Zen and the Art of Hockey Team Repair

Is it hockey season yet? I'm not entirely sure. The evidence I've found has provided sketchy details. I haven't seen even one Leafs pre-season game. That's kind of my own fault though. I received messages from my homestyles at the Worldwide Leader in Sports, PPP, saying that there were links posted for me to watch them. Chemmy even graciously used the word "dummy" in his note. While I thought that that shot at Moose was uncalled for however accurate, that fact is, I'm still without seeing my beloveds this season.

I'm not going to blame the weather either. As you all know I live in L.A., where for most of the year the weather ranges from this:

To This:I'm used to that by now. The fact that on Tuesday I left a 4:30 meeting to go home and the temperature was 39 °C, didn't even faze me. Here's another thing like that: the fact that Curtis Joseph got murdered Wednesday night allowing 6 goals on 12 shots. Or was that 12 goals on 6 shots? No, no, it's the first one, 6/12, because the other way would just be crazy.

I'm unbugged by this for a number of reasons, and realistic expectations are numbers 1-7. This has made me quite happy as I've come to the wonderful realization that this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs can't hurt me, they can only surprise me. I really, truly know what kind of season the Leafs will most likely have, and honestly, I'm OK with it. I don't like it, but I accept it. That is called peace of mind, my friends. You know, I can't remember the last time I felt like this. Oh wait, now I do: Never.

I also know that, like Wednesday's game, we will see a lot of young Leafs playing slightly to radically out of their depth due to the likelihood of diabolical injuries which Toronto is already sipping heartily from, with pre-season hurts on N. Kulemin (knee), J. Finger (foot), P. Kubina (knee), J. Blake (leg), M. Stajan (lower body), D. Moore (groin), and C. Joseph (pride).

I will enjoy seeing the Earls', the Rogers', the Petiots' and whoever the Leafs get for Ian White, because this year, that's what this is about, my loves. It's what we wished for. A 7-3 loss here, and a lot of 3-2 losses there is the only way back to where this team is always and forever destined to be: Eliminating the Senators in the first round of the playoffs. Now go on, and enjoy your Thursday!