Lightning captain Steven Stamkos reveals something surprising about the Leafs

Tampa showed why they are the back to back cup champs last night. They won a close, hard fought, playoff style game where the Leafs just couldn't catch a break. Missed calls and bad calls in games 6 and 7 essentially cost the Leafs the series. It's something that Tampa has figured out how to come back and rally around and something the Leafs probably learned about this year.

Following the game, Stamkos spoke to the media about the series and the Leafs saying, "it's a great hockey team. No doubt. They've got all the pieces. It's just not easy at this time of year that's one of the toughest series we've played they have everything."

That's high praise from the Lightning Captain, who has had to overcome his fair share of personal adversity over the years to hoist the Cup in back to back seasons.

There's nothing to be disappointed about from the Leafs this season. Yes, they failed to get past the first round again, but it was not for a lack of effort, heart or compete, they left it all on the line. The big guys showed up when they needed to and Campbell made saves when the team needed them. Not to mention, this is the first series in a long time where the Leafs had a goalie that didn't give up a "soft" goal.


The Leafs will be back, of course with a few changes due to cap constraints, but not a complete blowup like the fans may want. Keep your heads high, this team did everything they could and then some.