Frustration in the Nation - By Mike Byrne

The first egg of the 2014-15 season was laid early this year in the Leafs second game of the season. It seemed as though for most of the game the Pens had an extra skater on the ice, 5 on 5 looked like a power play for the Pens, and when Pittsburgh did end up with a man advantage it was no contest for the Leafs who looked like boys amongst men. Not to mention the fact that once again as so often seems to be the case, the Leafs were horribly out shot (41-25)

Although it's difficult to say "enough with the negatives", after watching that performance, there were a couple (only a couple) of bright spots last night. The only players that seemed to show up were Joffrey Lupul (1G -1) and rookie defenseman Stuart Percy (1A).

Midway through the third period a disgruntled onlooker of this game threw their Leafs jersey to the ice in a sign of protest.... now, yes it was a tough game to watch, and yes we all know how frustrating it is to be a fan of this team, but to the person who decided to discard their jersey on Saturday night, you... are a loser. I know so many people who would love the opportunity to have your seats at the game (win or loss) or be able to own a jersey, I sincerely hope you have never referred to yourself as a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was the second game of a new season and already it's time to give up on this team ? Pathetic, this is why we are possibly one of the most despised fan bases in professional sports, have a little class people.

All of these factors coupled with an awful butchering of the HNIC broadcast by our friends at Rogers, and the consistently annoying and useless commentary of Glen Healy made for a forgettable Saturday night if you are a member of Leafs nation. However, we can now move on to Sunday night when the Leafs head to New York to take on the Rangers for their home opener and banner raising ceremony. Hopefully it will be our first chance to see James Reimer between the pipes, it has been speculated all weekend, but with Randy Carlyle's favouritism of Bernier and overall questionable coaching decisions who knows ! Hang in there Leafs nation, at least we are all in this together !

Follow Mike on twitter @ByrneMGL