How thoughtful of the Toronto Maple Leafs to do their fans a real favor for a change.
Still, it might take some time for anyone to feel goodwill, because so many Toronto fans are diehards and believe, or at least hope, the Leafs can still sneak into the playoffs.
But after the Leafs were defeated Thursday by the Montreal Canadiens in the first game of a critical back-to-back set, the only thing left is to remove the fork now sticking in them.
They're done.
And that's actually a good thing for the self-described "center of the hockey universe," where the team is supported through thick, thin and the most minimal of accomplishments. It will force the beloved organization into some serious soul-searching and maybe change the way things are done. The Leafs are still mathematically alive in the Eastern Conference race, and they do get to play Montreal again Saturday, but they aren't going anywhere and need to start over.
Toronto didn't just lose, it was blown away in a game it was supposedly up for and absolutely had to win. The Leafs had won only eight of their past 26 but were coming off an uplifting triumph over the potent Carolina Hurricanes. With four teams, including Montreal, ahead of them in the battle for the final playoffs spots in the East, the Leafs needed to make a statement, to themselves as much as to others.
They did, letting everyone know loud and clear that they are nowhere as good as they had convinced themselves. Toronto's 5-1 loss to the Canadiens, a game far more lopsided than the score indicated, exposed just how many flaws exist.
Leafs coach Pat Quinn, who at this point in his lengthy tenure is likely part of the problem, seemed resigned to the situation. That gives him few options. He has shuffled players in and out of his lineup recently, but as the schedule gets down to crunch time, the Leafs just don't have the right horses.
"Execution was the problem," Quinn said. "If you don't execute, whether it's from a lack of trying, maybe a lack of talent, I don't know ... but if you can't do the job does it mean bringing other people in? I don't know. Those people weren't in the lineup because they didn't do the job."
Not many players did their jobs this year for Toronto. Often they weren't capable.
While no one knew exactly what to expect in the post-lockout NHL, it was pretty clear that speed, offense and business sense would be emphasized a lot more, and it has been. The successful teams have been young, quick and nimble on the ice, and flexible enough with their budgets off it, while the Leafs have looked stuck in a time warp with a veteran team that is basically old, slow and expensive.
Toronto locked itself into a high-priced deal with veteran goalie Ed Belfour, who too often looked like the 40-year-old he is rather than the Hall of Famer he will be before back problems shut him down for the season. Veterans like Jason Allison, Jeff O'Neill and Eric Lindros are all past their primes and can't keep up with pace of today's game.
It would have helped had Toronto been able to draw on a productive farm system, but it doesn't have one. Or had some lineup speed, an ingredient that's missing badly this season when it helps draw penalties. Toronto has lived on its power play all season, scoring more than 43 percent of its goals with the extra attacker.
Lately it has been even more pronounced, with Toronto scoring 18 of its past 24 goals on the power play, but when teams adjust and force the Leafs to play five-on-five, it isn't much of a contest. Montreal proved that by staying out of the penalty box Thursday. Two weeks ago in Toronto, the Habs took 11 penalties and the Leafs scored four power-play goals to win 5-3.
In the old days, Toronto -- one of the richest teams around and often the league's most profitable -- would simply buy some help. That would result in some optimism and enough bucks from the playoffs to keep shareholders happy and the faithful believing they might actually be getting close to winning their first Stanley Cup since 1967.
That was impossible this year because the Leafs were hamstrung at the March 9 deadline by the salary cap and some untradeable contracts. Unable to make any significant moves, they have been left to scratch and claw to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
Those are over now. Montreal jumped five points ahead of 10th-place Toronto and the Canadiens trail the eighth-place Atlanta Thrashers by one point. The seventh-place New Jersey Devils have a seven-point advantage on Toronto, while sixth-place Tampa Bay is nine points in front.
And with the Leafs playing their next three on the road, where their success rate is among the bottom third of the league, they could easily be out of it when they next take the ice at home on April 1. That's no joke, just a favor.
