Apr 10, 2016
Thumbs up to the Maple Leafs' “perfect tank"
TSN's Dave Hodge extends his thumb to the Toronto Maple Leafs and their “perfect tank,” as well as the Boston Bruins' failure to stay active in the hunt for a playoff spot.
By Dave Hodge
The Maple Leafs’ 30th-place finish has been described as the “perfect tank.” Here’s why.
Following the February 29th trade deadline, when their dressing room became a clearing house for free agents-to-be, the Leafs played well enough and won often enough to avoid the look of a team that was determined to lose.
In many of their defeats, they came up just one goal short. And all the while, they remained, quite respectably, in last place.
Near the end of the season, there were only two games that, had they won them, could have cost the Leafs the most favourable draft lottery odds. The first was Wednesday’s 5-1 loss on home ice to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
A Toronto win that night would have allowed the Edmonton Oilers to sit still in 30th place, but that was the night the Oilers said farewell to Rexall Place, and if it was ever important to win a meaningless game, that was the time, never mind one more first overall draft choice.
Edmonton’s win that night freed the Leafs to win again if they wished and they did, to the tune of Thursday’s 4-3 overtime decision in Philadelphia that caused the Flyers some temporary concern for their playoff future.
There was no way the Leafs could be accused of tanking when they upset a playoff-bound team on the road, thus avoiding a loss that would have cemented their 30th-place finish.
And so it was that last night that would decide last place. If the Leafs gained a point or two in New Jersey, and the Oilers failed to do the same in Vancouver, Toronto would finish 29th. The second game, only two, mind you, that had to be lost to guarantee the best odds in the draft lottery.
As they had done against Columbus in the first one, the Leafs scored first against the Devils, so there was more anti-tanking evidence, but they didn’t score thereafter and another 5-1 loss in New Jersey made it official - the 30th-place Leafs own a 20 per cent chance of landing the number one draft choice and the prize, Auston Matthews, that seemingly comes with it.
The Leafs never played well enough to rise above last place. They never played badly enough to be accused of intending to finish behind every other team. They did manage to lose twice when it absolutely mattered.
It was the “perfect tank.” “Thumbs down” if that’s what they intended. “Thumbs up” for making it hard to tell.
Bear Bones
Nobody thinks Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien should be fired. But nobody thinks the Bruins should have missed the playoffs. Under any circumstances, that would be enough to create uncertainty. The way the Bruins bowed out is the first factor that will need to be addressed.
Management might well say it doesn’t matter what happened in the 82nd game, because 81 others weren’t good enough, either. So Julien should not be judged on the 6-1 embarrassment against Ottawa.
Right, and Brad Marchand might win the Lady Byng Trophy. It will be hard to assess Julien’s future, and the Bruins’ season, without dwelling on the way it ended. As it turned out, a win over the Senators would have put Boston into the playoffs and a first-round series against the injured-ravaged Tampa Bay Lightning would have been winnable. With the two top teams in the Eastern Conference - Washington and Pittsburgh - busy in the Metropolitan Division, Boston would have had every reason to think beyond the Lightning.
So this wasn’t just a mediocre team missing the playoffs that would have offered no real hope of success, anyway - it was a mediocre team losing a wide-open chance to make itself look a lot better by seizing a second-chance opportunity in the playoffs.
Make an all-star team out of players who won’t be in the playoffs and at least four of the forwards would be Patrice Bergeron, Loui Ericsson, David Krejci and Marchand. “Thumbs down” to Boston’s failure to stay active. Place the blame where you think it belongs. Start with Saturday and, just for fun, dwell on Julien’s decision to lift goalie Jonas Gustavsson with the score 4-1 and 9:26 remaining. Ottawa made it 5-1 a minute later with the first of two empty netters.
Here’s the fun. What if Julien had pulled the same desperate move, down 4-1 to Toronto, halfway through the third period of “that” seventh game in 2013?
But he didn’t.