Lack of Killer Instinct

[wingman75]

I don't know how another NHLer the same size as Shea Weber could control themselves from snapping on Weber after taking those kinds of cheap shots on a consistent basis. Wouldn't the rage just take over?

In my dreams I am that guy... and he is not getting up

Could you imagine that jackass' reaction if people took shots at him like he does at others... fck p***y.

 

[yubbers]

Ouff, yea. I think I'd need more than Doughty... crazy to say I know but straight up... not sure. Would have loved to see him on our roster, not sure he would bring the same kind of impact. It is clear you need more from a guy other than past efforts; they have to be able to impact the game in the now.

Eat 2 mil of his cap hit so he's 9 for us?

 

[Stephen]

In my dreams I am that guy... and he is not getting up

Could you imagine that jackass' reaction if people took shots at him like he does at others... fck p***y.

This is why guys like Clark, Domi, Tucker and Roberts were always so popular. They didn't take any flack and wouldn't let a guy like Weber be that all purpose bully out there without taking a pound of flesh. Represented the little guy sitting at home who wished they could be in the battle.

 

[keonsbitterness]

This is why guys like Clark, Domi, Tucker and Roberts were always so popular. They didn't take any flack and wouldn't let a guy like Weber be that all purpose bully out there without taking a pound of flesh. Represented the little guy sitting at home who wished they could be in the battle.

You also need to be mentally tough to play like that. Clark and Roberts usually knew when to pull back. Tucker and Domi had more trouble figuring out that line.

 

[Le Cobra]

Are the Tampa Bay Lightning more talented or skilled than the Leafs? What do the Lightning have that we are lacking in order to become as good as they are in the playoffs?

 

[Le Cobra]

It's not even a lack of killer instinct, it's just that they will only compete in spurts or go full no intensity mode. Two coaches now can't get them to put in a full effort

this team needs a Trotz or Trotz-esque coach

 

[Stigma]

I don't know how another NHLer the same size as Shea Weber could control themselves from snapping on Weber after taking those kinds of cheap shots on a consistent basis. Wouldn't the rage just take over?

This is what I don't get. From my own experiences playing hockey, if a 6'4 beast put his filthy mitts on my face, my 5'11 body would go into instant rage mode. Just a biological response. Height would not be an issue. I don't understand how those guys are missing that level of testosterone given they're pro athletes. If I was a teammate of them (Simmonds, for example), I would spend a lot of the summer showing them what to do in each of those situations. Maybe even have a very light, baby-punches fight with them to make them less afraid of pain.

 

[Dayjobdave]

It was interesting watching Tampa with that 4 min power play Orpington from playing intensely to trying to make the perfect play. They sucked the life out of their own power play just like we did halfway through the year.

 

[Trapper]

this team needs a Trotz or Trotz-esque coach

This team needs a core player that hates to lose, not wants to win.

 

[Racer88]

Are the Tampa Bay Lightning more talented or skilled than the Leafs? What do the Lightning have that we are lacking in order to become as good as they are in the playoffs?

They are more skilled, they are more balanced thru out their line up, they are more committed, they have more of a team mentality and they have a much much better coach………….so ya they have just about more of everything.
I doubt they have a single player that would be laughing while getting rag dolled

 

[LeafGrief]

Interesting thought experiement. Dubas definitely went out and got as much experience around the edges as he could. The thing is though, the lack of killer instinct is at the core and this team has fully proven that it will only go as far as the core will take them. The defense was great, the goalie was great, the depth did their job well enough, it's the core that failed to produce and it is in the core where we need to inject that killer instinct. Muzzin is really the only core piece we have with real winning pedigree, and he's on the periphery of the core.

Ultimately, I feel like this is yet another thread that boils down to "Marner sucks in the playoffs". To me at least. JT was injured, but has been good in the playoffs for us. Matthews couldn't score, but he was working hard and has been our best player in multiple playoff series. Nylander was terrific. Marner was a big yikes and has been for three years in a row now. I think if Marner gets sorted out mentally (may not be possible) these things solve themselves.

 

[ToneDog]

Interesting thought experiement. Dubas definitely went out and got as much experience around the edges as he could. The thing is though, the lack of killer instinct is at the core and this team has fully proven that it will only go as far as the core will take them. The defense was great, the goalie was great, the depth did their job well enough, it's the core that failed to produce and it is in the core where we need to inject that killer instinct. Muzzin is really the only core piece we have with real winning pedigree, and he's on the periphery of the core.

Ultimately, I feel like this is yet another thread that boils down to "Marner sucks in the playoffs". To me at least. JT was injured, but has been good in the playoffs for us. Matthews couldn't score, but he was working hard and has been our best player in multiple playoff series. Nylander was terrific. Marner was a big yikes and has been for three years in a row now. I think if Marner gets sorted out mentally (may not be possible) these things solve themselves.

