Hockey

Beating Brad Marchand in Game #7: Mission impossible for the Leafs (0-5)
Marc-Olivier Cook
Beating Brad Marchand in Game #7: Mission impossible for the Leafs (0-5)
Credit: Getty Images

The Leafs' season is over.

Over. Over.

And the reason is simple: the club's best players didn't show up for Game 7 of the series against the Panthers. The visitors took advantage of the situation to thump them 6-1… and the result is hurting Toronto this morning.

Has the Leafs' curse struck again?

It depends on how you look at it. But one thing's for sure: when a club has passengers on the ice, it's hard to win.

And it's ironic because he's been awful in the playoffs, but Auston Matthews – who wears the C on his jersey – criticized his teammates' effort after the game.

Was it the Brad Marchand curse that hurt again?

Because let's face it: for the fifth time in his career, the Panthers' little pest managed to eliminate the Leafs in Game #7.

That's something special… because he became the first player in history to eliminate the same club five times in a final game.

But Marchand didn't just eliminate the Leafs last night.

He helped his club win 6-1 with three points (a goal and two assists)… and he was one of his club's best players (or if not the best) during the game.

He's got it, read the Leafs' number. And to add insult to injury, the guy said after the game that he grew up a Toronto fan.

You can't make that up.

Marchand has every right in the world to be cocky right now. And he really was after the game.

In an interview with TNT, he also told Paul Bissonnette that the Panthers had “the beleaf” to beat the Toronto team last night.

Comical, isn't it? And that's just great Brad Marchand:

Marchand put his finger on the boo-boo too.

Because everyone knows there's pressure out there with reporters and fans.

The Leafs aren't able to win in the playoffs in the big moments… He admits that doesn't help.

But the players have to take some of the blame, too:

I think we can agree that, well… it's easy to fool the Leafs right now.

With good reason: losing another ultimate game like this is humiliating.

It's insulting.

The fans let their displeasure be known during the game by booing Mitch Marner, they yelled at their players after the game… and they're the laughingstock of the league right now.

It'll never change…

I empathize with the club's fans, honestly.

Being a Leafs fan must be terrible. Because it's not just the result that hurts: it's seeing the guys c*ck it up on the ice at the most important time of the season.

But then again, it's been the same thing for years. And it's about damn time management woke up and cleaned up this dressing room, because it's not working.

In fact, it looks like it'll never work…


Overtime

– Good point.

– Bingo.

– Yep.

– Today's CDM schedule:

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