I hate to say it

[DuklaNation]

I thought we out played them in 2022. So….

You must be right, triple down on failure then.

 

[ToDavid]

Lose to Florida while looking like the better team for most of the series (outside of that stinker in game 3): No heart, soft, muskoka 5, trade the entire team.

Win against Tampa while looking like the worse team for most of the series (outside of that shiner in game 2): Fluke, injured their opponents, trade the entire team.

 

[The Iceman]

If it wasn't for the MIGHTY Leafs herculean effort in game 4 against Florida the Panthers would have racked up 11 straight playoff wins...that is best ever all time stuff right there.

 

[Warden of the North]

Sure was nice reprieve the last week not having this exact same circular discussion

 

[LeafGrief]

I think it's the exact opposite, in that we always play up or down to who our opponents are. The Leafs beat the Lightning because they look up to them and gave them all they had. We had our structural issues, much as the Lightning did, but our guys at least turned up to play. FLA being the 8th seed had our guys looking down their noses at an "easy" series, and just as they have for the last 7 years they never put their foot in the gas and were down 3-0 before they knew it. Cutsie plays, overpassing, not digging deep or doing the little things and going the extra mile the way they did the series before.

Our guys fought hard as hell against Washington when we were the scrappy upstarts. Then we took Boston to 7 in two hard series where they truly became our boogeymen. By this point we were starting to see big regular season success, but the constant problem of playing terribly against weak opponents was really starting to get attention. When we got CBJ in the bubble, we expected to trounce them, but we found ways to lose. Against MTL in the Canadian division we all swore that it would be eeeaaaaasssssyyyyyyyyy and then put in the single most embarrassing Leafs game I can think of, losing that game 7 in astonishing fashion. Looking back, those two series were what prove this team has no killer instinct. We knew there was a path to the cup against Montreal, but they went up 3-1 in the series, thought they had it in the bag and that was it. Two hard fought series against Tampa later, they're feeling their oats and looking at a scrappy 8th seed, and that's all she wrote.

It's not an accident that we won our only series against the modern dynasty. It's an indictment.

 

[authentic]

Tbh that Brayden Point goal that was called back was pretty much bullshit (not that I would have admitted that at the time). If Leafs go on to lose that game 3 then…
Leafs really didn’t look all the great at any time this year. Hated hearing Keefe overrate the the team after getting mopped up by Florida, “missed opportunity” my ass.

View attachment 712575

This team never looked consistently great after the trade deadline. O'Reilly's injury didn't help and I like having Schenn on the team but I think we would've been better off with Sandin than McCabe. Lafferty was pretty much useless and Engvall was a much, much better player.

 

[Rob Brown]

But, the more time I think about it, the more I am starting to think that that 1st round win against Tampa was a fluke and that if the Leafs had played anybody else other then Tampa in the East in the 1st round, I think they would have lost.

The only 2 reasons why I think they beat them were because of the injuries to Hedman and Cernak. Plus, they were completely run down and burnt out from the last 3 years and I think they finally ran out of gas. And even with all that, they still badly outplayed us in 5 of the 6 games.

I will reserve full judgement until September. But, I am just praying that Shanny and (Treliving????) don‘t run this back, because I think if he does, we’re likely looking at another 1st round loss next spring.

Hedman missed 1 game lol

 

[authentic]

I think it's the exact opposite, in that we always play up or down to who our opponents are. The Leafs beat the Lightning because they look up to them and gave them all they had. We had our structural issues, much as the Lightning did, but our guys at least turned up to play. FLA being the 8th seed had our guys looking down their noses at an "easy" series, and just as they have for the last 7 years they never put their foot in the gas and were down 3-0 before they knew it. Cutsie plays, overpassing, not digging deep or doing the little things and going the extra mile the way they did the series before.

Our guys fought hard as hell against Washington when we were the scrappy upstarts. Then we took Boston to 7 in two hard series where they truly became our boogeymen. By this point we were starting to see big regular season success, but the constant problem of playing terribly against weak opponents was really starting to get attention. When we got CBJ in the bubble, we expected to trounce them, but we found ways to lose. Against MTL in the Canadian division we all swore that it would be eeeaaaaasssssyyyyyyyyy and then put in the single most embarrassing Leafs game I can think of, losing that game 7 in astonishing fashion. Looking back, those two series were what prove this team has no killer instinct. We knew there was a path to the cup against Montreal, but they went up 3-1 in the series, thought they had it in the bag and that was it. Two hard fought series against Tampa later, they're feeling their oats and looking at a scrappy 8th seed, and that's all she wrote.

It's not an accident that we won our only series against the modern dynasty. It's an indictment.

We also played them very well the first time around and got screwed by that horrific phantom 5 on 3 in game 6 combined with game 7s bullshit officiating.

