Give the Maple Leafs a Mulligan in the Minnesota Wild Loss
Immediately after the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 6–3 loss to the Minnesota Wild, it’s easy to blame the team for yet another failure to show up. The game wasn’t at all crisp or sharp. The Maple Leafs never really felt like a team entirely in control of its game. But if you came away alarmed at the team’s play, it might be a good time to look at the calendar.
Craig Berube was asked after the game whether fatigue was a factor. He didn’t brush the idea off, and he didn’t spin it either. He answered the question without really acknowledging it as a problem. He mentioned that he had talked to his team about it before the game. That tells you everything you need to know.
Berube gets it because he was along for the ride, too. While he didn’t play, he went through every airport, rode every bus, checked into every hotel, and slept in every different bed. He wasn’t surprised. The Maple Leafs felt it coming.
The Maple Leafs’ Schedule Has Been a Bear.
From January 6 through January 19, the Maple Leafs played eight games in fourteen days. Not soft ones, either. Florida. Philadelphia. Vancouver. Colorado. Utah. Las Vegas. Winnipeg. Minnesota. Wins were racked, but many overtime games were played. The team not only travelled, but also reached high altitude, logging roughly 9,000 kilometres along the way.
That kind of stretch doesn’t always show up as tired legs in the first period. In fact, the Maple Leafs had a strong first period against the Wild. But it did show up later in missed assignments, late coverage, and small mistakes that piled up. That Minnesota game had a bit of all of it. Not panic-worthy. Just human.
The Maple Leafs Schedule Does Get a Bit Better.
What’s coming next isn’t exactly a spa week, either. Another eight games in fourteen days heading into the Olympic break. The travel is lighter—about 4,400 kilometres—and five of those games are at home. That helps. But the opponents make it a tough schedule. They play Detroit, Vegas, and Colorado before they head out on a Western swing through Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton. That’s heavy hockey.
Zoom out a little further, and it’s even clearer. In the four weeks leading into the Olympics, the Maple Leafs will play 16 games in 29 days and bounce across North America four times. That’s a lot of wear before the real complications even start.
The Maple Leafs Olympians Then Hit the Air to Europe.
After the Alberta back-to-back, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson will head to Italy. Training, practices, and up to seven games in eleven days. Then straight back to Toronto for another seven games in eleven days.
The good news is that everyone else on the team gets a three-week break. Berube will need those rested players to carry the load when play resumes, while the medical staff carefully manages the others.
The Bottom Line? If the Maple Leafs Were Tired, No Surprise.
So give the Maple Leafs a mulligan for the Wild game. Sometimes the schedule wins a night. What matters is how they respond when the legs come back.