It was a night that marked the culmination of the most successful season in the history of the National Hockey League.
The Toronto Maple Leafs finished with the best record in the league and finished in the top half of the standings.
The Toronto Maple Leaf Nation won its first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
And the NHL finally got a franchise with an all-star team that was not too shabby.
But that is only the beginning of what was a remarkable season for the NHL.
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Read moreMore top stories”It’s going to be really cool to be back,” said Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, who has scored in three straight games and leads the league with five goals.
“It feels great to be here.
It’s a big step for the organization, and a big boost for the city and the fans.
It was really exciting.
It felt good to be out there with my teammates.”
The team is coming off its most successful offseason in recent memory, signing veteran forward Matt Martin, a former first-round pick, and defenseman Brendan Leipsic, a third-round draft pick.
Phaneuf is coming back after playing in just one season of the NHL following a three-year absence due to injury.
He scored 25 goals and had 55 assists in 82 games.
He also won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie.
The Maple Leafs also had an all in on signing star forward Dion Phan for four years at a $20 million salary cap hit.
The deal will be completed on Tuesday.
Phan is a five-time scoring champion who has won six Hart Trophies, including the Presidents’ Trophy, as the league’s most valuable player.
The Maple Leafs are second in the NHL in scoring with 1,731 points, but they’re a minus-4.8 goal differential this season.
They’re on pace for the worst record in franchise franchise history, but the team’s struggles have been well documented.
The team was a playoff team in 2015-16, but is now 28-23-8 with a record of 23-34-8.
The Leafs have missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008-09 and are on pace to be eliminated from the playoffs.
They have won just four of their past 18 games.
“You know what?
I can’t get over the fact that we have been so inconsistent,” Phaneuuf said.
“We are just trying to be a little more consistent.
That’s the biggest thing.
We have to get back to being consistent.
We’ve been playing our best hockey, and we’ve just got to keep working at it.
We’re trying to make some big changes.
We’re trying different things, and that’s the goal.”
The Maple Leaf’s first-year head coach Dave Lowry was fired after two seasons in 2017-18, but he is returning to his former role with the Toronto Marlies.
The Leafs have won 20 of their first 22 games this season, but have a 6-23 record in those contests.
The team has been without injured forwards Brendan Leipic and Dion Phanes for much of the season.
They were both on the roster for the Leafs’ win in Winnipeg on Tuesday, but were pulled due to injuries.
Leipiksi was the lone Leaf to make the trip to Winnipeg.
