Toronto Maple Leafs Playing ‘Boring’ Hockey? Not A Problem

The Toronto Maple Leafs are off to a fairly decent start to their NHL season, with two wins and one narrow loss in their first three games. But some people in the hockey world think they’re playing a boring style of hockey.

To which, we say: let them be bored. Let them be bored out of their gourds. So long as Toronto wins games and has a legitimate chance to win every game, its playing style will be welcomed by Leafs fans.

Sure, there’s something to be said for entertaining hockey, especially during the trudge through the 82-game regular season. Ideally, you want fans to enjoy the product over and above whether any one team can win night in and night out. But ultimately, the Maple Leafs are operating in a zero-sum industry, and new coach Craig Berube’s job is to pile up victories, not get people giddy over how they choose to battle.

To be sure, the New Jersey Devils did not need to be people-pleasers to win three Stanley Cups starting three decades ago. Unless you were friends and family of Devils players, their games were the equivalent of watching paint dry in super slow motion. But the trap-happy Devils got the job done, and nobody begrudges them for the Lou Lamoriello and Jacques Lemaire style of hockey they employed.

That’s why Berube is pleasing the people he needs to please the most – Maple Leafs management. Toronto’s defense has improved thus far this year – from 21st in the NHL last season at 3.18 goals against per game to fifth-best at 1.67 goals against per game – and that’s all that really matters. Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving did his utmost to bring in better defensive performers  – defenseman Chris Tanev, primarily – and he chose a coach in Berube who demands smarter, risk-averse play from his charges. It’s a small sample size, of course, but the plan is working.

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Years ago, we had a conversation with legendary Leafs coach-GM Pat Quinn, who always preferred to see his players play an exciting brand of hockey. However, ask Leafs fans if they’d trade all that era’s excitement for a couple of Cups, and see what they’d say. To ask that question is to answer it – of course, they’d sacrifice entertainment for championships. They don’t ask how you won, only if you won, and that same mentality holds true to this day.

And anyway, who’s kidding who – any team with offense-minded dynamos, such as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, will not be lacking for excitement all season long. Matthews will score eventually, but Marner has a game-winning goal, and Nylander scored twice so far.

If the Maple Leafs are more defensively responsible and show they can squeak out 1-0 and 2-1 wins next spring in the playoffs, it doesn’t matter one iota what method they’re using to do so. So far, so good for them.

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