Post-Game Talk: Leafs Eliminated.

[fahad203]

Grew up in a leaf house, my dad a die hard born in 53

I went the way of blue for forever.. took the ribbing that goes with it

A couple years ago i found myself orgabically more neutral during leaf games... and less affected by losses

The series against washington i was excited.. i was excited with the mix of players.. i was excited watching kadri hit and komarov and martin patrol and matthews introduce himself

Over the next couple years this organically began to change.. i started not liking players. There are always players you dont care for or are frustrates by (dave ellett).. but this was different - not liking players because they arent likeable. This team's core group aroumd the last couple years is unlikeable.. everything about them in game to prep to production is aloof and high school pompous

Seriously this team has become painfully bland, disinteresting and unlikeable.. like it feels different when you watch a leaf game.. there is no emotion to it. I can watch leaf games and if you remove the 'blips - reilly beating crnak'..etc.. it is bland emotionless 9 to 5 routine crap

I dont want to hear about how pumped certain players get after goals and celebrations and awards.. watch the product and it is uninspiring bland crap

The core players are part of it, the coaching is definitely part of it, the management is part of it.. it is listless. If they arent listening to all options right now and look at anything and all being on the table right now they dont care.

Remember looking at players and saying.. we couldnt let him go no way.. or we cant trade him thats insane - i dont feel that attachment to any of them. Every single option needs to be on the table and discussed, not one player can be untouchable in this.. there needs to be better depth and emotion in our coaching and system.. and it appears there needs to be better depth and ideas from our management

It is sad.. because whoever said they lost this series when marner tried that stupid pass to matthews at the blueline i think in game 2 was right - that was the moment for me.. no word of a lie when i inside went f***.. they are doing it again.. no way. It is absolute garbage.. it is sad because i cheer for them actively with primary reasoning for my dad.. but sadly i bet on florida last night how pathetic is that

The people that are going to be here for next season and make the decisions really need to take a step back from the names on the jerseys, ALL the noise and alanlytic bullshit, ALL the reasons they talk about losing.. all the stats and leaders and 40 goals this and blocked shots that.. all of it and really try and figure out why these guys arent wanting to win for each other.. their play for years is what i said.. bland emotionless bullshit.. they play the same as they do in november - yes i understand a system and good team plays the same way all year but they turn it the f*** up come april - this team does not

Nobody can objectively look at the past few playoffs and see that next gear.. not at all - this team doea not dictate anythimg, they do not take moments they dont own games they dont make the other teams react.. none of it

That is what they need to figure out.. whoever that they is going to be, that is why this group is so unlikeable and that is why any sane person has to accept everything is on the table and needs to be discussed.

It really starts at the top. I have never seen a leaf player ever get pissed or has any kind of animosity. No bitterness, no nothing. They were always ok being ok


Especially after Habs loss. There's always a silver lining, a lesson to learn or always not getting bounces

A team will always inherit a coaches character. When an organization is ok for a team to lose to a zamboni driver, they have already level setted their expectations

 

[Jyri]

Thanks for everybody! It's been pleasure to see the enthusiasm you guys have for the game! The team is not mentally strong enough for playoff games. The core must deliver much more consistently instead of great plays now and then. I belive there is not a single player who can stand tall before the man and say that he did his absolute best and played over his skills. Maybe it is locker room culture ussue, or maybe coaching can't get the best of players. Never the less something has got to change. See you again in autum! Have a nice summer!!!

 

[andora]

It really starts at the top. I have never seen a leaf player ever get pissed or has any kind of animosity. No bitterness, no nothing. They were always ok being ok


Especially after Habs loss. There's always a silver lining, a lesson to learn or always not getting bounces

A team will always inherit a coaches character. When an organization is ok for a team to lose to a zamboni driver, they have already level setted their expectations

I almost feel like they arent allowed.. as if they are playing within the walls of a church or something sometimes

I just dont understand.. when your GM shows as much or more emotion than who is playing it gets confusing

Its like matthews laughing at konecny or marner laughing at tkachuk after taking punches to the face.. it just reeks

 

[seventieslord]

At this point the Toronto Maple Leafs are the Thornton-Marleau era San Jose Sharks, but there are way worse teams to be in a 32 team league.

The other factor to consider is what happens around Toronto in the Atlantic Division. You can be good or bad, but it's relative to the strength of the league and your division.

I agree for the most part, but that core won a round.... Or two.... Or three..... With regularity for a decade.

