Can we please put to rest this idea of "pressure" being the culprit behind playoff failure for this team, it's insulting.

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I don’t recall anyone saying that pressure was the sole reason they’ve lost, but it’s definitely one of many factors.

I don’t think they feel as much pressure as some people suggest. They put pressure on themselves to win as well.

The media and fans put high expectations on the team and rightfully so. We all care and want them to win.

No it isn't because pressure isn't real, not in hockey anyway.

Ask any Laker, Celtic, Yankee, Red Sox, Doger, Cowboy or soccer player on the planet about pressure.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Maybe the core isn't that good

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Realistically they lost to the runner ups/cup champs in 7. Effort was unacceptable but outcome was likely this either way.

No it didn't have to be this, Woll could have been average in game 3 and won it because that's all that would have been required.

As good as Florida is not even they are coming back from 3-0 down.

They were that close

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

Maybe the core isn't that good

This is it right here. They're good, but not good enough. We've seen what they're capable of

 

[Antropovsky]

I don’t recall anyone saying that pressure was the sole reason they’ve lost, but it’s definitely one of many factors.

I don’t think they feel as much pressure as some people suggest. They put pressure on themselves to win as well.

The media and fans put high expectations on the team and rightfully so. We all care and want them to win.

So pressure is stopping Nylander and Marner from going and battling for loose pucks and from going to the front of the net?

23 million, playing a combined 40 mins of a 60 min game and they refuse to battle. Thats what is costing this team...id argue that the lack of pressure from management is why we arent winning in the playoffs. These guys have been coddled.

Pressure? What about Dallas Stars CEO a few years ago? Is this not pressure?:

According to The Athletic, Lites had told reporters that Seguin and Benn have been "f---ing horses---; I don't know how else to put it."

Lites, who said the feeling also was shared by team owner Tom Gaglardi, continued to unload on the team's star players.

"For me, it's pissed me off," Lites said. "What nobody says is what is completely obvious to me: We are getting terrible play from our top two players. ... We are a stars-driven league, and our stars aren't getting it done. ... These guys are not good enough. They're not good enough for me, they're not good enough for the owner."

 

[Leafs87]

No it didn't have to be this, Woll could have been average in game 3 and won it because that's all that would have been required.

As good as Florida is not even they are coming back from 3-0 down.

They were that close

Close to what? Seeing game 5/7 they eventually would have went out in laughable fashion anyways. Would of hurt more later on

 

[nsleaf]

A very large and extremely critical fan base creates pressure for sure, but has any player used this as an excuse?
This narrative was trolling by Fla. and this fanbase eats it up.

 

[rumman]

Quitters never win, winners never quit………..

 

[Niagara Bill]

1.) It wasn’t the leafs players who were saying it. It was other teams and has been other players for a long time.

2.) comparing to other sports is dumb. Because it is a competition. You are playing against another team. It’s not like they can’t skate or play. If it negatively affect your performance it matters.

There is no other correlate of a cap system where teams are put on an equal playing field money wise but other athletes can get paid the Same and live in anonymity. It may be easier to deal with and give a competitive advantage.

That’s like saying “Gretzky scored 200
Pts with a wooden titan stick I could buy from Canadian tire…… don’t tell me you can’t beat players with new composite sticks”.

3.) a much lazier narrative is the “mix”. Every year our teams choke. And every year our players leave and have success.

Remember when kessel/kadri/bozak couldn’t win?

Hyman lost a whole bunch of game 7s. Look at his leafs stats.

Just off the top of my head leaf cup winners/finalists:

Kadri. Kessel. Bozak. Hyman. Brown. Ceci. Campbell. Pickard. Potentially lubushkin. Kappanen.

Everyone is now saying if Marner leaves here he will have success.

how many “chokers” have success the second they leave the market. There is a common denominator here.

