“We got a lot of respect in that (handshake) line from that team" - Sheldon Keefe....Thoughts on the handshake line.

[ECanuck]

This is the same franchise that gave their players Norris Division Champions rings after the 1992-93 season. And probably gave Matthews and Marner their participation ribbons.

Most of these broke franchises have a cheap cup and a banner. We got those a long time ago. But come on; those days are gone. The players even had to work two jobs.

 

[EpochLink]

This is the same franchise that gave their players Norris Division Champions rings after the 1992-93 season. And probably gave Matthews and Marner their participation ribbons.

Wait, what!? The Leafs actually gave out rings after the 93 season?

 

[Kranix]

It's the type of thing Mike Yeo would say, before being launched into the sun by yet another franchise.

 

[Kerberos]

Tampa didn't even play that well in the series. Vasi was below his usual standard, Kucherov was terrible and they still dogwalked the Leafs when they made a bit of an effort.

Probably felt bad for them and wanted to keep the streak of game 7 no-shows alive by giving them a few pity wins.

 

[andora]

Honestly, there's so much nonsense from this series. The Leafs went toe-to-toe with the two time defending heavyweight champ of the world. This wasn't losing to Columbus or even Boston. The Leafs went out on their shields. I believe that they had Tampas respect.

Think about it. Toronto didn't have an elite goalie (like Tampa). They didn't have a D like Hedman. If anything, one could say Toronto over-achieved.

Most of us have seen "The Last Dance" so we know winning is a learning process. The Leafs have a good thing going and their trajectory took a hit this year (because Tavares will be a year older next year) but they still have a lot going on in their favor.

Sort of - OR it is the same thing what, 6 years later?

every off season money gets tighter to fill out the roster for the next year, this year is atrocious. doing this every off season doesn't build cohesiveness or longevity it just has created statistically and analytically strong regular season teams that end up showing their lack of bottom end depth. their bottom two lines and their defence had NO BITE, no edge no anything, once again - same thing years later that is getting worse.

starts with the Tavares contract eating up 11 million dollars worth of space and all depth it could buy.. bozak went on to be a third line center on a cup winning team (hmm he could have been a third line center on toronto with matthews/kadri). i mean jesus look LA - Durzi and Moore and Grundstrom look at those guys fight and battle for every damn inch. Could have definitely used that mentality to go against paul and colton and hagel

no tavares, probably doesn't need to put a first round pick with marleau to clear the room (Seth Jarvis by the way)

Mason marchment is another one (not really tied to cap money but malgin? really)

connor brown - he would have been nice to keep

barabanov looks good, he can forecheck


Toronto could have been swimming in aggressive young depth and could have been far more tactical moving forward without Tavares's contract. they could have taken a couple years to assess and go from there, couldn't have been worse than this

 

[John Mandalorian]

Sort of - OR it is the same thing what, 6 years later?

every off season money gets tighter to fill out the roster for the next year, this year is atrocious. doing this every off season doesn't build cohesiveness or longevity it just has created statistically and analytically strong regular season teams that end up showing their lack of bottom end depth. their bottom two lines and their defence had NO BITE, no edge no anything, once again - same thing years later that is getting worse.

starts with the Tavares contract eating up 11 million dollars worth of space and all depth it could buy.. bozak went on to be a third line center on a cup winning team (hmm he could have been a third line center on toronto with matthews/kadri). i mean jesus look LA - Durzi and Moore and Grundstrom look at those guys fight and battle for every damn inch. Could have definitely used that mentality to go against paul and colton and hagel

no tavares, probably doesn't need to put a first round pick with marleau to clear the room (Seth Jarvis by the way)

Mason marchment is another one (not really tied to cap money but malgin? really)

connor brown - he would have been nice to keep

barabanov looks good, he can forecheck


Toronto could have been swimming in aggressive young depth and could have been far more tactical moving forward without Tavares's contract. they could have taken a couple years to assess and go from there, couldn't have been worse than this

Yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens to the values of these types of players on the FA markets. The Avs seem to have pivoted in this direction also. If the demand of these types of players increases, what will types of players will be affected downwardly?

The 11 million going to Tavares is a huge albatross and there's really no getting around this. It's like a fairytale for him but a nightmare for everyone else. It's a cautionary tale - or at least it should be.

 

[andora]

Yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens to the values of these types of players on the FA markets. The Avs seem to have pivoted in this direction also. If the demand of these types of players increases, what will types of players will be affected downwardly?

