Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets

It's been a rather miserable season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who find themselves tied for last place in the Northeast Division.

Making matters all the more miserable is the fact that they are tied for last place with the Ottawa Senators.

Hockey is such a big deal in Canada, by far the most popular sport. For two of their NHL teams to be tied for last place in the division is a major embarassment for the folks living north of the border.

The team recently got leading scorer Mats Sundin back into the lineup, but things have gotten so ugly in Toronto that he was actually booed by the home fans.

The struggling Leafs wanted to trade Sundin last season and grab some prospects to start rebuilding, but the top scorer would not waive his no trade clause. That really irritated the fans, who were already mad about his acquisition back in 1994 because it cost them one of their favorite players, Wendel Clark.

Sundin has torn up the team scoring records, but his nice-guy approach to playing hockey has turned off their fans despite his 13 years of service to Toronto.

While Sundin was out of the lineup, Jason Blake took over as the team's top offensive player. He leads the team in both points and goals with 46 and 21, respectively.

The real problem for this team has been the goaltending, which has been nothing short of an absolute disaster.

The team's top goaltender this year has been Vesa Toskala, who has a 3.38 goals against average and a save percentage below 89. Veteran Curtis Joseph has played terrible, giving up 3.8 goals per game with a save percentage at 85.5 in limited action.

There is no hope for a late push for the playoffs from the Maple Leafs, who are buried way down in the Eastern Conference standings. The best they can hope for is some big wins to build momentum into next season.