Years later, the Leafs are still scarred by past Game 7s Globe_Sports
After pooching it at home, someone asked Auston Matthews about history. Which is another way of saying, “Exactly how cursed are you? Fortune-teller-at-the-mall cursed or coven-of-witches cursed?”“You … um … I think you can learn from those experiences,” he said.Evidently not. At least, not yet. But as you just knew it would, we’re going to try that again.
If body language directly following a big loss is a fair measure of where someone’s head is at, the Leafs didn’t look great on Sunday evening. A lot of vacant stares and hanging heads. John Tavares kept repeating, “It is what it is,” as though that explained things.“We gotta give ourselves some credit,” Marchand said, which is quite possibly the most Brad Marchand thing ever said.In Game 6, the Leafs were fantastic for 10 minutes.
Game 7 in 2013 – the Collapse – destroyed what remained of the team’s reputation and set the fanbase to open revolt. It took a few months to scorch the Earth, but the clearage was very close to total.Everything the Leafs have now – Matthews, Tavares, Babcock, the Shanaplan, self-respect – is a direct result of that humiliation. Had it not happened, the Leafs might still be trying to sell permanent mediocrity as a grand vision.
The city goes bananas. After a few years of behaving reasonably, Toronto’s habitual irrational exuberance about this team returns like air refilling a vacuum. All the go-slow, baby-steps talk is now defeatist and, possibly, treacherous. The Leafs have shaken their demons and are poised to be greater than the 1977 Montreal Canadiens.Another round of self-flagellation. Someone has to get fired – probably pinata enthusiast Nazem Kadri. Someone else has to get blamed – probably Babcock.
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