Series Talk: ECSF: (A1) Toronto Maple Leafs vs (A3) Florida Panthers (Series Tied 2-2)

[ProjectPanthers]

Habs in 1

 

[Strangle]

Stolarz may steal one, Florida may give up one, but ask yourself this- who would you rather watch in the ECF Tkachuk, Bennett, Marchand or Showcase, Mitchy, and Nilly?
I don’t see this being a very entertaining series at all and Florida should win in 5 or 6

I think many will get bored of the constant mugging going on the ice and would prefer the slick skill in the ECF

the style of play Florida depends on really relies on the refs system of game management to exploit for their own benefit.

Force them to play a cleaner game and you’ll see better hockey.

The leafs win on skill the panthers win on playing as a unit and a behemoth all moving in the same direction, backstopped by outstanding goaltending.

But what happens if the leafs don’t wilt under the pressure of physical play and borderline suspensions not being called penalties and the panthers find they come up short on skill to score against a team coached by Berube?

I took panthers in 5, but it’s not a guarantee. Leafs have a shot at this, although not a favorable one.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

the refs system of game management

It's our system of game mgmt.

 

[93gilmour93]

Stolarz is going to be dialed in big time in this series. You know he's going to want to beat his old team. We will see if the hockey god's have his back in round 2

 

[Stephen]

Sure, if you make stuff up, anything is possible. There were a minority that held that opinion for a short time though.

I think many will get bored of the constant mugging going on the ice and would prefer the slick skill in the ECF

the style of play Florida depends on really relies on the refs system of game management to exploit for their own benefit.

Force them to play a cleaner game and you’ll see better hockey.

The leafs win on skill the panthers win on playing as a unit and a behemoth all moving in the same direction, backstopped by outstanding goaltending.

But what happens if the leafs don’t wilt under the pressure of physical play and borderline suspensions not being called penalties and the panthers find they come up short on skill to score against a team coached by Berube?

I took panthers in 5, but it’s not a guarantee. Leafs have a shot at this, although not a favorable one.

Florida works the 200 feet of ice like a 5 man unit. They like to manspread the center of the ice and they just play annoying sticky hockey from there. From a stylistic point of view I think that works well vs anybody, but particularly Tampa, who has turned into a collection of small stars and bench warmers and lots of cheap parts.

Toronto has been playing a very low octane, annoying defense and underdog disruptor role and have barely relied on their individual star power. I think they will be better in this series than Tampa, and have more ceiling than what they’ve shown to date but I don’t think a Panthers series is where skill goes to shine.

The Leafs were not prepared to play the 2023 series, and Florida was not yet champion. This time the Leafs will be underdogs. Gotta also consider the Leafs only other playoff win in this era was ending the juggernaut era Lightning so they’ll have to be at their best to flip over this Panther bandwagon.

 

[1specter]

View attachment 1028134

Most of these guys are just having fun or meme-ing, I know them from our forum and they're generally pretty measured posters. @Divine was literally just copying a well-known Shannon Sharpe meme. Even then, a handful of posts doesn't reflect one of the biggest fanbases in hockey. If you visit our board you can see a lot of the fans are pretty cautious about thiis matchup, for good reason.

 

[Mr Kot]

leafs in poo

 

[Just Rude]

Personally, I'm hoping for the best but I'm not overly optimistic. The Panthers are a f***ing machine right now.

I like the underdog role in this series. If the Leafs can find a way to get by these guys, look out. Their confidence would be sky high.

 

[Ratsreign]

Then he was crying when Barkov got interfered on, that wasn't even remotely close to as dirty as the hits they throw on a nightly basis.

At least he's honest, they just try to injure the opposing team with dirty hits.

Just stop it, man. The hit on Barkov was pretty dirty...And your hyperbolic whiny schtick about dirty hits every night is beyond old.

 

[Stephen]

Most of these guys are just having fun or meme-ing, I know them from our forum and they're generally pretty measured posters. @Divine was literally just copying a well-known Shannon Sharpe meme. Even then, a handful of posts doesn't reflect one of the biggest fanbases in hockey. If you visit our board you can see a lot of the fans are pretty cautious about thiis matchup, for good reason.

I can’t imagine spending time on the Florida board to collect their hot takes but imagine even in a fanbase of that size you’d run into some oddball ideas...

No need to apologize for what Leafs fans talk about amongst ourselves, seriously, sarcastically, emotionally.

 

[1specter]

I can’t imagine spending time on the Florida board to collect their hot takes but imagine even in a fanbase of that size you’d run into some oddball ideas...