You could see that Brown and Hyman would have success. Kadri is Kadri, Kessel is Kessel, Ceci landed in right spot, finally.
Nothing to do with Leafs. It is management who would prefer soft to intense,
Pressure is not an issue, willingness is. Leadership is, willing to follow leaders. No one follows elite skaters, elite scorers. There is not one person suggesting that Kessel was a leader. Why do people think AM is, he showed his colour's, or Marner, not a leader. Willie..has no desire to be a leader, just a great player.
AM cannot even reveal, when season is over, what physical ailment he had, if any, for the second year in a row. It is not an excuse, just real. There is nothing wrong with opening up when the fight is done. But he is too elite, too aloof, yet he through unknown players, team mates under the bus. He put 17 guys under suspicion. THAT is not leadership. Last year Mitchy was screamed at to shut his whiney mouth and play, NOW, he is so elite that he screams at others and expects them to follow.
It is not pressure. When these guts were 12 they had pressure from towns expecting them to win, from dad's expecting them to win, from hostile rings hoping they would lose. They developed a thick skin, they have been called many things in their life.
No, they have grown into elitists , top earners, they have raised themselves above their mates, so elite that in the end, it is others fault, 4th line guys, 3rd line guys coaches, gm's...but not them, the leaders.
Don't you feel bad for Mitchy, having worked so hard only to have his mates not try. Don't you feel bad for AM, having worked so hard and being let down my mear 3rd liners.
Their colour's showed, their team mates always knew it would. We are where we were, 2 teams in one.
Both our big 2 would be better off on another team, where they could start over, where they are not pampered, and we would be better off starting over...opps we traded our top picks and top minor league potential.

 

[rumman]

You could see that Brown and Hyman would have success. Kadri is Kadri, Kessel is Kessel, Ceci landed in right spot, finally.
Nothing to do with Leafs. It is management who would prefer soft to intense,
Pressure is not an issue, willingness is. Leadership is, willing to follow leaders. No one follows elite skaters, elite scorers. There is not one person suggesting that Kessel was a leader. Why do people think AM is, he showed his colour's, or Marner, not a leader. Willie..has no desire to be a leader, just a great player.
AM cannot even reveal, when season is over, what physical ailment he had, if any, for the second year in a row. It is not an excuse, just real. There is nothing wrong with opening up when the fight is done. But he is too elite, too aloof, yet he through unknown players, team mates under the bus. He put 17 guys under suspicion. THAT is not leadership. Last year Mitchy was screamed at to shut his whiney mouth and play, NOW, he is so elite that he screams at others and expects them to follow.
It is not pressure. When these guts were 12 they had pressure from towns expecting them to win, from dad's expecting them to win, from hostile rings hoping they would lose. They developed a thick skin, they have been called many things in their life.
No, they have grown into elitists , top earners, they have raised themselves above their mates, so elite that in the end, it is others fault, 4th line guys, 3rd line guys coaches, gm's...but not them, the leaders.
Don't you feel bad for Mitchy, having worked so hard only to have his mates not try. Don't you feel bad for AM, having worked so hard and being let down my mear 3rd liners.
Their colour's showed, their team mates always knew it would. We are where we were, 2 teams in one.
Both our big 2 would be better off on another team, where they could start over, where they are not pampered, and we would be better off starting over...opps we traded our top picks and top minor league potential.

The core are simply not a likeable lot, and the team is sorely lacking physical players to compete with the likes of Florida……

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Pressure... what pressure... pressure to win?

There's no pressure to win here. Other than the few hardcore fans on this site nobody really cares about this team anymore. They've been losing ground to other teams and other sports for years.

Once upon a time you couldn't get a seat in a bar when a Leafs game was on.

And talk about the playoffs. Oh boy... every game seemed like a Stanley Cup final. Back then there was real pressure to win because more spectators.

It's not anywhere close to that anymore.

This was the most talented roster with some of the greatest players in team history and not only did they fail to win but now one of the biggest names is about to walk. And for the most part other than a few fixated fantics like myself nobody cares. In the real world away from this site I almost never hear anyone talk about the Leafs anymore and the bars are pretty empty most game nights.

There's no pressure to win because Leafs don't take up as much of the collective conscious as they once did.

