TORONTO — So much time has passed since the Toronto Maple Leafs won a playoff series that the opposing goaltender that night has since become an experienced broadcaster who will be back inside Scotiabank Arena working on Thursday as they attempt to do it again.
Joe Nieuwendyk, the man who scored two Game 7 goals on TVA Sports colour commentator Patrick Lalime, went on to become a NHL general manager. So did two of his Leafs teammates: Ron Francis and Tom Fitzgerald.
Jason Spezza, today a father of four and the third-oldest player still standing in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, was a 20-year-old rising star with the Ottawa Senators team the Leafs eliminated on April 20, 2004.
The man we now know as Steve Dangle was a 10th-grader. He was in his parents’ living room watching on a 27-inch Hitachi, no doubt screaming at the vintage television.
The point is that hockey history has been written and rewritten again since the Leafs were last on the happy side of a handshake line. One of the more fervent fanbases in all of sports grew up, changed jobs, had kids and went grey while awaiting another playoff run. At least those who’d ever seen one at all.
And here, after 6,246 days, Toronto has put itself in a favourable position to take a giant step forward — ahead of the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 and full value for that lead in the series. The Leafs have up to three chances to close it out and could turn the page on a rather sad chapter in their history by getting the job done Thursday.
“I certainly recognize the opportunity and the responsibility that I have as one of the leaders of the organization,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe. “We know this is a hurdle that we’ve got to get over here.”
It’s not as if Auston Matthews has anything to do with Ben Ondrus or Mitch Marner bears any responsibility for what happened when Bates Battaglia wore the Maple Leafs crest. The organization has churned through 275 players, five general managers and six head coaches during this most recent odyssey.
That churn is really what prompted president Brendan Shanahan’s course-altering address following the 2014-15 season. The so-called “Shanaplan” was born out of a whack-a-mole approach to roster building that preceded his time with the organization, where a lack of patience saw every step forward accompanied by two steps in the wrong direction. (Acquiring Phil Kessel for draft picks that became Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton best exemplifies this ethos).
“Short cuts have gotten this organization into trouble in the past and that this has to once and for all be a build that we are committed to and that we don’t stray from,” Shanahan said in April 2015.
Still it has taken more time than even he might have imagined.
As Keefe prepared for Game 5 against the Canadiens, he spoke of shielding his current team from the disappointments of the last few seasons — meaning the Game 7 losses in Boston and the best-of-five play-in defeat to Columbus last August.
The version of the Leafs that went wire-to-wire to capture the North Division crown this season did so with a retooled roster that included two new defencemen, four forwards and a goaltender in Jack Campbell that ascended to the No. 1 job.
“You know we’ve got a very small group of players that have been here for multiple years,” said Keefe. “This group itself I look at with its own identity and not attached to anything that’s happened in the past. I think that’s important inside our walls and the guys don’t wear any of those types of pressures.”
There’s been little sign of burden during a playoff series where they’ve lost top-six forwards John Tavares and Nick Foligno to injury. The Leafs have generated 53 per cent of the shot attempts and are producing more quality chances as evidenced by their expected goals rate of 58 per cent.
They’re ahead 12-4 on the scoreboard, too.
But Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme is vowing that his team won’t go down lightly and you don’t need to remind anyone in Toronto that nothing has been accomplished just yet. Thursday actually marks the sixth opportunity the Leafs have had to win a series in the last 17 years, so nothing will be taken for granted in these parts.
“We need to deliver for our fans and we’ve given ourselves a great opportunity to do that,” said Keefe. “There is a reason why it’s been this many years. It’s because closing out a series is a very difficult thing to do.”
