Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose 3-2 in OT | Down 3-0 in the Series

Byron Bitz

Registered User
Apr 6, 2010
7,921
4,260
That's a rough one to lose. Needed that.
Hope Samsonov is okay. Sucks, because he looked to be off to a good start in the game, and I feel like he would have had that OT goal.
Gigantic hill to climb now.
There is no Gigantic hill to climb the series is over. It’s only happened 4 times in NHL history. As far as I’m concerned a sweep is completed after game 3 and the rest of the series is just a formality.
 

Dragao6

Registered User
Dec 25, 2013
3,218
1,630
Ontario, Canada
We all thoughts that the f*ucking monkey had been lifted after that TB win. It was gangbusters time the rest of the wayt. Here we come bitches.

3 games later we are facing elimination.

Leafs gonna Leaf.

Idiots.
We are what we are
I think allot of us are at the breaking point finally after years of getting beat up that if no serious change happens what’s the point. Enough

I KNOW I AM!
 

keonsbitterness

Registered User
Sep 14, 2010
36,707
20,366
south of Steeles
We are now officially.........

You literally cannot sign him to an extension until July 1st, which is also when his NMC goes into effect.

He's not a UFA this season, he still has over a year left. You can only sign an extension when a player has a year left, which is July 1st.
But you can negotiate before July 1st.
 
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Guided by Veseys

Registered User
Nov 14, 2011
3,836
3,170
Nah he was garbage dude. Less garbage but hardly impactful. I’m not going to praise a guy for not doing anything stupid either. Big whoop.
Well I’ll settle with less garbage at least. He’s not really that good to begin with tho unfortunately. He’s just one of those okay bargain bin guys that we have surrounding the core. Similar to Kampf or Engval who we had to trade because he cost too much at over a million
 

Squiffy

Victims, rn't we all
Oct 21, 2006
14,013
3,862
Toronto
Yeah. Lost in all this chaos is Brodie's massive decline. I don't want him back at that cap hit. Time for a fresh defensive upgrade. McCabe is pretty low IQ, but I imagine you could flip him at the deadline if we're a total flame out next year.
Defence and goalies. I’m at low point here but D and goalies wins Cups right? Always has been always will be.

I’ll be better tomorrow
 
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DarkKnight

Professional Amateur
Jan 17, 2017
34,027
54,059
Well I’ll settle with less garbage at least. He’s not really that good to begin with tho unfortunately. He’s just one of those okay bargain bin guys that we have surrounding the core. Similar to Kampf or Engval who we had to trade because he cost too much at over a million
Sure agreed.
 

Cynical

Registered User
Aug 23, 2014
1,063
1,374
To be honest, I didn't watch a single full regular season hockey game this year. The Leafs doing this again in the playoffs and the crookedness of Bettman is probably going to turn me off hockey completely. It's too much of a waste of time and I cheer for all 3 major Toronto sports teams.

The fact that I'm pretty convinced Bettman sabotages the league to favour American teams turned me off more than the Leafs sucking and now coming back for the playoffs, nothing has changed that. This scheduling thing doesn't surprise me at all. The lack of disrespect you must have to Canada hockey to not have the Leafs play on a Saturday night and then give the Leafs McCauley when there's a clear conflict of interest. These things just show how bad the Leafs have it with the League. They leech off them and then give them the finger. Low and behold, first time the Leafs don't get a PP in a game. All these things are not coincidences.
 

Azail

Registered User
Oct 11, 2017
913
955
I am not saying that Matthews should be traded, but doesn’t he have an NMC in the last year of his contract that kicks in on 1 July or something?

Meaning, unless you sign him to an extension BEFORE that, or whenever the NMC goes into effect, you really gotta believe he will stay at a kabillion dollars per year, and then be RIGHT Or he MUST be traded.
If Matthews was playing like his Hart season, sure hand him 12-13mil. Based on this year/his playoff career, what is he realistically worth? I wouldn't say even his current salary to be honest. His biggest asset was his ability to beat goalies 1on1 with a quick snapshot. He hasn't been able to do that all year now.
 

