An overview of why the Leafs are losing

Ronald Neal
Contributor
Though I’ve tried to avoid it the last two weeks, I think it’s only fair to take a minute and examine the Maple Leafs’ recent turn for the worse.
You’ll remember it was just over a year ago that we found ourselves in an eerily similar position: an off-season of change and encouraging rhetoric led many, including myself, to believe the ship had finally been righted and that good times were surely ahead. I believed things would be different and, sadly, was just as shocked and despondent when the wheels came off and they started the year 0-7-1, effectively ending their season in October.
However, let’s take a closer look.
To be fair, I’ve decided to only take a look at the last 10 games. For those of you who might think that this is being generous, there is nothing charitable about shedding light on this particular stretch. All told, the team went a terrible 1-7-2 and have currently lost three straight. During that stretch of impotence they’ve been shut out three times and have scored two goals or less for seven out of ten games.
Frankly, I think the most obvious issue facing the Blue-and-White is the complete lack of scoring up front. Yes, they have the skill on paper, but for some reason it just hasn’t translated into on-ice success. Sure, one could argue that this is still a young and undeveloped team, and if your top two lines are centered by a pair whose average age is 25 (Grabovski and Bozak, respectfully) then you may be right.
However that can’t be the sole reason the team is on a losing streak. The fact this team is young shouldn’t prevent them from at least marginal success, just as it shouldn’t guarantee outright failure.
Another problem worth examining is the total leadership vacuum that was left when team captain Dion Phaneuf went down during a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators Nov. 2, 2010. I love the man, and I think he is invaluable to the team, but his departure from the roster has exposed a team that is nothing without him. The fact is that when Burke took over the helm, he knew he was already facing an uphill battle in the leadership department. The team seemed listless without the steady hand of Sundin, so much so that they went without a captain for two seasons following his leaving. Burke needed a quick fix and he got it in the form of Phaneuf, a player that was practically airlifted into the city to wear the ‘C.’ But by placing a good captain on the team without actually fixing the team’s problem, he created a roster that’s struggling to work together.
Clearly, the above is not an exhaustive list, but it does reveal some of the problems currently facing the team. This is a good team that is simply dogged by their fan base and, if not for the psychological warfare, can win with the pieces they have.