Brad Treliving is doing a great job.

[Evilhomer]

Yeah they are winning scoring 2 goals a game against an offensively challenged team, not sure how this absolves the core of anything. It’s their job to score, and they are not doing it enough to beat most teams in a playoff series.

I think people shouldn't get too caught up in beating Boston. Let's first see them do it against the real powers of the East.

 

[ACC1224]

I think people shouldn't get too caught up in beating Boston. Let's first see them do it against the real powers of the East.

Lets see them first finish this off.

 

[Jojalu]

I think people shouldn't get too caught up in beating Boston. Let's first see them do it against the real powers of the East.

Leafs gpt pushed around by Florida last year and still 4 out of the games were decided by one goal.

They will not get pushed around this year.

To have the chance though they need to finish the job Sat.

 

[Evilhomer]

Leafs gpt pushed around by Florida last year and still 4 out of the games were decided by one goal.

They will not get pushed around this year.

To have the chance though they need to finish the job Sat.

I'm not concerned about being pushed around. I don't think that was the real issue last year. It was scoring. They need to show that they can score against teams that are better than Boston.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Yeah they are winning scoring 2 goals a game against an offensively challenged team, not sure how this absolves the core of anything. It’s their job to score, and they are not doing it enough to beat most teams in a playoff series.

Yep. If everyone outside of the core four keep doing their jobs, all we need is 3, or at last 2 of the 11mil players, playing like 11mil players every game.

To be honest, we don't need all 4 going at once (would be nice), just take it in turns where 2 or 3 of them take over a game.

We hardly ever see that though.

 

[Evilhomer]

Lets see them first finish this off.

It will be over by the end of the first period.

 

[Jojalu]

I'm not concerned about being pushed around. I don't think that was the real issue last year. It was scoring. They need to show that they can score against teams that are better than Boston.

Scoring has always been the issue.

It's going to be tough to win a lot of games 2-1

 

[Mess]

Previous iterations of the Leafs didn't tend to win ugly games like last night's game. There was a physical/defensive element to last night's game that I don't remember seeing in previous years' teams.

These last 2 games reminded me of a Leafs team from the 1990's, with Woll in net being a young home grown Felix Potvin.

I kept watching to see if #93 Dougie Gilmour or #17 Wendel Clark would be hoping over the boards for their next shifts.

 

[Roo]

They just won two games with out Matthews. On one hand, tells me you do not need 3 players earning 40% of the cap. On the other hand, might not work against better competition. Said it before, would love to keep Marner but it has to be at the right price. He will demand more than Nylander which is a show stopper for me.

you can debate price, but exiting marner and replacing him with two $5m players won’t make us a better team. The point is, we need a legit goalie. Hopefully Woll is that guy, but if not, the priority should be getting one. Samsonov giving up that game 3 goal to Frederic was inexcusable. We keep they out maybe we win the game. That’s how much this matters. Tweaking the core doesn’t change anything in goal.

Yeah they are winning scoring 2 goals a game against an offensively challenged team, not sure how this absolves the core of anything. It’s their job to score, and they are not doing it enough to beat most teams in a playoff series.

Why are they offensively challenged? Because we are making it so. Boston didn’t lose their offensive skill overnight, we’re playing a much tighter game. When you do the the offence isn’t free-flowing. But when games are played like this you can’t expect that our stars put up hat-tricks. They just need to come through when it matters, and that’s what happened.

I am not suggesting that we shouldn't aim to be more balanced in terms of cap spend, or that we cant expect more from the core. What I am saying is that while all us fans and media relentlessly focus on the core being the #1 issue holding back this team, it's becoming very clear that what helps this team the most is solid goaltending. All those series in the past, the letdowns, all that history could be very different with solid goaltending. You don't get it, you don't go far, but if you do, you give your skill players enough time and opportunity to come through. Goaltending has been the difference in the series, and we won all our games because the core players came through in the end.

