The Maple Leafs sputtered to a fourth-place finish in their division, fired their coach, and missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season. It was increasingly obvious that in a salary-capped NHL, where good decision-making was more important than money, the Maple Leafs had a lot of money. Oh, and Toronto FC won five (5) of 34 games, finished dead last and fired its coach and/or general manager. And two, this whole experience shows that even the bleakest of fan bases shouldn’t give up hope that good times could yet come. From the ashes of terrible teams can rise contenders, even in places where hope rarely lasts beyond the next bad free-agent signing.

Source: National Post October 25, 2017 17:26 UTC