Sloppy. Close. Painful. Tradition.
That's all there is to it.

Sloppy.
2 Goals should have never happened. 2 Leafs players tried to whack the puck clear of the zone, and they failed. Then Eric Daze was allowed to blister a shot past Cujo. Then a very poor line change lead to a breakaway, on which Cujo did what he could, but even less than 5 inches can mean everything. It was a very incosistant game from the Leafs players, save a few. Cujo only had one or two goals that he really should have stopped. 6 goals does not say bad goaltending. It can say bad team effort. The second Leafs game that I have watched this season was the worst game I had seen of all the teams in the NHL. Period.

Close.
The score should have read 6-4 at the least. Two posts. Two clinks, and the tides might have changed for the Leafs. Then there was Doug Gilmore's wrap-around goal, similar to the double overtime goal in game 1 in the 1993 Leafs-Blues series. That barely squeezed in. Then that breakaway goal just squeezed in. Just inches and the game was ours. But fate said it shall end as it began. With a loss.

>Painful.
Only one other game was this hard to watch. Game 7 in 1995 where the Canucks defeated the Blues, sealing Cujo's fate as he was banished from St. Louis by Mike Keenan. As an American, I could feel how much this game ment for all Canadians. As I sit here and watch the Post-game cerimonies, I think of how the Arena, the Blues old home, will be no more at the end of February. My favorite hockey memories live there. I wanted to see the Leafs win more than anything. But it won't happen. The memories will live in MLG as long as it stands, then in the Hockey Hall of Fame after that. But the pain won't sting for long... There are too many Stanley Cup Banners to hoist in the rafters in the Air Canada Center. Trust me.

Tradition.
There are too many Stanley Cup Banners to hoist in the rafters in the Air Canada Center. Let's not forget that the Leafs won the Stanley Cup their first season at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Leafs are capable of it, but they might not be able to put it together. But there's tradition to follow. The Leafs are close. Closer than a lot think. There's new history to be written, not to replace Maple Leaf Gardens, but to add to it with the Air Canada center.

Good luck to Cujo and the rest of the Leafs this season. You guys can do it. Never lose focus. Make yourselves at home. Your fans will always cheer you on. Their loyality is one thing that will never change or be replaced.

You Leaf fans keep cheering. The Leaf players will keep making memories for you. Go Leafs Go. That's all you need to say. They'll do the rest.

Goals will be scored. Cheers will be shouted. Games will be saved. Cups shall be won. Just watch.

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