You're 100% on the money here, this team plays down and up to their opponents. Anytime they think they have a cushion (a lead in the series or facing a team where they think they can pond hockey their way to a win) they'll use it as an excuse not to give it all they've got.

Hedman missed 1 game lol

But he was playing fairly hurt. Looked really slow and was clearly labouring out there, especially after that hit he took from ZAR.

 

[Donnie740]

This team never looked consistently great after the trade deadline. O'Reilly's injury didn't help and I like having Schenn on the team but I think we would've been better off with Sandin than McCabe. Lafferty was pretty much useless and Engvall was a much, much better player.

That’s to be expected because it’s very difficult to suddenly turn over a quarter of your roster with brand new guys so late in the season.

Especially with a coach like Bozo the Keefe who’s constantly churning the lines and never lets anyone build chemistry with their line mates or defence partner.

And on top of that, the new guys style of play was completely different that the finesse approach that Dubas and Bozo the Keefe insisted on using.

 

[mikeyz]

Hedman missed 1 game lol

But he was clearly nowhere near 100%.

 

[Aashir]

only teams I was worried about from the east were:
Tampa, Boston, Rangers

Every other team I had confidence to beat.

Florida showed they are legit behind clutch scoring and goaltending, but at the time I thought I would be Leafs in 6

Islander, Canes, Devils are all teams we’d beat

 

[Trapper]

only teams I was worried about from the east were:
Tampa, Boston, Rangers

Every other team I had confidence to beat.

Florida showed they are legit behind clutch scoring and goaltending, but at the time I thought I would be Leafs in 6

Islander, Canes, Devils are all teams we’d beat

Never assume where the Leafs are involved.
Don’t make them show you.

 

[hoglund]

But, the more time I think about it, the more I am starting to think that that 1st round win against Tampa was a fluke and that if the Leafs had played anybody else other then Tampa in the East in the 1st round, I think they would have lost.

The only 2 reasons why I think they beat them were because of the injuries to Hedman and Cernak. Plus, they were completely run down and burnt out from the last 3 years and I think they finally ran out of gas. And even with all that, they still badly outplayed us in 5 of the 6 games.

I will reserve full judgement until September. But, I am just praying that Shanny and (Treliving????) don‘t run this back, because I think if he does, we’re likely looking at another 1st round loss next spring.

I agree, Tampa outplayed Toronto for most of the series and weren't getting the bounces. Although the same could be said about the 2nd round where Toronto outplayed Florida, but weren't getting the breaks.

 

[Racer88]

This team never looked consistently great after the trade deadline. O'Reilly's injury didn't help and I like having Schenn on the team but I think we would've been better off with Sandin than McCabe. Lafferty was pretty much useless and Engvall was a much, much better player.

This is true. The trade deadline was a disaster. I don’t even think that they were a .500 team since the deadline.

 

[authentic]

This is true. The trade deadline was a disaster. I don’t even think that they were a .500 team since the deadline.

Controlling the play became a thing of the past basically. The only reason it didn't seem quite as big a deal as it could've in the playoffs is our goaltending went from worst in the league in last years playoffs to borderline average.

 

[keonsbitterness]

You failed to mention the biggest reason they beat TB, Vasi was terrible.
In hindsight, we all missed a potentially great series between TB and Florida

Just you missed it since you only like teams from yahoo cities.

 

[Nineteen67]

Just you missed it since you only like teams from yahoo cities.

What’s a yahoo city?

 

[keonsbitterness]

What’s a yahoo city?

Filled with apostates.

 

[Nineteen67]

Filled with apostates.

Ah, Toronto.

 

[WillNy29]

for a fanbase filled with folks complaining about making excuses we sure do have a large portion that loves making excuses for other teams.

 

[Kaladin]

NEWS FLASH

A lot of our playoff losses were flukes too.

A fluke is something that happens occasionally. Not consistently for years.

 

[keonsbitterness]

Ah, Toronto.

Proving again that your Leafs fandom really is a millimeter thick.

 

[Nineteen67]

Proving again that your Leafs fandom really is a millimeter thick.

Not a fan of the city at all.

 

[WillyC]

We were the favourite both years and I believe we were the better team both years… last year we should have beat them in 6 and this year we did beat them in 6.

 

[Mess]

Winning 5 games in a single playoff year is the new high water success mark of this core after 7 attempts.

Well at least with the expansion Seattle also winning the Leafs no longer a team without a series win in a Salary Cap World and everyone has at least 1.

Now that all 32 teams have won at least a single round the new gauge for playoff futility moves to the longest losing streaks to win 2 rounds.

The last time Toronto won 2 rounds was 2002 and there are only 2 teams Columbus (never) and Seattle (only their 2nd year) putting the Leafs 30th when it comes to that level of failure and longest streak now 21 years and counting. Wonder how many more years until that new gorilla is off the teams back after taking 19 years to win 1 round?

PS, Seattle lost in game #7 of round #2 this year so that was a close one.