Fan confidence of the Leafs: Athletic article

[TheRumble]

It's behind a paywall so I'll just sum up the most relevant polls.

68% of the fanbase understood that losing to the Lightning is just a case of a good team losing to a good team.

Confidence in this core (Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, Rielly) going forward on a scale of 1-10. 1-5 collectively got 16%. 6 got 9.9%. 7 got 22.2%. 8 got 31.8%, 9 got 14%, 10 got 5.8%. Confidence is high.

Sheldon Keefe from 1 to 10 - Fanbase is pretty positive on him in general. 10.2 disapprove (1 to 4), 83% approve (6-10), 7.8% are in the middle.

Dubas' approval ratings is - probably much to the dismay of many of you, is similar. 85.6% of the fans polled rated him between 6-10. 5.1% are in the middle at 5. 9.3% rated him between 1-4.

Will the Leafs win a round next year? 83% yes.

If they don't, should they clean house in the front office? This is where the fanbase is split. 52% say yes, 47% say no.

Most overrated Leaf - Tavares with 40% of the vote. Most underrated was Brodie with 30% of the vote.

91.5% of the fanbase think Sandin and Liljegren should be in the lineup next year meaning Holl would be the odd man out.

Click to read more...

 

[SeaOfBlue]

It's behind a paywall so I'll just sum up the most relevant polls.

68% of the fanbase understood that losing to the Lightning is just a case of a good team losing to a good team.

Confidence in this core (Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, Rielly) going forward on a scale of 1-10. 1-5 collectively got 16%. 6 got 9.9%. 7 got 22.2%. 8 got 31.8%, 9 got 14%, 10 got 5.8%. Confidence is high.

Sheldon Keefe from 1 to 10 - Fanbase is pretty positive on him in general. 10.2 disapprove (1 to 4), 83% approve (6-10), 7.8% are in the middle.

Dubas' approval ratings is - probably much to the dismay of many of you, is similar. 85.6% of the fans polled rated him between 6-10. 5.1% are in the middle at 5. 9.3% rated him between 1-4.

Will the Leafs win a round next year? 83% yes.

If they don't, should they clean house in the front office? This is where the fanbase is split. 52% say yes, 47% say no.

Most overrated Leaf - Tavares with 40% of the vote. Most underrated was Brodie with 30% of the vote.

91.5% of the fanbase think Sandin and Liljegren should be in the lineup next year meaning Holl would be the odd man out.

I am genuinely surprised at all of this except Leafs fans thinking Tavares is overrated... That doesn't surprise me at all. Although these days, with how pessimistic most Leafs fans are, I think it is pretty tough for find anyone who is overrated (they will tear you apart at the first mistake) and you have to name someone.

 

[TheRumble]

I am genuinely surprised at all of this except Leafs fans thinking Tavares is overrated... That doesn't surprise me at all. Although these days, with how pessimistic most Leafs fans are, I think it is pretty tough for find anyone who is overrated (they will tear you apart at the first mistake) and you have to name someone.

It's recency bias more than anything. They did the same poll last year and it was Marner. The year before that, it was Nylander. In 2018 it was Matthews.

 

[zeke]

It's behind a paywall so I'll just sum up the most relevant polls.

68% of the fanbase understood that losing to the Lightning is just a case of a good team losing to a good team.

Confidence in this core (Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, Rielly) going forward on a scale of 1-10. 1-5 collectively got 16%. 6 got 9.9%. 7 got 22.2%. 8 got 31.8%, 9 got 14%, 10 got 5.8%. Confidence is high.

Sheldon Keefe from 1 to 10 - Fanbase is pretty positive on him in general. 10.2 disapprove (1 to 4), 83% approve (6-10), 7.8% are in the middle.

Dubas' approval ratings is - probably much to the dismay of many of you, is similar. 85.6% of the fans polled rated him between 6-10. 5.1% are in the middle at 5. 9.3% rated him between 1-4.

Will the Leafs win a round next year? 83% yes.

If they don't, should they clean house in the front office? This is where the fanbase is split. 52% say yes, 47% say no.

Most overrated Leaf - Tavares with 40% of the vote. Most underrated was Brodie with 30% of the vote.

91.5% of the fanbase think Sandin and Liljegren should be in the lineup next year meaning Holl would be the odd man out.

Smart fans.

 

[LaCarriere]

I am genuinely surprised at all of this except Leafs fans thinking Tavares is overrated... That doesn't surprise me at all. Although these days, with how pessimistic most Leafs fans are, I think it is pretty tough for find anyone who is overrated (they will tear you apart at the first mistake) and you have to name someone.

