Look, I’ve been a Maple Leafs fan long enough to know that hope is a dangerous commodity. As we sit here on Thursday, November 5, with the team holding an 8-7-2 record, I’m trying to keep my blood pressure in check. We’ve got 67 games left to endure, and while we’re technically in the race, five games back in the Atlantic is exactly where we love to be—clinging to relevance while contemplating the existential dread of 1967. The season is very much live, even if my spirit feels like it retired decades ago. Tonight, there is a massive slate of 11 games on the schedule, including UTA at MTL and BOS at PIT, but none of them involve us. That’s probably a mercy. We don’t need to witness more heartbreak today. For those looking back, we saw Ottawa edge Buffalo 2-1 and Florida take down Chicago 5-3, both played on Wednesday, November 4. It’s all just noise until the playoffs, and we know how that story ends. I’ll be here, clutching my blue-and-white sweater, waiting for the inevitable mid-season slump or a miraculous turnaround that leads to the same heartbreak. Just another day in Leafs Nation.