SIMMONS: Beyond the Panthers and Oilers, who's better than the Toronto Maple Leafs?
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Roger Neilson coached some impressive Toronto teams in the 1970s, led by Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald up front, with Tiger Williams fighting everyone, with Borje Salming and Ian Turnbull on defence and Mike Palmateer in goal. The most points they had in a season was 92 in 1978.
They made it to the third round of the playoffs that year, being handled rather easily by the Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. The Leafs finished sixth out of 18 teams in the league.
They weren't legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
Pat Burns coached some impressive Toronto teams in the 1990s, led by Doug Gilmour, Dave Andreychuk and Wendel Clark up front, with a defence that included Dave Ellett, Sylvain Lefebvre and Jamie Macoun, and with Felix Potvin in goal.
Twice in a row the Leafs advanced to the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The first time they went seven games and lost to Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings and, all these years later — 32 in fact — that loss still stings.
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