I'm surprised but not surprised at the same time. Leafs fans loved pretty much every salary cap era front office signing (where they can leverage that $$$) until one day they didn't and they all faced enough media/fan pressure that they were all ran out of town.

Burke was going to bring a cup, then nonis/lamerrello was going to bring a cup when Shanahan came along, along with Carlyle and the massive contract babcock got. Fans were generally clamoring over those signings at the time, until they didn't. Another early round exit and dubas may be next, along with Keefe.

1 more year of anything but atleast a trip to the ECF and this survey will look quite opposite I'm guessing. It's only a matter of time before ownership pressures Shanahan to make some changes, or they're all gonna be gone.

I see a lot of posts saying the ECF was played in the first round, so im assuming thats why confidence is still high in the management team, but winning 3-4 rounds is still a lot harder than winning 1 round, even if its against a good team. They playoffs are a war of attrition, not a 1 round sprint (that you still lose)

 

[TheRumble]

I'm surprised but not surprised at the same time. Leafs fans loved pretty much every salary cap era front office signing (where they can leverage that $$$) until one day they didn't and they all faced enough media/fan pressure that they were all ran out of town.

Burke was going to bring a cup, then nonis/lamerrello was going to bring a cup when Shanahan came along, along with Carlyle and the massive contract babcock got. Fans were generally clamoring over those signings at the time, until they didn't. Another early round exit and dubas may be next, along with Keefe.

1 more year of anything but atleast a trip to the ECF and this survey will look quite opposite I'm guessing. It's only a matter of time before ownership pressures Shanahan to make some changes, or they're all gonna be gone.

I see a lot of posts saying the ECF was played in the first round, so im assuming thats why confidence is still high in the management team, but winning 3-4 rounds is still a lot harder than winning 1 round, even if its against a good team. They playoffs are a war of attrition, not a 1
round sprint (that you still lose)

Not so much with Burke. Analytically minded fans always hated him and Nonis.

 

[tmlms13]

Tavares isn't overrated, he is overpaid

There is a difference

 

[ShaneFalco]

Smart fans.

Low standards

 

[BayStBullies]

It's behind a paywall so I'll just sum up the most relevant polls.

68% of the fanbase understood that losing to the Lightning is just a case of a good team losing to a good team.

Confidence in this core (Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, Rielly) going forward on a scale of 1-10. 1-5 collectively got 16%. 6 got 9.9%. 7 got 22.2%. 8 got 31.8%, 9 got 14%, 10 got 5.8%. Confidence is high.

Sheldon Keefe from 1 to 10 - Fanbase is pretty positive on him in general. 10.2 disapprove (1 to 4), 83% approve (6-10), 7.8% are in the middle.

Dubas' approval ratings is - probably much to the dismay of many of you, is similar. 85.6% of the fans polled rated him between 6-10. 5.1% are in the middle at 5. 9.3% rated him between 1-4.

Will the Leafs win a round next year? 83% yes.

If they don't, should they clean house in the front office? This is where the fanbase is split. 52% say yes, 47% say no.

Most overrated Leaf - Tavares with 40% of the vote. Most underrated was Brodie with 30% of the vote.

91.5% of the fanbase think Sandin and Liljegren should be in the lineup next year meaning Holl would be the odd man out.

What was the sample size? How did they control for pre-test bias? What was the specific framing of the questions?

 

[keonsbitterness]

Can't say I'm surprised. Fans in general are more optimistic than fans on internet forums.

 

[TheRumble]

Can't say I'm surprised. Fans in general are more optimistic than fans on internet forums.

Nah. I post in multiple hockey forums, the Leaf fans on HFBoards are probably the worst of the bunch in terms of pessimism.

Reddit, the Athletic and most of the Leafs blogs, even Steve Dangle who is notoriously pretty negative on the team are a lot more reasonable.

 

[Mickey Marner]

The Athletic crowd is probably the most partial to this front office.

 

[justashadowof]

The power of propaganda: people believe what they're told to believe. All major sports media are owned by either Bell or Rogers plus independent sports and social media is largely astroturfed by NHL marketing arms, player agents and people more concerned about things like corporations' ESG score.

 

[Bomber0104]

This is like taking a survey at a church asking if people believe in god

 

[All Mod Cons]

That number on whether Dubas should stay another year hasn't changed in 3 years. Are they genuinely asking people?

