Last night marked the end of an era... an era of hopelessness, frustration and disappointment for the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise. Torontonians woke up this morning as Stanley Cup Champions, something that hasn't happened since 1967.
With an impressive 4 game sweep of the Minnesota Wild, the The Maple Leafs have finally cast of the yoke of mediocrity, and claimed the Stanley Cup as their own. Leading the Leafs in scoring were both Marian Hossa and Ryan Nugent Hopkins, with 27 point a piece. Both players were incredibly dangerous together on the power play with half their points coming from playing together with the man-advantage. Corey Crawford took over from the struggling Antti Niemi mid season and followed through in the playoffs, leading the league in save percentage and goals-against average. The Leafs finished the playoffs with a goals for/against percentage of 156% and PP%+PK% of 106%... two stats that demonstrate how well they played during the last 23 games.
When asked after the game what was the difference maker, coach Quenneville stated "We've been lucky with the depth up front, allowing for us to play Sedin, Nuge and Hossa on seperate lines. Also, we have a very good back end anchored by McDonagh, OEL and Carlson. That being said, the biggest advantage has been being able to play two strong goal-tenders throughout the series... we mostly led with Crawford, however there were some key games that Niemi was able to step in and win for us that really kept us in it."
Latter today a chartered jet will arrive at Perason International Airport, to be greated by a mass of fans and reporters. There are expectations of a massive parade followed by an equally massive street party. The Mayor of Toronto has asked for fans to behave in a manner befitting a Stanley Cup champion, however the police will still be out on full force. Expect traffic delays, expect lost productivity, expect a party of epic proportions.
And what will come next for the Leafs? Goaltender Antti Niemi is expected to test free agency since it'll be impossible for the Leafs to keep both Niemi and Crawford going forward. Also expect the Leafs to make more room on the first two lines for Brayden Schenn and Nazeem Kadri. Still, the core group of players have all made improvements this season, and veterans Marian Hossa, Daniel Sedin and Scott Hartnell havn't slowed down, so the Leafs should be in a position to compete again next year.
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