TORONTO – We live in a world where Sergio Garcia just won the Masters. The Chicago Cubs are World Series champions, Cleveland held a championship parade for the Cavaliers last June and a 5,000-to-one longshot claimed the English Premier League title.
Somewhere in this vast landscape of sporting surprises the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to try and talk their way into the conversation.
It started before their first-round matchup with the Washington Capitals had even been crystallized. On Sunday morning, Mike Babcock was asked about how his young team might handle their nerves in the playoffs and he turned the question on its head.
"Well I think it’s a way different thing for our team," Babcock said. "What happens, you have nerves when you win the Presidents’ Trophy and you’re playing a real good team in the first round. That’s when it’s a totally different program.
"We’re so far away from that program, though. We’ve got two years left before that happens."
It was a not-so-subtle way of pointing out that Washington has a burden to carry into this best-of-seven while his kids attempt to fly as far as their talent and enthusiasm can take them. It’s a smart tone to set if you’re Babcock.
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For now, the Leafs are far more focused on the journey than the destination – trying to squeeze whatever else they can out of this surprising season before there are no games left to play.
Washington pushed its chips across the table to grab Kevin Shattenkirk at the trade deadline and is in the second year of general manager Brian MacLellan’s two-year window to win the Stanley Cup.
The disparity in expectations is matched by the disparity in experience and depth. The hockey world will be picking the Caps en masse and the Leafs had already adopted the underdog’s mentality minutes after the buzzer sounded on a 3-2 loss to Columbus.
"You’ve got to beat the best at some point so you might as well do it in the first round," said Jake Gardiner.
"I think once you get in anything can happen," added teammate James van Riemsdyk.
The team got a taste of the spectacular highs and lows of playoff hockey before the real thing even arrived. The atmosphere was electric for Saturday’s come-from-behind, playoff-clinching victory over Pittsburgh – Kasperi Kapanen skated off the ice and said he was ready to run a marathon – but there was a hangover feel as they blew a 2-0 lead against Columbus the following night.
Fans chanted "We Want Ottawa!" in the second period but Toronto failed to secure the point necessary to make that matchup happen. They drew the Presidents’ Trophy winners instead.
Washington has Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeni Kuznetsov and Braden Holtby. It boasts a lineup with no glaring weaknesses or issues.
"They’re big, they’re strong, they’re fast," said Babcock. "They’ve been beat a number of times in the playoffs, so they’re battle-tested, to say the least. And they’re as hungry as any team in the National Hockey League and playing as good.
"It should be fun."
The biggest saving grace for the matchup is the caveat that should always be placed on a first-round series in the Stanley Cup playoffs: Strange things often happen. The 23-point gap between the teams gets thrown out the window right away.
The Leafs have had an unpredictable quality since opening the season with seven full-time rookies in the lineup and it’s served them well so far. They weren’t expected to be here and they’ve created forward lines that produced 72, 66 and 66 goals apiece.
There are potential matchup issues built into that, but it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to find another level in the second season.
"We might as well figure that out quick," said Babcock. "I’ll do my best over the next couple days to explain what’s going to happen and they’re not going to believe me and it’s going to happen, so…"
In the playoffs, there is no substitute for experience.
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One of the Leafs’ most entertaining games of the season came Jan. 3 at Verizon Center, when Washington rallied for a 6-5 win in overtime. But even with so many offensive weapons on both sides it shouldn’t be quite so easy to score now.
"They’re an improving team," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said in Washington. "They’ve got a generational player in (Auston) Matthews and they’ve got some young guys and they play hard every night and they’ve got speed."
"Obviously, they have talent," added Ovechkin. "They have lots of young guys, lots of speed. I think it’s going to be a good series. We just have to play our way and don’t give them obviously freedom and be patient."
Babcock will spend Monday working out a game plan while his players rest – they looked totally spent after finishing the regular season with five games in seven days – and has a clear idea of what he’ll tell them about how playoff hockey changes when everyone reconvenes Tuesday.
"No space," said Babcock. "Zero. You battle for every inch of ice from the opening faceoff until the end."
The roller-coaster ride is just beginning.
They didn’t have No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen available for the season finale after he got bumped in the head Saturday and lost defencemen Nikita Zaitsev and Roman Polak to injuries against the Blue Jackets. There are question marks.
They are coming up against "probably the best team in the league," according to veteran centre Brian Boyle, and don’t own any discernable edge.
But they arrived here ahead of schedule and it’s all gravy now.
"A lot of crazy things happen," said Boyle. "You just have to stick to your structure, your gameplan, you can’t break off and do your own thing. I’ve seen some crazy comebacks (in the playoffs), I’ve seen goals scored with six seconds left to extend the series and I was on the good side of that.
"I mean it’s a lot of fun."
When no one expects success, it’s always nice to have a chance.
