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

[1specter]

The beauty of the internet is that you can pull up things like this, for the perfect time:

 

[JKG33]

The beauty of the internet is that you can pull up things like this, for the perfect time:

Matthews, Marner, and.... Dubas in the middle?

 

[JKG33]

I'm still in awe at what a shameful performance our core forwards have put up in this series. Could not have been more wrong about their character or fortitude. "Now that the first round hurdle is passed they're really gonna go on a run now!" What a joke.

Yup. Everyone told me how they'd win a round and then they'd automatically become the Tampa Bay Lightning. Yet here we are.

Even I had the Leafs winning this series, but that was more because I thought Florida was still not very good

 

[TheGreatOne11]

They finished the season in the top 5 of 32 teams in the league, I'd say that's elite.

Lol we're worse than those old San Jose teams everybody thought was going to win the cup every year and never did.

Our identity is solidified as choke artists. That's who we are. That's our identity. A team that finds spectacular ways to fail. No first round for 19 years. First 2nd round in 20 years. Down 0-3 lol.

We will win the next game for sure, lose at home in game 5 and see jerseys and waffles litter the ice.

 

[hoglund]

Florida finished 17th.

They're not elite. The season is 82 games, the Panthers have played 10 games, which is a very small sample size. Remember Florida was down 3-1 in games to Boston and barely Bobrovsky saved them from losing in the 1st round 4-1 in games. They're having a great run, but even if they win the cup are they really an elite team? Tkachuk, Bobrovsky and 1 or 2 others are elite.

 

[ShaneFalco]

They finished the season in the top 5 of 32 teams in the league, I'd say that's elite.

And I would disagree if you can't get it done in the playoffs year after year. See Senators, Ottawa early 2000
Vegas has had more success in a few years than the Leafs in decades

 

[LaPlante94]

They're not elite. The season is 82 games, the Panthers have played 10 games, which is a very small sample size. Remember Florida was down 3-1 in games to Boston and barely Bobrovsky saved them from losing in the 1st round 4-1 in games. They're having a great run, but even if they win the cup are they really an elite team? Tkachuk, Bobrovsky and 1 or 2 others are elite.

They were down when Lyon was starting for them. Since Bobrovsky has started it's been different. We were elite for 82 games and then decided not to be elite anymore in the games that matter while Florida decided to wait until the games that mattered to be elite. I think I like their formula better than ours if that's the case. How can we be considered elite when we perform like this every playoffs?

 

[Altair]

If the top 3 played with the dame desire to win as the likes of Kampf, or Rielly, we'd be unstoppable... Tavares, I think he's trying but he's just so slow out there. The other 3(especially Marner and Nylander) idk.. they are m.i.a way too many games im the playoffs

 

[Amadeus]

What does the Chinese Farmer say when a team turtles and curls when pressure hits them every single year, Dubas?

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

What does the Chinese Farmer say when a team turtles and curls when pressure hits them every single year, Dubas?

I am pretty sure the farmer says "Maybe" you should start talking to a real estate agent....

 

[Sniper99]

Those international wins are pretty much all star games compared to just a junior team winning like MM did with London. I don't count teams that have a lot of other good players that rise to the occasion. A rising tide floats the heaviest of boats it would seem...

It doesnt matter what level of hockey it was on Juniors or National Championships or how skilled your teammates are, winning is winning

 

[The Iceman]

Or this?

View attachment 704696
or this?
View attachment 704698
or this?
View attachment 704699

The Ballard era started when he became majority owner and president of the Maple Leafs from 1972 until he died in 1990.

Starting in 1972 the team was
27-41
35-27
31-33
34-31
33-32
41-29
34-33
35-40
28-37
20-44
28-40
26-45
20-52
25-48
32-42
21-49
28-46
38-38

His last 11 years the team was 301-481.
By then Ballard had time to destroy our once proud franchise.
A whole generation of kids had nothing to cheer for. He made this franchise his toy and wouldn't spend to help it in any way.

That might be why I am a Dubas supporter. I was a fan every day in a decade of horrible hockey.

 

[leafsfan5]

I think this might be the most impressive thing this core has done, even more impressive than blowing 3-1 to MTL

To destroy all the good will they built up from round 1, and do it in a week?! I didn't think this was possible. Toronto has found a new way to disappoint me and I need to tip my cap to them for this

 

[Metroid]

Everyone join me for Eeyore's Requiem. Bitter, yet yummy drink perfect for us all and what the leafs are doing to us hahaha.

1 1/2 ounces Campari
1/2 ounce Tanqueray gin
1/4 ounce Cynar
1/4 ounce Fernet Branca
1 ounce Dolin Blanc Vermouth
15 drops orange bitters
Stir with ice and garnish with orange peel!

Cheers.
Lol

I'll be having few more Wednesday during the game.

 

[keonsbitterness]

The beauty of the internet is that you can pull up things like this, for the perfect time:

In good company with Rob Ford.

 

[egd27]

Originally, Dubas' plan was to have a fast team even if that included smallish players on offence or defence. He had defencemen who moved the puck quickly and could skate. Then, he became aware/was told that to win in the playoffs you need grinders and players who play physical. So for the past few years, he's tried to build a hybrid team. The problem becomes when the core 4 doesn't produce and the grinders you bring in aren't good or fast enough because you can't pay those kind of players. So now, they are a team with no real identity.

