The Conference Finals are set. Four teams got knocked out in Round Two. Four remain.
The Edmonton Oilers remain Canada’s last hope to break a 32-year curse of not having won the Stanley Cup. However, before we consider the potential Cup finalists, lets look back at the tale of two teams who didn’t make the cut: the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs.
What should we make of the team that did it in the regular season? How about the one that last reached the Cup final in the final year of the so-called Original Six? For now, all that matters is both getting knocked out.
Panthers Maul Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs were just embarrassed, humiliated, outclassed, and destroyed on home ice in the most important game they have played in almost 20 years. The GM changed some players, the coach, and added at the deadline but the same repeating issues rose up again and now there is nowhere less to point. A core group, which no matter what support, accessories or changes were made always fell short. There’s been more strokes on keyboards about the Leafs, their problems and challenges than any other team in the NHL, and tonight will only add to that total but the answers will not be certain.
I’ll take a stab at what needs to be done for the Leafs and to change the outcome next year or the year after or whenever… courage and conviction. The leadership of the club needs to have the courage to stand up and take on the intricate web of interconnected issues that come with the team. This person, needs to be a personality that can stand tall in the spotlight, redirect focus and manage what comes with the market that is Toronto. One would think that was Lou Lamorillo and also Brendan Shanahan but were they really prepared to deal with what comes with the focus in Toronto?
This person, whoever they may be, has to have a new message, a different style, and a fundamental shift in process to execute the changes that will inevitably be done. They have to be a co-conspirator with the GM, they have to be able to instill the missing ingredient within the players, and bring a confidence to an entire organization by working with the coach. Most importantly, this person has to have a vision and strategy and be able to bring in the right people to develop the tactics to execute it, and that includes in players, assistants, staff, and even the ushers in the stadium. The aura that surrounds the Maple Leafs is one that is almost too complex to describe, let alone adjust or alter. It will take a complete deconstruction and ultimately a reconstruction.
Just how do you do that when two of the pieces will be gone with no return? That’s why this leader has to be able to do the above because the deconstruction is also going to reveal where the problems were and likely ones that no one knew about.
Grounded Jets
As for the Winnipeg Jets, what to make of the season that led them to win the President’s Cup or the post season that saw them regress into a shell of their regular season greatness?
Connor Hellebuyck must own some of the Jets misfortunes this post season if he is to own any of their good fortune from the regular season. The numbers do not lie and the stark different since 2018 in post season stats to regular season are just too glaring to ignore. If the Jets are going to try this again, they will have Hellebuyck and while ‘he may study goaltending more than anyone’ he needs to study himself and what changes in his decision making as well.
Frankly for the Jets there is much studying that needs to happen and head coach Scott Arniel should also do more homework. Deployment and matchups being one as away from home ice his tactics were not good enough. The team was often outplayed when at the visitor’s rink, he has to take ownership of that too as his strategies and tactical adjustments were not enough and he was exposed to be either too cautious and trusting or unaware of other options, or both. They are not the only ones who should take blame as GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has to look in the proverbial mirror too, or at least owner Mark Chipman should walk him to one.
Many have pointed out that the 6 million in cap space that the Jets, err Cheveldayoff did not use at the trade deadline was a failure but there are small yet important conditions attached to that cap space. Winnipeg is the least desirable place for players to come to, it’s known and it makes a GM’s job harder but that’s part of the job in Winnipeg, especially after 15 years on it. The GM has to find ways to overcome that image, issue, and reputation. Hoping you can find the right player at the deadline is not a plan. If the issue of playing in Winnipeg is so great, that even with cap space and a President’s Cup winning team, players will not come then depth has to be found another way.
That depth has to be through development, reclamation projects, and any other way to help supplement talent. Go back to the trade deadline and the underwhelming return on investment. The Jets were a team that had the best record in the league rolling out Logan Stanley on the third pairing for 63 games so perhaps assessment is a bit of a weakness. With that weakness come the adherence and core tenet of the team to draft and develop, but not equally or consistently. Any NHL team should have enough players on their farm team that make trading for 4th liners a bad idea. Ideally role players should be almost interchangeable between a 4th line and farm team and to be frank, there should always be pressure from below because the development pipeline is strong. So while Brandon Tanev may have been fun on his first stint in Winnipeg, the time, assets, and energy to acquire him should be spent elsewhere because that type of player is redundant.
To put it simply, if trading for, attracting, or acquiring players is hard then that pipeline better be full. It’s really like a sales process. If you cannot attract the existing big customers in the market you better have a lot of smaller ones with potential ready to go.
The other fact for the Jets is they are older and while players like Cole Perfetti, Gabe Valardi, and Alex Iafallo add quality pieces, it’s not enough. That’s particularly glaring when there is no viable second line centre or a first line one for when Mark Scheifele has to drop down, father time always catches up.
Speaking of fathers how can one not look at Scheifele and see the internal struggle he dealt with during the game and after. As a father I would say no father ever would want their death to be a burden for the child(ren) in their career, sports or other. But for the way it all unfolded at the end one can’t help but wonder if Scheifele took far more out on himself than he deserved. It was a gutsy, honourable performance and despite the outcome and conditions before, Game 6 of the Dallas series was the best road game the Jets played this postseason.
(Semi)final Thougts
This is when we tie the two teams together. The Leafs got further in their series only to be humiliated and the Jets fell short but rose to adversity despite being favoured. In the end neither got where they wanted but how the stroy lines differ. One team is a chronic failure and lacks character while the other overcame adversity of their own making and fought to the end. Heroes in round one, sympathetic souls to be admired in the aftermath of round two.
Alas, the results are the same this year and before. One team will make changes, probably major and drastic the other will tweak and explain the obvious over again. One fan base is sick of the same the other still has enough happy to be here goodwill. Yet over 15 years neither has made the impact they had hoped or tried for. My how history and few moments can dramatically change the impression and pressure on a franchise.
Too much money was spent by Leafs management, on players who had done very little,during playoffs. Great to have shiny regular season stars, but you need to have those stars playing playoff hockey.