Disastrous Road Trip Ends in Team Worst Since 1954

The Toronto Maple Leafs found themselves in 5th place in the eastern conference wildcard standings a week and a half ago when they made a surprising move of firing head coach Randy Carlyle on January 6. Since then, the leafs have gone 1-5 under new interim head coach Peter Horachek and fall 7 points out of a playoff spot trailing the red hot Boston Bruins. While the leafs have played a better much sought after defensive game, their team offence has only produced 1 goal in its last games.

The leafs have not been shut out in three out of four games since 1954 and has many wondering if the team needs to rebuild from the ground up.

“For whatever reason they’re not going in. We’re getting the chances…you just have to stick with it,” Horachek told reporters Saturday.

For a team who has shown high octane offensive ability this year, the sudden dry spell in scoring has even their elite star Phil Kessel begging for answers.

“I’m not putting up any goals or anything right now so got to figure that out,” said Kessel. “I don’t know what, we’ve got to slay a dragon or something. We’ve got to get one bounce, don’t you think?”

No doubt the Maple Leafs have been on a roller coaster year, winning streaks and then losing streaks, with half a season remaining, what lies ahead for the buds and President Brendan Shanahan?

My Take:

Where do I begin? I was raised an avid leafs fan. Everyone in my family and extended family loves this team, as do I. Throughout my early years as a leafs fan the team was a force to be reckoned with. Mostly good times, making the playoffs every year, and usually having a pretty deep run. The last eight or nine years however, have brought nothing but frustration and disappointment. The whole city talks about what this team should do, who they should trade and who should be fired. At this point in the game with the financial restrictions that every team has (salary cap), the best course of action is to start drafting and developing young players to become a contender. This is something the leafs have not done since the salary cap came into place in 2005. I believe its finally time for the leafs to start a total rebuild and create a team that this city can be proud of.