 

[The Masters]

This sour Tampa bay fan keeps using his childish laughing emoji because he’s still sad we eliminated Tampa hahahahahaha - keep scrolling these boards @RDTBay4

No matter how many posts you react to - we still beat your ass and used Tampa to beat our first round slump hahahahaha

say what

 

[hamzarocks]

I have a feeling we run it back sans Keefe and win the cup...

I'm open to anything now

Trade all the core, fire dubas, fire keefe, fire shanny
Trade MM/JT/WN and retool and keep management buddies
Don't change anything but maybe fire Keefe for a different coach
Petition hard for a 2nd team in GTA, so I can stop being a leafs fan

All are on the table.

This offseason hopefully is exciting and not a bore like last year

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

I have a feeling we run it back sans Keefe and win the cup...

I'm open to anything now

Trade all the core, fire dubas, fire keefe, fire shanny
Trade MM/JT/WN and retool and keep management buddies
Don't change anything but maybe fire Keefe for a different coach
Petition hard for a 2nd team in GTA, so I can stop being a leafs fan

All are on the table.

This offseason hopefully is exciting and not a bore like last year

JT and that contract is untradeable
and WN has been one of the few that's been noticeable in the playoffs. not sure why you'd want to trade him

 

[Gabriel426]

That picture of Gudas should be in every stall in the dressing room. Look at that f***ing thing every day.

Not Matthews, marner or Tavares of course. They can f*** right off, but whoever replaces them can look at it every day next season and then actually get up for playoff games along with the rest of the retooled roster.

That’s the winner mentality. Still remembered what Kobe once said about his daughter getting a 3rd place medal or something, you either throw it out and put it in your room where it is the first thing you see in the morning and use it as fuel to get better.

That’s what these guys need to do.

 

[Dreakmur]

Do your job and be in better position. Other people get fired for f***ing up like that.

So you want the referee to be in position to call a possible future infraction and not in the position that they’re actually supposed to be in?

 

[MSZ]

I agree for the most part, but that core won a round.... Or two.... Or three..... With regularity for a decade.

Jumbo Joe and Marleau did nothing in those runs. Those teams were run by Joe Pavelski/Logan Couture.

Those two reminded me of Todd Bertuzzi and Rick Nash who were excellent regular season players but couldn't elevate their game in the playoffs.

 

[leafs in five]

I prefer that Leafs team. They sucked and were hard to watch (I still watched all 82 games), but they cared and didn't think their shit didn't stink.

to which post-lockout teams do you think this statement applies? the 'Muskoka 5' era? the ones with captain Phaneuf and Kessel and Gardiner?

 

[PromisedLand]

Need a good GM to do it. Dubas ain't that.

Writing was on the wall with this team of "superstars " during the season. It was clear evidence it wasn't a contender. Our losing record against the the lower tier teams was embarrassingly bad. What other team does that??? You never got a sense they were going to dominate any of those teams that should have be dominated. In fact the opposite occurred. We were dominated by the door mat teams.

Yup called it in Jan not to throw away assets just stay put and let them show if they can win one round before making heavy adjustments. Its amazing so many assets out the door to just win 1 round.

Need a GM with a foresight and an ability to judge/evaluate the competence of the roster before throwing away picks/prospects.

 

[Trapper]

Matthews is more talented than every single one of those guys, and still isn't good enough to be great. That was my point. He's already the best, but I don't think he will ever be the greatest. And that's a damn shame.

If you are good just being good, then that could be enough for some. No need for more.

 

[Torontonian]

Not enough greasy goals from Toronto this series at the end of day, Toronto went back to what they were good at, keeping possession and staying to the outside in the o-zone. Chances were if Bob was seeing it, he was stopping it, needed to get rebounds and deflections.

Just think we need to trade Marner and use the money / player value to retool our top 6, get some players with less skill but ability to win the battles and forecheck rentlessly like FLA and Tampa did.

They made it a nightmare on our D to retrieve pucks.

 

[weems]

I would really like to see us become a more versatile team and be able to more often change course in game if something isn't working.

Just take our PP for instance and just how ineffective it's looked for long stretchs in many playoffs.

One thing that seems to be very consistant with it is, just how much trouble we seem to having making clean controlled zone entries and how so many powerplay's we're burning tons of time just trying to get the puck successfully set up.

At certain points if would be great to have another strategy with possibly less drop backs or even just flipping it into the zone and winning a 2 vs 1 footrace to the puck.

Seems far too often we've became predictable and don't have a good plan B and this isn't just with the powerplay.