Superstar

"Be water, my friend."
Jun 25, 2008
12,849
9,227
Florida is a nice place to seal the deal on Wednesday for this putrid core. Half of them probably have a yatch rented for a nice after the game.

You'd think they are booking them already? I bet there are nice golf courses too, right?
 

These Are The Days

I need about tree fiddy
May 17, 2014
35,608
21,590
Tampa Bay
I'm not trying to come in here as a Lightning fan to take shots in a dark moment. Just shedding light


That series last year was probably the hardest we ever had. And for the Leafs going out like that would have been okay like 5 years ago. When it's early in the process but you have that much fight you can afford to say "deep breath it's okay fans" and preach patience. You guys played like champions. Honest to God champions. Tampa just won because of experience. But this has gone on so long that merely winning a series became akin to the Stanley Cup. Tampa was a lame duck. We haven't had anything in the tank since December. We've literally just been faking it and spent almost 6 months trying to convince ourselves we can climb the Savage Mountain a 4th time without it trying to kill us. But this time we'll do it naked AND without oxygen AND without shelter! I'm not trying to say the Leafs didn't earn the win. I'm saying that they ran into a team more broken than them. Look at what Vasilevskiy has been saying all off season. We were full of shit to the point where even he was neglecting his own recovery process between games.

This is what happens when guys in the office let heart win over mind. Dubas wanted a splash, Tavares wanted to come home. I get it. I really do. But it led to a team that can't effectively allocate the financial resources it needs to win more than a round or two. Signing Tavares moved the pay scale to where Marner and Matthews had to sign for similar. It's not that the stars are failing (we've seen bad years by many guys because it's been so long) but there's not enough around them. It's the dream of building a mansion and Dubas has everything but nails to hold it together.

The front office needs to go. A few guys need to go to alleviate the cap situation. Keefe is unfortunately going to be a burnt offering but he's run into the same problem every coach for the last 13 years has run into in Edmonton. There's a few shining stars and not much else.

I would be furious at the way this team is built and I think you guys deserve better

Cheers
 

Azail

Registered User
Oct 11, 2017
913
955
Because very few players are worth that amount so not many play up to that level.

Dubas thinking he has 3 players who actually play up to that level is a joke.
I mean, Matthews has proven his worth in past seasons. Nowhere near an 11mil player this year, or unfortunately in the playoffs. He has never elevated like McDavid or Draisaitl or Mack. JT was always going to be overpaid as a UFA. Marner in the regular season is probably close to a $11mil player. Unfortunately all of this doesn't transfer to playoff success.
 

SeaOfBlue

The Passion That Unites Us All
Aug 1, 2013
35,591
16,776
I don't know where to find those but this was a goody.



You'd think a team that uses analytics so much would know these mid game and be like ok this isn't working.


They probably knew. They also probably knew that it wouldn't make much difference with the way they were playing.

Throwing in the blender is nice and all, but if these guys are not able to skate or make even the most basic of passes, it is out of Keefe's hands. He's been through this before. He has tried it all. It is not something that Cup winning coaches have to deal with for a reason.

Keefe should really stop giving credit to Florida. They aren't even playing that well. We are just playing so poorly and they are the benefactors of that... Just like it has been the case in a lot of our other most recent series losses.

At this point, the Leafs are not officially eliminated yet. These guys can still redeem themselves, and it is not like Florida has not been swept before. But at some point the people off the ice can do so much. There is nothing that coaching, GMing, analytics, or anything else could do to bail out Matthews or Marner or even Tavares in this game. They are eating this one like all of their other recent failures and it is on them to lead this team into the reverse sweep. If not, then they will have another albatross around their necks.
 
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HamiltonNHL

Resigning Marner == Running it back
Jan 4, 2012
22,710
13,884


Leafs top players were dominated by Florida

Nobody on the Leafs side said it, but Florida dominated Toronto’s best. The scoring chances were 18-4 for the Panthers with Marner on the ice, 18-7 with Matthews on the ice. It was just 11-8 with Tavares, and Toronto won the scoring chance battle 14-4 with Nylander out there. Aleksander Barkov’s line was particularly effective against Matthews and Marner.

They are easy to play against in the playoffs.

Prevent Marner from handling the puck and Matthews can’t carry the puck.
 

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