Eastern Conference playoff picture: Leafs HOST Tampa Bay

[deprw]

Shitty is a relative term, what I call shitty might be different to what you or someone else does. Personally I subscribe to the Talladega Nights theory of "If you ain't first, you're last." I'm all about Stanley Cup or bust, especially when this team has such strong regular seasons, expecting they follow it up with playoff success isn't unreasonable.

Now you may not agree with my cup or bust mentality, and thats fine. But what we should all be able to agree upon is the lack of progress shown by this team. No matter how good of a regular season they have, or how beatable their first round opponent is, they still find a way to shit the bed. That for me earns them the word shitty.

When I have studied team work, human performance and how to get best possible performance out of team of people, that kind of thought pattern / mentality is unfavorable. It is negative thought pattern, that leads eventually to fear of mistakes and takes intuition out of execution. You lead by basicly fear, when you should lead by chance and positive mentality. If you don't win your worthless loser and nothing that you did or accomplished never really mattered. You missed your ultimate goal and that is only thing that is important.

Suitable for some people, but in overall is bad for performance. Pretty common pattern also to myself and been lead by it in sports and in life. Now I believe in the process, positive mentality, trial by error and learn from your mistakes. If you do your best and try to turn every stone, there isn't much you can do. You tip your hat, move forward and repeat. Don't waste fear to fear of losing, rather than fear that you miss your chance to challenge yourself and do what you can and let the game decide.

Though way this leagues are built, it is always win or bust. There are no silver medals and you don't celebrate winning the conference. With this competitive environment and how hard it is to win, you have to measure it in grey scale rather than black and white.

In a sense for Panthers it is win or bust, how they have been built. For us it is more sustainable operation at the moment. At least one of us will be disappointed in the end.

I see plenty of progression and we have results to back it up and believe that down this road we will have our moment of glory, where we don't have to speculate being out goalied, reffed or anything.

Sorry, went bit far. I don't think you meant your shitty or great so deeply

 

[JT AM da real deal]

And with the way the league is officiating things - I don't doubt for one second that Maroon is aware of it and he will abuse it to no end.

I don't think there is any worry here as Wayner will start guaranteed .. I have serious doubts about Cliffy especially against Tampa .. I hope Kase comes back and takes Cliffy's spot .. but I'd rather have Cliffy then Spezz even though it improves our PP2 .. but those are tough calls that Keefer has to make .. but I think we will be better off against Tampa if refs throw away da whistle .. i think it is an advantage to us in a low PP type of game against them .. we need to grind them out on D as best we can by keeping things simple on breakouts and around net front .. Matty and Willy need to outproduce Point and Kuch .. but no matter what this will be a VERY VERY close series either way .. I don't think it will be decided by tenders .. da team that wins will out grind da other team in da end

 

[riffle]

If you want something to hang your hat on consider that if the Leafs beat Tampa in Round 1, what logical reason would there be to believe they're not winning the Cup?

When you face what many consider to be the toughest out in the entire field, and advance, you should feel confident this is your time.

As a fan, I look at Round 1 as a tractor beam to the Finals. I certainly don't expect the Leafs to win, as history has taught, but IF, and I mean IF they do...Oh, baby... The hope meter will be pegging like never before.

So, Round 1 is a lot like the Stanley Cup Finals, in my mind. Curious to see if we can hang.

 

[fahad203]

I don't think there is any worry here as Wayner will start guaranteed .. I have serious doubts about Cliffy especially against Tampa .. I hope Kase comes back and takes Cliffy's spot .. but I'd rather have Cliffy then Spezz even though it improves our PP2 .. but those are tough calls that Keefer has to make .. but I think we will be better off against Tampa if refs throw away da whistle .. i think it is an advantage to us in a low PP type of game against them .. we need to grind them out on D as best we can by keeping things simple on breakouts and around net front .. Matty and Willy need to outproduce Point and Kuch .. but no matter what this will be a VERY VERY close series either way .. I don't think it will be decided by tenders .. da team that wins will out grind da other team in da end

Kase should not come back. If this team allows Kase to come back and he gets another concussion, I'll lose any respect I have left for this organization

Dubas needs to sit with him and just shut him down. If he's medically cleared, great. Good for him. He can play hockey next season for some other team. This team needs to have a sense of responsbility for his health.

Going back to topic in hand. Clifford will have to play. I would argue play Clifford over Spezza if needed. There should no leashes this year.

Last Keefe waited to long to make changes or do what's right. If we are not getting scoring chances, stack the lines. Frankly speaking, he should only role 3 lines. Cale Makkar the other day played 30 mins

Play Auston and Marner until cows come home

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Kase should not come back. If this team allows Kase to come back and he gets another concussion, I'll lose any respect I have left for this organization

Dubas needs to sit with him and just shut him down. If he's medically cleared, great. Good for him. He can play hockey next season for some other team. This team needs to have a sense of responsbility for his health.

