Deen’s Daily: An Era of Disappointing Maple Leafs Hockey Ends with a Whimper

The Dallas Stars won Game 6 in overtime to advance to the Western Conference Final for the third consecutive year. Tonight, the Maple Leafs have a chance to round out the final four if they can win a decisive Game 7.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — May 18.

Colorado Hockey Now

Want me to assess your Avalanche mock trades? I tried this experiment around the trade deadline, and it actually went really well, so I thought I’d bring it back.

Click below and post your trades in the comments section by noon MT on Wednesday!

Read More: Avalanche Mailbag: Send Us Your Avalanche Offseason Mock Trades!

Stanley Cup Playoff Recap

Game 7 — Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs: It happened again. The Leafs, in the most Leaf-iest way possible, were booed out of their building in a 6-1 loss in Game 7 to the Florida Panthers. This will likely end an era of Maple Leafs hockey. An era that disappoints year in and year out when the games start to matter more and the pressure intensifies.

I generally keep a close eye on the Maple Leafs for a couple of reasons. For one, I lived in Toronto as a kid, and those years played a huge role in me being as big a hockey fan as I am. The 2003-04 season, the one where the Avs had Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, was perhaps the most notable of those years.

But also, I often compare their core to the Avs’ core because they both burst onto the scene around the same time. For Toronto, it was Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner. For Colorado, it was Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar.

Seeing them suffer years of disappointment in only the first two rounds puts things into perspective. The Avs truly had everything go right in 2022 to go on a run and win the Stanley Cup. What if that run didn’t happen? Would they be looked at the same way as this Leafs core?

Winning heals all. That one run means more than anything, and Avalanche fans are lucky to have that.

It’s why I always say I’d rather be the Avs than a team like Carolina or Dallas, which has far more Conference Final appearances but nothing to show for it. (Albeit both teams have a big chance to win it all this year.)

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got today. I’m truly fascinated by what’s to come in Toronto this summer. The days of Matthews, Nylander, and Marner all on the same team are likely over.

Brendan Shanahan is probably the first to go.

Tonight’s Schedule

• No Games Tonight. The third round begins on Tuesday!

Around The NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Kyle Dubas has done a great job of finding hidden gems and depth pieces on the trade market. But, is it time for him to upgrade his trade targets?

Florida Hockey Now: Paul Maurice doesn’t believe that coaches should be part of the handshake line at the end of a series. And he stuck by that following Florida’s Game 7 victory.