 

[Gary Nylund]

Based on what I read here I would have said Tavares is the most underrated player.

 

[zeke]

What was the sample size? How did they control for pre-test bias? What was the specific framing of the questions?

1. About 4 thousand subscribers.

2. Part of the screen for pre-test bias would be that the willingness to pay for your sports coverage eliminates most of the trolls.

3. Most of the questions quoted here were simple "how much confidence do you have in X from 1-10" questions.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Seems like some logical opinions.

Really goes to show how many of the vocal ones on here are a small minority. Most of the fanbase outside of this forum isn't so wildly pessimistic.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Low standards

I doubt that. Although they didn't ask the question, most fans want to win the Stanley Cup. There are a few on this board that would rather see the front office saked then win, but they are a tiny minority.

 

[Trapper]

I doubt that. Although they didn't ask the question, most fans want to win the Stanley Cup. There are a few on this board that would rather see the front office saked then win, but they are a tiny minority.

How about start winning or get sacked.
That seems reasonable no?
Shanahan has been here for 8 years and hasn’t won a playoff round. Not the Cup, just a round.
Life is give and take. If you want me to believe in a process, you need to show some success. The narrative would be different if we lost in the 1st, went to the 2nd or 3rd, lost in the 1st, etc.

Even Edmonton went to the 3rd with Mike Smith, Codi Ceci and Tyson Barrie. ???????

 

[notDatsyuk]

Tavares isn't overrated, he is overpaid

There is a difference

He was overrated, which is why he was overpaid.

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive.

 

[Leaf Fans]

How about start winning or get sacked.
That seems reasonable no?
Shanahan has been here for 8 years and hasn’t won a playoff round. Not the Cup, just a round.
Life is give and take. If you want me to believe in a process, you need to show some success. The narrative would be different if we lost in the 1st, went to the 2nd or 3rd, lost in the 1st, etc.

Even Edmonton went to the 3rd with Mike Smith, Codi Ceci and Tyson Barrie. ???????

Yeah, that wasn't an answer on the poll, but I am sure some people feel that way.

 

[zeke]

Even Edmonton went to the 3rd with Mike Smith, Codi Ceci and Tyson Barrie. ???????

Do you have more confidence in the Oilers?

 

[notDatsyuk]

I'm a bit surprised that the Keefe and Dubas ratings are so positive, but except for the playoff loss to the repeat Cup winners, this was a very successful year.

I doubt that the average Athletic reader suffers the same angst that the average Leafs fan does over the repeated first round exits. Based on just this year's performance, those poll results are entirely reasonable.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

It's behind a paywall so I'll just sum up the most relevant polls.

68% of the fanbase understood that losing to the Lightning is just a case of a good team losing to a good team.

Confidence in this core (Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, Rielly) going forward on a scale of 1-10. 1-5 collectively got 16%. 6 got 9.9%. 7 got 22.2%. 8 got 31.8%, 9 got 14%, 10 got 5.8%. Confidence is high.

Sheldon Keefe from 1 to 10 - Fanbase is pretty positive on him in general. 10.2 disapprove (1 to 4), 83% approve (6-10), 7.8% are in the middle.

Dubas' approval ratings is - probably much to the dismay of many of you, is similar. 85.6% of the fans polled rated him between 6-10. 5.1% are in the middle at 5. 9.3% rated him between 1-4.

Will the Leafs win a round next year? 83% yes.

If they don't, should they clean house in the front office? This is where the fanbase is split. 52% say yes, 47% say no.

Most overrated Leaf - Tavares with 40% of the vote. Most underrated was Brodie with 30% of the vote.

91.5% of the fanbase think Sandin and Liljegren should be in the lineup next year meaning Holl would be the odd man out.

I think you mean to say: 68% of Leaf Fans who pay for the Athletic, and every other poll stat you presented.

There is no way the majority of the fanbase is pleasantly understanding of a loss to Tampa. Like the BOS/MTL series, TOR had a couple of chances to close out a series and blew it.

If I could properly place the mood of the fanbase I would say it's closer to this:

"Once they they've actually won a round or two I might start to care. As of now am losing interest."

Many Leaf fans are probably a little more emotional when it comes to Tavares. More like 98% of Leaf Fans want him shipped off to another team.

I'm sorry I sound so bitter, but all this team has proven is that they cannot win in the post-season. Their expectation bar is set so low: win a playoff round. Many fans had higher expectations when you consider the painful rebuild they went through.

PS - I'm glad athletic Leaf fans appreciate Brody. I like him too.