Who had Montreal as the potential first team to make it to Round 3? Crazy. Leafs winning the North was the only thing I was pretty confident about
I'm a Leafs fan and I knew they weren't going to win the North. Leafs in playoffs...they just can't even.
Yeah I just figured the whole "get to play all those crappy Canadian teams first 2 rounds" thing would get them to Round 3, at least.
Not the Leafs. Not in playoffs.
Just remember, all of Caps fandom said this about us, too. 2018 still happened. It only takes 1 year.
The difference is, the 2018 Caps was still stacked and minus their previous woes were favorites in every series (they had won the Metro if memory serves?). The Leafs would be facing much of the same (only with a far better roster) than the Habs presently are. While the Habs just finished off the Jets, we will now face either Colorado or Vegas. I suspect most odd makers will say (rightfully so) that's going to be a 5 games series with the Habs on the losing end. If they pull off a miracle there, in all likelihood they'll then get to face Tampa, which again would be viewed as a lope-sided series. Toronto would still be underdogs (albeit maybe they'd be given enough credit to be 6 game underdogs?).Just remember, all of Caps fandom said this about us, too. 2018 still happened. It only takes 1 year.
The difference is, the 2018 Caps was still stacked and minus their previous woes were favorites in every series (they had won the Metro if memory serves?). The Leafs would be facing much of the same (only with a far better roster) than the Habs presently are. While the Habs just finished off the Jets, we will now face either Colorado or Vegas. I suspect most odd makers will say (rightfully so) that's going to be a 5 games series with the Habs on the losing end. If they pull off a miracle there, in all likelihood they'll then get to face Tampa, which again would be viewed as a lope-sided series. Toronto would still be underdogs (albeit maybe they'd be given enough credit to be 6 game underdogs?).
As for the Habs: I'll enjoy the frenzy of the city for a bit but, while there's always a chance, especially with Price playing as well as he is, our path to lord Stanley basically revolves around praying that the Avs/Gold Knights decimate each other and Price stands on his head, with a similar hope for Tampa. The closet recent comparison I can think of would be how the Raptors ended up winning (getting hot at the right time + the team that was better being decimated with injuries and not at full strength).