There isn’t a fanbase in North America that has experienced the anguish and heartbreak quite like those who cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Trust me, I’m one of those people.
But yet here we are, once again entering the NHL playoffs with dreams and high hopes of finally winning the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1967.
As Toronto's first round series against the Montreal Canadiens is set to begin on Thursday night, WynnBET has the Maple Leafs set as sizable -350 favorites to take down the Habs and advance to the second round.
Any true Maple Leafs fan out there will cringe at seeing the price of -350. Toronto has been absolutely snakebitten in the first round of the playoffs for the past decade.
Dating back to 2013, the Leafs are 0-5 in the first round if you include last year’s “qualifying” round which was implemented due to the shortened season. The last time the Leafs managed to get through to the second round of the postseason was 2004.
Not only do the Leafs continuously find a way to lose in the first round, but they do it in the most heartbreaking fashion possible. Four of their five first round exits came down to Game 7 (Game 5 in the qualifying round last year), and of course we all remember the blown 4-1 lead to the Bruins in 2013.
May 13, 2013
— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) May 12, 2021
Game 7
Bruins vs Maple Leafs
Patrice Bergeron scores at 6:05 of OT and the Garden erupts
Bruins trailed by 3 with 10:43 left in the 3rd period, tie the game with 0:51 seconds left in regulation on a goal by Bergeron
What a gamepic.twitter.com/kXOAdvcuvI
The bottom line is this, the Maple Leafs shouldn’t be -350 favorites in a playoff series against a PeeWee team, let alone the Canadiens. As much as it pains me to say this, +250 for the Canadiens to win this series and break the hearts of every Leafs fan in North America is just too good of a price to pass up.
If you’re more optimistic than I am, you can bet on the Maple Leafs to end the longest Stanley Cup drought in the NHL at +650 on WynnBET.