And so the cycle begins again. The Leafs win and everything is fine. The Leafs lose and everything has gone to hell.



It’s hard to blame the intense cycle of emotions when a team that was supposed to be one of the league’s best has been languishing near the bottom of the standings instead this season. Toronto has been frustratingly plagued with inconsistency, failing to extend any winning streak past three games en route to a pedestrian 15-14-4 record. That’s something they’ve only managed once in 2019, last February, a four-gamer. Whoop-de-doo.



Much of that was due to a woeful start under Mike Babcock who was relieved of his duties on November 20, but the common sentiment on this current stretch of the 2019-20 roller coaster seems to be that even under new coach Sheldon Keefe this team hasn’t been good enough. A 6-4-0 record is good, but in order to dig out of the early season hole this team needs to be great, something that’s...