All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs

I'm a big NHL fan as well as a fan of the All or Nothing series. As such, I was genuinely excited for this, but my goodness what a joke of a documentary. You could find more personality in an action figure store than the Leafs players showed. The flow of it was tepid and anticlimactic altogether, total waste.

As a long time hockey fan I like others have been fascinated with this current Maple Leafs team penchant for failure. If you follow what is going on in the NHL you know that this is a team that on paper and in the regular season is supposed to be a Stanley Cup contender in the playoffs, and yet they continue to fall short of that title year after year. Those like myself who are not Maple Leafs fans all enjoy to poke fun of the team and the fan base, but those who are respectable hockey fans know that at the end of the day this is a professional hockey club with a rich history that has players and staff that deserve to be respected. I expect that this series will earn this current team some sympathy and respect from both fans or foes alike. It does a great job of humanizing super star players on a level an average person can understand and relate with. This is a deep dive into the 2020-2021 Maple Leafs season and it does a really great job highlighting the highs and lows the individuals that make up this team go through. Whether you are a Maple Leafs fan or not you will find value in this series. I would recommend it to any hockey fan.

NHL had an opportunity to show a bit of personality here. Instead it's the same predictable recycled jargon NHL is known for. Netflix's F1 Drive to Survive, and even previous seasons of All or Nothing, are excellent references for a great sports docuseries. Those series are successful because of the unprecedented access, full transparency, and candid interviews. NHL is know for its shrouded secrecy and generic interview answers - that doesn't change with this documentary. Leafs come across like they're watching what they're saying on camera the entire time. There was lots of potential here to delve deeper, such as players being cut or sent to the minors, and the scrutiny the team received after its playoff loss. No one is vulnerable here which unfortunately doesn't make for compelling TV, instead the series resembles a Leafs promo developed by their PR team.

31 teams all fighting to win one of the most coveted trophies in professional sports. The Stanley Cup. Leafs are right there and this doc shows the perspective from behind the scenes. So well documented and enjoyed every episode. So many questions answered of what really goes on in the daily business. The hunger is there, the team is there. Enjoy watching.

:( that's all you need to know. Let's go get it boys.