If there’s one thing Leafs fans probably have less of an appetite for than watching their team get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, it’s hearing the folks in charge talk about what went wrong for the seventh time in eight years. And yet, one of our highest-viewed pieces of 2024 was the report that then-incoming CEO of MLSE Keith Pelley would be speaking to the media alongside President of Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan, who was wrapping up his tenth season in that role, and Brad Treliving, who was just finishing his first season as general manager.

When you ask Leafs fans to compare first-round exits, it’s like asking them what hurt less between banging their funny bone off of a table and rolling their ankle on a curb. There are absolutely zero moral victories in saying, “Well, at least this year they didn’t blow a 3-1 series lead to the Montreal Canadiens”, and yet, last season’s first-round exit to the Boston Bruins felt like the closest they’ve come to slaying the dragon.

Yes, the team did go down 3-1 in the series to Boston, but this was a Bruins team that was trying to avoid earning a reputation of being playoff chokers themselves. The year before, fresh off a record-breaking regular season, they went up 3-1 in the first round against the second wildcard Florida Panthers and ended up losing the series 4-3. This iteration of the team no longer had eternal stalwarts like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, or Zdeno Chara anymore. And right up until the overtime goal in Game 7, it truly felt like it was anybody’s series.

That feeling was strongest when William Nylander broke the tie midway through the second period. For a grand two minutes, Leafs fans felt a collective boost of hope. That is, until Ilya Samsonov allowed a floater from the point to Hampus Lindholm to tie the game at 1. Boston took the momentum right back, and all it took was one bad play in overtime from the team as a whole for the Bruins to take it home.

Pelley inspired fans with a shred of hope that change might finally come in an interview he did prior to assuming his new role as CEO, citing the importance of adaptation if something you’re doing isn’t working.

“The people that I’ve met here are incredibly energized about the opportunity that we have. We’re going to be leaders, though,” Pelley said. “We’re not afraid of change; if you’re afraid of change, you risk the possibility of falling behind, and we’re not going to fall behind.”

The extent of that change was limited to the firing of head coach Sheldon Keefe, essentially giving the Maple Leafs’ core one last shot to put together a meaningful run under a new coach in Craig Berube, who has been to the dance before and has a ring of his own. If the Leafs see a similar fate this season, that ‘change’ might take on a whole new meaning with both Mitch Marner and John Tavares up for new deals in the offseason. But hey, let’s not think about that right now. It’s Christmas season after all.