After 33 games, the Leafs are who we thought they were. They are in a dog fight for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, sitting tied with Ottawa (Ottawa!) for 7th place with 36 points. That puts them one point behind New Jersey for 6th, but only one point ahead of Washington, Buffalo, and Winnipeg. It’s a log jam that will likely continue for the rest of the season.

Toronto’s fast start fooled fans into thinking the rebuild was a little ahead of schedule, but a mediocre November (7-6-1) and an awful start to December (2-4-2) has dropped the Leafs from their once lofty perch among the Eastern Conference élite.

There was a point where I truly believed the Leafs late season successes were harbingers for the following seasons. This led me to believe that all the Leafs really needed after both 2006 and 2007 was a capable goalie. Well, I was totally wrong. The problems afflicting the team ran much deeper than that. At that point I was still blinded by the pre-lockout Leafs who consistently made the playoffs and on occasion looked good enough to seriously contend. I was probably blinded then, too.

When I began to realize the deep-seeded problems afflicting the Leafs during 2008 I prayed the Leafs did not excel when the pressure of actually making the playoffs disappeared. Unfortunately, this was the time they did win, ruining the strength of their draft picks. I was a full supporter of Tank Nation over the past two seasons. They needed to fully re-build or else they would never win a Stanley Cup.

Now, most of this season has been very difficult for me to handle (I will go into further detail at another time of just how I dealt with the futility). And now the Leafs are transforming into the late-season good team that somehow appears every season when the pressure is off. Usually this is not indicative of how the team will play the following year. So, is this year any different? Is the Leafs performance over the final months of this season a mirage or is it a sign of things to come?

This is no mirage.

Stop laughing.