New Year’s Eve 2010 marks the end of the first decade of the 21st century.
Here’s a look back at some of the highs and lows for the Maple Leafs, over the past ten years:
2001: In an unlikely playoff sweep, Toronto knocked off their arch rivals, the Ottawa Senators, in four straight games. Overtime goals by Mats Sundin and Cory Cross were instrumental in the victory…A few weeks earlier in a regular season game in Philadelphia, Tie Domi got into a scuffle with Flyers fan Chris Falcone, who fell into the penalty box while taunting the Leafs enforcer as the glass separating the two combatants gave way…Domi earns the ire of the New Jersey Devils after elbowing Scott Niedermayer of Game #4 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Final, and is suspended for the rest of the playoffs plus the first eight games of the regular season…Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment launches the specialty channel Leafs TV.
2002: Leafs coach Pat Quinn wins the first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey for Canada in 50 years. Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph does not play after Canada’s opening loss to Sweden…A vicious seven-game opening round playoff series against the New York Islanders features Darcy Tucker’s controversial hit on Michael Peca that knocked him out of the playoffs. Shayne Corson is suspended for kicking Eric Cairns and Leafs fans cheer “Steve Webb sucks”…The Leafs lose Mats Sundin for the next series against Ottawa. In Game #5 Daniel Alfredsson scores the game-winning goal after boarding Tucker but no penalty is called. Senators falter in Game #6 at home after Ricard Persson takes a five-minute major penalty, allowing the Leafs to tie the game and eventually win the contest, and the series…Sundin returns against Carolina, but injury-riddled Toronto squad runs out of gas in six games. Martin Gelinas eliminates the Leafs in overtime at ACC after a turnover by Alex Mogilny. After the loss, Joseph – an unrestricted free agent – says he would ‘absolutely’ like to stay in Toronto, but signs with Detroit in the off-season…Ed Belfour becomes the team’s starting goalie…Sundin is named a second-team All-Star
2003: Trade deadline frenzy results in Owen Nolan coming to Toronto in exchange for Alyn McCauley, Brad Boyes and a first-round draft pick…Leafs also acquire Doug Gilmour, Phil Housley and Glen Wesley in separate deals. Gilmour is injured by Dave Lowry on his first shift in a game against Calgary, never plays another shift and retires in September….Leafs take Flyers to seventh game but are shelled 6-1 in Philly in deciding match…Mogilny is awarded the Lady Byng Trophy…Pat Quinn steps down as GM, naming John Ferguson Jr. as his successor…Joe Nieuwendyk and Ken Klee are signed in the off-season.
2004: After the Leafs comeback to defeat the flu-riddled Senators 5-4 in a February game, Nolan gives a sarcastic “boo hoo” towards Ottawa.. Leafs bring in Brian Leetch, Ron Francis, Chad Kilger and Calle Johansson in separate deals at the trade deadline…Nieuwendyk’s two soft goals on Patrick Lalime in Game #7 of Eastern Conference Quarter-Final against Ottawa are key to eliminating the Sens…Jeremy Roenick of the Flyers ends Toronto’s playoff hopes with an overtime goal on May 4. Leafs have not been back to the playoffs since then…Ken Dryden steps down as team president…..Sundin and McCabe are named second-team All-Stars at centre and defence…Quinn coaches Team Canada to victory at the World Cup of Hockey, with Canada beating Finland 3-2 in the final game at Air Canada Centre. The NHL lockout starts the next day.
2005: Not much to write about for the first part of the calendar year, no thanks to the lockout. A new collective bargaining agreement is finally signed. With no prior regular season, a lottery system is set up to give all 30 NHL teams a chance to draft Rimouski Oceanic phenom Sidney Crosby. Leafs get the 21st overall pick…..Eric Lindros, Jason Allison and Alexander Khavanov are signed as free agents…The Leafs’ AHL affiliate is moved from St. John’s to Toronto where they are named the Marlies and play out of Ricoh Coliseum – to sparse crowds…Toronto and Ottawa open the regular season and play the first shootout in NHL history, with the Senators’ Dominik Hasek outdueling Belfour. Quick, check the TV to see if Allison has finished his shootout move yet.
