Anchored by team captain Mats Sundin, the Leafs are an assembled team that come close many times to winning the Stanley Cup but have not been successful since 1967, due to team misfortunes and bad luck coupled with losses to arguably superior teams. The 2005/2006 team failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1998. Long time goaltending stalwart Ed Belfour had his contract bought out recently, most likely marking the end of his fine career.
The Leafs are a team with rich hockey tradition, with the roots of the team originating when Toronto was still a small city. The team has grown substantially along with the city, and the two have been inseparable.
Arguably one of the most successful playoff runs the Toronto Maple Leafs had was in 1993 armed with several elite players such as Doug "Killer" Gilmour, Dave Ellett, Jamie McCoun, and rookie goalie Felix "The Cat" Potvin. They were just a goal away from seeing a dream Stanley Cup final with the Montreal Canadiens, losing to Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings in 7 games. Many believed that the 1993 Maple Leafs had the guts, glory and passion to beat out the more talented Montreal Canadiens (which included the hall-of-fame goalie Patrick Roy). They reached the Western Conference finals again the next year but bowed out in 5 games to the Vancouver Canucks.
It was after that season the Leafs team began to fall apart and crumble. It started with bad trades made by the GM Cliff Fletcher which included desperation moves to bringing back old veterans whom were past their prime such as Wendel Clark because of the demands of the fans. Fletcher was trying to fill the missing pieces of what he believed to be a team that was just missing some key parts for another run to the Stanley Cup Finals. A subsequent Stanley Cup run with that nucleus never happened.
The 1998-1999 Season was called the miracle season by many. It was the Leafs first season in the Eastern Conference. Many changes were made including bringing in players such as Sergei Berezin and Igor Korolev, the sudden appearance of rookie Tomas Kaberle, the inclusion of Ken Dryden as GM and the hiring of Pat Quinn as coach. Perhaps most important was the signing of goalie Curtis Joesph. The team was the top scoring team that year, and made the playoffs after missing the previous 2 years. The team was called the Miracle Team on Ice, in Canada. The city was crazy for this wheel-barrow barn burner hockey team that strived on offense and exciting attacking rushes. Famed author Gil Perrault called that team one of the most exciting hockey teams of the Maple Leafs era. They too made it to the Conference finals, losing to the Buffalo Sabres in 5 games.
In 2002 the Leafs put on one of the gutsiest playoff performances of all time. They were beset with injuries including one to captain Mats Sundin. Gary Roberts and Alyn McCauley amongst others shouldered the load and led the team on one of their most unlikely Cup runs. They lost in 6 games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.
