You know the retort about if your grandmother had wheels, she'd be a bike? Well, now that the Florida Panthers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers] have won their second consecutive Stanley Cup [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/rats-reign-again-florida-panthers-repeat-as-stanley-cup-champs-after-beating-edmonton-oilers], there's a lot of that going on with people who are delusional about the Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs]. And that covers most of their supporters. Ken Campbell's video column discusses why people using the Panthers winning the Cup as consolation for the Maple Leafs losing in Round 2 are lying to themselves. Their logic goes that since the Maple Leafs extended the Panthers to seven games [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-experience-shines-through-for-panthers-game-7-was-tighter-than-score-indicates] in the second round of the playoffs, we can assume that the Leafs are once again very close to being serious Stanley Cup contenders. Heck, they're the second-best team in the NHL, some say. Pfft. Legitimate Stanley Cup-contending teams don't take a 2-0 lead and enter Game 3 with a 3-1 lead against the Cup champs and fritter it away [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/the-toronto-maple-leafs-stanley-cup-window-has-slammed-shut]. And there is no Cup contending team that turns in the effort the Leafs did in Games 5 and 7 on home ice in that series. Sergei Bobrovsky and Auston Matthews (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/27f041a7-b4ef-4b84-829e-0391f496647c.jpeg] Sergei Bobrovsky and Auston Matthews (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images) Just because you lost to the champs doesn't make you almost as good as they are. The Panthers are the class of the league and they are light years ahead of the Leafs. Watch today's video column for more, and share your thoughts. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
