Blow this team up already!

[ACC1224]

Let's hold off on the detonation

Until the next loss.

 

[Seras]

Blow it up anyways, they only won by 1 goal, if the series ends tied goals scored is the tie breaker so we're gonna be in some real trouble.

Prolly just trade everyone for picks imo, it worked for Phoenix and Ottawa that's the type of success we need for the leafs.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

Until the next loss.

We're a fickle bunch!

 

[Menzinger]

I for one would rather they actually finish the series before wanting to dismantle the team

 

[Obo]

We're a fickle bunch!

We're a damaged bunch.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Them blow up reeeeeel gud!

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

embrassing thread.

 

[DarkKnight]

Kill this thread. Then bury it. Then dig it up and blow it to the sun.

 

[TonsofPuppies]

Congratulations on doing the dumbest thing you can do as a fan, position yourself so you have to cheer against the team.

You do realize there's plenty of time for this after the playoffs right?

I was cheering against them anyway, tbh. I love the team, but not this rendition of it. I do not believe that this core of players, this management and this coaching staff can win a cup. I do believe that we have some pieces that could contribute to a cup winning team, but the mix is not right and continuing to change the depth and stick with the core and coaching staff year after year after year isn't doing it for me anymore. I want a different look for a change. Losing in the first round would be better for the organization, long term (if it results in major changes), imo.

 

[nsleaf]

I was cheering against them anyway, tbh. I love the team, but not this rendition of it. I do not believe that this core of players, this management and this coaching staff can win a cup. I do believe that we have some pieces that could contribute to a cup winning team, but the mix is not right and continuing to change the depth and stick with the core and coaching staff year after year after year isn't doing it for me anymore. I want a different look for a change. Losing in the first round would be better for the organization, long term (if it results in major changes), imo.

That Matthews goal must have been a bummer for you and the Bruins fans.

 

[Notsince67]

I was cheering against them anyway, tbh. I love the team, but not this rendition of it. I do not believe that this core of players, this management and this coaching staff can win a cup. I do believe that we have some pieces that could contribute to a cup winning team, but the mix is not right and continuing to change the depth and stick with the core and coaching staff year after year after year isn't doing it for me anymore. I want a different look for a change. Losing in the first round would be better for the organization, long term (if it results in major changes), imo.

 

[Its not your fault]

I've been screaming for ages that the only way forward for the organization is a complete gutting from top to bottom. As someone mentioned in the GDT, this goes far beyond any individual players or off ice personnel. There is a cultural rot within this organization that has been allowed to fester away for more than a decade and until it is removed, we will continue to spin our tires fruitlessly.

1. The management is a joke. The "Shanaplan" has been an obvious abject failure for literally years, yet this clown still has a job. This ties into the cultural rot I spoke of in my opening statement. There is no accountability or standards / expectations in this organization. It starts from the top and trickles all the way down to the players on the ice. Year after year after year, Shanahan continues to roll it back with the same core that has proven endlessly that they cannot get the job done. Shanahan can't make tough decisions for the betterment of the team and must be the first domino to fall.

2. Sheldon Keefe is a terrible coach. I don't even need to dig too far into this one, so I'll just list a few obvious points:

- The team is rarely prepared to "start on time" as Babs used to say and often gives up goals in the first minute / on the first shot of the game. This has been an issue for literally years.
- The special teams always fall to shit around 3/4 of the way through the season and few, if any changes are made to rectify the issues before the playoffs. Making adjustments in general, seems to be his kryptonite.
- The Leafs, in the playoffs, have an abysmal home record under Keefe, largely due to his galaxy brained line matching.
- He routinely retracts perfectly valid criticisms of his team in order to protect the feelings of his "stars".
- He got outcoached by DOMINIQUE DUCHARME in a playoff series. 'nuff said.

3. The star forwards suck. Matthews and Marner especially stand out here. Yes, they can put up some crazy numbers during the regular season, but these guys are not playoff performers. Time and time again they have proven to be incapable of rising to the challenge and delivering in big moments, the way pretty much all other "superstar" caliber players do. This lack of drive and ability to rise the occasion is made all the worse by the fact that these guys are paid higher than all of their comparables, lessoning the team's ability to surround them with a good supporting cast, thus taking some of the pressure off.

4. The depth forwards suck. This ties into my previous point regarding our star players being overpaid. With less money to go around, the Leafs are forced to settle for bargain bin solutions to fill out their roster. While there are a few decent depth pieces like Nick Robertson and Max Demi, the roster is littered with players that are not NHL caliber on any serious NHL roster - Pontus Holmberg, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Connor Dewar, Noah Gregor, etc.

