They finished second in the Northeast Division with a record of 43-25-10-4 also third best record in the NHL for 100 points just one point behind the Bruins. The Leafs were able to sign Alexander Mogilny to provide some scoring depth to go with all the muscle they had in their lineup. The neutral zone was really taking hold in the NHL and no one scored 100 points in 2001-02. Mats Sundin finished 4th in scoring with only 80 points and 2nd in goals scored with 41 goals.
Despite the strong season the Maple Leafs would barely survive a first round seven game war against the New York Islanders in which several star players on each team including Leafs captain Mats Sundin were lost to injury. That series was best remembered for the large number of fights including a tag team of Darcy Tucker and brother-in-law Shane Corson against Eric Cairns and Shawn Bates.
With a banged up team the Maple Leafs would have to gut things out again beating the Ottawa Senators in seven games by rallying to win the final two games of the series after being dominated most of the series. However, even with return of Mats Sundin the Leafs would run out of gas falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conferences finals in six games.
Following the season the Leafs would fail in attempts to re-sign star Goalie Curtis Joseph who bolted for the Detroit Red wings.
The NHL participated in the Salt Lake City Olympics with the Canadian team managed by Wayne Gretzky and coached by Leaf coach Pat Quinn. Quinn had benched Joseph after the first game against Sweden (a 5-2 loss). Quinn switched to Martin Brodeur who played very well for the rest of the tournament helping Canada to win gold. The relationship between Joseph Quinn turned frosty and at the end of the season Joseph left as a free agent to play for Detroit. It was a move he likely regretted afterwards.
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