The Toronto Maple Leafs Are on the Brink of a Playoff Collapse—Again

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been here before. “Here” being the brink of elimination in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, despite leading the series early on after romping through the regular season with enough swagger to give beleaguered fans hope.

Over the past decade in particular, the Leafs have developed an unfortunate tendency of ripping through the regular season in style, only to collapse in dramatic fashion in the first round of the playoffs. They have suffered five consecutive early exits and own a 55-year championship drought.