Some Toronto Maple Leafs fans are venting on social media after yet another year without a deep run in the NHL playoffs.
The Leafs’ latest quest to end their 58-year Stanley Cup drought ended Sunday in a 6-1 blowout loss to the defending champion Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena after the Buds forced a Game 7 with a 2-0 win in the Sunshine State Friday.
The Leafs — in what’s become an annual tradition in hockey’s biggest market, along with jerseys thrown onto home ice by a scarred fan base — are once again left to pick up the pieces.
An uncertain off-season now lies ahead as star forwards Mitch Marner and John Tavares will become unrestricted free agents on July 1. Those two players, along with captain Auston Matthews and forward William Nylander, have formed the “Core Four” since 2018 as the highest-paid players on the team with the expectation of getting it to the promised land.
Leafs president Brendan Shanahan — an unwavering supporter of the club’s Core Four— is also without a contract beyond this season.
With the uncertainty that lies ahead, some Leafs fans are struggling to find the words to describe their feelings after another early playoff exit.
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“This morning stings. Proud of the team one moment, absolutely irate with them the next. Not sure how to feel,” X user @baainzy wrote.
“That stung. End of an era,” X user @wsgSlim said.
“No matter what happens, ride or die fan forever. I don’t agree with the hate and the players are human beings at the end of the day, human beings. Anyway final thoughts, This was a great season. Will be back next season/year,” X user @Max_L22 wrote.
Chris Pronger, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Stanley Cup champion, is convinced a shakeup is coming for the Leafs.
“Changes are a coming. This listless effort should put an end to this teams run in its current roster construction,” Pronger wrote in a post on X Sunday night.
“What and where do they go from here? A lot of questions to answer before they figure that out.”
Toronto is now 0-7 in Game 7s, and 0-6 with Marner and Matthews dating back to 2018, in the NHL’s salary cap era.
After Sunday’s game, several Leafs players sought to explain what happened on the ice. Tavares told reporters the team is “never going to quit.”
“We’d love another opportunity,” he added.
Whether that will happen or not is unclear, but some Leafs fans posting on X are indicating they’ll always be optimistic.
“Man. Maybe next year is our year,” @DM4PREZ wrote on Monday morning.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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