Don't hit the panic button

Ronald Neal
Contributor
Despite what you may have heard, this is definitely not the time to hit the panic button.
It’s true the Maple Leafs are facing their first serious test of the season, but we definitely need to keep things in perspective.
For one, this is a long season. I know we’ve been bitter lately with the lack of hockey each spring, but that doesn’t mean we can jump ship at the first sign of resistance from the other 29 teams in the league. We have about 75 games left in the season and there is still so much that has yet to be decided.
The Leafs who we need to play well have, for the most part, played well. Phil Kessel, the right wing from Madison, Wisconsin, has played amazing for the bottom line. At 23, he has the weight of the entire city on his very soft-spoken shoulders, and he has consistently shown that he can carry it with equal poise and flash. Seriously, we need to let go now of the draft picks, the ‘what could have been’ and Tyler Seguin because Kessel is lethal around the net and he is the real deal. It was a wonderful, audacious and brilliant deal to make then, and the same holds true today.
On the other hand, only a year ago the season was decided in October after the team went a disastrous 0-7-1 before recording their first win. We find ourselves a team who cannot afford to be separated from the herd like that again, as it can only lead to disaster, as it did in 2009-2010. But I believe, this year is different, and that things will be different in April as a result.
With the right amount of support and direction, it’s clear that we should be in fairly good hands up-front for the foreseeable future.