Mayday!

It is a new low point as a Leafs fan. Last night, I was mocked at Phillips Arena by the fans of the lowly Thrashers. Yes folks, forget about the Habs, Sens, or any O6 teams, we are being laughed even out of the dirty south. Suffice to say, it was a long walk of shame home on a frigid night in Atlanta, one that couldn't even be warmed by standing alongside those in Domi, Mogilny, Potvin, and even good ol' Gary Valk jerseys.

Things started out well. 3-0 after the first, although only on 9 shots and with some nice bounces to boot. But the pace and quality of the game mirrored that of two of the NHL's worst teams. Even my girlfriend, who has never been to a live hockey game before asked me "Is hockey always this slow? I thought it'd be hard to keep up with." She clearly hasn't watched enough Leafs games lately. Unfortunately, I have and was not too optimistic, even with the 3 goal lead. Over the next 2 periods and overtime, the Leafs managed a whopping 8 shots on net against the powerhouse Thrasher defence. Pathetic. I've seen more scoring opportunities at a Weight Watchers convention.

When the pesky Thrashers sent the game to overtime (on an absolutley terrible move by Toskala), it was painfully obvious that this game wasn't going to a shootout and it wasn't going to be the Leafs who ended it. I considered leaving early to avoid the humiliation but at this point, we are all going down with the ship and playing the "We want Tavares" card anyways. Still, those Thrasher fans didn't have to barade me with "Leafs Suck" chants all the way out. We know guys, we know.

One additional piece of commentary from the girlfriend. We watched the skatearound before the game and the only player she remembered later was Brad May. She quipped, "That guy is ancient. He's probably been on this team forever!" Um, nope, we just traded a draft pick for him a few weeks ago. It's not like we're rebuilding or anything. Doh! However, he prolly was one of the best Leafs players out there last night, which is sad in itself. Mayday!