 

[IPS]

Previous iterations of the Leafs didn't tend to win ugly games like last night's game. There was a physical/defensive element to last night's game that I don't remember seeing in previous years' teams.

Quite the opposite actually - the Leafs folded like a cheap suit. Not this year though, not only did they execute with that gameplan, they thrived. 1 shot against in the first half of the game wasn't a fluke, the team's dedicated themselves to a full team game, that's why I'm not too caught up on bashing anyone's individual production.

 

[Mess]

"Good teams are built from the Goalie out, through strong defense ....... "

The only reason the Leafs are winning is because young Joseph Woll is out-dueling Swayman who has been outstanding in the series.

Look at what is being asked and delivered by Woll, the only thing keeping the Leafs off the Golf course right now.

Does he have 1 more game in him on Saturday to have Leafs advance and truly turned a page of constant failure to showing they can compete and play winning playoff hockey.

 

[Leafsfan74]

I think people shouldn't get too caught up in beating Boston. Let's first see them do it against the real powers of the East.

First beat Boston.

This Leaf team is different on the back end. You think Matthew T or Bennett, as much as I am a fan of both their games are going to roll over The Boosh, McCabe, Benoit or Edmunson as a unit?

Leafs have to beat Boston first. If they stick to the script as they have now finally focused on a hardnosed defensive game and beat Boston in the same manner, Florida, minus Gudas; will not have an easy path. That's the objective of building a strong, physical D.

Also, I can;t imagine like in this series that Reaves isn't in for the first few games if Leafs do win game 7.

 

[Evilhomer]

First beat Boston.

This Leaf team is different on the back end. You think Matthew T or Bennett, as much as I am a fan of both their games are going to roll over The Boosh, McCabe, Benoit or Edmunson as a unit?

Leafs have to beat Boston first. If they stick to the script as they have now finally focused on a hardnosed defensive game and beat Boston in the same manner, Florida, minus Gudas; will not have an easy path. That's the objective of building a strong, physical D.

Also, I can;t imagine like in this series that Reaves isn't in for the first few games if Leafs do win game 7.

It's not about preventing Florida from running them over. It's about producing offense against them. They can beat Boston 2-1. I'm not sure they can do that against Florida or Carolina.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Brad Tre is doing a great job.

Woll is making Tre look good.

 

[Gary Nylund]

First beat Boston.

This Leaf team is different on the back end. You think Matthew T or Bennett, as much as I am a fan of both their games are going to roll over The Boosh, McCabe, Benoit or Edmunson as a unit?

Leafs have to beat Boston first. If they stick to the script as they have now finally focused on a hardnosed defensive game and beat Boston in the same manner, Florida, minus Gudas; will not have an easy path. That's the objective of building a strong, physical D.

Also, I can;t imagine like in this series that Reaves isn't in for the first few games if Leafs do win game 7.

If this team keeps playing the way they did last 2 games, and Woll can keep playing like a star, and we add a healthy Matthews, and we get the PP going we can beat anyone.

That's 4 big asks, but it can be done. It's that time of year where I try to find a way to believe that anything's possible! GLG!!

 

[DarkKnight]

I think people shouldn't get too caught up in beating Boston. Let's first see them do it against the real powers of the East.

Dude the Bruins were the 7th best team in the league, in the toughest division in hockey, two points out of 3rd, they are a real power. Guess what, we are too.

 

[Leafsfan74]

It's not about preventing Florida from running them over. It's about producing offense against them. They can beat Boston 2-1. I'm not sure they can do that against Florida or Carolina.

They can definitely do that against Carolina. Florida probably sees more 3-2 games but that's ok too.

High commitment, physical, low event, opportune scoring is how to win this time of year. This has never changed. Sure, some teams in a desperate game each find a new gear when running on fumes and maybe you see the odd 5-4 game, but this is like playing craps at the casino. You may roll a seven, "may"...

Brad followed up with Dubas efforts on the backend. McCabe was a Dubas signing and if I am Brad I look to extend him early if possible. The Boosh was Dubas pick too he just didn't find it in him to re-sign but he was a familiar face and it came from Dubas and his team originally.