That sounds about right for this management team. Let's hope that our $10.983 selfish winger who's cap hit is crippling the team from adding/keeping quality players, sorts it out.

 

[rumman]

That sounds about right for this management team. Let's hope that our $10.983 selfish winger who's cap hit is crippling the team from adding/keeping quality players, sorts it out.

Marner alone isn’t the only one who’s cap hit is crippling the team, he’s just the soup de jour……..

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

It was interesting watching Tampa with that 4 min power play Orpington from playing intensely to trying to make the perfect play. They sucked the life out of their own power play just like we did halfway through the year.

If the tv did not show TBL in the top right...you would swear it was the Leafs on the PP. It was too much of what you said...trying to be perfect and it bit them in the ass.

 

[AvroArrow]

Are the Tampa Bay Lightning more talented or skilled than the Leafs? What do the Lightning have that we are lacking in order to become as good as they are in the playoffs?

Victor Hedman
Vasilevsky
and 18M over or 9.5M over depending on who you ask.

Hypothetically, it would be like the leafs adding Hedman to our current roster without losing anyone. If we could spend an extra 9M-10M on an elite D-man, we would probably be in the finals. TB is obviously more experienced especially in the playoffs, but as a team, the main difference is Hedman and goaltending.

 

[LeafGrief]

That sounds about right for this management team. Let's hope that our $10.983 selfish winger who's cap hit is crippling the team from adding/keeping quality players, sorts it out.

I blame the actual player far more than I blame management tbh. Yeah, he's overpaid by 2m or so and that's Dubas's fault. It's also Dubas's fault if we don't go anywhere in the playoffs again this year if Marner continues to suck. He had the opportunity to trade him this summer and it looks like he won't.

But at the end of the day, the league has a whole bunch of 10m players now, many of them young and Marner's age. Marner is one of the most talented of the bunch, yet he's the playoff dud. What Dubas does with Marner from here on out knowing that he's a dud is his fault. But we must also remember that giving up too early a 24 year old who comes 4th in league scoring is how you get remembered as the worst GM in franchise history.

Ultimately, I blame Marner for being the dud far more than I blame Dubas for loading his gun with a dud. That's the thing with duds, you don't know that they're duds until you pull the trigger.

 

[Stephen]

It was interesting watching Tampa with that 4 min power play Orpington from playing intensely to trying to make the perfect play. They sucked the life out of their own power play just like we did halfway through the year.

I thought Tampa juked themselves out the way Toronto typically does. When it feels like the game has been put on a tee for you, you kind of luxuriate in the ample PP time and then before you know it’s there’s a minute left and you haven’t done anything. That’s a moment when that killer instinct is supposed to kick in and not let Montreal have any momentum.

 

[Stephen]

Are the Tampa Bay Lightning more talented or skilled than the Leafs? What do the Lightning have that we are lacking in order to become as good as they are in the playoffs?

Tampa’s built with broader foundations so if their elite offense doesn’t kick in, they have elite goaltending or their redwood forest defense to fall back on. Toronto has the firepower at the top, but the blueline has only recently become acceptable in quality and the goaltending is cheaply constructed with a lot of maybes.

Like some analysts have said, the Leafs are relying on very thin margins and aren’t well insulated against fate conspiring against them. Not a lot of resilience in that recipe.

 

[Antropovsky]

It does bug me that we're going into yet another offseason with the same plan... keep the core, keep the coach, shuffle around the depth guys, change some assistant coaches, add to the lower level management staff...and do it all again. Anything short of a game 7 loss in the conference finals next year and we better be rolling a bunch of heads.

 

[Papi 4 Hart]

For signing players with "killer instinct" I am not liking the options via Free Agency. We will have to look internally or by trade and what teams want to trade players with killer instinct?

 

[McSnypsky]

this team needs a Trotz or Trotz-esque coach

How about a Cooper-esque coach?

 

[McSnypsky]

Can we get a guy like this too while we're looking for players?

That's killer instinct right there!

 

[ShaneFalco]

There is no fn killer instinct. You play hard or you don't
Developing a killer instinct is politician speak

 

[ShaneFalco]

It does bug me that we're going into yet another offseason with the same plan... keep the core, keep the coach, shuffle around the depth guys, change some assistant coaches, add to the lower level management staff...and do it all again. Anything short of a game 7 loss in the conference finals next year and we better be rolling a bunch of heads.

I've never seen do many fans disinterested as I have this year.

 

[Leafshater67]

This is a core with serious issues and they’re up against the cap. Nobody in the league needs a roster shakeup more than the leafs. I think at this point, it’s been exposed that it’s not a coaching issue and after the play of Campbell last year, it’s also not a goaltending issue.