Bruins goaltender Swayman guarantees a win over Leafs in game 7
Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the Boston Bruins in TD Garden for a likely instant-classic game 7. It's already peak theatre, and Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman added to the drama with his game day comments today.
Through the series, Jeremy Swayman has spoken about how he thought he was going to be drafted by the Maple Leafs, and was shocked when they passed on him in the draft. He said that when the Bruins beat the Leafs tonight, it'll have more of a personal element to him.
The Leafs passed on Swayman in the third round of the 2017 Draft, instead selecting goaltender Ian Scott who faced an early retirement due to a career-ending injury. Still, Swayman feels personally slighted by the Leafs for passing on him, and it's clearly giving him extra motivation in this game 7 by essentially guaranteeing a victory.
This year however, there seems to be a role reversal of which team is the choker. In the past the Leafs have had the history of being unable to close a playoff series, but now Boston has also blown back to back 3-1 series leads, and is winless in their last 6 straight series clinching games. It goes against everything that the Bruins have tried to build as their culture, and the result of this game may decide the fate of a few jobs in Boston.
On the Leafs side, the stakes are just as high. Without Matthews and Nylander at different points this series, the Leafs absolutely needed to show something more than a first round victory in the playoffs this year to justify keeping their core four forwards together. One year after firing Kyle Dubas, there seems to be real appetite for change if things go badly for Toronto - but there's also some genuine belief that they really could complete the series comeback.
Regardless, tonight's game may be one of the most highly anticipated games of the entire hockey year. Get ready hockey fans!
| POLL | ||
MAI 4 | 121 ANSWERS Bruins goaltender Swayman guarantees a win over Leafs in game 7 Do you think it's bad karma to publicly guarantee a win? | ||
| It's bad karma, don't do it | 68 | 56.2 % |
| It's confidence, go for it | 47 | 38.8 % |
| See Results | 6 | 5 % |
| List of polls | ||
