"They were being kind to us tonight. Let's not kid ourselves."
Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock wasn't having any of the love-in. He had stood behind the Toronto Maple Leafs bench for 60 minutes and watched as his makeshift team fuddled away another game, this time to the Columbus Blue Jackets, for their 52nd loss of the season.
He didn't enjoy it.
The fans? They loved it. They were hooting and hollering and banging on the glass – at least right up until the end of the second period, when most of them left the building.
They got what they came to see, though: The Leafs lost 5-2 on Wednesday, in what was mercifully their final home game of the year, thereby guaranteeing themselves 29th or 30th place in the NHL and a very good spot in the draft lottery at the end of the month.
This was an awkward night in a lot of respects. The organization tried to salute the fans in typical fashion with giveaways and paid lunatics dancing in the stands, but it created a bizarre situation by the third period as they began celebrating the team's meltdown on the ice.
The more the Blue Jackets filled the net – a moment of silence for rookie goalie Garret Sparks's trying first season goes here – the more frantic what was left of the crowd became.
As the Leafs then filed off the ice, the fans grouped around the exit began yelling encouragement.
"Great season, Sparks!" said one.
And, despite what had transpired on the ice, this wasn't sarcasm.
For what feels like forever, the Leafs have been a franchise that has blown tap-in opportunities like these. They have had a ton of chances to be bad and frittered them away, either with a meaningless late-season charge (the Martin Gerber and/or Boyd Devereaux experience) or because they traded their first-round pick.
Last month, it appeared the Leafs were headed for ruin yet again when they went on a youth-fuelled win bender, a 6-2-1 run that saw them unexpectedly climb out of last place and appear destined for 26th.
But, thanks largely to poor Mr. Sparks, they've now lost six of their last seven and appear to have 30th claimed for good – especially after Edmonton thumped Vancouver on the out-of-town scoreboard.
Now, if the Leafs lose one more game in regulation – and they have a great chance on Thursday night in Philadelphia – last place is theirs for the first time since 1985.
Unlike back then, 30th comes with only a 20-per-cent shot at the first overall pick, but that's far higher than it would have been had they crawled past a couple of teams over the meaningless final two weeks of the season.
Being bad in order to get good was a key part of president Brendan Shanahan's plan when he sold his vision of a rebuild to ownership last year, and his team has certainly delivered. Should the Leafs clinch 30th in the coming days, the worst they can end up picking in June's draft is fourth overall.
Despite Babcock's grumbling, the Leafs players said they understand the fans' optimism despite the fact they bottomed out in the standings.
"In previous years, losing games, it would have been a little bit different in the arena," Tyler Bozak said. "I think they see the potential with a lot of the young guys that have been called up and played great for us."
"It's a way better vibe around here," defenceman Jake Gardiner said, comparing last year's 68-point season to this 67-point – with two games left – one. "We're basically dead last right now so there's nowhere you can go but up. Hopefully we never have this bad of a season [again] and it's only up from here."
Babcock's main message, meanwhile, was that not everyone involved would be part of that difficult trip up the standings.
"We've given lots of players in our organization opportunities to play," he said, referencing the 46 different players that dressed as Leafs this season. "Some have said they want to be on the team, and some have said they're not going to be on the team. That's just the way it is. That's the business.
"There's lots of really positive things that have gone on. I wouldn't call tonight one of them."
But he is a man on an island in that. The Leafs finally lost when they were supposed to, and should they win the lottery, it'll go down as a positive thing indeed.