Speculation: Highs and Lows - Your top 3 best and worse moments since the lockout (2006)

[ACC1224]

Thought this might be entertaining (or not) as there doesn’t seem to be as much dot talk about as we wait for the season to end and the playoffs to start.

I don’t think there are any right or wrong answers, strictly personal opinion and limited to the cap era.


Highs
1. Drafting Marner
2. Winning the Matthews lottery
3. Signing Tavares

Lows
1. 2013 Game 7 vs Bruins
2. Babcock era
3. 2006 - 2012
Honorable mention- handshake line respect, losing to Montreal/Columbus

Click to read more...

 

[Cams]

Wow..... let's see: In no particular order.....

Highs
1 drafting Matthews
2 drafting Marner
3 pushing Washington in a tight 6 game series in 16-17 where the Leafs were such a young/inexperienced team

Lows
1 Blowing 3-1 series lead against MTL
2 Blowing 4-1 3rd period lead to Boston in '13
3 Failure of Lou/Babcock to adapt to modern times

 

[ACC1224]

Wow..... let's see: In no particular order.....

Highs
1 drafting Matthews
2 drafting Marner
3 pushing Washington in a tight 6 game series in 16-17 where the Leafs were such a young/inexperienced team

Lows
1 Blowing 3-1 series lead against MTL
2 Blowing 4-1 3rd period lead to Boston in '13
3 Failure of Lou/Babcock to adapt to modern times

What did you find tougher, come up with 3 highs or only listing 3 lows?

 

[notbias]

Refreshing topic where I hope it doesn't turn into a back-and-forth and become off-topic...

1. Pittsburgh clinching game
2. Matthews' 60th
3. Winning the lottery

The Pittsburgh game was nuts and a lot of fun to watch, and then being at the Matthews' game where he hit 60 was great.

1. 2013 Boston
2. 2022 Tampa
3. 2021 Montreal

Feel like 2013 Boston should be #1.

After that, it was hard to rate them, but I thought that both 2022 and 2021 were very winnable series and it felt like things were working against us (Tavares and trash officiating), not sure if they were more frustrating than Columbus... but at least the Columbus series just felt like a fair loss.

 

[fancy lad]

this is a tough one for me.

going off the top of my head:

Highs would include...
1.First round against Washington. Yeah we lost but we looked really good. washington ended up winning the cup and that was the first playoff appearance for matthews, marner, nylander. I remember feeling very good about the potential and direction of the team.
2. Drafting elite players in Matthews and Marner. First time since Mats Sundin that we had actual real legitimate superstar talent for real.
3. When Leiwike (can't remember how to spell his name) implemented the whole culture change, at management level. In retrospect i don't know how effective this has been, but i just remember feeling really positive about the whole reshuffling at the top and the whole culture change thing. It was something the Leafs desperately needed at the time. Really all of Liewike's directives had positive results for all the MLSE clubs especially TFC and Raptors.


The lows. Oh god.. so many.
I don't even want to rank them, but i remember hating the Kessel trade at the time. and Boston's immediate success only made it worse.
The brutal teams under Ferguson and Nonis. Gross.
All the game 7 losses. Boston and Montreal being the most painful

 

[Suntouchable13]

Highs:

1. Mats Sundin’s 500th goal
2. Drafting Matthews
3. Clinching playoff spot in 2017

Lows:

1. 2013 Boston game 7
2. The whole 2009-2010 season, giving Boston our 2nd overall pick
3. 2021 series choke to MTL

 

[notbias]

What did you find tougher, come up with 3 highs or only listing 3 lows?

I won't speak for them... but I think since 2006 we have had very little to cheer about, and a lot to dislike, so probably easier to come up with the lows.

The highs are usually isolated to single games or events and the lows are series mostly (at least for me).

Highs could be drafting franchise players, individual accomplishments, or some games (the coming back from 3 goals down against Columbus)... the highs are hard to choose from.

If they win a round this year, I'll be super excited for the mental barrier being overcome, it still is not too exciting since I think the team is capable of so much more, but it would easily be #1, so that should tell you how bad the highs are.

