The Toronto Maple Leafs Have Done The Impossible And Have Won A Playoff Series For The First Time Since 2004
Mike Ehrmann. Getty Images.The year was 2004. John Tavares had gone to bed that night in his Maple Leafs pajamas.
He probably just got done playing in a peewee tournament earlier that day. And the Toronto Maple Leafs had just defeated the Ottawa Senators in game 7 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. It was probably past Mitch Marner's bed time and he didn't even get a chance to see it. A kid like Matthews Knies was still crawling around and shitting in his diapers.
Little did everybody know that it would be the last time the Leafs would win a playoff series. Ever since that moment, they have lost 8 straight playoff series through the next 19 years. 7 if you don't want to count the qualifying round of the 2020 bubble as an actual playoff series.
Moral of the story here is that the Leafs have been cursed. By what, exactly? I haven't the faintest idea. But tonight--19 years since the last time this organization played into the month of May--the Toronto Maple Leafs exorcised the demons and did the impossible. They won a playoff series.
Such an ugly goal to end such an ugly curse. But at the end of the day, that's what the Leafs paid John Tavares $11M to do. To lead this team to the promised land and reverse 19 years worth of absolute dog shit hockey. He probably dreamt of scoring a series-winning overtime goal that night in his Maple Leafs pajamas, and here he finally got his moment. Ugly goal, sure. But we'll forget about that in the morning. All that matters is that the Leafs are moving on, and it came off the stick of John Tavares. Well, mostly the skate of Raddysh, but you get the point.
Great moment for Tavares. Great moment for the Leafs. And great moment for Kyle Dubas, who just earned himself a few more years of employment.
There are kids in this world who had never seen the Leafs win a playoff series before in their lifetime. Connor Bedard is one of them, and he's about to be the 1st overall pick in the draft this summer. But that all changed tonight. What a moment. Is this actually the year?
Pablo sure thinks so.