Sometimes things take awhile, whether we like it or not. Time is pitiless and progress is often slow. Just when you think it can’t get worse, the Toronto Maple Leafs find a way to crush your spirit in a manner you couldn’t possibly imagine.
Mike Babcock might be long gone, but his message about “pain” remains true.
No matter how terrible different Leafs teams have been in the past, Brendan Shanahan, Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe are on their own timeline. Fans may have suffered from the Ballard years to the Burke years and beyond, but that isn’t on the current regime’s collective heads.