It’s a little known fact, but the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967. Beyond that startling and rarely-discussed point, they’ve not had a lot of playoff appearances of any kind. The last time they got into the second round was 2004, and that didn’t go well.
The Maple Leafs are not fooling around with this year’s playoff opportunity because they treat them like the precious jewels they are. While the only people left from that 2004 team seem to be the equipment managers, that doesn’t matter, these players want to be the team that redeems that playoff record.