The 11 million going to Tavares is a huge albatross and there's really no getting around this. It's like a fairytale for him but a nightmare for everyone else. It's a cautionary tale - or at least it should be.

amen

 

[Number8]

View attachment 547782

Beautiful. Just, beautiful

 

[Number8]

Think people are making too big a deal of this. Not like he was treating it as some sort of victory, he was asked about the handshake line and gave his thoughts.

He would have been fine if he’d left it at “we got a lot of respect in the line — it was nice to see. But we know it’s about winning and we need to do a lot more work to do that in the postseason”.

If people ripped him for that, I think it would be making a big deal of a throwaway comment.

Adding the bit that implied that hadn’t been the case in the past was where he went astray and was the kind of silly thing that enables people to make fun of him and the Leafs.

 

[JD1]

Sheldon Keefe said:



Does this mean that in the past other teams and/or individual players bragged, gloated, and rubbed the loss in Toronto's face during the handshake line?

If so, what teams and/or individual players do you suspect of showing Toronto disrespect?

They're in the winning game? Well, they're losing at it

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

This comes from Sheldon Keefe, who has a jaded past and also couldn't make a successful career with the Lightning. This is very funny.....

 

[Frank Drebin]

Honestly, there's so much nonsense from this series. The Leafs went toe-to-toe with the two time defending heavyweight champ of the world. This wasn't losing to Columbus or even Boston. The Leafs went out on their shields. I believe that they had Tampas respect.

Think about it. Toronto didn't have an elite goalie (like Tampa). They didn't have a D like Hedman. If anything, one could say Toronto over-achieved.

Most of us have seen "The Last Dance" so we know winning is a learning process. The Leafs have a good thing going and their trajectory took a hit this year (because Tavares will be a year older next year) but they still have a lot going on in their favor.

In 2013, they lost in 7 to the team that made the cup final.

In 2019 they lost in 7 to the team that made the cup final

In 2021 they lost in 7 to the team that made the cup final

In 2022 they lost in 7 to the defending Stanley cup Champs.

All in all a pretty good run

 

[Divine]

In 2013, they lost in 7 to the team that made the cup final.

In 2019 they lost in 7 to the team that made the cup final

In 2021 they lost in 7 to the team that made the cup final

In 2022 they lost in 7 to the defending Stanley cup Champs.

All in all a pretty good run

It's more unlucky than anything.

No team could eliminate them before the final game. They just have the worst record in Game 7's. It's not like they were getting swept or losing in 5. Game 7 is almost 50/50.

I believe every team the Leafs took to 7 and lost won the second round (at least) too. So it's not like they were facing some weak competition.

 

[Bounces R Way]

It's more unlucky than anything.

C'mon now. When it's been 6 straight years of first round exits, 18 years without a series win, and 55 years without a championship as a team that has by far the most resources in the league to allocate to their team.. we're no longer in 'unlucky' territory.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

No team could eliminate them before the final game. They just have the worst record in Game 7's. It's not like they were getting swept or losing in 5. Game 7 is almost 50/50.

I believe every team the Leafs took to 7 and lost won the second round (at least) too. So it's not like they were facing some weak competition.

Very true. There’s no way any team was beating those powerhouse Montreal and Columbus teams. Just bad draws.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

he should have been fired the second those words left him.

 

[Divine]

Very true. There’s no way any team was beating those powerhouse Montreal and Columbus teams. Just bad draws.

Columbus wasn't a Game 7
Montreal went to the Cup Finals

Did you think the 8 seed Kings team that won the Cup was bad too because they were an 8th seed?

C'mon now. When it's been 6 straight years of first round exits, 18 years without a series win, and 55 years without a championship as a team that has by far the most resources in the league to allocate to their team.. we're no longer in 'unlucky' territory.

It's unlucky statistically.

Remember, we're taking 2 teams who after 6 games both won 3 games a piece. In a one game takes it, it's virtually a 50/50.

They went 0/4, and all the teams they lost to (excluding 2022 for now) went to the Cup Finals. So that first round could have been the third round due to the quality of competition.

It's a combination of heavy competition and a bad format to play the Cup Finalist/Champ in every 1st round despite having a top record.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Columbus wasn't a Game 7
Montreal went to the Cup Finals

Did you think the 8 seed Kings team that won the Cup was bad too because they were an 8th seed?



It's unlucky statistically.

Remember, we're taking 2 teams who after 6 games both won 3 games a piece. In a one game takes it, it's virtually a 50/50.

