Somehow, everyone reading this lived to see it happen. Following two decades in the wilderness, the Maple Leafs have dispatched an opposing team in the NHL playoffs, earning their first postseason series win since 2004.
During the space between those wins, the franchise endured a procession of false starts, of new coaches, of one “18-wheeler going off a cliff” and a bizarre shower of waffles onto the ice. They also once lost to a Zamboni driver, which is something you might already know.
Here are some numbers — and maybe even some tidbits — you might not know. As the drought comes to an end, The Athletic takes a numerical look at what the Leafs have, finally, left behind them.
6,948
Days between playoff series victories by the Leafs, who had last won a postseason round on April 20, 2004, with a 4-1 win at home in Game 7 against the Senators. Ed Belfour was in net for the Leafs, and he celebrated his 39th birthday the day after and his 58th birthday earlier this month.
60
Current age of Ron Francis, the oldest member of the 2003-04 team.
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39
Current age of Matt Stajan, the youngest member of the 2003-04 team.
5,000
Invitees to a private concert in Kitchener, Ont., featuring Aerosmith and The Barenaked Ladies organized by Research in Motion, the makers of BlackBerry. The concert was held two days before the Leafs played the Senators in Game 7 and, according to The Toronto Star: “Many in the audience waved their BlackBerrys, glowing like lighters, in the air.”
3
Number of screens “Kill Bill: Volume 2” filled at Paramount, the downtown cinema located at John and Richmond Streets, the same night the Leafs played the Senators in Game 7. (Also on screen that night: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “The Passion of the Christ” and “Scooby Doo 2.”)
15
Championships captured by Toronto’s other professional sports teams since April 20, 2004. The CFL’s Argonauts (2004, 2012, 2017, 2022), the National Lacrosse League’s Rock (2005, 2011), the NBA’s Raptors (2019), the AHL’s Marlies (2018), the NWHL/CWHL’s Brampton/Markham Thunder (2007, 2008, 2018), the CWHL’s Toronto Furies (2014), MLS’ Toronto FC (2017), the NBA G League’s Raptors 905 (2017) and the Premier Hockey Federation’s Toronto Six (2023) have all won league titles.
6
Age, in years, of Leafs forward Auston Matthews on April 20, 2004.
18
Age, in months, of Leafs rookie forward Matthew Knies on April 20, 2004.
7
Head coaches who have worked on the bench since the Leafs won their last playoff round. (Pat Quinn, Paul Maurice, Ron Wilson, Randy Carlyle, Peter Horachek, Mike Babcock and the current coach, Sheldon Keefe.)
5
Charter members of a group called “The Muskoka Five,” comprised of Leafs veterans who refused to waive their no-trade clauses ahead of the 2008 NHL Trade Deadline. Mats Sundin, Tomas Kaberle, Bryan McCabe, Pavel Kubina and Darcy Tucker opted to follow the terms of their contracts — which had been earned and signed in good faith — despite the team clearly needing a rebuild.
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1
Box of Eggo Waffles thrown to the ice in protest of a Toronto loss. It descended from the heavens — or Section 115, reportedly — during a 4-1 loss to Philadelphia in December 2010. “Who brings waffles to a hockey game?” Leafs forward Colby Armstrong asked the following day. “Had we won the game, was he going home with soggy waffles? I don’t know. I don’t appreciate it, really, a guy throwing waffles at me as I’m skating by.”
6:05
On May 13, 2013, the Leafs built a 4-1 lead over the Bruins in Game 7 of their first-round series. Toronto still held a two-goal lead with two minutes to play, but collapsed under the pressure, allowing two late goals to force overtime. Patrice Bergeron scored the winner — at the 6:05 mark of the extra frame — to secure a win for the Bruins. It was the first time an NHL team had won a Game 7 after trailing by three goals in the final period of regulation.
30
Of 31, NHL teams other than the Leafs that had won at least one playoff round since 2004 heading into play on Thursday. One of those teams didn’t exist until the 2017-18 season.
1
NHL team other than the Leafs that has not won a round since 2004. It’s the Seattle Kraken, who are in their second season as an expansion team and are headed to Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday in their first-ever first-round series.
$1,013
Price, in Canadian dollars, of one ticket sold Thursday afternoon on StubHub for Game 5 of Toronto’s first-round playoff series with Tampa. According to the online ticket reseller, the seat was 31 rows off the ice, in the lower bowl.
2
Tickets for Game 5 provided to Leafs fan Billy Kapogiannis from “Breakfast Television,” after his energetic on-air appearance one day earlier. Kapogiannis was the restaurant server and entrepreneur from Aurora, Ont., who unleashed a primal scream on camera when the Leafs pulled off a shocking Game 4 overtime win in Florida. (“I just couldn’t stop,” he told The Athletic of his scream. “I don’t know what the hell came out of me.”)
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10:03
Time of night, in the eastern time zone, the Leafs players swarmed onto the ice at Amalie Arena, having beaten the Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 of their first-round series. Captain John Tavares fired the winning shot in overtime. For the first time in almost 20 years, the second round of the playoffs will begin with a team from Toronto included on the marquee.
(Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today)