Leafs strategy

You can never give up hope especially with 51 games remaining in the NHL schedule but with the Toronto Maple Leafs currently eight points out of a playoff spot with four teams also ahead of them to get there the odds are pretty stacked against them.  Last season I believe only one team made the playoffs that weren’t already officially among the top eight seeds as of December 1/2009 and that was the Philadelphia Flyers and we all remember how they managed to squeak in. 

One could argue that they [Flyers] probably should have been in the race from the first game of the season given the roster of talent they possess and eventual trip all the way to the Stanley Cup finals.  Nobody would make that same argument for this year’s version of the Leafs and while there is always a chance, I am not overly optimistic. 

So if we aren’t looking at a playoff berth what are we playing for? [more…]