 

[Cams]

What did you find tougher, come up with 3 highs or only listing 3 lows?

Probably the lows.....after all you only asked for 3. Lots to consider!

I assume you and me are in the similar age range that we know the highs of going to conference finals (93, 93, 99, 02), yet at least for me....the recent lows, as bad as they were (pre 2017) are nothing compared to pre 1992.

 

[ACC1224]

Probably the lows.....after all you only asked for 3. Lots to consider!

I assume you and me are in the similar age range that we know the highs of going to conference finals (93, 93, 99, 02), yet at least for me....the recent lows, as bad as they were (pre 2017) are nothing compared to pre 1992.

I limited to 3 because it was tough to come up with more than 3 highs. Sure there have been good moments but few of the really memorable variety.
IMO, as fun as this era is to watch all year, I also find it the most disappointing.

 

[Cams]

I limited to 3 because it was tough to come up with more than 3 highs. Sure there have been good moments but few of the really memorable variety.
IMO, as fun as this era is to watch all year, I also find it the most disappointing.

I could agree with that. Expectations and potential are not being met. It also shows how hard it is to win. Let's hope this year is different.

 

[ACC1224]

I could agree with that. Expectations and potential are not being met. It also shows how hard it is to win. Let's hope this year is different.

Sooner or later it will happen. I think this will be the year they advance, that's as far as I'll predict.

 

[egd27]

Highs:

1. Kadri's goal to make it 4-1 in the 2013 Boston game 7
2. Matthews 4th goal in his NHL debut
3. Final 3 mins of Game 81 in 2017.....Brown scores to make it 4-3 / McElhinney robs Crosby with 49 secs left / Matthews gets his 40th into the empty net with 3 secs left

Lows:

1. Bergeron's OT goal in the 2013 Boston game 7
2. Game 7 against the Habs in 2021
3. Game 5 against CBJ in 2020

 

[Buds17]

Highs

1. The rise to a playoff berth in 2016-2017 after the finish from the previous season
2. (Retaining the right to) draft Matthews
3. Drafting Marner

Lows

1. 2006-2012; 2014-2016 (no playoffs)
2. The playoff loss to Montreal
3. The playoff loss to Columbus

 

[ULF_55]

Thought this might be entertaining (or not) as there doesn’t seem to be as much dot talk about as we wait for the season to end and the playoffs to start.

I don’t think there are any right or wrong answers, strictly personal opinion and limited to the cap era.


Highs
1. Drafting Marner
2. Winning the Matthews lottery
3. Signing Tavares

Lows
1. 2013 Game 7 vs Bruins
2. Babcock era
3. 2006 - 2012
Honorable mention- handshake line respect, losing to Montreal/Columbus

This is a tough one.

From the 2005 Lock-out

Highs:
1. Winning the lottery for Matthews
2. Made playoffs 2013
3. TBD


Lows:
1. Refusal to start rebuild after lockout
2. Playoffs ineptness
3. Wasted years of best players

 

[Jmo89]

Thought this might be entertaining (or not) as there doesn’t seem to be as much dot talk about as we wait for the season to end and the playoffs to start.

I don’t think there are any right or wrong answers, strictly personal opinion and limited to the cap era.


Highs
1. Drafting Marner
2. Winning the Matthews lottery
3. Signing Tavares

Lows
1. 2013 Game 7 vs Bruins
2. Babcock era
3. 2006 - 2012
Honorable mention- handshake line respect, losing to Montreal/Columbus

Mine are almost identical.

I'd add honorable mentions for Highs: the Washington series and Matthews 4 goal debut.

For Lows:

I would stipulate the "Babcock Era" with mainly game 6 in the second Boston series (that third period was the only time I've ever seen Boston look scared of Toronto. Matthews, Rielly, and Andersen probably had the best games of their career, and Babcock continued to roll 4 lines and 6 D until Johnsson eventually danced like a figure skater with the goalie pulled leading to an ENG by Boston.)

For that reason I'd drop the Babcock related issues to HM and bump the Montreal series.

