Confirmed with Link: Brad Treliving officially announces Auston Matthews as the first ever US born captain of the Leafs

[Sypher04]

At some point they must have asked him to waive and he refused.

It's impossible to see this as anything more than a hardball negotiation tactic. An attempt to get him to waive. Making him get up there in front of the cameras like that just adds to the humiliation.

Both on ice and off Tavares is a spineless wimp who won't stand up for himself.

Yeah I don’t think so.

 

[namttebih]

So am I and we don’t wear suits to work. Again, if he rolled up wearing slides and beach wear I would have agreed with you. He didn’t. The amount of people who wear suits to work is vastly different than it used to be. It’s a changing world.

Fair enough. Change isn't always for the better though. Regression is a form of change.

So am I and we don’t wear suits to work. Again, if he rolled up wearing slides and beach wear I would have agreed with you. He didn’t. The amount of people who wear suits to work is vastly different than it used to be. It’s a changing world.

 

[thewave]

CHeery also said to draft good old ontario boys and he is still right wait where is marner from

I dont think anyone thinks Marner is a good old Ontario boy. He is more of the sterotype Cherry used for soft European players.

 

[WillyC]

So much for the childhood dream eh John.

Seeing the look on your face while you handed that jersey over all I could think is one thing. Why in God's good name would you go along with this instead of demanding a trade. Are you really that much of a gutless puke you're actually gonna let them strip you of the C the last year of your tenure and still stick around.

You got the idea from Marleau didn't you.

Or from Thornton. I knew signing a guy with the name "No Show" Joe to provide veteran leadership was a questionable idea at best when it happened. Looks even more stupid in hindsight.

Not as stupid as signing Tavares though.

A franchise crippling mistake. By a rookie GM eager to make a name for himself by signing the richest free agent contract in ML$E history. By now even Tavares must admit his childhood dream didn't have the fairy tale ending he'd hoped for.

More like a nightmare that keeps getting worse and worse.

At some point they must have asked him to waive and he refused.

It's impossible to see this as anything more than a hardball negotiation tactic. An attempt to get him to waive. Making him get up there in front of the cameras like that just adds to the humiliation.

Both on ice and off Tavares is a spineless wimp who won't stand up for himself.

I see you’re taking the possibility of Tavares returning quite well.

Do you think they forced JT’s young sons to wear AM34 jerseys… as part of their hardball negotiation tactic?

 

[bax]

I see you’re taking the possibility of Tavares returning quite well.

Do you think they forced JT’s young sons to wear AM34 jerseys… as part of their hardball negotiation tactic?

They clearly dragged his family there as part of his humiliation.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

If this was the ploy it looks bad on the Leafs and worse on JT

That would be the whole point.

To make Tavares look and feel bad. I don't think it's a poor reflection on the Leafs at all. This was a business decision made by a new management team looking to sever ties with the self-admitted biggest mistake made by the prior GM.

I don't think there's much left to the imagination here in why they are doing this.

 

[Evilhomer]

Marner’s, not so much……….

No, his will most certainly not be team friendly.

 

[Sypher04]

That would be the whole point.

To make Tavares look and feel bad. I don't think it's a poor reflection on the Leafs at all. This was a business decision made by a new management team looking to sever ties with the self-admitted biggest mistake made by the prior GM.

I don't think there's much left to the imagination here in why they are doing this.

You are reading way too far into the situation trying to rationalize what you want to see happen. Theres no reason right now to suggest anything you’ve put forth here is even remotely likely.

 

[egd27]

That would be the whole point.

To make Tavares look and feel bad. I don't think it's a poor reflection on the Leafs at all. This was a business decision made by a new management team looking to sever ties with the self-admitted biggest mistake made by the prior GM.

I don't think there's much left to the imagination here in why they are doing this.

For most of us I believe that's true. You on the other hand seem to be letting your imagination run wild

 

[Confucius]

Hard facts.

I'm not really sure why any one would want him back even at league minimum he's a Dubas mistake and should move on unless it's to replace David Kampf as a faceoff option who plays a dump and chase role on the bottom line.

Tied with Ovi at 67 points, good enough for 72nd overall in points. In a league with over 720 players being in the top 10% isn’t bad at all. But you wouldn’t pay league minimum for him.

I see…

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Tied with Ovi at 67 points, good enough for 72nd overall in points. In a league with over 720 players being in the top 10% isn’t bad at all. But you wouldn’t pay league minimum for him.

I see…

He's too slow and regressed that he is just taking playing time from Knies , McMann , Robertson and prospects at this point. He's the biggest flop of the core in the playoffs. Hard facts.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

He's too slow and regressed that he is just taking playing time from Knies , McMann , Robertson and prospects at this point. He's the biggest flop of the core in the playoffs. Hard facts.

