GDT: Around the League - Stanley Cup Final Edition - #1

[lebdafor norris]

OMG, they win 1 game against the Bolts now their fans are out in full force on some of Leafs' Facebook groups. The mods have their hands full there.
Even some bandwagon Leaf fans are jumping at our throats if we disrespect "Canada's team" fcol. It's a riot I tellya.

If the Leafs were in the same position most of the fans would be doing the same thing, even if this was just a Conf finals and the Leafs managed to avoid being swept by winning game 4, you'd still see a lot of over zealous fans flooding the HF main boards. As far as I'm concerned, the Habs have given their fans plenty of reason to talk, this is an 8th-12th place caliber team that somehow wormed their way to the finals largely due to their player's determination and hustle, which is a lot more that can be said compare to the soft, entitled, greedy losers that makes up the Leaf's core players.

 

[Alamo Leafer]

If the Leafs were in the same position most of the fans would be doing the same thing, even if this was just a Conf finals and the Leafs managed to avoid being swept by winning game 4, you'd still see a lot of over zealous fans flooding the HF main boards. As far as I'm concerned, the Habs have given their fans plenty of reason to talk, this is an 8th-12th place caliber team that somehow wormed their way to the finals largely due to their player's determination and hustle, which is a lot more that can be said compare to the soft, entitled, greedy losers that makes up the Leaf's core players.

Lets not get overboard with "Most"! Most Habs fans are not in the groups I mentioned.
I also doubt "most" Leaf fans would do the same.
Any fan going to other fanbase's group talking smack is an idiot imo. Habs or Leafs.

 

[lebdafor norris]

Lets not get overboard with "Most"! Most Habs fans are not in the groups I mentioned.
I also doubt "most" Leaf fans would do the same.
Any fan going to other fanbase's group talking smack is an idiot imo. Habs or Leafs.

Well not other the other team's fan boards but neutral boards like the main HFboards or just general hockey discussion boards.

 

[notDatsyuk]

They're likely looking at his abilities and not just +/-.

It gives the Habs more matchup trouble, strengthens our depth, and improves our PP. Pretty sure that weak +/- has a good chunk of EN GA and ignores the powerplay contributions. He's also not matched up against the best line in hockey like he was against the Boston.

He's been a top 2 forward for us in every series he's played IMO. Only one close is Matthews.

I'm not just looking at +/-, although that is one thing that really sticks out.

In the regular season, he is very good at faceoffs and on the PP, while not so good defensively. In the playoffs, he's contributing even less: no PP goals and a total of two PP assists in 13 games (one each against Boston and Columbus), and he didn't win a single faceoff against Montreal. (Yes, small sample size.)

And I'm not saying he might not have helped, just that it's not the "of course we would have won with him" that some people seem to think.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Ok, I can understand that
And I never guaranteed we would have won the series even though I still don’t rate montreal really high despite this run, they are playing goon hockey feeding off other teams mistakes.
In the moments when we’re about to eliminate them in overtime like we had his leadership would have def helped and I do think his absence was a huge loss even if people think he should be producing allot more then he does

I wasn't suggesting that you 'guaranteed' it, but there were certainly some posters who did.

I'm not so sure about 'goon' hockey, as Montreal has taken fewer penalty minutes per game than twelve of the other fifteen teams in the playoffs (Tampa has takes the second most). A good example was late last night, when Tampa's fourth line started a scrum that got two of Montreal's top defencemen off the ice for over six minutes, during which Tampa tied the game.

And "feeding off other teams mistakes" is just good hockey, especially in the playoffs.

I've not been that impressed with his 'leadership'. We still won three games without him, until our players heard the siren call of the golf course.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Got to give the Habs a lot of credit, this is a team with tons of heart.

Ya, kudos to them no matter what happens from here. When you read the posts in here, its obvious & transparent that it irks us that they are where they are. But, no matter how we try to downplay their play and success, Montreal has achieved something that we'd be pretty happy about had we achieved it ourselves.

 

[hockeyes]

I wasn't suggesting that you 'guaranteed' it, but there were certainly some posters who did.

I'm not so sure about 'goon' hockey, as Montreal has taken fewer penalty minutes per game than twelve of the other fifteen teams in the playoffs (Tampa has takes the second most). A good example was late last night, when Tampa's fourth line started a scrum that got two of Montreal's top defencemen off the ice for over six minutes, during which Tampa tied the game.

And "feeding off other teams mistakes" is just good hockey, especially in the playoffs.

I've not been that impressed with his 'leadership'. We still won three games without him, until our players heard the siren call of the golf course.

Contrary to all the whining about the refs, a big reason why Montreal has made it this far is because they are getting very favorable officiating. Sure, some calls don't go their way like they don't for all teams but they more than make up for it with the amount they get away with in between.

