Desperation

The hockey playoffs have started.  The Bruins win the first two games by an aggregate score of 12 to 4. No columns from Shank on the first two games.

A game 3 loss by the Bruins? You bet your ass he's doing a column!

TORONTO — We know the Toronto Maple Leafs. We know their fans. We know what it’s like to care about a team that never wins.

Because we WERE them.

Not too long ago.

Remember?

One thing we can all appreciate about Shank - he sure loves to remind us of things we may have forgotten:

The Leafs beat the Bruins, 4-2, at the Air Canada Centre on Monday night to close the gap to 2-1 in their first-round playoff series with the Bruins. By any measure, it was a must-win game for a team that has been in must-lose mode for more than a half century.

The Leafs of today are the pre-2004 Red Sox. They have fans that care about the team as much as they care about their own families. They have a 51-year championship drought. They suffered one of the most hideous losses in hockey history in Boston five years ago when they blew a three-goal lead in the third period of a seventh game against the Bruins. They were the Toronto Leaf Blowers. It remains their Bill Buckner/Bucky Dent moment.

And in the end, comparisons to Bill Buckner & Bucky Dent are always the yardsticks deployed by Shank when measuring failure.