Hard Opinions*

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Hard Opinions*

 

[bax]

That would be the whole point.

To make Tavares look and feel bad. I don't think it's a poor reflection on the Leafs at all. This was a business decision made by a new management team looking to sever ties with the self-admitted biggest mistake made by the prior GM.

I don't think there's much left to the imagination here in why they are doing this.

It doesn’t seem like you’re giving your imagination enough credit. Bring back public floggings I say. Tavares got off light.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

They. Stripped. Him. Of. The. "C".

 

[Leaf Fans]

They. Stripped. Him. Of. The. "C".

Striped who?

 

[hfman]

All teams know it doesn't matter who's the C. Dion Pahneuf was the C for f**ks sakes. That right there tells you that only the fans care who the C is; the internal team itself doesnt give a flying f* who the C is. Most of the team wants to win the cup and none of them give 5 sh*ts which one of them have a C or an A on their sweater LOL... Tavares of Matthews it doesn't matter neither of those two guys are anywhere near captain material in respect to what the NHL calls a captain. In the day a Captain had to be a vocal tough guy... today a captain just has to be a soft baby... so I take it back maybe Mathews IS the guy in 2024 standards

 

[MCR74]

The thread on the main board is still going, with the same two idiot Hab fans leading the charge.

The Leafs really do stir the drink on HF.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

OH MY GOD

You guys, Mcdavid didnt even wear a collared SHIRT! Are you serious right now? Never want him on toronto anymore, he clearly has no leadership skills.

Meanwhile Matthews does, in fact, have a collar now. How much he has grown since they gave him the C, we are truly blessed to have such a mature captain wearing collared shirts.

 

[thewave]

They clearly dragged his family there as part of his humiliation.

... Daddy why did they take captain away from you?

... Daddy is Auston Matthews a better leader?

... Daddy the kids at school said it was because you got paid too much and weren't good enough..

... DAD I DONT WANT TO BE A TAVARES


I wouldnt bring them lol

 

[TIGERCOOL]

All teams know it doesn't matter who's the C. Dion Pahneuf was the C for f**ks sakes. That right there tells you that only the fans care who the C is; the internal team itself doesnt give a flying f* who the C is. Most of the team wants to win the cup and none of them give 5 sh*ts which one of them have a C or an A on their sweater LOL... Tavares of Matthews it doesn't matter neither of those two guys are anywhere near captain material in respect to what the NHL calls a captain. In the day a Captain had to be a vocal tough guy... today a captain just has to be a soft baby... so I take it back maybe Mathews IS the guy in 2024 standards

I'm gonna assume you haven't played a lot of competitive sports? The players definitely care about the captaincy. More so than the fans.

Also funny you mentioned Dion Phaneuf as an example of a terrible captain and in nearly the same breath state that a captain should be a "vocal tough guy"... which is exactly what he was. Goes to show that maybe your premise is flawed. Unless you think guys like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Nicklas Lidstrom, Scott Niedermayer, Maurice Richard, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos were bad choices for captain despite being the opposite of your description. That's just naming a few, and they all lead their teams to the cup, most on more than one occasion.

You'll also be hard pressed to find a franchise level talent that wasn't the captain of their team unless there was another franchise level talent on the roster who already held the title.

Captaincy is about accountability, pride, leading with your play, setting an example for young players, and yes, in many cases, being the guy you look to for the big play in the big moments. Is Matthews that guy to a tee? Not yet. You hope that starting with accountability will naturally lead to some of the other qualities. This is an investment in Matthews growth as much as anything else. We'll go as he goes.

 

[HockeyVirus]

People saying we only make safe moves new fans? Kadri was not a safe move. 2 unprotected firsts which became Seguin and Hamilton for Kessel was not a safe move. Rask for Raycroft was not a safe move.

This management knows we always lose big moves so they avoid them

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Tied with Ovi at 67 points, good enough for 72nd overall in points. In a league with over 720 players being in the top 10% isn’t bad at all. But you wouldn’t pay league minimum for him.

I see…

72nd in points , 7th in caphit. Is that someone we want to reward for Captaining a team to a 1-6 playoffs series record?

Stamkos got stiffed. So can Tavares.

 

[Evilhomer]

People saying we only make safe moves new fans? Kadri was not a safe move. 2 unprotected firsts which became Seguin and Hamilton for Kessel was not a safe move. Rask for Raycroft was not a safe move.

This management knows we always lose big moves so they avoid them

All of those trades were under different management. Can you name a single move that Treliving has made that a reasonable person would consider anything other than conservative and low-risk?

 

[HockeyVirus]

All of those trades were under different management. Can you name a single move that Treliving has made that a reasonable person would consider anything other than conservative and low-risk?

He's only been with us a short time and has a reputation for making big moves.