Going back to topic in hand. Clifford will have to play. I would argue play Clifford over Spezza if needed. There should no leashes this year.

Last Keefe waited to long to make changes or do what's right. If we are not getting scoring chances, stack the lines. Frankly speaking, he should only role 3 lines. Cale Makkar the other day played 30 mins

Play Auston and Marner until cows come home

I agree with you .. a players health is most important .. but I can tell you that Kase wants to play and Keefer want him in lineup .. da issue is passing da medical tests .. and I know MLSE sports science group is a stickler for testing and they will not pass him if he can't pass tests on his own .. but this guy Kase is a warrior and he wants to play .. to me I hope he passes and gets cleared but bottom line if he can't pass tests then he should NOT play .. as a player you only get so many shots at da Cup

 

[Scott r]

Tampa should win in 6...dont see them losing

 

[colchar]

nothing that you did or accomplished never really mattered. You missed your ultimate goal and that is only thing that is important.

The ultimate goal is all that matters. Your position reminds me of the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality, and look what that idiotic mindset has accomplished.

 

[Brown Dog]

I see this series coming down to a couple bounces in OT. Those don't historically go our way, but we're due...right??!?

 

[ACC1224]

I see this series coming down to a couple bounces in OT. Those don't historically go our way, but we're due...right??!?

Overdue

 

[Pi]

I see this series coming down to a couple bounces in OT. Those don't historically go our way, but we're due...right??!?

Probably but knowing we'll have Campbell in net vs them having Vasilevskiy doesn't give me any hope of a bounce in OT so let's just not even get to OT. Finish them before that, please?

 

[Pi]

If you want something to hang your hat on consider that if the Leafs beat Tampa in Round 1, what logical reason would there be to believe they're not winning the Cup?

When you face what many consider to be the toughest out in the entire field, and advance, you should feel confident this is your time.

As a fan, I look at Round 1 as a tractor beam to the Finals. I certainly don't expect the Leafs to win, as history has taught, but IF, and I mean IF they do...Oh, baby... The hope meter will be pegging like never before.

So, Round 1 is a lot like the Stanley Cup Finals, in my mind. Curious to see if we can hang.

The Leafs and Lightning have quite possibly the toughest road to win. If we win it all this year, it may rank as the toughest Cup win ever. I can't think of a road where a team beat 4 of the other top 5 teams besides themselves.

Either of these teams have to beat the other, then likely face Florida, then Carolina and then Colorado to win the Cup assuming every top seed wins their match up.

We've had the easy road and failed to beat Columbus and Montreal. Now we've got the hard road.

For some reason, I really do believe that Matthews and Marner are just going to go off this series and put up like 1.5-2PPG.

 

[TorMapleJays]

I didn’t think Price played spectacular vs the Leafs. I think the Leafs played like they did for 59 minutes in Washington

 

[zeke]

I didn’t think Price played spectacular vs the Leafs. I think the Leafs played like they did for 59 minutes in Washington

Fair opinion.

FYI tho the underlying numbers think those weren't at all alike.

Vs WSH sunday: 37xgf% EV, 45xgf% ALL, Vanacek .900sv%
Vs MTL playoffs: 56xgf% EV, 58xgf% ALL, Price .932sv%

 

[keonsbitterness]

I'm not programmed to do the same thing every single time. Yes, I certainly do point out things that fly in the face of tribalistic Leafs fans, because I'm not one of them. I try very hard to see this team objectively.

As someone who thinks perfection should be the goal, it always leaves a lot to be desired and I talk about those things. The difference is in perception. I don't perceive the Leafs to be perfect and work off that premise, I see them as very flawed, like everything in life, and work off of that. If you'll notice, and it doesn't appear you have, I say many complimentary things but do wind up spending the majority of my time countering what I feel are very imbalanced takes, rife with wishful thinking and avoidance, borne out of knocking back a little too much koolaid.

Perfection would be 82-0. Seems pretty realistic.

What did Tampa three consecutive losses to end the 2020/2021 season say about their competitiveness and preparedness for that playoffs?

In playoff terms, it says the regular season loses much of its meaning.

Kase should not come back. If this team allows Kase to come back and he gets another concussion, I'll lose any respect I have left for this organization

Dubas needs to sit with him and just shut him down. If he's medically cleared, great. Good for him. He can play hockey next season for some other team. This team needs to have a sense of responsbility for his health.

Disagree. If he's medically cleared and he wants to play, he should play.

 

[VanW27]

The Leafs and Lightning have quite possibly the toughest road to win. If we win it all this year, it may rank as the toughest Cup win ever. I can't think of a road where a team beat 4 of the other top 5 teams besides themselves.

Either of these teams have to beat the other, then likely face Florida, then Carolina and then Colorado to win the Cup assuming every top seed wins their match up.

