Mike Babcock and the Toronto Maple Leafs are actively trying to temper expectations within the locker room as well as with the media, but there’s no denying that this year’s team is defying expectations beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
In years past, the Leafs usually found themselves in a playoff spot or in the chase for one at this point during the season, only to have the wheels come off sometime before spring. But there is something so special about the team’s success this year, that it seems hard to imagine they might miss the mark.
But what the Leafs success has done is overshadow many of the problems the team had at the beginning of the year.