Leafs’ first round opponent: Boston (who tanked for us)

[BayStBullies]

The reward for being a top 4-5 team is facing the top 1 and 2 teams in a row. Toronto will lose no matter who they face of the two. The only brightside is that Keefe should be gone this year.

 

[Racer88]

if Boston were a weaker team than us you might have a complaint, but they are a better team and currently have beaten us 6 straight. Only in a fluke do we beat them. So if we don’t get flukey fire everybody? lol!

Panthers are also a better team than us but we play better against them, maybe we stand a chance there.

Why are both those teams better teams than us. With 7 years of this core and multiple revamps of the surrounding cast and unlimited resources shouldn’t we at least be as good if not better then them
Boston has lost great players to trades and retirement and still continue to excel. It’s pretty obvious that our upper management is incompetent or have they just been unlucky the last 7 years

 

[Evilhomer]

Boston has a tough schedule the rest of the way, so I think we will probably still see some.movement in the standings between these three teams before the season is over.

 

[ashs]

Who cares who we play. To be the best u beat the best. We win and move on or lose and make changes.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Why are both those teams better teams than us. With 7 years of this core and multiple revamps of the surrounding cast and unlimited resources shouldn’t we at least be as good if not better then them
Boston has lost great players to trades and retirement and still continue to excel. It’s pretty obvious that our upper management is incompetent or have they just been unlucky the last 7 years

So don't fire anybody, don't shake up the core, then how does the team get better? Everybody is great, yet we are still not better than those teams. Hmm....

 

[Confucius]

Why are both those teams better teams than us. With 7 years of this core and multiple revamps of the surrounding cast and unlimited resources shouldn’t we at least be as good if not better then them
Boston has lost great players to trades and retirement and still continue to excel. It’s pretty obvious that our upper management is incompetent or have they just been unlucky the last 7 years

Look at the standings and look at our record against Boston over the last 6 games. It tells me they are better team.. coaching is the problem, not the players and obviously not the people that brought the players here. Maybe they are overpaid but we can’t do anything about that. Fluking a win changes nothing.

What did Habs management do the summer after knocking us out. Fired the coach and GM, why? because they know the team sucked and playoff performance meant squat.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Boston has a tough schedule the rest of the way, so I think we will probably still see some.movement in the standings between these three teams before the season is over.

We can help Boston by beating Florida twice

 

[Nineteen67]

Boston, Florida, Rangers or Carolina are all potential 1st round opponents.

 

[Evilhomer]

We can help Boston by beating Florida twice

I think all three teams could shift around. 13-14 games is plenty of time for one team to go on a hot streak while another goes cold. First in the division, which presumably also means first in the conference, is a hell of a better outcome for a team than second or third.

 

[ToneDog]

We can help Boston by beating Florida twice

Interesting. The winner of the Conference gets WC2. The second place finisher gets Tampa. If I am Boston or Florida I am not sure who the better match up is today. Tampa or Toronto so if I can't win the Atlantic, I might want to finish second and draw the Leafs.

 

[Confucius]

Interesting. The winner of the Conference gets WC2. The second place finisher gets Tampa. If I am Boston or Florida I am not sure who the better match up is today. Tampa or Toronto so if I can't win the Atlantic, I might want to finish second and draw the Leafs.

Pretty sure Boston wants us, they are 3 and 3 over the past 6 against the lightning and 6and 0 against us. Panthers are 4 and 2 against either so they probably don’t care much but for travel and rivalry, I think they prefer lightning.

 

[Nineteen67]

Interesting. The winner of the Conference gets WC2. The second place finisher gets Tampa. If I am Boston or Florida I am not sure who the better match up is today. Tampa or Toronto so if I can't win the Atlantic, I might want to finish second and draw the Leafs.

Although teams can’t look at the standings and then decide to try or not try on a particular night, there certainly are easier match ups, (Det, Tor, Philly, - long shots Wash and NYI), on paper in round 1.

 

[Arzak]

Pretty sure Boston wants us, they are 3 and 3 over the past 6 against the lightning and 6and 0 against us. Panthers are 4 and 2 against either so they probably don’t care much but for travel and rivalry, I think they prefer lightning.

