Toronto Maple Leafs: Staying Patient Needs To Stay A Priority
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a better hockey club than they were last year. That’s pretty easy to see even through two games.
But how long will the team – and fans – remain patient with the Toronto Maple Leafs?
The word – patience – has been preached since Shanahan blew up the MLSE offices. It’s been an accepted motto among fans and employees, but the taste of success is hard to forget – even if it’s only for a few games.
Anyone who doesn’t see this team is better, and that the future is very bright, is in denial. That’s non-negotiable. However, to be convinced that everyone is still on board for more pain is a tougher task.
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As incredible as Auston Matthews first game was, the highlighted sub-narrative was Frederik Andersen. Patience went out the window for the goaltender and after one start he was being thrown under each bus that passed by.
He rebounded with a nice performance against Boston but the bad taste from game one still lingers over his head. That’s exactly what this team had to deal with in the past – a lack of patience and a heavy dose of overreaction.
As the Leafs traverse through the winding road of the 2016-2017 season they’ll be meeting success and failure alike. It’s the job of the media to keep this team off of a pedestal and portray them for what they still are: a work in progress.
It’s management’s job – if, god forbid, this team is anywhere near the 8th spot close to the deadline – to stay the course. Don’t lose patience and don’t believe they’re better than they really are. It’s not their time yet.
It’s the fans job to try, as hard as possible, to refrain from hurling players under the bus for a few bad games. That’s the old way. That way didn’t work, and it won’t work. It accomplishes nothing.
Sooner rather than later it will be time to throw patience out the window and ask this team to win consistently, but the 2016-2017 season isn’t that year.
Staying patient is only going to last so long, but the Leafs need it to drag it out as much as they can before the hockey mecca of the world turns into an angry mob of demands. It’s a good, young team and they need our patience.
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