I'd also expand the handshake line comment from Keefe to him not shutting his mouth all series and being happy with a split in game 2. Loser mentality.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Highs:

1. The lotto win
2. Matthews’ Hart season
3. Tavares’ 47 goal season in his first year with the Leafs

Lows:

1. Game 7 collapse
2. The blown 3-1 series lead against the Leafs
3. The Zamboni driver

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Best:

1. Clinching the playoffs in 2017 after finishing dead last and being led by the Big Three and a bunch of other young guns. So much optimism then.

2. The 3-0 comeback against Columbus in the bubble. Game looked like it was over and then the Leafs pulled off the impossible with the goalie pulled. Too bad Game 5 was a dud.

3. Winning the 2016 draft lottery.


Worst:

1. Blowing 3-1 series lead to Montreal in 2021.

2. 2013 blown 4-1 Game 7 lead to Boston.

3. Uhhh I dunno, I guess losing Game 7 in 2019. A lot could go here but I’ll stick with something from the current era Leafs given how disappointing the results have been after all the promise we saw early on with this core.

 

[WillyC]

Highs… Marner, Matthews, and Tavares.

Lows… games 5, 6, and 7 against Montreal.

 

[ITM]

Thought this might be entertaining (or not) as there doesn’t seem to be as much dot talk about as we wait for the season to end and the playoffs to start.

I don’t think there are any right or wrong answers, strictly personal opinion and limited to the cap era.

Re: Op's title: Was the lockout in 2006?

That said, I'm going with 7 and 7; Eighteen years is a long time to condense into five memories let alone three.

Highs:

1. Shanahan's hire and the indications of the oncoming overhaul.
2. Seeing Shanahan holding the Maple Leafs card having won the lottery that would yield Matthews.
3. Drafting Matthews.
4. Drafting Tuukka Rask -- I was actually praying we'd draft him from the WJCs until the draft.
5. Hiring Lou Lamoriello
6. Sundin's 500th
7. Salming's Night.

HM: Kadri winning the Cup and his interview; I'm usually not happy about ex-Leafs winning elsewhere, but he loved it here, played like it, made no sense moving him.

Lows:

1. Salming's Night.
2. Trading Tuukka Rask -- I've probably blathered on about that on these boards at least 40 times. Gut-punched that day. Had no idea what the hell was going on. Seemed obvious this kid was Hasek 2.0; Wasn't but still..
3. Losing to Boston the first time: Watching Jaromir Jagr shake his head in the third on the bench when we increased the lead with about 12-13 minutes left and the camera catching him repeating: "It's not over. It's not over." and me standing a foot away from the tv A) Completely believing him and B) watching Bergeron bury us as though reading a mythical account of it outside of my body; Total shock.
4. Trade scuttlebutt with Sundin*; Absolutely disgusting; Edited to include member correction.*
5. Salutegate; Even more so. Twilight Zone stuff; Two ticks away from becoming a fully-fledged Red Wings fan.
6. A Randy Carlyle interview after a 10 game (or so) winning streak in which he said all the flaws were still there; I knew it as well despite the success, and a couple of months later he was gone and the tear down was on it's way.
7. The officiating in Game 6 last year (might have been 5 - someone correct me please) where we essentially got jobbed.

HM: Trading Kadri; Definitely tried to look at it glass half-full but at the time of his suspension took umbrage with the obvious double-standard in officiating.

 

[ACC1224]

Re: Op's title: Was the lockout in 2006?

That said, I'm going with 7 and 7; Eighteen years is a long time to condense into five memories let alone three.

Highs:

1. Shanahan's hire and the indications of the oncoming overhaul.
2. Seeing Shanahan holding the Maple Leafs card having won the lottery that would yield Matthews.
3. Drafting Matthews.
4. Drafting Tuukka Rask -- I was actually praying we'd draft him from the WJCs until the draft.
5. Hiring Lou Lamoriello
6. Sundin's 500th
7. Salming's Night.

HM: Kadri winning the Cup and his interview; I'm usually not happy about ex-Leafs winning elsewhere, but he loved it here, played like it, made no sense moving him.

