This Maple Leafs team just may be the best one we have seen since the glory days back in the 60’s. On Saturday night, the final game of the regular season the Leafs set two franchise records. The first was most points in the regular season where the Leafs acquired 105. Frederik Andersen also had the most goalie wins in a season with 38 wins. No longer will “red light” Raycroft be in the books, and nor will Eddy “the eagle” Belfour.

I had a number of people ask me who I would rather the Leafs play against in round one; Boston or Tampa Bay? I’m still undecided. But the Bruins it is and you can bet that Mike Babcock will have his players ready for playoff hockey. Babcock knows what it takes and he has a few veteran players to help inject the spark plug.

Most importantly the addition upfront of Patrick Marleau is going to pay off the most. His playoff experience and veteran leadership and work ethic have already paid off. For the fifth consecutive season Marleau played all 82 games in the season, with a reduced role on the Leafs roster Patty banged in 27 goals and ended up with 47 points, one more than last year’s total. Marleau has played in 178 playoff games and has a total of 120 points.

Kadri continues to excel as a player and for the second straight season has 32 goals. You think Nazem Kadri likes to play for Mike Babcock? ‘The dream’ has been a force; he also cut down his penalty minutes drastically from 95 last season to 42 this year.

The play of the three young studs up front has been excellent. Matthews, Marner and Nylander have been outstanding and now that all three are in the Leafs lineup they look unstoppable. Nylander has been pretty steady all year where Marner started cold and has been a phenom in the second half of the season. Matthews has had to deal with a few minor injuries this season but has been a point per game player when in the lineup. Everyone is healthy as the boys eagerly await puck drop on Thursday in Boston.

The last time the Leafs met Boston in the playoffs the Leafs had a handsome 4-1 lead in the third period of the seventh game and ultimately blew it. We all know the story. There are only a few playoffs left on the Leafs roster from that season (Bozak, Kadri, van Riemsdyke, Komarov, Gardiner). You can bet each of these players will be hungry to stick it to Boston and make things right (in their minds). This is a big series for the Leafs; I feel if they can beat Boston in seven, they can beat anyone.

You can bet the Bruins are not looking forward to facing the Maple Leafs in round one. Toronto won three and lost one versus Boston in the regular season.

The two players the Leafs will have to keep a close eye on will be Pastrnak and that weasel Marchand. Those are their two biggest offensive weapons; mind you they will have to look out for Backes. He’s always looking to catch someone not looking and give them a shot; you can bet there will be a border line hit or two from him throughout the series.

The Leafs will have a plan of attack led by the best coach in the world and one of the best goalies the Leafs have had in franchise history. Andersen is the real deal, if he hasn’t convinced you yet, hopefully he will by the time this series is over.

Get ready, prime up your jersey and get the flag on your car, whatever it may be!

3 sleeps until game 1!

Go Leafs Go!

Thanks for reading.

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