Right.

So let's get rid of the clowns that either can't decide what the identity is supposed to be, or can't teach the players to do what they want them to do.

 

[egd27]

oh they'll find playoff success they'll likely win cups just not here... it'll just be a long list of stars that got pushed out from Toronto and went and won elsewhere

I heard something that amused me the other day.

Seems Luke Schenn got an assist a couple of games ago, and the stat was that it was his first assist as a Leaf since 2012 (I think).

The official scoring was Bozak from Kessel and Schenn.

What do those 3 players have in common?

 

[capfit9]

ONE regulation win in 9 playoff games. ONE. ENOUGH SAID.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

i'm still recovering from surgery and cloudy from painkillers... leafs helped me out with three straight losses... it's gonna be brutal tomorrow morning.

 

[Menzinger]

Well?

Honestly, it won't surprise me if they win the next three and then we are forced to collectively hold our breath during a game 7. The hockey gods love a good twist

 

[seventieslord]

I lost some hope after the 3 of them took the Leafs organization to the cleaners with their contracts...it really showed me what their priorities were - money above all things...and that's never a good look, considering playing hockey was supposed to be their passion since they were kids...all of a sudden, money is the most important thing...I had some cautious optimism because of their potential and talent, but after so many years of playoff failure, they've proven to be money hungry imposters...watch them fight to the death on their next contract negotiations.

You're absolutely right about them, except, there won't be any fight in the contract negotiations, they're UFAs, they won't have to fight anybody, they can just take the highest offer, which you God damn know they will

 

[sunstersun]

The leafiest thing is a full sweep so we're gonna hear leafs haven't won a 2nd round game since 2004.

 

[killer1980]

The Ballard era started when he became majority owner and president of the Maple Leafs from 1972 until he died in 1990.

Starting in 1972 the team was
27-41
35-27
31-33
34-31
33-32
41-29
34-33
35-40
28-37
20-44
28-40
26-45
20-52
25-48
32-42
21-49
28-46
38-38

His last 11 years the team was 301-481.
By then Ballard had time to destroy our once proud franchise.
A whole generation of kids had nothing to cheer for. He made this franchise his toy and wouldn't spend to help it in any way.

That might be why I am a Dubas supporter. I was a fan every day in a decade of horrible hockey.

And I was at every game of the Cup final in 1967. To each his own.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Panthers coach Paul Maurice exposes the Maple Leafs’ greatest flaws

Down 3-0 against Florida, it’s do-or-die for the Maple Leafs – not its star players, but for everyone else

www.theglobeandmail.com

In terms of pure talent, Maurice has access to less. But having figured out how to utilize the tools he was given, Maurice is having one of the great seasons of his long, good career.

He’s talked recently of how he’d lost his joy for the game in Winnipeg. If he makes his second Stanley Cup final, more than 20 years apart, I imagine that will make him pretty joyful.

Asked the same question about the Leafs stars on Monday, Maurice had tweaked his approach.

“I don’t know,” he said, now doubting whether Marner & Co. have been stopped at all. “It’s just inches inside the post and outside the post is the difference.”

You can see what he’s doing here. “You guys are actually really good. Don’t change a thing. I believe in you [losing].”

It’s mind games within the mind games, but softly. No need to shout.

For their part, the Leafs come armed with the one dependable part of their collective game – clichés. “Backs to the wall;” “No choice now;” “Do or die” – and that was all one guy, Matthews.

Truth is, it isn’t do-or-die for Matthews or his star colleagues. Their backs are against no walls. They’re not going anywhere. After this performance and given what they earn, who’d give up proven talent for them? The best you could get in return is some other team’s reclamation project(s).

Wednesday’s game is a must-win, but not for the Leafs stars. It’s only do-or-die for everyone else in the organization.

All the protection given to coaches, management and second-tier on-ice talent by the Tampa win has been shorn away by the manner in which the Leafs have played in this series. All the bad things people say about them – not tough enough, ill-constructed, no fightback, zero leadership, cursed – are on display here. If they can’t win even one, then …

There are plenty of people to blame for this fiasco, but none moreso than Maurice.

It’s not just that he’s outmotivating, outmanoeuvring and outcoaching his former team. It’s that he is holding up the way in which this Leafs roster has been built to a hard light, and pointing out in his quiet, ruthless way all of its flaws.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

What good would a conversation do, he could tell them exactly what they want to hear, they say great that's perfect. 8 x 13, assistant coach status and he gets to make cuts in camp, and is consulted on every decision inre the team.

Then on July 1st he thinks to himself geez I have an NTC this is great, I have all the power, and he turns around and tells them he wants max money 4 years and all the rest of that stuff and what then, you end up banged hard 7 ways from Sunday. When he wakes up a week later and he says "you know what I just got off the phone with the Kings and I want to play there, so trade me!"

He's a name on the back guy, you tell him you want a list of 6 teams (if you hope to get maximum return) so at least he's going somewhere he's interested in and will sign with, and he goes at the draft.

Paying this guy anything long term would be crazy, you've already plowed a kings ransom into his bank account and have gotten zero return.

Well said.