Blue and White (although, in light of the rash of Leaf maladies during the 2002 playoffs, it might be more fitting to refer to the team as the Black and Blue.)

For commissioner Gary Bettman and the rest of the NHL powers that be, this season's Stanley Cup championship is bittersweet. While the NHL is ecstatic at the explosion of hockey interest in Carolina, the league knows all too well that a Toronto-Detroit or Toronto-Colorado final would have sent ratings to previously uncharted territory.

Leave for a moment the obvious characterization of Hockey Night in Canada as ridiculously Toronto-centric; everyone knows the CBC's affinity towards the Maple Leafs. The fact remains that the Leafs are wildly popular around the rest of North America, more so than Torontonians are aware of.

All of which makes their ouster at the hands of the Hurricanes, formerly the Hartford Whalers, that much more devastating. With all due credit to the Hurricanes, for advancing to the final of sport's most grueling tournament, this was Toronto's chance. And they blew it.

You can blame injuries, you can say that the Leafs were overconfident, you can berate the questionable officiating until you pass out. Many Leaf fans have partaken in all of the above, and in truth, many of their beefs do have some legitimacy. There were injuries, the Leafs did think they were going to march all over the 'Canes, and the refereeing was at best mediocre, at worst ludicrous.

But what should make Toronto die-hards most uneasy is this; 2002 will be remembered as the last time the Leafs had a legitimate shot at the Stanley Cup for at least four or five more seasons.

The Eastern Conference is an intriguing mix of teams right now; perennial powerhouses Philadelphia and New Jersey stumbled in the playoffs, while upstarts Boston, Montreal and the New York Islanders made believers out of many hockey fans. Teams like Washington and the New York Rangers, who performed far below expectations, are sure to be back to challenge for playoff positions next season.

Where do the Maple Leafs fit into all of this? It's quite simple; dynasties do not exist in the Eastern Conference as we know it. Rarely does a team manage to make it to a conference final on two consecutive occasions, and often after they do, the descent is swift. There are too many good teams in the conference for Toronto to expect to survive three playoff rounds every year.

Add to the equation the very real possibility that next year's Toronto squad will not have arguably its best player from the past four seasons, netminder Curtis Joseph. CuJo is looking for Patrick Roy-type money, and the Leafs-who admittedly need a goaltender of Joseph's caliber in order to compete in the East-refuse, to this point, to give it to him. Without Curtis Joseph, the Leafs are an average team at best.

Even if Joseph does stay with the team, his playoff performance with Toronto has been far less impressive than those whose income bracket he would be impeding upon-Roy, Detroit's Dominik Hasek, and Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils. Roy and Brodeur have both won Stanley Cups, while Hasek is a 5-time Vezina Trophy winner. Simply put, Joseph doesn't belong in that group. CuJo's good, but he's not that good.

One of the Leafs' weakest components, their defence, played gallantly in the 2002 playoffs, but the play of liabilities like Anders Eriksson and Wade Belak showed that as a team, the Blue and White sorely lack depth on the blueline. Quinn's inactivity at the trade deadline will likely be forgotten in the Leafs' magical run to the final four, but it shouldn't be. One or two warm bodies on defence may have made a tremendous difference in the playoffs.

Philadelphia will likely upgrade its goaltending in the off-season. New Jersey will come back angry, and the Islanders and Canadiens, with playoff experience under their belts, will be primed to improve on their 2002 performances. What will the Leafs do? Unless something significant happens, Toronto won't be returning to the Conference final next year, or the year after that.

35 years sure is a long time, but take heart, Leaf fans; it could be worse. You could be a Boston Red Sox fan. Not much solace, I know…but it's something.