A timeline of futility: How the Maple Leafs have done in the NHL playoffs since last winning the Stanley Cup in 1967
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/05/2021 (1769 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Leafs Nation knows all about playoff heartbreak. Here’s a brief look at how the Maple Leafs have done since they last won the Stanley Cup in 1967.
1968-74: Lost first round in three seasons to a Boston team led by Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr. Didn’t make it to the playoffs twice.
1974-77: Lost to Philadelphia in three straight quarterfinals.
1977-79: Swept twice by Montreal.
1979-81: Swept in first round by Minnesota and the New York Islanders.
1981-85: Failed to make the playoffs three times in four seasons, and the one year they did qualify, they were swept by Minnesota in the first round. (But they did draft Wendel Clark in 1985, their reward for finishing with the worst record the season before.)
1985-90: Made the playoffs in four of the five seasons but were eliminated each time by either St. Louis or Detroit.
1990-93: Failed to make the playoffs two straight years before the Doug Gilmour trade reinvigorated the franchise. After two thrilling Game 7 victories over Detroit and St. Louis, they lost to the Kings, also in Game 7. Leafs fans to this day still talk about a high-sticking penalty that referee Kerry Fraser didn’t call against Wayne Gretzky in Game 6.
1993-94: Lost for the second straight season in the conference final, this time in five games to the Canucks.
1994-98: Went into decline again with two straight first-round exits followed by two years without making the playoffs.
1998-99: Pat Quinn’s first year as head coach; advanced two rounds before losing to Buffalo in the conference final.
1999-2002: Won the Battle of Ontario three times over Ottawa but were eliminated by the Devils twice and by the Hurricanes once, in the 2002 conference final.
2002-04: Eliminated twice by Philadelphia. Their seven-game win over Ottawa in 2003-04 was the last time the Leafs won a series.
2004-12: Didn’t make the playoffs for seven straight seasons, eight if you include the lockout year.
2012-13: Infamous Game 7 collapse to Boston in the first round, after they led 4-1 in the third period.
2013-16: Failed to make the playoffs for three more seasons. The silver lining was that they were able to draft their present core — William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews.
2016-21: Five opening-round losses — to Washington, Boston, twice, and Montreal in the first round, and to Columbus in last year’s qualifying round.
Mark Zwolinski is a Toronto-based sports reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @markzwol