We've had the easy road and failed to beat Columbus and Montreal. Now we've got the hard road.

For some reason, I really do believe that Matthews and Marner are just going to go off this series and put up like 1.5-2PPG.

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about the teams we'll need to go through, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a vintage Crosby/Malkin/Letang or Ovi/Backstrom/Carlson performance knocking off the Panthers in round 1.

I'd also add the Bolts are currently the 9th place team in the league.

 

[Mess]

The Leafs and Lightning have quite possibly the toughest road to win. If we win it all this year, it may rank as the toughest Cup win ever. I can't think of a road where a team beat 4 of the other top 5 teams besides themselves.

Either of these teams have to beat the other, then likely face Florida, then Carolina and then Colorado to win the Cup assuming every top seed wins their match up.

We've had the easy road and failed to beat Columbus and Montreal. Now we've got the hard road.

For some reason, I really do believe that Matthews and Marner are just going to go off this series and put up like 1.5-2PPG.

In terms of hardest path the to the Cup .. All 8 teams in the East have a least 100 points which means everybody in the first 3 X rounds opponent played > .610 winning % on the regular season.

Then the Western team most likely also will be a team with +100 regular season points.

I can't remember a time when the road to the Cup required defeating 4 X +100 point regular season teams.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about the teams we'll need to go through, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a vintage Crosby/Malkin/Letang or Ovi/Backstrom/Carlson performance knocking off the Panthers in round 1.

I'd also add the Bolts are currently the 9th place team in the league.

This doesn't mean a thing. The teams from 3-9 are closely packed and if there's one team that's saving their energy for the playoffs, it's the team that has played deep winning back to back cups and needs to conserve energy.

 

[Mess]

This doesn't mean a thing. The teams from 3-9 are closely packed and if there's one team that's saving their energy for the playoffs, it's the team that has played deep winning back to back cups and needs to conserve energy.

Tampa Bay is a 100+ team, but Kucherov only played in 44 of 78 games in the regular season.

If a team's superstar missing 1/2 a season and his team is still +100 points then I agree underestimating the 2 X Cup champs is a big mistake.

 

[TheGreatOne11]

In terms of hardest path the to the Cup .. All 8 teams in the East have a least 100 points which means everybody in the first 3 X rounds opponent played > .610 winning % on the regular season.

Then the Western team most likely also will be a team with +100 regular season points.

I can't remember a time when the road to the Cup required defeating 4 X +100 point regular season teams.

It'll make our run the stuff of legends

 

[Cor]

Just two teams are in the top 5 of both 5v5 xGA/60 and xGF/60.

the Leafs and the Flames.

leafs rank 3rd in the xGF and 5th in the xGA. Calgary ranks 4th in the xGF and 3rd in the xGA.

We rank 3rd in the xGF%. Behind the Bruins (1st in xGA, but 11th in xGF) and the Panthers (1st in xGF, but 16th in xGA). The Flames are 4th.

FWIW, Tampa Bay is 9th in xGF%, ranking 9th in xGF and 8th in xGA.


This is a very good hockey team ladies and gentlemen.

 

[ACC1224]

Just two teams are in the top 5 of both 5v5 xGA/60 and xGF/60.

the Leafs and the Flames.

leafs rank 3rd in the xGF and 5th in the xGA. Calgary ranks 4th in the xGF and 3rd in the xGA.

We rank 3rd in the xGF%. Behind the Bruins (1st in xGA, but 11th in xGF) and the Panthers (1st in xGF, but 16th in xGA). The Flames are 4th.

FWIW, Tampa Bay is 9th in xGF%, ranking 9th in xGF and 8th in xGA.


This is a very good hockey team ladies and gentlemen.

No doubt they are a very good team.
How applicable are whole season stats though? Should more weight be given to the last few months heading into the playoffs?

 

[leafsfan5]

I would legit pick us over 6 Eastern playoff teams. The 1 club that really concerns me is the one we play lmao

Oh well, if we win we beat the B2B champs. That kind of momentum carries you a long way

 

[JKG33]

I would legit pick us over 6 Eastern playoff teams. The 1 club that really concerns me is the one we play lmao

Oh well, if we win we beat the B2B champs. That kind of momentum carries you a long way

I wouldn't hate the Leafs chances against any of Carolina, New York, Pittsburgh, or Washington. Florida and Tampa are nightmare matchups, and no sane Leafs fan should want to play Boston in the playoffs.

This is a shame because we're stuck with the current playoff format.

 

[ACC1224]

I would legit pick us over 6 Eastern playoff teams. The 1 club that really concerns me is the one we play lmao

Oh well, if we win we beat the B2B champs. That kind of momentum carries you a long way

I'd agree with that.
I really think this is the year they get out of the 1st round.

 

[NinjaKick]

I don't care who we play... all I care about is making it past the first round... once we do that, history and momentum is ours.