No need to apologize for what Leafs fans talk about amongst ourselves, seriously, sarcastically, emotionally.

For sure, just irks me when people try to spread a false narrative that we think we're gonna run over Florida lol. Anybody with brain cells would know that nobody is just going to run over the defending 2x Eastern Champs and Cup champs.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

You guys give him shit all the time for being delusional lol.

It's not about injuring players, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. You guys will whine just because we play hard, 100% guaranteed.

He's our boy, tho. He's also been bang on this year

 

[Stephen]

For sure, just irks me when people try to spread a false narrative that we think we're gonna run over Florida lol. Anybody with brain cells would know that nobody is just going to run over the defending 2x Eastern Champs and Cup champs.

Who knows how the Leafs will do this series. I think we’re in tough but if the team manages to pull it off, seeing the literal “rats” flee the bandwagon would be pretty satisfying, lest some of these guys try to tell you they’ve been watching the Panthers since the Brian Skrudland days.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

View attachment 1028041

Leafs fans counter with a Slim Pickens.

 

[AvroArrow]

Just stop it, man. The hit on Barkov was pretty dirty...And your hyperbolic whiny schtick about dirty hits every night is beyond old.

Oh I agree it was dirty, it's just hilarious that the same group of fans that were complaining about that hit go around celebrating their team headshotting their opponents. Seems hypocritical no ?

Also it is pretty much a nightly occurrence with the Panthers, you guys have likely just gotten used to it.

 

[Nineteen67]

I think many will get bored of the constant mugging going on the ice and would prefer the slick skill in the ECF

the style of play Florida depends on really relies on the refs system of game management to exploit for their own benefit.

Force them to play a cleaner game and you’ll see better hockey.

The leafs win on skill the panthers win on playing as a unit and a behemoth all moving in the same direction, backstopped by outstanding goaltending.

But what happens if the leafs don’t wilt under the pressure of physical play and borderline suspensions not being called penalties and the panthers find they come up short on skill to score against a team coached by Berube?

I took panthers in 5, but it’s not a guarantee. Leafs have a shot at this, although not a favorable one.

I don’t think Florida is dirty at all, but they play the right way, which is the way most Canadians used to play hockey. They were lucky enough to acquire a few of the players that still play hard tough hockey.

 

[FinlandPanther]

Oh, I misunderstood. "Every puck battle." I thought you meant something else. Silly me:

Reading comprehension is so hard. I get it. Cults…

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

I'll never be able to chirp Florida too hard after they made me a shit ton of money last year

 

[Ratsreign]

lest some of these guys try to tell you they’ve been watching the Panthers since the Brian Skrudland days.

A lot have been.....

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

We'll see Woll at some point in this series

 

[Delete1]

You guys give him shit all the time for being delusional lol.

It's delusional to say that the first place team in the division will beat the third place team in the division? It doesn't seem like the biggest stretch to me. I would think it's more delusional to say that one team will somehow physically overpower another team and have it lead to a series win. That doesn't really happen in the NHL, despite people believing it. What does happen is that sometimes players are not able to perform with less time and space. That has certainly been the case in the past for some Leafs players. I simply don't think it is the case this season.

 

[Stephen]

Oh I agree it was dirty, it's just hilarious that the same group of fans that were complaining about that hit go around celebrating their team headshotting their opponents. Seems hypocritical no ?

Also it is pretty much a nightly occurrence with the Panthers, you guys have likely just gotten used to it.

Considering Bennett punching Marchand in the head last year or Bennett slamming Knies’ head onto the ice after wrestling him down or Mikkola doing whatever he was doing against Girgensons or Ekblad’s street justice move on Hagel, it’s kind of a wonder that any third party fan would be all that shocked and outraged or sympathetic when chaos comes for a Panthers player in any shape or form. Something something live by the series die by the sword.

 

[Skolman]

everyone had to deal with some injuries

Toronto has been relatively healthy compared to a lot of the other top teams.

Between Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, Knies, Reilly, Tanev they have combined to miss 33 games.

 

[Gizmoskevich]

Most of these guys are just having fun or meme-ing, I know them from our forum and they're generally pretty measured posters. @Divine was literally just copying a well-known Shannon Sharpe meme. Even then, a handful of posts doesn't reflect one of the biggest fanbases in hockey. If you visit our board you can see a lot of the fans are pretty cautious about thiis matchup, for good reason.

I just really wanted a reason to use that gif.

 

[sampollock]

Damn, thought he would at least sign with another team and make some money. He is just walking away altogether for free?

Guess after this cup win he will have accomplished his goal, why not go out on top? Good for him.

good one cup win every year and then.........