Another year, another disappointment for Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who won their last Stanley Cup in 1967! What’s worse is that they haven’t made it past the second round since 2002. It’s hard to say what keeps going wrong with the Leafs, because they put on a valiant fight this year, showing the Ottawa Senators how it’s done in round one and holding their ground against current champions the Florida Panthers and pushing things to game seven. Still, the disappointment in captain Auston Matthews’ face was palpable through the screens in the post-game interview.

“Can you describe the disappointment you must be feeling?” Matthews was asked by a journalist, to which he responded with a succinct “not really.” Not much else needed to be said; his face and tone said it all. It had been a long, exhausting season, and the Leafs tried their best, all things considered, as they’d been missing their starting goalie, Anthony Stolarz, since game 1 of the series.

To follow up on the previous question and try and build upon Matthews’ emotions postgame, he was further interrogated, “Are you tired of doing this?” To which he provided a slightly more in-depth answer, “Uh, yeah, I am,” Matthews said, honestly. “I think we all are. I mean, I think there’s 31 teams that go home very disappointed, and obviously we’re one of them, so it’s not a great feeling.”

What would not have helped with that exhaustion, though, was the fans’ reaction to the loss, with many Leafs fans walking out before the game was over and throwing sweaters onto the ice! What would not have helped with that exhaustion, though, was the fans’ reaction to the loss, with many Leafs fans walking out before the game was over and throwing sweaters onto the ice!

Auston Matthews responds to responses from angered Maple Leafs fans following the game seven loss to Florida.

While it can’t be easy not making it past the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 23rd year in a row, it definitely doesn’t help when your fans don’t stand by you, and the Maple Leafs fans have been so brutal with their team that even the Florida Panthers have had to take a stand in support of their opponents, with Brad Marchand saying of the Leafs, “They’re getting crucified, and I don’t think it’s justified.”

When asked about the fan reaction, Auston Matthews fumbled for words, “Yeah, it’s tough to kind of gather, you know, thoughts on all that so quickly after the game. I mean, I think you know, you look, you know, back on training camp, just all the work that you put in to get yourself to this point.”

Matthews, who has played a total of 67 playoff games at this point, added, “And, you know, it’s very, very frustrating, obviously for us as well as them included, so, you know, it’s tough to kind of gather your thoughts on all that right away.” Matthews was generous to include them in the feelings of frustration rather than call them out for their blatant betrayal after what was a tough series that the Leafs did in fact fight for against all odds.

So, there you have it, the Leafs are out of the playoffs, and Florida’s chance of holding onto the cup for another year has drastically increased. Maybe this has to do with Brad Marchand and the game 7 curse he seems to wield on the Leafs (he’s knocked them out a record five times in game 7s), but whatever it is, it can’t be easy to process for captain Auston Matthews all over again!