 

[Nineteen67]

The players only talk to the media for a few minutes per day and I can’t think of a time anyone in the organization has been asked to answer a question relative to results we’ve seen.
Locker clean out day was an absolute joke and makes the media look even more incompetent

As for the fans, maybe they’ve had enough. It was good to see them voice their displeasure in games 5 and 7.

 

[Canadian Finn]

Pressure... what pressure... pressure to win?

There's no pressure to win here. Other than the few hardcore fans on this site nobody really cares about this team anymore. They've been losing ground to other teams and other sports for years.

Once upon a time you couldn't get a seat in a bar when a Leafs game was on.

And talk about the playoffs. Oh boy... every game seemed like a Stanley Cup final. Back then there was real pressure to win because more spectators.

It's not anywhere close to that anymore.

This was the most talented roster with some of the greatest players in team history and not only did they fail to win but now one of the biggest names is about to walk. And for the most part other than a few fixated fantics like myself nobody cares. In the real world away from this site I almost never hear anyone talk about the Leafs anymore and the bars are pretty empty most game nights.

There's no pressure to win because Leafs don't take up as much of the collective conscious as they once did.

this is extremely accurate.

the Leafs aren't nearly what they once were.

and that's deserved.

pathetic organization.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

this is extremely accurate.

the Leafs aren't nearly what they once were.

and that's deserved.

pathetic organization.

Maybe if they had won when they were still the biggest attraction in town there would be more pressure now to repeat.

It's been so long since the last time they were cup champs that for the most part everybody has given up on them. I'm a loser with no life so I'll continue to watch every game and post my thoughts on the team every day. But most people lost interest long ago and have moved on to other more rewarding hobbies.

You get what you give and the fans turning on them is a direct consequence of their own actions and behaviours.

 

[yubbers]

A very large and extremely critical fan base creates pressure for sure, but has any player used this as an excuse?
This narrative was trolling by Fla. and this fanbase eats it up.

No it wasn't. It was the Leafs talking about 'noise'

 

[Daisy Jane]

Remember when kessel/kadri/bozak couldn’t win?

Hyman lost a whole bunch of game 7s. Look at his leafs stats.

Just off the top of my head leaf cup winners/finalists:

Kadri. Kessel. Bozak. Hyman. Brown. Ceci. Campbell. Pickard. Potentially lubushkin. Kappanen.

Everyone is now saying if Marner leaves here he will have success.

Context. Context is always so important here.
most people who have ever said that Kessel, Kadri, Bozak couldn't win have always said

They Couldn't Win Here.

Why couldn't they win here?

Because they weren't playing where they should be.

Kessel is a PPG player in the playoffs his entire careeer (for the most part). Boston didn't think they could win with him, so they dumped him (notice how no one ever brings this bit up? We didn't draft him. We traded for him. Because the people in in Boston were tired of him). Kessel had his issues here (BIG. ISSUES). but not one of them was his "How he performed in the playoffs." then he went to pittsburgh, where he was 100 percent not the focus and did his thing. yay. congrats he won.

Bozak was decently good. But he was the 1st line centre of this team, and when he won the cup he was the 4th line centre. just stating it "Oh yah he couldn't win here" and not putting it in context is disngenious.

Kadri when he won was on the third line. and was able to play his game. and he didn't do stupid stupid things like headshot people back to back years and get himself suspended for it. taking himself out of the lineup. he was traded because they couldn't trust him not to do dumb poop. Someitmes players get traded because they need a wakeup call.

Is Hyman playing on the #1 line? (Legit. i don't know). I acutally never had a glitch with Hyman. i think what most people were thinking at the time was with his injury history giving him that much didn't make sense).

I think with Marner his thing will always be we had 3 players who were exactly the same. He can easily go be on a team where he has contrast, and probably perform a lot better. thinking he won't is dumb. but thinking that they'll get it right without making change here is dumb.

FYI this happens to a lot of teams. it's like the Verhaege thing. Everyone loves to go "Oh he was a leaf, and look how they screwed up," without mentioning the countless OTHER TEAMS he was on before he found success.

 

[Al14]

Quitters never win, winners never quit………..

Winners say little, losers say less !!!