Maple Leafs fans forced to cheer for the Buffalo Sabres this round reveals a bitter truth
Photo credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
Buffalo is in the playoffs and Toronto is on the outside looking in, so Maple Leafs fans have to put ego aside and cheer for a team that could be argued as home #2.
As the Buffalo Sabres ended their playoff drought after a staggering near decade and a half, they have a date with the Boston Bruins as we get an Atlantic Division matchup that pits the shockingly steady Sabres against a Boston team who also surprised many — it's the battle of the shock contenders.
But with that, it means the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans are on the outside looking in for the first time in 10 years, and while there were certainly chances for the team to make it, things fell apart quickly.
Knowing how the Atlantic is built and how many teams there are, it's hard to even want to cheer for any of them but for the Toronto fans they may have no choice but to cheer for the Sabres.
It's their second home after all.
Why the Buffalo Sabres are the must-watch playoff team for Maple Leafs fans
For all the talk about the Battle of Ontario or Toronto's historic and lengthy rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens, it's their QEW Highway rivals who tend to bring out the craziness.
Until this season you would see KeyBank Center absolutely swamped with Maple Leafs fans who came to cheer on Toronto and with it only about a two hour drive — it's much more feasible to go there (and cheaper).
There are a lot of Toronto and Buffalo fans who teeter on the edge of the Canada/US border, and you'll often find Sabres fans in Fort Erie, and Maple Leafs fans in upstate New York.
But beyond the geographical and cultural similarities, Toronto fans should be cheering for Buffalo because they are just flat out a fantastic story. They fired their GM then absolutely went on a tear, proving to everyone it wasn't the on-ice product but the ones who ran it (sound familiar?)
Can the Sabres actually pull it off? The brain says no, but the heart says yes
Rasmus Dahlin plays his first playoff game in 13 years, you have guys like Tage Thompson who are ready to take their Olympic gold medal-winning ways and translate that to the playoffs and honestly, Lindy Ruff deserves it.
I remember watching Ruff coach with the Sabres back in the late 90's into the 2010's. He's as synonymous with Buffalo as The French Connection. While you may not like how he coaches, he has been through hell in Buffalo and deserves his flowers.
What he's built is nothing short of spectacular. First off, they were a scoring machine with 283 goals (5th in the NHL) and only 240 against (10th) for a differential of plus-43.
Alex Tuch was as consistent as ever, Thompson was unreal and showcased an unbelievable knack for scoring big goals, Dahlin had 55 assists alone and both Jack Quinn and Josh Doan were crucial to getting Buffalo over the top.
Can we also give a quick shoutout to Beck Malenstyn? 282 hits, 75 blocks, 14 points and only 38 PIM. Never flashy, but man, he helps set the tone a lot.
Pickups like Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley were instrumental in helping as well while giving the Sabres no joke — their 12th and 13th player over 6-foot-3; they're huge.
The only real knock is obviously the lack of experience. The team has some playoff veterans like Jason Zucker, Sam Carrick, and Tuch but beyond that it's going to be a lot of debuts so it's hard to know how they'll manage.
But that's what makes it so exciting. For the first time in forever the Sabres are going to the postseason while the Maple Leafs watch on.
There's no shame in cheering for them and hey, at least there's a cheaper way to still watch playoff hockey in person...beats paying $5000 for another disappointment.
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Toronto will interview the exact New York executive responsible for that physical roster
Toronto will interview the exact New York executive responsible for that physical roster
Previously on Hockey Patrol