Playoffs...finally?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are improving. That is a fact. A team that hasn't made the post-season since the lockout really has no choice but improve. Over the last few seasons they have annually made a surge near the end of the season once they had been written off from the playoff race. Last year the run started earlier and lasted longer. From Jan. 1, 2011 to the end of the season, Toronto went 24-15-7 for 55 points in 46 games. Over a full season, this 98 point pace would just about guarantee a playoff spot. Individual scoring was as follows:

The bottom three on the list are the main off-season aquisitions and their stats from Jan 1 onward. The above numbers projected over a full 82 game season are below:


Of course, the problem with doing this is most players will not play every game of the season. Sure it would be nice if Toronto produced seven different players tallying 50 points each, but the reality is only one team last year did that last season, San Jose.


The truth is all the scoring in the world doesn't really matter, the main factor in determining Toronto's playoff chances is the goaltending of James Reimer.










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