Mikhail Sergachev and the Tampa Bay Lightning were attempting to reach their fourth straight Stanley Cup Final this past season before they were ousted in six games by the Leafs in the first round. The overtime winner by John Tavares snapped a 19-season drought of the Leafs not advancing past the first round. Unfortunately for the Leafs, they were ousted themselves in 5 games by Florida.
Three months later, Sergachev spoke about the first round defeat, among other things, during an interview with sport24 in Russia. Sergachev had some not-so-nice things to say about the Leafs.
"Statistically, we played better than Toronto in this playoff, but we lost. We played worse last year, but we won," he said when asked about the series, but he followed his answer up by saying the Leafs don't deserve credit.
Asked why he doesn't think Toronto deserves much credit after advancing past the first round for the first time in 19 years, Sergachev responded by saying, "Well why? I don't think they deserve much They went through the first round, but did not go further. So I don't see any reason to rejoice here."
For Leaf fans, advancing to the second round was a major leap forward and you could see the relief among the players following the series win, but they may have relaxed too much ahead of their series with Florida, given the result. The Leafs and Tampa will play each other for the first time on October 21st and it's a game that should have a strong playoff atmosphere.
