Auston Matthews is 53 goals from franchise history.

[NVious]

The regular season matters as does our franchise record book.

None of that changes that we’re all looking for post season success, but acting like the rest suddenly doesn’t matter is absolutely ridiculous.

People seriously need to stop with this garbage.

It's really not garbage.

Matthews goes from BY FAR the best season performer since the NHL started tracking g/60 at 2g to 32nd in the league in the playoffs, even if you remove 20 game players, he's still 27th. This isn't just bad, it's horrendous.

Great players find a way to get it done when it matters most, McDrai play like Gods in pretty much every series, Matthews has maybe had 1 amazing series in his 9 in the playoffs. For a guy as talented as he is playing with the talent that he does, it's absolutely inexcusable.

 

[Sypher04]

It's really not garbage.

Matthews goes from BY FAR the best season performer since the NHL started tracking g/60 at 2g to 32nd in the league in the playoffs, even if you remove 20 game players, he's still 27th. This isn't just bad, it's horrendous.

Great players find a way to get it done when it matters most, McDrai play like Gods in pretty much every series, Matthews has maybe had 1 amazing series in his 9 in the playoffs. For a guy as talented as he is playing with the talent that he does, it's absolutely inexcusable.

That has precisely what to do with the regular season?

Nobody thinks the core 4 have done enough in the playoffs.

What is garbage, as I accurately said before, is this notion among a portion of the fanbase that our regular seasons and franchise records do not matter because we lack playoff success.

 

[notbias]

It's really not garbage.

Matthews goes from BY FAR the best season performer since the NHL started tracking g/60 at 2g to 32nd in the league in the playoffs, even if you remove 20 game players, he's still 27th. This isn't just bad, it's horrendous.

Great players find a way to get it done when it matters most, McDrai play like Gods in pretty much every series, Matthews has maybe had 1 amazing series in his 9 in the playoffs. For a guy as talented as he is playing with the talent that he does, it's absolutely inexcusable.

McDrai choked when it mattered most, but whatever narrative you want to push.

McDavid - 0-0-0 2S
Draisaitl - 0-0-0 0S

People keep acting like they won the cup here... they tried, really, really hard, but no cup, sorry to the fanboys here.

 

[Stephen]

I’m going to preface this by saying, nobody thinks the core 4 doesn’t need to bring more.

Last 3 years playoffs:

Edmonton - 3.68 GF/g, 32.3% powerplay
Colorado - 3.87 GF/g, 30.3% powerplay
Toronto - 2.76 GF/g, 16.1% powerplay

Top point producers per game
McDavid - 1st (1.79)
Draisaitl - 3rd (1.53)
Makar - 4th (1.32)
Rantanen - 5th (1.29)
MacKinnon - 7th (1.18)
Landeskog - 12th (1.10)
Matthews - 17th (1.04)
Marner - 21st (1.00)
Nylander - 39th (0.91)

These PPG comparisons aren’t even close even if they’re supposed to show a relative level of parity. Keep in mind the PPG averages bake in second, third and fourth round play for everyone else on that list, so if these guys are running out of steam by Game 7 of the first round what hope is there to go 4x rounds?

The gap between Matthews regular season dominance and playoff malfunctioning is just not acceptable.

 

[Nineteen67]

Matthews doesn't need a cup to be the best Leafs player of all time.

Best Leafs player and best Leafs team are two different things. One is measured by individual awards. The other has the names of everyone associated with the team on it.

Matthews will pass Sundin's goal scoring record next year.

It's only a matter of time he passes Sundin in total points as well. By the time Matthews is finished playing here his statue on legends row will already be made. Knowing Matthews he'll insist it's of pure gold.

Matthews is the only player on the team who should be considered untouchable.

Unless another sixty goal scoring franchise centre is the return. Everyone else on the team can pound pavement. It's not too late to trade those guys and surround Matthews with the right character players so he can still win a cup.

