After another loss, is there something we haven’t already said over and over about the Maple Leafs?

As the seconds were ticking down on the time clock at (I was going to write the Spectrum, but the Flyers haven’t played their in years) whatever the name of the building the one-time "Broad Street Bullies" play in now, one thing jumped to mind: is there anything, anything at all, that we have not already talked about here at VLM (and I mean over and over and over again) when it comes to the state of the Maple Leafs this season?

Let me be clear:  I had no notion, none, that the Leafs would not make the playoffs this season, though I know that many of you did. I certainly didn’t two weeks ago.  (They still might; my point is that I never thought it would even be a matter for discussion.) I’ve explained my reasons many times before, but in short, the East is a weak Conference and the Leafs, this many years into whatever kind of re-build they have supposedly been in, seemingly had a significantly improved talent base from a few seasons ago. With a new goalkeeper that everyone within the Leaf organization loved more than “the guy we inherited”, how, I figured, could we miss? Great goaltending is often enough to put just OK squads into the playoffs.

So what's happened?

I still think the East is middlish, at best.  I still believe the Leafs have some really nice players. Everyone says the goaltending (except those who want to blame Reimer for his part of the current skid) has generally been exceptional this season.  The first line is amazing, or at least we have told ourselves that.  (And c’mon, it has been pretty good, not to mention exciting many nights.)

But the overall team flaws are still in evidence as the regular season winds down and the Leafs remain a team without answers.

Do you feel like we have seen - and discussed - this same movie before?

We have no fourth line most games.  Some nights we fans don’t even think in terms of someone other than the first line (or maybe a young defenseman) scoring. The penalty kill went missing somewhere along the way.  We play a system (you can try to tell me what it is, but it won’t matter—not if we can’t win battles for the puck…) that the players evidently don’t like, or pretend they don’t understand. Under-performing veterans play regularly while kids dying for a chance to play sit upstairs or fritter away their time with a minor-league team.

Again, I acknowledge that I never saw this coming.  While there is still time to win some games and make a playoff push and maybe get hot at the right time, I’m left asking: haven’t I raised all these points before?

Hey, this is a team with skill, speed, a team that can score in a hurry and look awfully good at times doing it. We said the very same thing a few years ago when Ron Wilson was coaching.

I remember back in the mid and late '70s, the Leafs were a pretty good team. They had skill in Salming, Turnbull, Sittler and McDonald, but some of those guys (like Salming, Sittler and McDonald) were also true hockey warriors. They also had some hard-working role players and legitimate toughness.  Yet they weren't quite good enough because the Flyers worked even harder than the Leafs - no one wanted the puck more than Bobby Clarke - and the Canadiens were simply way more talented.

To win a championship, you have to have the heart of a Bobby Clarke (right)- and a team full of guys who feel the same way.

Why do I raise memories of a team from more than thirty years ago? Because that Leaf team looked promising, too.  Like they were on the verge of something, too.  They wanted to win very badly and checked hard, played defensive hockey under Roger Neilson and fought a ton.  And it still wasn't quite good enough. A couple of years later, the team was re-built yet again and it took more than a decade (and Pat Burns and Doug Gilmour and some gritty teammates) to resurrect the franchise.

The current Leafs have shown us some encouraging traits this season, absolutely.  And at times, it looks like they are on the cusp of something.

But tell me if you put a positive check mark against any of the following:

• Leadership
• Evidence of a playoff tested roster
• True team toughness
• A team that wins way more puck battles than it loses
• Strength up the middle
• A strong corps of defensemen
• A commitment to defensive play for 60 minutes a night all over the ice
• Game night roster decisions
• Effective use of personnel
• Coaching adjustments between games and in-game
• A team that stands up for one another
• A roster full of players who put the team first

I guess what I’m saying is, I haven’t got a thing new to say. Except that, maybe we need a Bobby Clarke, a player who will insist that every player on this roster will be held accountable.