This isn't how it was supposed to be for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2010-11. Not at all.
It was supposed to be yet another season of mediocrity at best, with the club floundering near the bottom of the conference, out of the playoff running by January, simply playing for pride while trying to avoid handing the Boston Bruins yet another top two overall pick in the draft.
It was supposed to be a season filled with more proof that this team is nowhere close to being a playoff contender.
And the thing is, for a while anyway, that's exactly how this season was going. The Leafs were, well, the Leafs. Heading into the All-Star break in late January, the team had lost six of seven and sat 26th overall in the NHL with a 19-25-5 record-on pace for 72 points at season's end.
It looked bleak. It looked exactly like it was supposed to.
Then over time they traded Kris Versteeg, Francois Beauchemin and Tomas Kaberle for Joffrey Lupul and a brighter future. They watched as both goalies, J.S. Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson, went down with injury and they were forced to call up a 22-year-old rookie who'd never played a ...
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Article written by Jon Neely
Toronto Maple Leafs: A Season That Wasn’t What It Was Supposed to Be
April 4th, 2011 by Jon Neely Leave a reply »
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