Leafs Official Playoff Elimination Sets New Low In Team History

Four decades of frustration without a Cup and now four years of historic futility without a playoff run.

The last nail in the Leafs’ post-season coffin was finally hammered in Tuesday night, when the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 in La Belle Province, officially eliminating the blackened Blue and White from any hope of late spring activity.

The Habs’ win left them with 88 points, 13 ahead of the Leafs, who have just six games left and were mathematically eliminated from the hunt – although most fans are pretty sure that happened a long time ago.

Not that they expected anything less. But in a city that has learned to live with so much disappointment for so long, this one has special significance. It’s the fourth year in a row the Leafs have missed the playoffs, and it’s the longest such non-post season run in their storied history.

The last time the team was playing for something meaningful came in the 2003-04 season, when they lost in the conference semis to the Flyers, ironically the team they’ll be facing Wednesday night at the ACC. (That’s a shot from the final game of that last series, top left.)

All this comes at the tail end of what Leaf management acknowledges was a rebuilding year. But some aren’t quite so sure about the direction this massive reconstruction project is taking.

It began in earnest in November when a new G.M. – Brian Burke –  was finally pried out of Anaheim with a pledge to do everything it takes to rebuild the team into a winner. But it’s left many fans wondering how he intends to do that.

It was a season that saw Vesa Toskala emerge as the de facto starting goaltender, until inconsistency and then a season-ending injury changed the blueprint.

Justin Pogge didn’t really work, and while an aging Cujo occasionally showed flashes of his old brilliance, it remains to be seen how far the team is willing to go with Martin Gerber, who was acquired on waivers from the Senators on trade deadline day.

That was the same 24 hours where Burke dumped longtime stalwart Nik Antropov on the Rangers for two draft picks and shuffled Dominic Moore off to Buffalo for another prospect-to-be.

The new man in town admitted it wasn’t everything he’d hoped for, but called it a start. “I am not doing cartwheels…but I am pleased with what was done,” he said on March 4th, as the trade deadline finally passed. “When your team hasn’t had success, it’s not like there’s a huge line at the checkout counter asking for your players, and we haven’t had enough success here.”

It was also their first full year without captain Mats Sundin, who kept everyone waiting before finally signing a huge deal with the Vancouver Canucks.

But despite their famed misfortunes, the Leafs vow that they won’t give up without a fight in their final six games before golf season begins.

They hope to play spoilers to the teams still in the race, potentially preventing the Flyers from securing home ice advantage in a home-and-home series on Wednesday and Friday nights.

They’ll also try to knock the Habs out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference when they face them this weekend.

And while luckless teams have forever shouted the mantra ‘wait till next year,’ after watching another season of missed chances, long suffering Leaf fans can’t be blamed for responding, ‘we don’t want to.’

Michael Handzus of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his teams first goal of the game scored on Ed Belfour of the Toronto Maple Leafs during Game six of the eastern conference semifinals during the 2004 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs May 4, 2004 at Air Canada Centre. (Photo credit: Dave Sandford/Getty Images)