Speculation: Chris Johnston "An atom bomb could drop"

[colchar]

This means absolutely nothing. Lets look back historically:

Steve Yzerman - GP 196 PTS 184
Brendan Shannahan - GP 184 PTS 134
Pavel Datsyuk - GP 158 PTS 107

Alex Ovechkin GP 161 PTS 147

Ron Francis GP 171 PTS 143

Joe Thornton GP 187 PTS 134

Henri Richard GP 180 PTS 129

Patrice Bergeron GP 170 PTS 128

Luc Robitaille GP 161 PTS 126

Dave Andrychuk GP 162 PTS 98

Red Kelly GP 168 PTS 92

And the list can go on and on. In the playoffs you can have many players that outright lead their teams in scoring if not the league in playoff scoring. It doesnt mean they win the cup or are successful as a team in the playoffs. How many Cups has Gretzky lost??? 2 of 6, but lead playoffs in scoring all 6. Didn't McDavid just do that again last season? Lead playoffs in scoring but lose to Florida!!!

Yes it is nice to score at your point a game pace in the playoffs. But lots of hall of famers listed above and there are more.... didnt duplicate the regular season form in the playoffs. But they are still hall of famers and still won cups with their teams. Its a team game. A game of opportunity. A game of bounces and deflections or blocks. Any team can win a cup with the right system and mentality without scoring in bunches. New Jersey has proven this, Boston has as well. Crap Florida and Vegas have. Its not about scoring. Get over it people.

What, exactly, do the likes of Matthews and Marner do in the playoffs then? Miss the net? Check. Make blind spin-o-rama passes that lead to goals against? Check. What else do they do?

 

[sunstersun]

Honestly, the only wingers to truly be the best player on the team bar none to win a chip is Kucherov.

Even Ovi was outmatched by Kuznetsov that run imo. Kane was always 1A/1B/1C with Toews and Kieth.

 

[TopCheeseShotta]

Uhhhh... so the Leafs ain't half bad after all, eh...??

As if we didnt already know, turns out this Florida team is indeed an absolute juggernaut that'll f your shyt up 9 times out of 10 - ar least for every other team in the NHL... Yikes.... Tampa and the Canes look like laughing stocks compared to how our sad sack Leafs did. Maybe don't "atom bomb" drop like a bunch of angry 5th graders who need someone to blame?

 

[stealth1]

Uhhhh... so the Leafs ain't half bad after all, eh...??

As if we didnt already know, turns out this Florida team is indeed an absolute juggernaut that'll f your shyt up 9 times out of 10 - ar least for every other team in the NHL... Yikes.... Tampa and the Canes look like laughing stocks compared to how our sad sack Leafs did. Maybe don't "atom bomb" drop like a bunch of angry 5th graders who need someone to blame?

Let's run it back again for the 10th time. Maybe, just maybe this time Matthews and company will show up come playoff time.

 

[LaPlante94]

Uhhhh... so the Leafs ain't half bad after all, eh...??

As if we didnt already know, turns out this Florida team is indeed an absolute juggernaut that'll f your shyt up 9 times out of 10 - ar least for every other team in the NHL... Yikes.... Tampa and the Canes look like laughing stocks compared to how our sad sack Leafs did. Maybe don't "atom bomb" drop like a bunch of angry 5th graders who need someone to blame?

Same take every year after we lose.

 

[TopCheeseShotta]

Let's run it back again for the 10th time. Maybe, just maybe this time Matthews and company will show up come playoff time.

I dont think there shouldnt be changes. Just not A bomb level. You're right - Matty can go. He's the one with the noticeable yips when the going gets tuff. Even then, team did as well as any Squad has against Fla in the last 2 years.

 

[TopCheeseShotta]

Same take every year after we lose.

I've never had that take. They're all different years, and not as linked as you think they are. Thats far too reductive. Changes? Yes. Absolutely. Again, not A bomb level. In this case though, this is as good as it gets against the way this Florida team is playing, the way it is coached, the way it believes in itself, the way it is fully allowed to cheat, and without Stollie controlling the D zone for us. It just is what it is.

 

[stealth1]

I dont think there shouldnt be changes. Just not A bomb level. You're right - Matty can go. He's the one with the noticeable yips when the going gets tuff. Even then, team did as well as any Squad has against Fla in the last 2 years.

Sure game wise, they did well. If you look at how they played when the game was on the line, they folded like they always do. This core will never win together.

 

[TopCheeseShotta]

Sure game wise, they did well. If you look at how they played when the game was on the line, they folded like they always do. This core will never win together.

Not true. Game 6 was a clinic and the best game any NHL team will ever play against this Florida team. It was probably the best game of their year and it was with all the chips on the table. Now, Game 5 and 7 kinda eclipse that, I get it. But let's not say it didn't happen against the best this league has to offer.

 

[Dreakmur]

Not true. Game 6 was a clinic and the best game any NHL team will ever play against this Florida team. It was probably the best game of their year and it was with all the chips on the table. Now, Game 5 and 7 kinda eclipse that, I get it. But let's not say it didn't happen against the best this league has to offer.

So the best game any team has ever played against Florida is getting 17 shots on net?

 

[Leafs87]

The Leafs need to decide whether they view this Carolina-Florida series as what could have been or we got that close to beating the best team in the NHL currently. Closest anyone has gotten since Edmonton in the finals last year. From there you decide how to handle the summer. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Changes are needed, which I think are the bottom six, and support guys. There’s a saying my dad used to always tell me, and it’s that the toughest stretch comes right before the greatest success.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

The Leafs need to decide whether they view this Carolina-Florida series as what could have been or we got that close to beating the best team in the NHL currently. Closest anyone has gotten since Edmonton in the finals last year. From there you decide how to handle the summer. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Changes are needed, which I think are the bottom six, and support guys. There’s a saying my dad used to always tell me, and it’s that the toughest stretch comes right before the greatest success.

The problem is that to make those changes to support players you need to let Marner walk. There's nothing else significant they have control over. After the way the fand treated the team in Game 7, they may not even have a say in that.