We hate it when our favourite TV shows have a mid-season break or finish entirely. If you’re a fan of anime or action-based cartoons, some of these breaks are referred to as, “time skips,” where a certain amount of time passes allowing the main characters to train and great stronger for future threats.

Let’s take Dragon Ball Z for example, (if you follow me on Twitter, you shouldn’t be surprised this is the story I’m using).

The main characters (or the Z fighters) were warned of a threat coming to the planet Earth in the form of androids. Fortunately, they had three years to prepare and spent the time training and sending energy blasts into the ocean for dramatic effect.

What if we consider the NHL pause an anime-like time skip for the Maple Leafs. Despite walking into the hiatus off a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Leafs haven’t been a consistent squad. It’s no secret to the fan base or the team itself even though we were on the verge of Auston Matthews hitting 50 goals and beyond this year.

Perhaps this is time allows the Leafs to come back better and stronger than ever. It sort aligns with what Morgan Rielly said on how the team can take this time to reflect saying:

I can’t really put my finger on it. I think if you look at what Kyle talked about when he did media, I think that he was open about it — that he didn’t have an answer, either. I think as a team it’s important that we use this down time to really take a look in the mirror. As players we all have to be better. If you look at the ups and the downs, that’s obviously not how you want your year to be described.

Is Rielly right? Does this time off help the Leafs reach their true potential? Can the boys in blue and white return to take the NHL by storm as prophesied?

Tune in next time on Maple Leafs Z!

Around the Hockey World

Tavares, teammates donate cash to COVID fight - Toronto | Globalnews.ca
John Tavares lived in New York and his wife has worked in a hospital.

More Leaf to Leaf!

Alex Newhook wins Tim Taylor Award as NCAA Rookie of the Year - Mile High Hockey
The Avs 2019 first-round selection collects another piece of hardware

Hurricanes defensemen Hamilton and Vatanen, goaltender Reimer ready to return
Oh yeah

Trade Tree: How the 2010 Versteeg deal led to Ben Bishop joining Kings - Sportsnet.ca
Find out how the Chicago Blackhawks trading Kris Versteeg to the Toronto Maple Leafs turned into Ben Bishop becoming a member of the Los Angeles Kings.

The Blues’ new victory celebration song is another blast from the past. - St. Louis Game Time
No one on the team existed when it came out save for Jay Bouwmeester.

From The Branches