Maple Head Coach Call A Player Orphan….
After Bobby McMann opened the scoring in the first period on Wednesday against the Arizona Coyotes, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the only active team to have gone at least 200 games without being shut out.
According to Hockey Reference, the Leafs are the 11th team in NHL history to achieve the 200-game mark and the first since the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals both did it from 1989-92 to accomplish the feat. Ironically, the Coyotes are second on the list with 52 games without being shut out heading into the game at Mullett Arena.
Later in the same period, Auston Matthews became the first player to score 50 goals during the 2023-24 NHL season.
The Leafs kicked off the streak with a 3-0 shutout win over the New York Islanders, with goaltender Joseph Woll registering his first career shutout.
The Leafs have had their ups and downs in 2023-24, but entered the night third in the Atlantic Division with a 30-16-8 record with 68 points. Toronto entered the night on a four-game winning streak and are 8-2-0 over the past 10 games.
The Calgary Flames own the longest shutout-less streak in league history, going 264 games without failing to get on the scoresheet from 1981-85. Toronto is 10 games away from passing the Boston Bruins for 10th all-time, and 12 away from passing the Pittsburgh Penguins for eighth.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have 27 games left in the 2023-24 regular season. Everyone is now in full trade deadline and playoffs mode. So, it is a great time to play the annual game of What if?
The Toronto Maple Leafs are under a microscope all day, every day. When a team such as the Leafs is considered the center of the hockey universe, being under a microscope is to be expected. Every play, game, injury, trade, and playoff series are over-analyzed & highly scrutinized by the fans and media.
Throughout the season, fans will hear all kinds of what-if scenarios.
Some are tangible, and others are wishful thinking. Many of the what-if questions out there are so out of the box you start to question the mental state of those individuals. However, I try to keep an open mind and keep the never say never phrase in my head.
With all that in mind, I thought I would write my own series of what-if questions about the Leafs.
I often get asked about my opinion on Leafs-related topics, so why not write a bunch of them down? Some will hate my what-if questions, while others might find them interesting. However, all I hope for is that this article gets people thinking.
There is no harm in thinking about every possible scenario in which your favorite team can make itself better. Here is a look at some of my Leafs-related what-if questions.