5. The defence is atrocious. While Simon Benoit has been an overall nice surprise this year and Jake McCabe has his moments, the defence, by and large, is nowhere close to cup contending status. It's old, it's slow and the lack of right shots forces us to play players in positions they are not suited to. Brodie is a train wreck, Gio is 300 years old, Rielly is decent, but nowhere near an "elite" #1, as he would need to be to prop up the rest of the group. At least he shows up in the playoffs, but his lack of a threatening point shot really renders the power play predictable and easy to neutralize. Timmins is not NHL caliber and I'm losing my patience with the soft play of Liljegren.

6. The goaltending is a nonstarter. Ilya Samsonov is a mental midget that even the Caps gave up on ages ago. If Samsonov is your #1 for the playoffs, you might as well forfeit before Game 1. Joseph Woll has shown flashes of being competent, but his troubling injury history leave me doubtful that he could ever be a longterm solution in net. Martin Jones and Matt Murray are not NHL goalies.

TL;DR: This team has so many holes and glaring issues. This isn't going to be as simple a fix as trading a member of the core or firing the coach. This entire roster needs to be gutted and rebuilt from the ground up. I'm sick and tired of watching the same old song and dance every single year. Blow this shit up already.

Why even cheer for them if they will never make you happy.

 

[WillyC]

Imagine making such a thread… and then having to double down and admit you’re hoping the Leafs lose.

 

[DarkKnight]

Blow this thread up already.

 

[NinjaKick]

Omg I am not a Karen. Not at all. He can burn his Leaf flags or whatever he wants.

i dont want to burn a leaf flag

i dont want to start a fire in my backyard

im not a "terrorist"

i have no sense of humor and you are now 100% my arch nemesis on hfboards

glg

 

[TonsofPuppies]

Imagine making such a thread… and then having to double down and admit you’re hoping the Leafs lose.

The amount of people who still "beleaf" in this core is wild. lol If they prove me wrong, I will happily admit it.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

Until the next loss.

Blow it up!

 

[hullsy47]

Blow it up!

This is the best this bunch can do .just not deep enough In goal or on defense

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

This is the best this bunch can do .just not deep enough In goal or on defense

Glaring issues with special teams and poor goaltending seem like difficult challenges to overcome for a team with a proven track record of failure in the post season. Let's see how Saturday goes

 

[wingman75]

Trending to a series loss in the first round again...

How soon after the last Leafs game do the president and coach changes get announced? Assume we keep Tre. Sooner the better so they can get to it imo.

 

[ORRFForever]

Blow this thread up already.

They will NOT get rid of Matthews and I'd keep Nylander.

Marner needs to go and, as I suggested elsewhere, you might get Logan Stankoven AND Mavrik Bourque from Dallas for Marner - assuming Marner's locked up and Toronto is willing to eat some salary.

JT's contract comes off the books in a year(?) and once Marner and JT are gone, you now have a ton of space for some better D-Men and a goalie.

 

[thewave]

Glaring issues with special teams and poor goaltending seem like difficult challenges to overcome for a team with a proven track record of failure in the post season. Let's see how Saturday goes

Just call it Shanahan. He is keeping Keefe around. Keefe and staff cant manage special teams or even adapt to other coaches changes.. The line mashing is unreal.

Tending is an issue obviously

 

[hullsy47]

Blow this thread up already.

dubas conctructed this team to be a lifetime gm in toronto

 

[NVious]

Drai and McDavid at 20 million have 162 points in 102 playoff games

Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Nylander at 44 million have 158 points in 180 playoff games

That says it all about this core and keep in mind this comparison is totally fair considering all 4 of them want to be paid like they are Drai or McDavid while playing like they are basically half the players at the same cost.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

I give the leafs core 4 a lot of shit and call them whiney, entitled, spoiled, and all that stuff. But I've always attributed it to a culture created by Dubas. And I don't think it's possible for Treliving or any other gm to make the stink that Dubas created just disappear.

The problem with this team is that it is entirely built top to bottom to cater in every way to the core 4. It succeeds based on them and it fails based on them. As I pointed out in this thread, they've now tried surrounding the core four with almost EIGHTY different players to try and make it work in the playoffs. A TOP to bottom turn over of every single solitary player, position, management position other than Morgan Reilly. I guess we can include him in the core. Friedman said that numerous leaf players/management called him after the loss to Florida and complained about how everything is catered to the core 4.

I genuinely believe that the lack of playoff success is a sum of the parts of the core 4. I think Marner, Nylander, and Matthews would all massively succeed in the playoffs if they respectively were traded to other competitive teams. But to have half the cap on 4 forwards means that the opposing team will almost assuredly have better D and goaltending and depth scoring. So shut down our core 4 in the playoffs. Hyperfocus them. Succeed. We've seen that precise thing happen 8 of the past 9 playoff series.

It's not anything personally against these players, but the whole thing needs to be blown up because it's a disgusting way to structure a team that can succeed in the playoffs.