They went 0/4, and all the teams they lose to (excluding 2022 for now) went to the Cup Finals. So that first round could have been the third round due to the quality of competition.

No I thought LA was a two time Champ. Montreal and Columbus were bad teams that wouldn’t have made the playoffs in a normal year and in fact Montreal has the first overall pick this year. Your team will never get a more favourable draw than those two years. Toronto choked both years.
Nothing unlucky about it. That’s just another lame excuse like blaming the refs this year.
Be better.

 

[Enniskillen]

Fire this pathetic loser into the sun. Hilarious comment after six consequent first round exits for the team from the city called “the six”.

 

[Divine]

No I thought LA was a two time Champ. Montreal and Columbus were bad teams that wouldn’t have made the playoffs in a normal year. Toronto choked both years.

Wow, we got a time traveller here! LA wasn't a 2 time Champ when they were the 8th seed. They didn't get past the first round in the previous 8 seasons, missed 6, lost 2 previous years. That was the year they won their first Stanley Cup. You're changing history to fit your narrative

Montreal went to the Cup Finals. It wasn't just the Leafs that lost to them. They swept Winnipeg and then beat the heavily favoured Golden Knights in 6, who took out favourites Colorado.

Also, the Leafs lost their captain 10 mins into the series - that's definitely bad luck.

Colombus they choked, but it was also the first best of 5 series. In a normal playoff, that series isn't over.

 

[Frank Drebin]

It's more unlucky than anything.

No team could eliminate them before the final game. They just have the worst record in Game 7's. It's not like they were getting swept or losing in 5. Game 7 is almost 50/50.

I believe every team the Leafs took to 7 and lost won the second round (at least) too. So it's not like they were facing some weak competition.

I think one day this core has to get over the hump but man oh man the lost opportunities.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

LA wasn't a 2 time Champ when they were the 8th seed. That was the year they won their first Stanley Cup. You're changing history to fit your narrative

Montreal went to the Cup Finals. It wasn't just the Leafs that lost to them. They swept Winnipeg and then beat the heavily favoured Golden Knights in 6, who took out favourites Colorado.

Also, the Leafs lost their captain 10 mins into the series - that's definitely bad luck.

Colombus they choked, but it was also the first best of 5 series. In a normal playoff, that series isn't over.

Yeah they choked against Columbus and Montreal. In fact Montreal was so bad they have the first overall pick this year.
Leafs were up 3-1 last year and choked once again.
If excuses like the refs and bad luck help you cope then go for it. But that’s a team that’s underachieved when it matters most. Could change at some point but it has nothing to do with luck. They just need to play better.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Very true. There’s no way any team was beating those powerhouse Montreal and Columbus teams. Just bad draws.

Bad luck to lose to Montreal 3 games in a row. Next year. Plus they had a good goalie, so it doesn't really count.

 

[Divine]

Yeah they choked against Columbus and Montreal. In fact Montreal was so bad they have the first overall pick this year.
Leafs were up 3-1 last year and choked once again.

Did you know Price and Weber missed basically the whole season this year? They lost Danault and KK and Jake Allen got injured? This years Montreal's team is a completely different team.

Montreal went to the Cup Finals - half the league 'choked', not just the Leafs. Only Tampa could beat them, they won the whole West (over Edmonton, Colorado, Vegas, Toronto, Winnipeg).

Also, you're overestimating the Leafs team that played Columbus. They both had the same record. You're making it seem like the Leafs were a 1 seed or something. They were both tied for the 8th seed. They choked in that they lost the series? Is every losing series a choke?

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Did you know Price and Weber missed basically the whole season this year? They lost Danault and KK and Jake Allen got injured? This years Montreal's team is a completely different team.

Montreal went to the Cup Finals - half the league 'choked', not just the Leafs. Only Tampa could beat them, they won the whole West (over Edmonton, Colorado, Vegas, Toronto, Winnipeg).

Also, you're overestimating the Leafs team that played Columbus. They both had the same record. You're making it seem like the Leafs were a 1 seed or something. They were both tied for the 8th seed. They choked in that they lost the series? Is every losing series a choke?

The Leafs were up 3-1 on a bad Montreal team and lost 3 straight games. That’s a choke. They also choked against Columbus, a mediocre team outside of a playoff spot.
The Leafs are a very good regular season team that underperforms in the playoffs. That needs to change if they are ever going to win a round because in a normal year they are not going to get favourable matchups with weaker teams like Montreal and Columbus.
I’m not faulting them for losing to Tampa this year as Tampa is simply the better team even without Point.