Not that he needs it to cement his status as the best Leafs player of all time or anything though.

What if he yields the best return that makes the team a contender?

 

[tuckerintensity]

It's somewhat mind boggling that he could break this record so quickly. It took Mats 978 games to get his 420th for the Leafs (and he played 981 overall), Matthews is at 562.

 

[Sypher04]

These PPG comparisons aren’t even close even if they’re supposed to show a relative level of parity. Keep in mind the PPG averages bake in second, third and fourth round play for everyone else on that list, so if these guys are running out of steam by Game 7 of the first round what hope is there to go 4x rounds?

The gap between Matthews regular season dominance and playoff malfunctioning is just not acceptable.

Producing doesn't necessarily become any harder in subsequent rounds than it was in round 1, other than being a larger sample of games. So that's a pure fallacy on your part.

The point of the post you replied to was to show that our guys production is *somewhat* relative to the overall scoring and special teams issues the team has experienced under Keefe the last 3 years.

1.04 points per game against a 2.76 GF/g is not all that dissimilar from 1.18 against a 3.87 GF/g, for example. Again, obviously smaller sample.

Colorado's depth helps to allow their stars to flourish.

And yes, before someone says it, I know and agree, our guys leaving money on the table during their contract negotiations would have certainly helped us retain depth. We’ve also made bad decisions

 

[Tak7]

He will likely go down as the best player in Maple Leafs history, and certainly one of the most talented players we see where the blue & white.

If ONLY he could add some level of post-season success? Just imagine..

 

[Racer88]

That has precisely what to do with the regular season?

Nobody thinks the core 4 have done enough in the playoffs.

What is garbage, as I accurately said before, is this notion among a portion of the fanbase that our regular seasons and franchise records do not matter because we lack playoff success.

Everyone knows the core has not done enough in the playoffs but they keep lining up for bigger and bigger contracts.
As of yet they have shown nothing that indicates they will be any different going forward.
As fans and the management how do we reconcile this.
I’m a life long Leaf fan and that’s never going to change but how do we keep our enthusiasm up and and not feel like they deserve every criticism that we direct at them.

 

[Stephen]

Producing doesn't necessarily become any harder in subsequent rounds than it was in round 1, other than being a larger sample of games. So that's a pure fallacy on your part.

The point of the post you replied to was to show that our guys production is *somewhat* relative to the overall scoring and special teams issues the team has experienced under Keefe the last 3 years.

1.04 points per game against a 2.76 GF/g is not all that dissimilar from 1.18 against a 3.87 GF/g, for example. Again, obviously smaller sample.

Colorado's depth allows their stars to flourish.

And yes, before someone says it, I know and agree, our guys leaving money on the table during their contract negotiations would have certainly helped us retain depth.

The playoffs become tighter on average because the competition remaining is stronger, wear and tear and fatigue starts factoring in more and more and the stakes become higher. The idea that it’s just a data set getting bigger just ignores the details of the game.

Colorado has not been a deep team for years. Their stars are a factor because they act and behave and play like superstars. Ours get stage fright. That’s a human factor, and if you think Matthews is wired the same way as Mackinnon, I don’t know what to tell you.

The money is the money and we can’t do anything about it now. The depth is mediocre but it is what it is.

The only thing that needs to happen is Matthews has to take a hard look at his own personal playoff game and figure out why the fall off is what it is and why he’s so unadaptable. And why he gets pushed out of big moments by inferior talent.

At the end of the day, regular season stats and awards and records absolutely matter, but more as an appetizer for the main course which is the playoff and serious championship pursuits. If he cant elevate it’s going to damage his reputation.

 

[Confucius]

It's really not garbage.

Matthews goes from BY FAR the best season performer since the NHL started tracking g/60 at 2g to 32nd in the league in the playoffs, even if you remove 20 game players, he's still 27th. This isn't just bad, it's horrendous.

