The Toronto Maple Leafs are on the verge of serving their fanbase another chapter in their ongoing exercise in futility. Last night’s game five debacle, where the Florida Panthers came out hot from the first whistle and deposited six goals past a pair of Leafs netminders, has everyone in Leafs Nation deflated.
From a fan’s perspective, one can’t help but point to a feeling of rapidly increasing misalignment. There seems to be a growing disconnect between the hype machine surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs and the actual product on the ice. The endorsed message repeated in virtually every commercial break during NHL playoff time is that hockey is Canada’s game. Moreover, that old-time hockey will always prevail, that’s what Canadians are…proud traditionalists, who, as Canadian rock icons Triumph so powerfully holler, will “Fight the Good Fight!” Beer, spirits, and significant media sponsors have liked using bands like Triumph and other Canadian rock legends from the ’80s to rally the fans.
The strategy works! Nothing will capture a 40-something ex-beer league player’s attention faster than accompanying a fast Neal Peart drum solo with a visual of a Mitch Marner goal. The message is that this is “old-time” hockey. If fans are to draw inspiration from 70s and 80s-era Canadian rock to get fired up, then it’s time that this version of the Toronto Maple Leafs revert to the mindset of standout Leaf performers from that era, and pick it up a notch.
Many Leaf fans from the Latchkey/Generation X era will recall the powerful and exceptionally skilled “Hound Line”. The name connected the three forwards who had previously played together at Notre Dame College in Athol, Saskatchewan.
In an otherwise dismal decade, Gary Leeman, Wendel Clark, and Russ Courtnall comprised the storied club’s most formidable line. Courtnall had exceptional speed, Leeman came with the ability to score and hit, while Wendel was the total package who instilled fear in the opposition and had one of the quickest snap wrist shots of his time.
The Leafs teams of the Harold Ballard years were often short on talent. This line carried the outmatched Leafs through a first-round win over the top-seeded 1987 St. Louis Blues and came within one game of beating Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings, en route to the Campbell Conference final. The Leafs had no business being that deep into a playoff run.
The Hound line thought differently, grinding, fighting, and digging for any loose puck. Through sheer grit and determination, the Hound line gave fans a full dose of playoff satisfaction that year.
The nickname was initially bestowed upon 1980s Maple Leafs Captain Rick Vaive, another iconic Leafs player from previous generations, from whom this current lot can draw inspiration. Doug Gilmour, though, personified the killer instinct that separates the elite playoff performers from the rest. Having already won a Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames, Gilmour had a reputation throughout the NHL as a fearless competitor.
In Gilmour’s early days with the St. Louis Blues from 1983-88, he was labeled “Killer” by Blues captain Brian Sutter. He had already earned his reputation as a winner by the time he became a Leaf in 1991. The 1993 playoff run solidified Gilmour’s place in all-time Maple Leaf folklore.
Toronto came within one game of defeating Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings to secure their first Stanley Cup final berth since taking the cup in 1967. Gilmour demanded and received maximum output from the blue and white through the 93 playoff run.
The commonality between these archived bits of Toronto Maple Leafs history is that both teams had the “it” factor that seemed to inspire next-level output from their players. Notably, it was easier in those days to apply “street justice” and immediately rally the team through physicality and fisticuffs following a direct provocation or taunting.
The Leafs simply wouldn’t have it. Sam Bennett, for example, would likely be hobbling and wearing an ugly shiner following his antics in game one and throughout the playoffs so far. It seems that the victors are willing to do the nasty deeds. They will run the goalie, spear a player in front of the net, and either drop the gloves or provoke an opposing player to do something stupid to force a penalty.
The desire, the killer instinct, remains for those willing to go there. Total hits, even in games one and two, which the Leafs won, were heavily lopsided (40-24/Game One), in favor of the Panthers. Through their regular season record and playoff performance up to game five, the Leafs have shown that they have the talent to compete with the best.
The playoffs, though, are about survival. Leafs captain Auston Matthews needs to find a jolt of inspiration quickly. It can be stated that talent-wise, he is the greatest to have ever donned the Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. Better than Keon, Salming, Clark, Gilmour, and Sundin. It’s the killer instinct that those players had that, so far, has been absent from Matthews’ playoff appearances.
It is easy for me to say that the Leafs need to resort to intimidation physicality to achieve their playoff goals. It is a different time and age; retaliation can result in repercussions and penalties. Max Domi is not his Dad, and it’s no longer commonplace for a player to call out and initiate a fight with, say, Matthew Tkachuk to get the team going. The grit and fighting instinct are the intangibles that don’t always have to surface with an on-ice donnybrook. The old-time hockey mantra, often referenced and applied to this original six hockey club, means something different. It involves never, ever giving up.
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