You conveniently left out the number of punches to the face by Montreal during that scrum had to be 5 to 1 or more, they should have been on the penalty kill but the refs threw them a bone and evened it up in numbers for some reason. Chiarot alone had 4 or 5 unanswered sucker punches in a row as the Tampa player was trying to disengage. For the amount of crying about a single punch last series it's strange that nobody seems to notice when it goes the other way.

Good for Montreal, they are playing the only way they can to have any success. Hab fans should be very careful about asking for more calls to be made, it cuts both ways and one team has their entire strategy built around few calls being made.

 

[Mess]

Ya, kudos to them no matter what happens from here. When you read the posts in here, its obvious & transparent that it irks us that they are where they are. But, no matter how we try to downplay their play and success, Montreal has achieved something that we'd be pretty happy about had we achieved it ourselves.

My biggest takeaway is the long-term benefits of this years playoffs.

Which team Toronto or Montreal is going to benefit for a long playoff run learning how to win in the playoffs and how that helps their players develop from the experience making the better in the future?

I don't follow the logic of long-term losing in round #1 and in some epic ways to boot is somehow setting the Leafs up for long-term playoffs success in the future. I do believe you need to learn how to win in the playoffs before you can win it all as you build off of past success.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Contrary to all the whining about the refs, a big reason why Montreal has made it this far is because they are getting very favorable officiating. Sure, some calls don't go their way like they don't for all teams but they more than make up for it with the amount they get away with in between.

You conveniently left out the number of punches to the face by Montreal during that scrum had to be 5 to 1 or more, they should have been on the penalty kill but the refs threw them a bone and evened it up in numbers for some reason. Chiarot alone had 4 or 5 unanswered sucker punches in a row as the Tampa player was trying to disengage. For the amount of crying about a single punch last series it's strange that nobody seems to notice when it goes the other way.

Good for Montreal, they are playing the only way they can to have any success. Hab fans should be very careful about asking for more calls to be made, it cuts both ways and one team has their entire strategy built around few calls being made.

I think a lot of the 'bad reffing' is more fan perspective than reality. I watched the game with my father-in-law, who hates Montreal, and he was still surprised that Tampa didn't get called more. I saw several examples of the Tampa players getting in multiple face shots without repercussion.

That's one of the things that is part of Tampa's strategy. Because they have such a deadly PP, they happily take penalties, knowing that the refs will 'even up' calls. The previous series was a great example: the least penalized team in the regular season, and playoffs to that point, is suddenly getting called a lot on marginal plays that often would be let go.

 

[rumman]

I think a lot of the 'bad reffing' is more fan perspective than reality. I watched the game with my father-in-law, who hates Montreal, and he was still surprised that Tampa didn't get called more. I saw several examples of the Tampa players getting in multiple face shots without repercussion.

That's one of the things that is part of Tampa's strategy. Because they have such a deadly PP, they happily take penalties, knowing that the refs will 'even up' calls. The previous series was a great example: the least penalized team in the regular season, and playoffs to that point, is suddenly getting called a lot on marginal plays that often would be let go.

Definite bias on these boards about reffing, both teams are getting away with plenty, exactly how the playoffs are traditionally officiated. The whining is hilarious imo.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[fahad203]

Why stop there? Just take Keefe along

It seems Seattle doesn't want to win hiring all Leafs brass

 

[SeaOfBlue]

So much for MacFarland wanting to be a Head Coach. He did not even coach a game in the OHL before leaving.

He probably thinks his former partner won't last long and he will have the chance to take over soon after.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[notDatsyuk]

Definite bias on these boards about reffing, both teams are getting away with plenty, exactly how the playoffs are traditionally officiated. The whining is hilarious imo.

And not just these boards - every team's boards I've been to, which is most of them, along with the general boards. As far as I've seen, the same thing applies to every sport, to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the nature of the sport.

 

[The Shrike]

Carey Price showed last night why he's money in elimination games this year.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about any Leaf goalie in recent memory.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Carey Price showed last night why he's money in elimination games this year.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about any Leaf goalie in recent memory.

Leafs can’t recognize goaltending talent to save their lives. Can’t draft it, can’t trade for it, and can’t sign it. The one time they were sitting on a diamond they traded him away so the good old Canadian boy who just won WJC Gold could be the man.

How this franchise got Potvin, Joseph, and Belfour basically consecutively is a miracle.

 

[leafsfan5]

Carey Price showed last night why he's money in elimination games this year.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about any Leaf goalie in recent memory.

If MTL can somehow win game 5 in Tampa I have a feeling Price shuts them out in game 6 to force 7. But, game 5 will be the toughest win of the whole series if the Habs want to comeback.

It's a similar feeling I had heading into game 6 vs MTL of our series. Had MTL found a way to win that game Price would shut us out in game 7 (granted we scored a goal in garbage time because the leafs can't even let me have my predictions be correct)

 

[Dragao6]

I wasn't suggesting that you 'guaranteed' it, but there were certainly some posters who did.