Benoit came from Anaheim, I forget if that was Brad or Dubas. McMann was a product of the system and now they have Cowan too for the future.

In the end, Brad has the benefit of seeing a cohesive defensive unit. Edmunson in particular has come from such a system in Montreal where they had to, by default, play such a defensive game because they lacked scoring. He has been to multiple Cup Finals including a ring. A pretty good advocate for the rest of the team that needs to understand what is expected of them in order to win.

 

[ToneDog]

Brad Tre is doing a great job.

Woll is making Tre look good.

Woll is making Hunter and @JT AM da real deal look good.

 

[HandshakeLineRespect]

My Dubasite buddy still cant give any credit to Tree. He sounds exactly like Jonas Seigal still bringing up and complaining about Klingberg.

 

[Stephen]

I love that the best we can do for credit for Treliving is drafting a defenceman that he traded for two guys that don't play for Calgary anymore because the team sucked and the new GM has to rebuild. Yes, epic work, BT. Epic work.

Drafting one Norris Trophy winning Adam Fox would have been mission accomplished for what the previous regime was repeatedly trying to do.

 

[Stephen]

1. Neither were as dramatic as some made them out to be, and you're getting way more than 5m in value. To be clear, the core 4 just had their most productive year.

Core 4 scoring, adjusted to 82 game seasons:
2023-2024: 164 goals, 355 points
2022-2023: 146 goals, 351 points
2021-2022: 156 goals, 359 points
2020-2021: 142 goals, 329 points

And that's not counting Tavares bringing more defensive impact than usual this year.
Brodie saw a decline, but that wouldn't have been as big of an issue if Treliving did his job last offseason and added any defensive support throughout the roster instead of purging it. And where are we factoring in the piles of cheap internal depth that was left for Treliving? That alone more than made up for any net deficit impact from Tavares and Brodie. Cap space wasn't the issue. What we did with our abundance of cap space was the issue.

Considering Treliving has added Benoit, Lyubushkin and Edmundson who have pushed Brodie off the playoff roster it sounds like he did his job as you described it…

 

[tuckerintensity]

Drafting one Norris Trophy winning Adam Fox would have been mission accomplished for what the previous regime was repeatedly trying to do.

I think the previous regime drafted some guy named Knies who might be the only reason Treliving's current team is still alive.

This whole "OMG Treliving is so good and the last guy was so bad" is relatively humourous. This team has a bunch of fingerprints on it, most of them good ones, and Treliving has only shown that he likes the base he's been given. His overall track record in Calgary though, it's not great. It's actually not even as good as the previous regime here. Doesn't mean he won't get it done either, it's just humourous (and eye roll inducing) to watch so many pretend he's done something here or there... when he hasn't done anything but the exact same things, that's all.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Woll is making Hunter and @JT AM da real deal look good.

I have seen him play from Beanpot tourney from back in mid 2000's .. just more exposure to tender caused he

 

[Evilhomer]

I think the previous regime drafted some guy named Knies who might be the only reason Treliving's current team is still alive.

This whole "OMG Treliving is so good and the last guy was so bad" is relatively humourous. This team has a bunch of fingerprints on it, most of them good ones, and Treliving has only shown that he likes the base he's been given. His overall track record in Calgary though, it's not great. It's actually not even as good as the previous regime here. Doesn't mean he won't get it done either, it's just humourous (and eye roll inducing) to watch so many pretend he's done something here or there... when he hasn't done anything but the exact same things, that's all.

I can't believe more people don't see things this way. The "us or them" approach is so goofy. No team wins without relying on moves made by prior regimes.

 

[Mess]

Treliving's Big, Mean, Mobile additions as keys to Leafs playoff success.

Leafs BIG Hitters

Top Block Shot Leaders

Notice how Brodie, Giordano and Timmins all essentially benched showing the difference between current and former GM understanding of what is required to compete in the playoffs,