Are the Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup contenders?

[Kerberos]

No one does that

All I saw on these boards before the Leafs' latest skid from Toronto fans was proselytizing he'd hit 70 and chest-thumping after every goal.

The chants were originally "We Want Boston"... Florida then eliminated Boston... So naturally it switched to We Want Florida. All made by a bunch of drunk 19yr olds mind you

How is that so hard for you people to grasp lmao

Nah it was more than just a handful of twinks chanting that and believing it'd be an easier match-up for the Leafs. Most of your fanbase was terrified of playing the Bruins and thought Florida would be an easy sweep.

 

[BTP]

Of course it was. Once Florida beat Boston, every Leafs fan felt the same way. Cut the bullshit.

Of course what was? Your post makes less sense than the guys who think we chanted we want florida before florida eliminated boston.

 

[BTP]

All I saw on these boards before the Leafs' latest skid from Toronto fans was proselytizing he'd hit 70 and chest-thumping after every goal.

Thats what fans do when you have the best goal scorer in the world on your team, not one of them cares more about that than winning playoff games. there you guys go making up stories again

Nah it was more than just a handful of twinks chanting that and believing it'd be an easier match-up for the Leafs. Most of your fanbase was terrified of playing the Bruins and thought Florida would be an easy sweep.

Nonsense. Prove it.
No one thought that after they beat Boston. You guys are making up stories again.
We wanted Boston because we wanted to get revenge. Not one leaf fan said florida would be an easy sweep. You guys are making shit up. The We Want Florida chants didnt happen one time until they eliminated the bruins.

 

[Drytoast]

No we are not. We will make the dance, we will lose the dance.

 

[The90]

All I saw on these boards before the Leafs' latest skid from Toronto fans was proselytizing he'd hit 70 and chest-thumping after every goal.


Nah it was more than just a handful of twinks chanting that and believing it'd be an easier match-up for the Leafs. Most of your fanbase was terrified of playing the Bruins and thought Florida would be an easy sweep.

… you of course realize they also chanted we want boston too, right?

Or I guess that’s a no because it doesn’t fit your narrative

They never have to me. They don’t have what it takes to make a long Cup run. Their top players don’t have the balls to do what is absolutely necessary to win. What is it that they say now, no one has that “dog” in him on that team.

This game is so mental, especially in the playoffs, and they are just not mentally tough enough either. They would need a Hasek level goalie to “carry” them.

After watching what Florida had to do to get to the Finals, I don’t think Toronto is capable of doing that.

They likely don’t have a goaltender capable of .953 through 2.5 rounds. Correct. They might actually need to play team defence instead of being bailed out by goaltending

 

[bossram]

As of now, they are not.

They are materially weaker than previous versions of the Matthews-Marner era Leafs. Their scoring chance control metrics are worse, mostly due to poorer defensive play. The goaltending also does not inspire confidence.

The Canadian Division and following season where they lost to TB were their best chances. Didn't happen and won't now.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

The Cinderella Leafs need to find their Prince Charming.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Surprisingly the Leafs are a better team with Martin Jones than they are with Samsonov.

 

[Schennanigans]

f*** no.

 

[Jmo89]

All I saw on these boards before the Leafs' latest skid from Toronto fans was proselytizing he'd hit 70 and chest-thumping after every goal.


Nah it was more than just a handful of twinks chanting that and believing it'd be an easier match-up for the Leafs. Most of your fanbase was terrified of playing the Bruins and thought Florida would be an easy sweep.

The majority of the fanbase wanted Boston. Fans wanted the team to overcome their past failures with the 1st round and being beaten by Boston three times since 2013.

The whole Florida storyline is very much an HFism. No one in Toronto cares that some drunkards chanted something after their first crumb of success in the playoffs in 20 years. They do care that its the same old Leafs.

In fact one of the most common tropes on the Leafs board is that the team often does worse against so called "lesser" teams, so many of us were weary of Florida.

As for the thread topic, they're middle of the pack for playoff teams. I don't really think they have a shot of going deep unless they get extremely lucky with goaltending.

 

[Kiekura]

The whole Florida storyline is very much an HFism.

Not true at all. Social media was full of clips shitloads of people chanting we want Boston and then even more clips of people laughing to leafs fans after Florida dropped them.

It definitely was big thing. Maybe it was not realism in here on Leafs board, but it was on other places

 

[Ratsreign]

In fact one of the most common tropes on the Leafs board is that the team often does worse against so called "lesser" teams, so many of us were weary of Florida.

Perhaps the Leafs’ board main problem was considering FL as one of those “lesser” teams.
“arrogance comes before the fall”, as they say

 

[The90]

Not true at all. Social media was full of clips shitloads of people chanting we want Boston and then even more clips of people laughing to leafs fans after Florida dropped them.

It definitely was big thing. Maybe it was not realism in here on Leafs board, but it was on other places

That’s 100% true.