I'm not so sure about 'goon' hockey, as Montreal has taken fewer penalty minutes per game than twelve of the other fifteen teams in the playoffs (Tampa has takes the second most). A good example was late last night, when Tampa's fourth line started a scrum that got two of Montreal's top defencemen off the ice for over six minutes, during which Tampa tied the game.

And "feeding off other teams mistakes" is just good hockey, especially in the playoffs.

I've not been that impressed with his 'leadership'. We still won three games without him, until our players heard the siren call of the golf course.

Well I’ve seen allot of the games in this series, I just see Tampa constantly coming at the Habs and Habs just try to physically try and get some momentum as they did with other teams, problem is Tampa can match them
To me it’s obvious montreal only knows how to try and get under teams skins because they still can’t score and have gone as far as price can take them
But we might be seeing different games

and if tavares was playing, all that would mean is supporting players play less, galchenyuk prob doesn’t see the ice all series
Those overtime mistakes well may have been different
He might not be lighting it up points wise but he doesn’t make too many stupid mistakes that cost games

 

[Mess]

So much for MacFarland wanting to be a Head Coach. He did not even coach a game in the OHL before leaving.

He probably thinks his former partner won't last long and he will have the chance to take over soon after.

Hakstol and McFarland were both Mike Babcock assistants and wanted out once he was gone as their loyalties lied with the previous coach.

There is probably a strong likelihood that its Babcock the next coach of the Kraken once his contract ends with the Leafs and they're just assembling the band back together in preparation.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Hakstol and McFarland were both Mike Babcock assistants and wanted out once he was gone as their loyalties lied with the previous coach.

There is probably a strong likelihood that its Babcock the next coach of the Kraken once his contract ends with the Leafs and they're just assembling the band back together in preparation.

Hakstol did not "want out". That is a baseless claim.

Literally any assistant anywhere would take a vacant HC job unless they were promised one in their existing organization, but that rarely ever happens. It's like turning down a promotion that you spent years trying to get. The whole reason Hakstol came to the Leafs as an assistant in the first place was to showcase himself for a future HC job, and he would move on for that kind of opportunity whether we won the Cup or missed the playoffs entirely.

MacFarland is more interesting considering he specifically left to take a HC job in the OHL to get HC experience, but Covid could have changed his mind or maybe he thinks he has a better chance of landing an NHL HC job with Seattle than with Toronto. He definitely has a better chance of becoming Seattle's second HC than Toronto's next HC after Keefe, who is likely sticking around for at least two more years barring a disaster of a regular season. Don't know, and it does not really matter to the Leafs.

It sucks losing Hakstol since he made our PK semi-respectable despite terrible goaltending, but MacFarland ran the same 1-3-1 stuff that we constantly saw this year under Malhotra. The only difference is Marner did not absolutely suck last year on the PP so our it wasn't totally anemic like it was for the second half of this year. As long as our PK replacement for Hakstol is decent (maybe move Malhotra there and then have Paul work with his son on the PP), then we are fine.

 

[3blizzard4]

Tonight's gonna be a good night

 

[notDatsyuk]

Well I’ve seen allot of the games in this series, I just see Tampa constantly coming at the Habs and Habs just try to physically try and get some momentum as they did with other teams, problem is Tampa can match them
To me it’s obvious montreal only knows how to try and get under teams skins because they still can’t score and have gone as far as price can take them
But we might be seeing different games

and if tavares was playing, all that would mean is supporting players play less, galchenyuk prob doesn’t see the ice all series
Those overtime mistakes well may have been different
He might not be lighting it up points wise but he doesn’t make too many stupid mistakes that cost games

I've watched all the games, and I don't think we're seeing different things. Successful teams play a physical game, and try to get under the other team's skin. I'm not at all surprised that the three most successful teams this year, Tampa, the Islanders, and Montreal, all play that way.

This series, as well as the one between Tampa and the Isles, has been pretty even as far as physical play and chippiness, with Tampa having an edge in talent.

 

[Mess]

Tonight could be the official end of the 2020-21 season.

The regular season was painful to watch playing the same teams over and over and over again with little to no variety.

However the playoffs have been highly entertaining with some great series and some fantastic hockey on display. Loved the physical play and intensity and the compete level on display.

 

[Dragao6]

I've watched all the games, and I don't think we're seeing different things. Successful teams play a physical game, and try to get under the other team's skin. I'm not at all surprised that the three most successful teams this year, Tampa, the Islanders, and Montreal, all play that way.

This series, as well as the one between Tampa and the Isles, has been pretty even as far as physical play and chippiness, with Tampa having an edge in talent.

So do you consider the Habs a playoff team next year?