2006: Leafs captain Mats Sundin wins a gold medal for Sweden at the Olympics in Torino. McCabe is named to Team Canada, who are eliminated in the quarter-finals by Russia… In an omen of times to come, Toronto fails to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 1997-98 season…Paul Maurice comes up from the Marlies to replace Quinn behind the Leafs bench…Leafs trade goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask to Boston for Andrew Raycroft, assuming that World Junior star Justin Pogge will one day be the team’s top netminder. Hal Gill, Pavel Kubina, Michael Peca and Boyd Deveraux are signed as free agents…On October 14th at Air Canada Centre, Sundin scores in overtime against Calgary to register a hat trick. It is his 500th career NHL goal.
2007: The Leafs defeat Montreal on the last day of their season to earn a chance to qualify for the playoffs. The next day, the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils play to a shootout. Islanders goalie Wade Dubielewicz outshines the Devils’ Scott Clemmensen, allowing New York to squeeze into the eighth and final playoff spot…With the Raycroft experiment a bust in Toronto, the Leafs acquire Vesa Toskala from San Jose….Jason Blake, along with Clemmensen…are signed as free agents.
2008: Tomas Kaberle refuses to waive his no-trade clause, nixing a deal that would have sent him to Philadelphia for Jeff Carter and a first-round pick. After the Leafs miss the playoffs for the third straight year, Maurice is fired and replaced by Ron Wilson…Meanwhile at Ricoh Coliseum, the Marlies are having more playoff success than any other pro Toronto sports team in recent memory (save for the Argos winning the 2004 Grey Cup, and also advancing to the CFL Eastern Final in 2007). The team plays thrilling seven-game series against San Antonio and Syracuse before bowing out to Chicago in the conference final. However, since it’s the Marlies and not the Leafs, barely anyone in Toronto notices…Ferguson is fired leaving Cliff Fletcher to manage the team on an interim basis. His free agent signings include Jeff Finger and Niklas Hagman…Fletcher trades up at the draft to secure Luke Schenn…Free agent Mats Sundin begins his fence-sitting, leaving speculation wide open as to his future…November 29: the Brian Burke era begins. Pugnacity. Belligerence. Truculence. Testosterone…In December, Sundin signs with the Canucks.
2009: Sundin returns to Toronto to score a shootout winner in a Vancouver uniform…Burke tries the college route for talent, signing Christian Hanson out of Notre Dame and Tyler Bozak out of University of Denver…Leafs draft Nazem Kadri from the London Knights. Expectaions, what expectations??…Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchmein and Colton Orr are signed in July as free agents…September 18: Burke deals two first-round picks and a second-round pick to Boston for Phil Kessel.
2010: January 31: Dion Phaneuf is acquired in a seven-player deal with the Calgary Flames. The one-time Calder and Norris Trophy nominee becomes the team’s captain in June…On the same day, Blake and Toskala are traded to Anaheim for J.S. Giguere…Burke’s son Brendan tragically loses his life in a car accident…Days later Burke and Wilson lead Team U.S.A. to a silver medal at the Olympics in Vancouver…Kris Versteeg and Colby Armstrong are among the free agent signings….Oh yeah: waffles.
Remember when they were Leafs? Corey Schwab, Tom Barrasso, Jeff O’Neill, Clarke Wilm, Alexander Khavanov, Alexander Suglobov, Yanic Perreault (again), Luke Richardson (again), Dominic Moore, Martin Gerber.
..probably not, because they never played a game for Toronto, and were Leafs property for just a few days: Colin Stuart, Martin Skoula.
Gone but not forgotten: Billy Harris,, Carl Brewer, Sid Smith, Steve Stavro, Roger Neilson, Lorne Carr, Red Horner, Gaye Stewart, Walt Poddubny, Ted Kennedy, Peter Zezel, Pat Burns, Vic Lynn, Don Simmons, Murray Armstrong.
Leafs fans are left with little optimism that the next 10 years will bring any more success then the previous ten.
Nevertheless, Happy New Year, and Happy New Decade!
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
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