The Avalanche Stanley Cup win could be great news for Toronto and its fans
Last Sunday, after several years of eating their heart out in the playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche finally won their first Stanley Cup in 21 years. This victory could greatly help give hope to Toronto Leafs fans.
You read that right! We are talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Ontario team shares many similarities with the most recent Cup champions, and the weaknesses that were thought to be immense in Toronto may not be so great today.
In addition to having learned how to lose in the playoffs, the biggest similarity between the two teams is in their goaltending. The Avalanche just proved, for the first time in recent years, that it is possible to win the precious trophy without a dominant goaltender. The American team managed to win with Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz in net. The two masked men, who are nothing special, shared the net during the playoffs, and before each game, we wondered who would be Jared Bednar's lucky one. This is to say that their performances were not reassuring. This is proof that Jack Campbell, who had relatively the same stats as Kuemper in the regular season, could have led his team far in the playoffs with a little support.
Another very similar aspect between the two teams is the offense. Both coaches have a very attack-oriented system with the talented players they have on hand. The Leafs' Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander are no match for the Avalanche's Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Nazem Kadri. Both teams are capable of high scoring games.
The only downside for Leafs fans is Cale Makar. Toronto does not have a defenseman that comes close to the most recent Conn-Smythe Trophy winner. He is simply dominant in every aspect of the game. There is no doubt that the Leafs have Morgan Rielly on hand, but without taking anything away from him, he is a far cry from Makar.
If Kyle Dubas really wants to take advantage of his excellent core of players before it's too late and finally win the cup during his reign, he will have to stop looking for a goalie and look for an elite defenseman. At the very least, another defenseman who could back up Rielly during the spring tournament. Just imagine if he managed (crazy idea don't throw rocks) to get his hands on Kris Letang this summer. Then the hopes would be very high!
| POLL | ||
Which of these teams do you think will be the first to win a playoff round? | ||
| Leafs | 131 | 19.9 % |
| Bruins | 152 | 23.1 % |
| Canadiens | 280 | 42.5 % |
| Sens | 96 | 14.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
