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It was the 21st of December 2013, and the Leafs are in a playoff spot. Things were looking good until they lost seven out of 11 games played during the month and their fan-base begun getting nervous.

Fast-forward a year later and many fans are wondering if the same delayed losing streaks are just around the corner. It can be tough to be a Leafs fan given their history, and quite honestly, you can’t consider this group as a playoff team until the minute they’ve officially earned a spot.

This is actually a feeling most fans don’t even know how to appreciate, really. And as Steve Dangle put it the other day, Toronto could be first in the East with just a handful of games left and STILL fans would be worried that something so drastic could happen wherein they fall out of playoff spot.

I’m not sure about you guys, but I don’t get that particular feeling this year. While the Leafs have dropped their previous two games against teams who they (really) should have beaten, their record for the month of December still sits at 7 wins out of ten games played.

Toronto will take to the ice against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight and a win will be very important to maintain their record going into the New Year.

A three game losing streak would likely continue to elicit the “boos” which were heard after last night’s loss, and I’m not entirely sure how strong this team’s mental makeup is to handle even more pressure to...well…not suck so much.

Against the Flyers, the team moved the puck well in the offensive zone. They had plenty of chances and overall looked good in that regard. So what happened? Well it appears that the Leafs have gone back to a style of play which has only caused them grief in the past.

For starters, their ability to control the game in their own end is all but gone. They no longer have the same hustle, smart outlet passes, or structure which has brought them much of their success this year. But the biggest problem for me, was that they allowed 42 shots against last night and were only good for 12 blocked shots. I thought this team learnt their lesson?

Interestingly enough their giveaways were quite low and they did well with respect to their physical play and face-offs, but their overall defensive play was very risky and not the least bit effective.

What I often notice from this team is when things get tough and their start to panic a little from the pressure of their opposition, they sit back. And as we saw last night there was a lot of puck watching. No longer were players effectively covering their assignments, getting in passing lanes and rushing the puck carrier. They were not forcing any mistakes but rather waited for their opposition to either shoot the puck at their net, or make a mistake on their own doing.

This is not, and has not a recipe for success from this group…ever.

Tonight will be an important game for the team as they start to move into January. A big win against the Hawks will feel good for the team and their fans as they prepare to close out the year. The only thing that I personally care to see tonight is an improvement in their defensive end. I couldn’t care less if they actually lose tonight, provided that shots were low, assignments were covered, and hustle/opportunities were present.

At the end of the day if this team is serious about moving away from historical trends and, well, jokes…then they need to start focusing more on their weaknesses game by game and things should fall into place.

"What we need to realize in that streak where we were winning, we were working for the full 60 minutes," said Holland. "It wasn't just happening by fluke."

"We're not far removed from playing some really good hockey," Holland added. "We dropped two games in a row, that's going to happen over the course of a season. We just need to make sure that we're ready to respond and play solid road games."

It looks like Reimer will get the start tonight against Cory Crawford, and the Hawks who are sitting with a record of 8-1-1 will be a strong test for this group. It will be interesting to see how Carlyle uses Nazem Kadri and David Clarkson tonight and if they will shut down the big lines, as the two have been playing some strong hockey.

By the way, for those who aren’t keeping track (how couldn’t you, really?), Clarkson is now good for 12 points in 33 games, compared to 11 points in 60 games last year.

As I offered at the beginning of the year, Clarkson has reverted back to a simple game where he finishes checks, gets in the way of the opposition, and throws pucks on net. By not trying to do too much, Clarkson is actually an effective player and the conversation of “wow was that a bad free agent signing” has all but been silenced.

Thanks for reading!

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