The Torontonian PART TWO

It's been a long sabbatical, but I'm back baby. I left last discussing the trials present and the patience necessary to be a Toronto sports fan. Allow me to continue on that long (and likely painful) train:

The Toronto Maple Leafs. In the Buds' case, there have been many reasons for deep exhales and aspirin. Although we've been a tremendously successful regular season team under the coaching of Pat Quinn over the past few years, it isn't enough in a loyal, hockey-mad market where anything short of a Stanley Cup is a failure. Therein lies a big problem: Leafs Nation hasn't seen a championship ring since Lester B. Pearson was in office. While perhaps a bit melodramatic, the list of Leaf fans that were alive and remember the last Cup is growing shorter by the season.
The Leafs have some glaring similarities to another team near to my heart, the Boston Red Sox (insert cringe here, Jays fans). Both teams play in markets that are rabid for their respective sports, both have cantankerous fans that the rest of the sporting world hate and few sympathize with, and both teams have violently loyal followers with nearby historical and cultural rivalries (the Montreal Canadiens and Bronx Bombers, respectively). The biggest difference? BoSox fans got their redemption in 2004. Granted, they waited a shitload longer - virtually no one was around to see when the Sox last won in 1918 - but their "Curse" is now over. Leafs fans have to continue to be patient.
To make it worse, I think we'll have to be patient for some time. In the early stages of the '06-07 season, Toronto has shown some bright spots. Under new youthful coach Paul Maurice, the Buds haven't shown this much energy on the ice for quite some time. New goaltender Andrew Raycroft is playing very well, and every game veteran center Mats Sundin further cements himself as a Hogtown legend. However, I think this year's Leafs simply don't have enough talent to be left standing in the early summer.
It's a constant struggle being in a division with the speedy and skilled Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens, as well as the regular-season juggernaut (but wait 'til you see 'em in the playoffs - hahaha!) Ottawa Senators. Even if GM John Ferguson can nab someone around the trade deadline, I'm not sure if the Leafs will have enough biscuit-firing chaps for championship success.
The Leafs were best-geared for a Cup in the past few years under Quinn. We had the pieces, and at times got very close; the Eastern Conference title is the closest we got against the Carolina Hurricanes in 2002 and the Los Angeles Kings in 1993. These latest Buds won't be short on heart and guts, but you need a little more than that for real success - and the Leafs just don't have it. With a lot of the fundamental talent on the team not getting any younger (Sundin maybe has two more good seasons in him, Darcy Tucker and defensemen Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle certainly aren't spritely) there are elements of experience on this team melded with elements of youth. A youth overhaul has already begun under Maurice, and I can only see it leading to more patience for Leaf fans.
To continue this wave of misery, let's discuss the Toronto Raptors. But it'll have to wait - if Toronto sports fans need patience, then so do the handful (a small handful...maybe a child's hand or a carnie's hand) of readers.

TO BE CONTINUED