Around the League | And then there were four.

[AwesomeInTheory]

Dangle actually cried on stream. I feel bad for the guy. Yeah, he's made millions off this, but he is the most passionate fan I can think of.

Since it is only sports: f*** him.

Where's that Woody Harrelson gif?

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

the leafs are gonna blow up the core, and it will probably be the wrong move on paper, but how many chances can you give this group? matthews truly might be the least clutch player ever...at least in toronto.

would guess they're gonna let marner and tavares walk and replace them with bennett and bailing vegas out for pietrangelo... but like what else can they do?

as for the nhl - this loser league deserves a dallas-carolina final that no one will watch. too bad for the canadian economy that we will never get an all-canadian scf, but we're plagued by loser sports fans making our markets insufferable anyways. watch auston matthews win like three cups with anaheim lol

I give that group a pass between 2017-2019 and 2022. Washington, Boston and Tampa were just much better.

2020 and 2021 are inexcusable chokejobs and I would have pulled the trigger on a big move back then. This group was kept together though and kept squandering wide open looks at a deep cup run.

I actually think their best roster was in 2023 when they had ROR. Insane how they pissed it away that year.

 

[VanJack]

Well that's the playoffs for you.....the equivalent of 'riding high in April, shot down in May and back on top in June' as the old song goes.

They now have to go to Colorado and take two out of three to extend the series. Won't be easy. But then it never is, the deeper into the post-season you go.

At least they fought back in the third period to try and make it close. And real solid games from Lekkerimaki and Kudryavtsev--two of the youngest guys in the lineup. Good to see if your primary focus for Abby is 'prospect development'.

Silovs will hopefully bounce back for game three in Colorado. He's usually followed a shaky outing with a rock solid game. They'll need for him to be at his best on the road.

 

[AwesomeInTheory]

Oh no, what will Sportsnet and TSN do with all the airtime?

- talk about what went wrong
- whether they should get rid of Marner
- why they should get rid of Marner
- why Marner is the anti-Christ
- could the Leafs use a coaching change?
- some other shit is going on with some other hockey teams, i guess
- no really, could the Leafs use a coaching change?
- here's our list of UFAs the Leafs should be targeting

 

[VanCanucks53]

I see a lot of us in Leaf fans so I actually feel for them. Their misery is very relatable. I would have muchhhh rather the Leafs advance than the Oilers any day.

 

[Raistlin]

I do feel for Dangle. Anytime when he sees his viewership skyrocket, he's knows it's because of torture voyeurs wishing to see the pain his favorite team inflicts upon him. Every year like clockwork, they deliver each one more painful than the other. This leaf team looked really good early.

 

[me2]

I see a lot of us in Leaf fans so I actually feel for them. Their misery 1is very relatable. I would have muchhhh rather the Leafs advance than the Oilers any day.

Every time.e your sympathies start rising remember their behaviour in 2011 and harden your heart to them.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Zero sympathy for Leafs fans and Leafs media (TSN and Sportsnet).

After 2011, they can all eat it.

 

[AwesomeInTheory]

I see a lot of us in Leaf fans so I actually feel for them. Their misery is very relatable. I would have muchhhh rather the Leafs advance than the Oilers any day.

There's a difference between being fans a long suffering franchise and being a fan of a long suffering franchise whose balls get tongued by the national media and are paraded around like the greatest thing ever and developing a complex over it (Remember "we want Florida" chants from last year?)

I feel bad for the friends I know who are Leafs fans and aren't like that, but for my own personal sanity I would much rather Toronto continue to be a joke of a franchise.

E: And I really could not give a f*** about Steve Dangle. Dude made a choice to broadcast his fandom and he's been rewarded handsomely for it. How terrible it is he can't get stupidly rich for watching hockey and watch his team win it all. Such a tragedy. f*** off.

 

[Attack Vector]

That’s an end of era for the leafs. It’s just extremely hard to win a cup as a Canadian franchise. They assembled such a talented team and still can’t get it done.

 

[Orr4Norris]

Matthews throwing his teammates under the bus saying there were too many passengers is…something.

 

[valkynax]

I'm liking Corrado more and more as an analyst.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Matthews throwing his teammates under the bus saying there were too many passengers is…something.

I mean, he isn't wrong. He just needs to look in a mirror while saying it.

 

[bossram]

And then there were 4. If you are wondering you can find the Canucks just below the Rangers.

Analytics are FUBAR, except for when the Cup Finalists are always elite by the analytics.

Shows how far the Canucks really are away from being able to play a this level.

Also shows that despite "choking" again, the Leafs really just weren't that good of a team to begin with.

 

[Nuck Bonino]

thank you hockey gods, justice is served for another year, now just let the Coilers lose to the Stars this time around if its not too much to ask

 

[bossram]

Marner (maybe even Tavares) are 100% signing with a team that will win the Cup in the next two seasons. Book it.

As for Toronto - maybe they finally reality check that Matthews just isn’t a big game player. All the “he’s number 2 in the league after McDavid”, I’m not even sure he was the second best player on his own team in the playoffs. Just not getting it done when games matter the most.

Marner is not "the guy" but I believe he can be a clinical finisher next to a franchise talent in a less pressure filled market like Vegas (next to Eichel).

Toronto ran Phil Kessel out of town who ended up being clutch next to Crosby.

Yep to both of the above. Marner is gonna sign somewhere he's not under the microscope and is going to win a Cup.

