Gloom Descends on the Leafs Nation

You might not have noticed, but millions of Canadians are ready to write off the 2005-06 NHL season as an unmitigated disaster.

Love 'em or hate 'em, the Toronto Maple Leafs are Canada's team, revered like no other. On the Hockey Night in Canada schedule, every national broadcast begins with a Toronto game. This is galling to some - especially Ottawa Senators' fans - but HNIC execs are just following the numbers: there is no substitute for the massive Leafs' audience.

But barring a quick and dramatic turnaround, there will be no Stanley Cup Playoffs this year in the self-appointed center of the hockey universe.

Every day provides another chapter in the Maple Leafs' tale of woe, featuring a cast of failed saviors and one-dimensional spare parts. (Tie Domi, Nik Antropov, the underwhelming Jeff O'Neill, the listless Jason Allison...) The goaltender is 40 years old and fading. It's been years since the defense scared anyone. Past quick fixes have failed miserably. A scorched ice campaign - dump the slugs for draft picks and start from scratch - is long overdue.

As much as hockey is billed as a national obsession, the NHL remains a Leafs-driven business in Canada. No playoffs in Toronto will leave a gaping hole in the heartland. The TV networks, the sports bars, the pizza takeouts, the beer stores, the t-shirt retailers - they'll all feel it.

Would a stirring championship run by the Senators or Flames be enough to win over the Leafs Nation? If not, who will be left watching when the Stanley Cup Final begins in June, long after America has tuned out games of ice and snow?