Over the last 20 years, Toronto has not been a great team. However, there have been many memorable seasons for the Leafs along the way. Today, we’ll be looking at some of the most memorable Toronto Maple Leafs teams and seasons since 2005. Some will be about great underdog stories, the new generation of Maple Leafs, and some heartbreaking moments.
Memorable Leafs Seasons in Recent History
2020-2023 Seasons
2022-23
The 2022-23 season was a big one for the Maple Leafs. For the first time since 2004, Toronto advanced to the second round of the playoffs. For many teams, this would feel like nothing special. However, it’s been so long since Leaf fans were able to experience that feeling it almost felt like the team was cursed. Although they still haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967, so that could still be said. At any rate, it was captain John Tavares who filled the hearts of Leaf fans. He scored the overtime winner in Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
There were several great moments along the way to the playoffs. Earlier in the season, the Maple Leafs went on an incredible 15-game run without a regulation loss. Later on in the season, Kyle Dubas, who was the general manager of the Leafs at the time, made a big trade. He acquired forward Ryan O’Reilly from the St. Louis Blues to help bolster their lineup nearly a month before the trade deadline. O’Reilly made an impact immediately with the Leafs. In just his third game, he scored four points, including a hat-trick against the Buffalo Sabres. In the end, the former Conn Smythe winner was a huge part of Toronto’s step-up in the 2023 playoffs. It was a fun time for Leafs fans to watch a new player on their team of that calibre.
2021-22
Prior to that season, the Maple Leafs wrote history, recording the best regular season performance in franchise history. They finished fourth in the entire league and second in the Atlantic Division behind the Florida Panthers with 115 points. Sheldon Keefe‘s Leafs won 54 games that season. It was nice for the fans because this was the first season where fans could finally go to the rink to watch games again since Covid restrictions were lifted.
It was a also a phenomenal year for the new captain of the Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews. For the first time in his career, he scored 100 points, 106 to be exact. In this campaign, he also scored 60 goals for the first time in his career, getting his 60th in spectacular fashion, scoring two goals in their final regular season game against the Detroit Red Wings.
AUSTON MATTHEWS ??
60 GOALS!!!! MVP!!!! pic.twitter.com/FU4PnFXxOa
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 27, 2022
Matthews had such a great season, so great that he was awarded the Hart Trophy at the end of the season. The superstar forward became just the third player in Maple Leafs history to be awarded the Hart Trophy. The last time that happened was in 1955 when Ted Kennedy won the award. Matthews also won the Ted Lindsay award and his second Rocket Richard Trophy in that memorable season for the Leafs.
2020-21
The 2020-21 season was a weird and memorable for all teams in the NHL, that was definitely the case for the Leafs. First of all, there were no fans in the building to watch any games, at least for the first chunk of the season, due to Covid-19. Also, there was a new look to the league as all the divisions were rearranged. All the Canadian teams were in one division and all teams were required to play games within those new divisions. This was to limit travel for teams and also because it was challenging to travel across the Canada-U.S. border.
Toronto were very dominant in the all-Canadian division, better known as the North Division. They clinched the division, beating out the Edmonton Oilers by five points, finishing with 77 in 56 games. They were matched up with the Montreal Canadiens for the first round of the playoffs. Those playoffs that were also memorable for the Leafs, but for the wrong reasons.
The Leafs vs Habs was a very compelling matchup, considering all the history between the two teams. This specific playoff series hasn’t happened since 1979, despite these two teams being around for over 100 years. It was a very physical series and also featured some outstanding goaltending. Carey Price might’ve never been better in his entire career, and the same could be said for Jack Campbell of the Maple Leafs. To recap the series, Toronto had a 3-1 lead in the series but couldn’t get the job done against a clear underdog. Montreal went on to the Stanley Cup finals thanks to the outstanding efforts of Price, but lost to the Lightning. All in all, it’s safe to say that that was a memorable season.
2016-17
This was the season of the rookies and youngsters for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Three members of the Leafs were in the top six of Calder Trophy voting. It shouldn’t be a surprise as to who they are. It was Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander, Matthews went on to win the award. These three made their mark as early as opening night, especially Matthews as he scored four goals on his NHL debut. These players would make their mark again later in the season in the iconic 2017 Centennial Classic against the Red Wings, Matthews scored the OT winner in that one.
Towards the end of the season, Mike Babcock’s Leafs were cutting it close in terms of making the playoffs. In game 81 of the regular season the Leafs took on the Pittsburgh Penguins, that team had a prime Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and former Leaf, Phil Kessel. Against all the odds, they defeated the Penguins on home ice, thanks to a late game-winning goal from rookie Connor Brown, assisted by Jake Gardiner. Matthews sealed the deal with less than 10 seconds remaining with an empty-netter, his 40th of the season.
Then came the playoffs, Toronto was matched up against the Washington Capitals, who were giants at the time. It was an exciting time for Leafs fans because they haven’t seen their team in the playoffs since the tragedy in 2013, which we’ll get to in a bit. The Maple Leafs had no business in this series with a team full of inexperienced rookies up against battle-tested veterans. However, they put up a respectable fight, losing the series in six games. One moment that is remembered from that series was the OT winner scored by Tyler Bozak set up by Nazem Kadri.
Tyler Bozak picks up the overtime winner to give the @MapleLeafs a 2-1 series lead over the @Capitals. #StanleyCup @WestJet pic.twitter.com/HgLDo1Nx1J
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 18, 2017
2012-13
This season, might be the most memorable of them all, for the embarrassment and heartbreak. The 2012-13 season was cut short because of a lockout, there was no agreement in the NHL labour dispute. As a result, the seasons was played to 48 games for each team and there were no inter-conference games during the regular season. The Leafs had a solid season, finishing fourth in the Eastern conference and ninth in the entire league. For the first time in nine years they qualified for the playoffs, it was an exciting time for hockey fans in Toronto.
The Leafs were heavy underdogs in their first round matchup with the Boston Bruins. That Toronto team was led by the likes of Kessel, which turned out to be his final season with the team, and goaltender James Reimer. Kessel scored 20 goals and 52 points in 48 games that season. As for Reimer, he was a star for the Leafs, as a 24-year-old. He finished the season with a 2.46 GAA and .924 save percentage. To add to this underdog story, in the playoffs the Maple Leafs only had two players on their roster aged 30 or older. That goes to show how impressive it would’ve been if they got the job done.
But, they didn’t. Despite extending the lead to 4-1 in the third period of Game 7, they lost in overtime. Their lead slowly died as the period went on, Boston scored the equalizer with less than a minute remaining. And just over six minutes into overtime, Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winner to send them to the next round. To this day, the Leafs organization don’t hear the end of this moment, which is indeed a memorable one.
Main Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