 

[egd27]

What’s the ref supposed to do if the player is smart enough to do it where he can’t see it?

Pretty sure the league reviews all goal in the last minutes or in OT. No?

Like the league would do anything though

 

[seventieslord]

JT and that contract is untradeable
and WN has been one of the few that's been noticeable in the playoffs. not sure why you'd want to trade him

Let's stop saying it's untradable. Let's start to believe that it is. David Clarkson was tradable, anyone is tradable.

Jumbo Joe and Marleau did nothing in those runs. Those teams were run by Joe Pavelski/Logan Couture.

Those two reminded me of Todd Bertuzzi and Rick Nash who were excellent regular season players but couldn't elevate their game in the playoffs.

I wouldn't say they did nothing. Sometimes they didn't do a lot, sometimes they did more, but they also didn't have salaries that handcuffed the franchise, and it allowed them to afford a great supporting cast. It all has a ripple effect. I agree that on the surface comparing this core to that San Jose core is apt, but at the end of the day, they still won a hell of a lot more than this core is on pace to win and that hurts most of all because history views them as a bunch of losers.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

I think the loss has kept a lot of Sens fans from stepping off the ledge, and I think life is more important than sports.

 

[stealth1]

I have a feeling we run it back sans Keefe and win the cup...

I'm open to anything now

Trade all the core, fire dubas, fire keefe, fire shanny
Trade MM/JT/WN and retool and keep management buddies
Don't change anything but maybe fire Keefe for a different coach
Petition hard for a 2nd team in GTA, so I can stop being a leafs fan

All are on the table.

This offseason hopefully is exciting and not a bore like last year

Unless there is major trades, there won't be much excitement since the cap isn't going up much.

 

[BraveCanadian]

The other thing is, unless I'm mistaken, expected goals only takes into consideration the type of shot and the distance, and maybe the location as well. It says nothing about whether it's point blank or how many bodies are in front and what teams those bodies are on. That makes a huge difference and I think the Leafs expected goals the last few years have been greatly inflated if expected goals don't take bodies in front into account.

If it doesn’t take those things into account then it isn’t telling us much and I agree that the Leafs would be very overstated.

 

[BraveCanadian]

At this point the Toronto Maple Leafs are the Thornton-Marleau era San Jose Sharks, but there are way worse teams to be in a 32 team league.

The other factor to consider is what happens around Toronto in the Atlantic Division. You can be good or bad, but it's relative to the strength of the league and your division.

I always wondered why the guys they brought in to provide leadership to the young Leafs were guys that hadn’t won a thing (except on Team Canada which is practically automatic) and even worse, didn’t look good doing it.

They have followed their mentors example, that’s for sure.

 

[Stephen]

I always wondered why the guys they brought in to provide leadership to the young Leafs were guys that hadn’t won a thing (except on Team Canada which is practically automatic) and even worse, didn’t look good doing it.

They have followed their mentors example, that’s for sure.

All the choices have been bizarre. They went with a broken down Wayne Simmonds over a Corey Perry who was coming off an impactful finals appearance in 2020.

Spezza was lovely, but also front and center on the Senators teams who would be considered underachievers.

Even Mark Giordano. Long in the tooth. But actually a very bare playoff resume.

 

[kb]

The technology exists to allow pages on books to be read from outer space, but the league goes with 240i replay cameras while broadcasting games in 4K.

This is absolutely inexcusable, and anyone saying anything differently is beyond blind, or a league apologist and NOT a Leaf fan. Just looooooook.

WARMINGTON: The puck was not the only thing that crossed the line in the stolen goal of 2023

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

Again, it has to be conclusive, you do not see it clear cut crossing the line, or is it just your assumption… do you really think this is even debatable when they took 7 mins to review it ?

In fact, let’s say it was, that’s an easy GI as Reilly pushes bobs pad just as he skates across, would have been called off for GI anyways most likely. Regardless they tied it up anyway and went to OT, they didn’t lose the game in that play.

Stop making excuses for this group and always playing victim. Other teams go through the same stuff

Exactly. Enough with the excuses. They still could have won after this and once again couldn't get it done. I'm done with excuses. Time for some serious changes. I don't believe for a second this core can win, ever. Just not in their makeup.

 

[Apex Predator]

There’s no conspiracy to get the leafs out. Other teams get goals disallowed. Leafs lost and that’s the end of it. Maybe next time don’t fall behind 3-0 and no show in game 3.