Lows:

1. Salming's Night.
2. Trading Tuukka Rask -- I've probably blathered on about that on these boards at least 40 times. Gut-punched that day. Had no idea what the hell was going on. Seemed obvious this kid was Hasek 2.0; Wasn't but still..
3. Losing to Boston the first time: Watching Jaromir Jagr shake his head in the third on the bench when we increased the lead with about 12-13 minutes left and the camera catching him repeating: "It's not over. It's not over." and me standing a foot away from the tv A) Completely believing him and B) watching Bergeron bury us as though reading a mythical account of it outside of my body; Total shock.
4. Trading Sundin; Absolutely disgusting.
5. Salutegate; Even more so. Twilight Zone stuff; Two ticks away from becoming a fully-fledged Red Wings fan.
6. A Randy Carlyle interview after a 10 game (or so) winning streak in which he said all the flaws were still there; I knew it as well despite the success, and a couple of months later he was gone and the tear down was on it's way.
7. The officiating in Game 6 last year (might have been 5 - someone correct me please) where we essentially got jobbed.

HM: Trading Kadri; Definitely tried to look at it glass half-full but at the time of his suspension took umbrage with the obvious double-standard in officiating.

Lockout was 2005, hockey came back in 2006 with the cap.
To me that is the AD/BC divide of the modern NHL.

 

[X66]

WHERE TO BEGIN lol

Highs:
1)Matthews Lottery
2)Tavares Signing
3)Having a contending team for half a decade(LOL)

Lows:
1)2013 game 7 obviously, been a bad omen on the team ever since
2)Losing to the Habs, that was an EASY coast to the finals had we won
3)Burke Era, he F'd up the team with the Kessel trade, then spent 5 years trying to justify it with moves, 5 wasted years of life.

 

[Nineteen67]

Cheers.

The only 2 times I remember letting out an audible yell.
1. When the showed the Leafs logo in the Matthews lottery
2. Clinched a playoff spot in 17

3. Sundin retirement night. One of my favorite players to watch during the previous era

Groans
1. The fact the Leafs can be beat in the alley
2. 2013 blown lead
3. 2018-2022 Knowing they weren't good enough going into the playoffs

 

[Notsince67]

Thought this might be entertaining (or not) as there doesn’t seem to be as much dot talk about as we wait for the season to end and the playoffs to start.

I don’t think there are any right or wrong answers, strictly personal opinion and limited to the cap era.


Highs
1. Drafting Marner
2. Winning the Matthews lottery
3. Signing Tavares

Lows
1. 2013 Game 7 vs Bruins
2. Babcock era
3. 2006 - 2012
Honorable mention- handshake line respect, losing to Montreal/Columbus

Good list. I'd say trading Kadri was a top 3 low for me.
Getting rid of Phaneuf was a #4 high

 

[robertmac43]

1. Game 2+3 against Washington in 2017. Winning those back to back OT's felt sooooooooo good!
2. Clinching against the pens
3. The franchise altering drafts


Worst:
1. Losing to Montreal in 3 straight games
2. Bruins 2013.
3. Tampa game 7. So much believe in the team throughout that game and series.

 

[LeafGrief]

Best
1) Being in the stands for new era debut and Matthews scoring 4. Sometimes hockey is magical and that game was one of them.
2) The team being fun to watch again.
3) Sundin's 500th goal.

Worst
1) Losing to the Habs. That game 7 was the most predictable loss of all time and the true proof that the hockey gods don't owe us Leafs fans everything. That single game has radically redefined how I approach fandom and the team. For the better, but it was change from crisis.
2) It was 4-1. This one has actually become a favoured story of mine that seems to get more harrowing every time I tell it. Sucked though.
3) Tavares's return to Long Island. That was the game that showed our rebuild wasn't going to bring us the cups that we had promised ourselves.

I am sure there are many other moments that I have forgotten due to recency bias, but those are the ones that stand out. Shout out to Crosby's golden goal in the 2010 Olympics as the non-Leafs moment that has stood the test of time as magical.