Same thing goes for panthers fans infatuation with Reaves and thinking leaf fans are infatuated with his toughness

 

[Enga Olly]

Perhaps the Leafs’ board main problem was considering FL as one of those “lesser” teams.
“arrogance comes before the fall”, as they say

your great team scraped into the playoffs and got there courtesy of a Penguins collapse, losing to Chicago. I hope and pray for a Cinderella run too, no doubt I'm jealous, but no one including Florida "fans" thought much of the Panthers. Nothing to do with arrogance, everything to do with Fla's season long play. We'll see who is the pretender, all this HFBoard shit talk is just that.

 

[Auston Marlander]

As of now, they are not.

They are materially weaker than previous versions of the Matthews-Marner era Leafs. Their scoring chance control metrics are worse, mostly due to poorer defensive play. The goaltending also does not inspire confidence.

The Canadian Division and following season where they lost to TB were their best chances. Didn't happen and won't now.

Their goaltending issues are .862 Samsanov, unless you think .916 Woll and .930 Jones are the problem.

I can't predict the future, but we have had a goaltender problem, not a goaltending problem.

 

[CTHabsfan]

Contender: a person or group competing with others to achieve something.

By definition, yes, the Maple Leafs are contenders. That said, the Leafs (unless they can pull off some amazing trades) won't even make the Stanley Cup finals.

 

[CTHabsfan]

Their goaltending issues are .862 Samsanov, unless you think .916 Woll and .930 Jones are the problem.

I can't predict the future, but we have had a goaltender problem, not a goaltending problem.

There really isn't a good sample size for Woll, but I really wouldn't expect Martin Jones to come close to maintaining a .930 average. Jones had a career best .934 over 19 games in 2013-14. His next best season was .918 in 2015-16 and his best SV% over the past five seasons was .900.

 

[Auston Marlander]

There really isn't a good sample size for Woll, but I really wouldn't expect Martin Jones to come close to maintaining a .930 average. Jones had a career best .934 over 19 games in 2013-14. His next best season was .918 in 2015-16 and his best SV% over the past five seasons was .900.

Agreed, but we don't need their career to be better, just just need 30ish more games each to be good. Can it happen...maybe, maybe not.

My point is when discussing this year the issue has clearly been Samsanov, he single handedly lost the Leafs multiple games.

 

[Auston Marlander]

Contender: a person or group competing with others to achieve something.

By definition, yes, the Maple Leafs are contenders. That said, the Leafs (unless they can pull off some amazing trades) won't even make the Stanley Cup finals.

You're confusing contenders with favorites. 30 teams won't make the finals...last year Florida wasn't expected to make the finals...Montreal wasn't expected to make the finals...most years a team makes it who isn't expected.

Hot goalie, a team hitting their stride or just dumb luck gets a team to the finals in many seasons.

 

[Ratsreign]

your great team scraped into the playoffs and got there courtesy of a Penguins collapse, losing to Chicago. I hope and pray for a Cinderella run too, no doubt I'm jealous, but no one including Florida "fans" thought much of the Panthers. Nothing to do with arrogance, everything to do with Fla's season long play. We'll see who is the pretender, all this HFBoard shit talk is just that.

if not arrogance than it must just simply be ignorance, I guess.
The Panthers won the presidents trophy the previous season. After adjusting to new coach and getting fully healthy last season, they were one of the best teams the second half of the year. The Panthers were/are a very good team.....better than the Leafs, even .

 

[PaulD]

Surprisingly the Leafs are a better team with Martin Jones than they are with Samsonov.

what team wouldn't be ....

if not arrogance than it must just simply be ignorance, I guess.
The Panthers won the presidents trophy the previous season. After adjusting to new coach and getting fully healthy last season, they were one of the best teams the second half of the year. The Panthers were/are a very good team.....better than the Leafs, even .

They bounced the keafs without breaking a sweat.

 

[bossram]

Their goaltending issues are .862 Samsanov, unless you think .916 Woll and .930 Jones are the problem.

I can't predict the future, but we have had a goaltender problem, not a goaltending problem.

Yeah, I'm not predicting Jones to be continue to be a Vezina quality goalie here my guy. We've seen his career and what's going to happen.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Yeah, I'm not predicting Jones to be continue to be a Vezina quality goalie here my guy. We've seen his career and what's going to happen.

Honestly, hope he can just keep adding to his W stat until Woll is back and able to get into a groove after his high ankle injury.

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

No, they're the Leafs.

 

[The Management]

Interestingly, I would say no, absolutely not.

Not given the state of their defence, their team defence, and their goaltending. If anything, it's taken a step backwards from last year.

Paradoxically, I still think they might do better when no one expects anything from them.

Yeah, we saw something similar with the Panthers last year, where they squeaked into the playoffs, but then brought this "we're the underdogs, %$@# the doubters" energy. And you could tell everyone on that roster bought into the message. Tkachuk was repeating how everybody had written them off, and that fueled them to upset teams like the Bruins.

Could Toronto replicate that, if they have a rockier regular season? Try to embrace the underdog role? Maybe. But as you point out, the media will make that difficult, and you also need to have the personnel with the right mindset to buy into that message.