Great players find a way to get it done when it matters most, McDrai play like Gods in pretty much every series, Matthews has maybe had 1 amazing series in his 9 in the playoffs. For a guy as talented as he is playing with the talent that he does, it's absolutely inexcusable.

Except when it mattered most…

 

[keonsbitterness]

What if he yields the best return that makes the team a contender?

And what if you grew wings?

 

[Sypher04]

The playoffs become tighter on average because the competition remaining is stronger, wear and tear and fatigue starts factoring in more and more and the stakes become higher. The idea that it’s just a data set getting bigger just ignores the details of the game.

I’ll give you fatigue maybe. The rest though isn’t necessarily true. Teams capable of going on deep runs or even winning the cup are eliminated in every round of the playoffs. It’s not necessarily true that the team you face in 3rd round was better than the team you faced in round 1. Also injuries can happen at any point along the way, they don’t feel round specific in any meaningful way.

Colorado has not been a deep team for years. Their stars are a factor because they act and behave and play like superstars. Ours get stage fright. That’s a human factor, and if you think Matthews is wired the same way as Mackinnon, I don’t know what to tell you.

I’ve certainly never insinuated I think they are wired the same. To this point MacKinnon is obviously the greater playoff performer.

The only thing that needs to happen is Matthews has to take a hard look at his own personal playoff game and figure out why the fall off is what it is and why he’s so unadaptable. And why he gets pushed out of big moments by inferior talent.

I don’t think Matthews has to change a lot personally. I mean, yeah, he has to dig deeper. Especially for goals in those big moments. But the last 3 years his production is fairly good (except the Florida series), he sticks up for himself now, he is physically engaged and hits quite a lot, he still plays excellent defensively. I think as much as we need the core 4 to find more each individually, we need the team as a whole to learn to suppress goals against without sacrificing their offense to accomplish it, which is partly what we have seen here imo. I think improved D personnel and new ideas from a coaching perspective are a big part of unlocking the next step for our core guys.

At the end of the day, regular season stats and awards and records absolutely matter, but more as an appetizer for the main course which is the playoff and serious championship pursuits. If he cant elevate it’s going to damage his reputation.

No question.

 

[Apex Predator]

Right now Matthews is on pace to be one of the greatest leafs. What he does between now and the end of his career in the playoffs will dictate how some people view him. Regardless he’s one of the greatest maple leafs of all time.

Playoff success will remove any doubt from people calling him the GOAT of the maple leafs.

 

[Nineteen67]

And what if you grew wings?

I would hope they’re not ostrich wings and I would be able to fly. Buffalo wings wouldn’t be too bad.

Do you think it’s unreasonable that he would bring the best return?

 

[keonsbitterness]

I would hope they’re not ostrich wings and I would be able to fly. Buffalo wings wouldn’t be too bad.

Do you think it’s unreasonable that he would bring the best return?

Who cares? No chance it'll happen.

 

[Nineteen67]

Who cares? No chance it'll happen.

I feel like one of those kids about to start 9th grade next month…..only four more years.

 

[Larcos_Unal]

If you think that matters you don't really watch.

It does matter, you think one day they're gonna suddenly wake up and figure it out? They need to go through various seasons of playoff runs before they figure it out. Even something as unlikely as Vegas took a few years before they won.

 

[WillNy29]

Damn you have set the bar high. Some of us just want to see the team go further and show progress. If I were you, I'd find something else to do because this team may never win in your lifetime either.

this sounds like excusing failure. I can enjoy my team doing cool things during the regular season and sometimes comebacks in the playoffs but absolutely hate that they don't win and that includes the losers from the 90s and 00s I've grown to disdain them because everyone pedastals their failures in this city to put down the current failures, when we can just say they all were/are losers who failed.

Winning a Cup in those days wasn't a realistic expectation, but they worked extremely hard and leadership.

