A GHASTLY WEEKEND FOR THE LEAFS
By: Braedyn Wozniak, RP Show Intern
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 4-3 in OT to the lowly San Jose Sharks Thursday night, and followed it up with weekend losses at L.A. and Anaheim which assuredly will cause panic in Leaf nation.
But Auston Matthews ended his goal-drought and Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist against the Sharks, so the Leafs faithful were eerily mum on the fact they just gave the Sharks their third win on the season.
As Rod Pedersen put it on his show Friday, “the media is all upset that Auston Matthews has been in a slump. They’re all happy he scored last night, and I’m like, ‘But you lost.”
The fans and media might not be worried about the regular season, since their greatest foe the past decade has been the first-round of playoffs. Every year, Leafs fans get tricked into believing regular season success meant a treat of a post-season.
So maybe Matthews winning the Rocket Richard is more important to them than the Leafs winning the Stanley Cup, a dream in which Leafs faithful might be losing faith in.
Regardless, fans and media in Toronto should be talking about their 4-4-2 record.
They’ve dropped games to the ghastly Montreal Canadiens, Arizona Coyotes, Vegas Golden Knights (which isn’t too shameful), Sharks, Ducks and Kings. Five of those six teams missed the playoffs last year.
But instead of worrying about that spooky stat, they put extra pressure on Matthews because only one of his six points in the first seven games was a goal.
Former NHL player and Leafs Assistant Coach (2008-2011) Tim Hunter joined Pedersen on the Rod Pedersen Show to break down the nightmare that is playing or coaching such a hockey-insane town.
“Toronto’s a tough market,” Hunter said. “It’s driven by tough media and the fans. They are never happy.”
“When you’re a great player, you’re not going to do that every night. When you’re a great player, you’re going to have nights where you struggle …. it’s not easy to score. So yeah, I feel sorry for the players in Toronto. I feel sorry for the coaches in Toronto.”
Hunter knows the market very well, as he was the Assistant Coach from the start of the 2008 season to the end of 2011 season. He arrived in town with a cautious message from Head Coach Ron Wilson.
“Here’s what’s going to happen Tim,” said Wilson. “You’re going to have your favourite little coffee place, and you’re going to go down in the morning, buy your coffee, get your paper, whatever you do.
“Once the Leafs start losing or lose a few games, people are going to be all over you. You’re going to walk through the door and (hear) ‘What’s wrong with the Leafs? With the power-play? Why are you playing him? Why isn’t he playing? Why aren’t you starting this goalie?’”
“It’s unbearable,” said Hunter, who finished with a personal story of his hellish experience with fans at a barbershop while coaching in Toronto.
He walked into the barbershop and was instantly recognized. “How can we help you, Mr. Hunter?” said the barber.
Hunter asked for a haircut, and was taken to the back room by a man named Luiggi, who had his fair share of questions about the Leafs.
“He puts the apron on, and it’s all about the power-play, the penalty-kill and the goalie. I’m like ‘Dude, I’m here to get a haircut. I didn’t come to talk about the Leafs.’”
“I said, ‘Cut my hair and shut up.’ He was beat-red, but he did.”
