rfmcdonald | [URBAN NOTE] On the Toronto Maple Leafs, social media, and performance anxiety (Reply)

The Globe and Mail's James Mirtle writes about the latest social media controversy in Toronto, this one involving the Toronto Maple Leafs. Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf are positioned by Mirtle as people undeserving of this criticism. This sort of thing, driven by frustration and anger, is probably inevitable given the way the team has been performing so badly this season.

Kessel and Phaneuf do not appear to have many allies in the media, after more than five years as Leafs. They are rarely defended and often take the blame when the team loses.

They’re lightning rods, more than most, and it helps that people want to read and hear about them.

Make no mistake, they’re fair game. In this mess of a season, everyone deserves criticism, and that obviously includes the highest paid and highest profile players.

But the reality here is that – as a frustrated Kessel blurted out on Tuesday in his rant defending his friend and captain – Dion Phaneuf didn’t build this team. He didn’t put himself – a good but flawed defenceman who had slid down Calgary’s depth chart when he was moved – into the No. 1 role, where he’s averaged an almost-NHL-leading 25 minutes a game in his time with the Leafs.

He has played as much as Zdeno Chara, and he’s not Zdeno Chara.

But in the context of how bad this team has been, Phaneuf has performed reasonably well. With Phaneuf on the ice, the Leafs have been outscored by only 13 goals at 5-on-5 in his entire tenure with the team (354 games).