Today it’s highly unlikely that they make to the semis, but with effort they could at least be entertaining like they were in games 5-7 this year. Expecting Domi to carry this team to a semi-final is a little too much to ask with all high price players consuming so much ice time.

games 1-7 were boring as f*** and not entertaining. blow out teams like everyone else does once in a while in the playoffs.

Your first sentence is excusing failure, sorry if i hurt your sentiments by calling the 90s, 00s players what they were, hardworking failures

 

[Gabriel426]

He is also 16 playoffs wins away in ONE playoffs from leading the Leafs to a Cup.

 

[mapleleaf979]

Matthews wont ever lead this team to stanley cup win. They still dont have a player who can do that. Matthews refuses to play gritty in a tight checking playoff scenario. Leafs dont have any dogs on that team, just a bunch of housecats, who want max money, max worship, results dont matter. Leafs are closer to a rebuild than a cup. 8 years, 1 playoff series win vs Tampa and they got lucky.

 

[Nineteen67]

this sounds like excusing failure. I can enjoy my team doing cool things during the regular season and sometimes comebacks in the playoffs but absolutely hate that they don't win and that includes the losers from the 90s and 00s I've grown to disdain them because everyone pedastals their failures in this city to put down the current failures, when we can just say they all were/are losers who failed.


games 1-7 were boring as f*** and not entertaining. blow out teams like everyone else does once in a while in the playoffs.

Your first sentence is excusing failure, sorry if i hurt your sentiments by calling the 90s, 00s players what they were, hardworking failures

But it wasn’t failure. They’re in the entertainment business. They had talent and they used it, as did the opposition. I enjoyed watching Gretzky, McSorley, Stevens etc. move on to the SCF.
Today they lack both effort and talent and thus are not very entertaining.

 

[Its not your fault]

It does matter, you think one day they're gonna suddenly wake up and figure it out? They need to go through various seasons of playoff runs before they figure it out. Even something as unlikely as Vegas took a few years before they won.

Unless teams have stopped trying. Theres multiple possible outcomes Everytime the puck drops. Lots of games have the same score no 2 are the exact same ever. You're dreaming if you believe what you said. How do I know, well it would be silly to not put all your money on them to lose. According to how the fans see it. If you do in fact believe what y'all are saying bet the bank. You won't because there's always that possibility. You know it, all you're trying to do is attack hope. Someone has hope and you hate that idea.


As long as you're not willing to put everything you have down on this idea you're saying, (Don't worry alot say it too) And you are incredibly sure of. One has to question if you really are that invested in your own word shall we call it. You're looking for a different kind of raise, one without any praise.

 

[thewave]

It does matter, you think one day they're gonna suddenly wake up and figure it out? They need to go through various seasons of playoff runs before they figure it out. Even something as unlikely as Vegas took a few years before they won.

Right. This team failed to learn every single season. Mostly management though.

 

[Stephen]

this sounds like excusing failure. I can enjoy my team doing cool things during the regular season and sometimes comebacks in the playoffs but absolutely hate that they don't win and that includes the losers from the 90s and 00s I've grown to disdain them because everyone pedastals their failures in this city to put down the current failures, when we can just say they all were/are losers who failed.


games 1-7 were boring as f*** and not entertaining. blow out teams like everyone else does once in a while in the playoffs.

Your first sentence is excusing failure, sorry if i hurt your sentiments by calling the 90s, 00s players what they were, hardworking failures

I don’t think those 1990s and 2000s teams are on a pedestal at all. They were mostly a blue collar cast of guys with strong goaltending that supplied fun playoff runs that electrified a fanbase, fell short of winning it all in the conference finals a number of times. Ultimately they lacked a quantity of high end talent and usually emptied the tank by the end of their runs.

So imagine the possibility of a Leaf rebuild with youth and talent that just applied itself in a blue collar workmanlike way, with a properly built defense and a goaltender that didn’t come from Value Village…

The fact that you’ve come to “despise” those teams because you need to support this one is pretty sad.