Matthews isn't a big game player but what can they do? Trade him and they turn their franchise into the modern Red Wings.

the leafs are gonna blow up the core, and it will probably be the wrong move on paper, but how many chances can you give this group? matthews truly might be the least clutch player ever...at least in toronto.

would guess they're gonna let marner and tavares walk and replace them with bennett and bailing vegas out for pietrangelo... but like what else can they do?

Yep. Leafs are gonna do some absolutely stupid things and turn themselves into something even worse - an irrelevant franchise. But they have to do something.

 

[Vancouver_2010]

Matthews throwing his teammates under the bus saying there were too many passengers is…something.

No, that's call self reflection, and its very humble of him to say that.

 

[F A N]

I’m no attorney, but purposely pissing off the jury seems like a poor strategy to win a trial (especially if you could have simply chosen a trial by judge in the first place).

That's why I have trouble believing that's Formenton's attorneys were making fun of the jurors.

I get that every criminal defendant deserves a robust defence, but it's still hard not to feel like lawyers defending people credibly accused of rape, which generally amounts to repeatedly attacking and insulting their victims, are selling their souls and will never get them back.

Hard to argue with your sentiment there. I mean yes everyone geta a defence but the ones that go for theatrics, drama and exploit technicalities.. well im not sure where they end up but hopefully enternally get reamed by their own practices

I hate this kind of thinking. There is a right to legal counsel. That means that somebody has to defend the accused. I know that not everyone agrees but procedural fairness matters. If a cop tortures someone to get a confession should that be allowed because that person is "credibly accused?" Should evidence that was obtained solely because a cop racially profiled the accused be allowed to support a conviction? Should a doctor be allowed to not save someone or even purposely botch the surgery/treatment simply because that doctor believes that he's saving a murderer and will continue to murder if he gets to live? If your cousin murder someone's cousin should you be murdered because it's only fair?

People do get falsely accused and convicted of crimes. As a society we've determined that it's best to let 100 guilty persons go free than convict one innocent person.

 

[F A N]

I give that group a pass between 2017-2019 and 2022. Washington, Boston and Tampa were just much better.

2020 and 2021 are inexcusable chokejobs and I would have pulled the trigger on a big move back then. This group was kept together though and kept squandering wide open looks at a deep cup run.

I actually think their best roster was in 2023 when they had ROR. Insane how they pissed it away that year.

I think the issue is that their top players consistently underperformed. I think if their top players performed to expectations and still lost the series to a better team that's a different matter. But with the Leafs not only did they have glaring weaknesses most years with this core group (goaltending or defense) their top players failed to produce when needed.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Oh come on now there's a difference between being beat by the Stanley Cup champions and basically sifting around doing f*** all

Nobody is denying the Leafs choked in game #7...I've never seen a Canuck crowd ever boo a team off the ice in any round of the playoffs.

 

[VanJack]

Nobody is denying the Leafs choked in game #7...I've never seen a Canuck crowd ever boo a team off the ice in any round of the playoffs.

Agreed. I guess in some sense you can understand the frustration of Leafs Nation.

But throwing jerseys and cups of beer on the ice when your team is eliminated in a game #7, is pretty hard to swallow. I mean, the Canuck fans didn't even do that when their team was eliminated from the playoffs and they were playing their last meaningless home game.

But big changes are brewing in TO. This team was built to 'win now'. Anything less than a trip to the conference finals has be considered a big disappointment.

I understand even Shanahan doesn't have a contract for next season---so the 'Shanaplan' can now officially be deemed 'a failure'.

But there's a hard lesson for a team like the Canucks. The Leafs simply had too much money tied up in Marner, Tavares, Matthews and Nylander. You might be able to afford two 'big-ticket contracts--but not four.

The Canucks now have two in Hughes and Pettersson. I doubt even they could afford a third one.

 

[DFAC]

I see a lot of us in Leaf fans so I actually feel for them. Their misery is very relatable. I would have muchhhh rather the Leafs advance than the Oilers any day.

Some of you guys are getting soft... that Game 7 was fantastic to watch lol

 

[Grip it N RYP it]

 

[andora]

That's why I have trouble believing that's Formenton's attorneys were making fun of the jurors.





I hate this kind of thinking. There is a right to legal counsel. That means that somebody has to defend the accused. I know that not everyone agrees but procedural fairness matters. If a cop tortures someone to get a confession should that be allowed because that person is "credibly accused?" Should evidence that was obtained solely because a cop racially profiled the accused be allowed to support a conviction? Should a doctor be allowed to not save someone or even purposely botch the surgery/treatment simply because that doctor believes that he's saving a murderer and will continue to murder if he gets to live? If your cousin murder someone's cousin should you be murdered because it's only fair?

People do get falsely accused and convicted of crimes. As a society we've determined that it's best to let 100 guilty persons go free than convict one innocent person.

No
No
No
No
I think that was the 4 questions

Nobody is denying the Leafs choked in game #7...I've never seen a Canuck crowd ever boo a team off the ice in any round of the playoffs.

Fair enough and yeah I hate the throwing stuff on the ice but with how much these players get paid how little accountability they take how many years this has been going on the booing is beyond justified in my opinion

 

[ManVanFan]

Analytics are FUBAR, except for when the Cup Finalists are always elite by the analytics.

Shows how far the Canucks really are away from being able to play a this level.

Also shows that despite "choking" again, the Leafs really just weren't that good of a team to begin with.

It's generally the case though. Lol. I wouldn't say they were a bad team, just not a final four team.