The Toronto Maple Leafs finished last season with a 52-26-4 record and earned first place in the Atlantic Division despite not having their highest modern-era point percentage. The team experienced another playoff collapse after finishing atop their division. The Maple Leafs have not won back-to-back division titles since the 1934-35 season, a span of 91 years. The NHL landscape in 1934-35 included nine teams: the Original Six plus the Montreal Maroons, New York Americans, and St. Louis Eagles. Charlie Conacher led the NHL in goals for the 1934-35 Maple Leafs.
Last season, the Leafs were able to finally break through and win something that has been a mystery for almost this entire century: their own division. Finally, the Maple Leaf sat on top of their division for the first time since the 1999-00 season (we are not counting the bogus COVID bubble year where they got to beat up on the other Canadian teams).
It has been 91 years since this team has been able to string together two years where they were on top of their division. It's honestly surprising and a little pathetic. This team was not able to have two consecutive division titles even before the league expanded before the 1967-68 season. Ample opportunity to be able to get enough wins to be labeled as division winners -- but no, they're the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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