Bruins might surprise us this year. Fewer expectations than last year, yet still a solid team.

Plus both McAvoy and Pasta, talked pre-season about this being their Bruins iteration and that it's time to prove it. They might have a bit of a chip on their shoulders this offseason (well, the same they do in the regular season, playing no C and sh*t)...

 

[Suntouchable13]

Bruins might surprise us this year. Fewer expectations than last year, yet still a solid team.

Plus both McAvoy and Pasta, talked pre-season about this being their Bruins iteration and that it's time to prove it. They might have a bit of a chip on their shoulders this offseason (well, the same they do in the regular season, playing no C and sh*t)...

Bring either of them on and let’s see what the Leafs have. You have to beat these teams to win the cup anyway.

 

[ACC1224]

Bring either of them on and let’s see what the Leafs have. You have to beat these teams to win the cup anyway.

I still like the matchup against the Bruins.

 

[egd27]

I agree, but usually the tough teams start in the later rounds not the 1st.

Not if you finish 3rd in your division or in a wild card slot

if Boston were a weaker team than us you might have a complaint, but they are a better team and currently have beaten us 6 straight. Only in a fluke do we beat them. So if we don’t get flukey fire everybody? lol!

Panthers are also a better team than us but we play better against them, maybe we stand a chance there.

Right, so let's get some management folks that can make the Leafs a better team.

 

[Arzak]

Not if you finish 3rd in your division or in a wild card slot


Right, so let's get some management folks that can make the Leafs a better team.

Imagine telling anyone 6-7 years ago, Bruins will still be better than us 7 years later with no Chara, Bergeron,Krejci or Rask in the league. You'd get banned from the Leafs board under 30s.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

this is overmarketed. my god.

 

[thusk]

Look at the standings and look at our record against Boston over the last 6 games. It tells me they are better team.. coaching is the problem, not the players and obviously not the people that brought the players here. Maybe they are overpaid but we can’t do anything about that. Fluking a win changes nothing.

What did Habs management do the summer after knocking us out. Fired the coach and GM, why? because they know the team sucked and playoff performance meant squat.

whatever who was coaching in Boston, they got succes... It is really coaching or team identity etablish by player himself?

if your leader was playing at 100% like 50% of the time, the rest of the team will play at 100% 50% of the time.

if your leader playing at 100% 95% of the time, it will be the same with rest of the team.

If Barry trotz would be washington coach like 10 year ago, he wouldn't had the same succes whatever what thry would do because Washington player was not ready at this moment to do everything possible to win.

If leafs leader start tonplay hard when they trailing by 2 or 3, What he can really do? Benching his top player? he will lost the lockey room and will not take a long time.

At the end, the only way leafs will be able to win will be when everyone will raise their game tigether until the end. Thats it, changing coach every year will not changr it, it will stay the same thing

 

[Dangles McGavin]

We’re a good team but I would not bet on this team against any playoff team in the east in a 7 game series. Hope they surprise me.

 

[Confucius]

We’re a good team but I would not bet on this team against any playoff team in the east in a 7 game series. Hope they surprise me.

Surprise would be heroic, a loss doesn’t mean they are chokers though, especially when they are playing a better team. Sure personal stats may go down because we are now having to play one of the top 3 teams in the league for 4 to 7 games. I would be shocked if the guys put up better numbers against the best team than they do playing the doormats.

 

[ITM]

Our defence doesnt match up well, and aside from Carolina, we're outclassed in goal too...

But...God loves a trier!

 

[BamBamCam]

Boston has a tough schedule the rest of the way, so I think we will probably still see some.movement in the standings between these three teams before the season is over.

So your saying Leaf's atop the division by April 1st then?

 

[m1ker]

Who cares who we play. To be the best u beat the best. We win and move on or lose and make changes.

It matters because certain styles match up better against other styles. We consistently play the style of hockey we don’t match well against. Had by chance that style got knocked out before playing us we could go on a heater and win the cup.

 

[egd27]

It matters because certain styles match up better against other styles. We consistently play the style of hockey we don’t match well against. Had by chance that style got knocked out before playing us we could go on a heater and win the cup.

Washington
Boston
Columbus
Montreal
Tampa
Florida

That's a variety of styles we haven't matched up well against