(1/) That even one writer ( @timnhl) predicted a Canadian team to win a #StanleyCup
may not be a complete surprise although that prediction being the @mapleleafs no doubt is. An @NHLdotcom preview of the #leafs- @BlueJacketsNHL #easternconference #quarterfinal qualification https://twitter.com/oandbpuck/status/1289197217966772226

(2/) series predicted that the #Leafs were more likely than the #CBJ
to advance to the conference quarterfinals if scoring were to come not just from @91Tavares, @am34, @Marner93 or @wmnylander but also from @zackhyman, @kasperikapanen1 & #Kerfoot ( https://twitter.com/nhldotcom/status/1289184035609116673?s=21).

(3/) I would of course like to, as a #Leafs fan, believe that #Leafsnation has what it takes to win a #stanleycup
and see #Toronto celebrate for the 2nd consecutive year with a sporting championship parade (after the @nba @raptors did so in 2019). The #wethenorth
#raptors have,


(4/) in each of the past 4 years, managed to find a way to not just WIN @ least 1 #postseason series per year but actually win a #stanleycup
equivalent (1 more than the #Leafs [0] have even appeared in during the #raptors' entire existence).
I of course hope the Dinos will

I of course hope the Dinos will
(5/) slam-dunk their way to a 2nd @nba #stanleycup
equivalent but this thread is mostly about the #Leafs, and I plan to make it that way. I agree with @starsports columnist @dfeschuk ( https://twitter.com/nukukene/status/1285733424880377856?s=20) that #Leafsnation must "play smart and be level-headed" by limiting

(6/) penalties taken. A @torontostar account member named John claimed, in response to yet another @starsports article written by Feschuk ( https://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2020/07/30/the-maple-leafs-advantage-after-a-long-layoff-is-their-ability-to-start-quickly.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=star_web_ymbii), to have wished that "reporters would stop the chatter about" the #Leafs' "being a team to beat," & that
(7/) "realistically for a team that" hadn't "been past the first round since forever, just getting past the" 2020 #easternconference #quarterfinal qualification round would "have to be considered a success." John does have a point about the lack of #playoff success by the #Leafs
( 8/ ) in recent years because the #Leafs, following the 2004-'05 @nhl #lockout, have been just 1 of 2 teams (the other being the #flapanthers
) to NOT have won a #stanleycup
#playoff series. Effectively defending against opposition attacks hasn't been easy for the Leafs but has

