Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose 5-2

[leafan11]

Matthews has been very disappointing. How are you not motivated playing against McDavid?

HES HURT. Why is this such a hard concept for fans to understand ? Just look at his skating stride, it’s not even close to what it was last year.

 

[Hellcat]

They were mostly shifts on the fly.

Not sure how you line match when McDavid had different linemates all game. you wont get any argument from me that Keefe is a shit coach , with shit for brains and shit for execution but last night when you got last line change and McDavid is being sprinkled through the lineup to avoid line matching, kinda hard for Keefe to line match.

 

[TonsofPuppies]

HES HURT. Why is this such a hard concept for fans to understand ? Just look at his skating stride, it’s not even close to what it was last year.

IF he's hurt, then he's been hurt all year, because he's been total garbage since day one of the season. And if that's the case, why has he been playing all year? Not a great year to go "all-in" if you know your most important player is going to be 50% all year.

 

[Hellcat]

It's kind of reflective of how lowly the fans view him.

He stood up and fought, lost badly, and a good chunk of people in his own fanbase are literally laughing at him for it.

Kind of feel a bit bad for him at this point.

Maybe my memory is bad but I seem to recall Holl in other fights and he gooned his opponents. RNK is a bit of a featherweight no?

 

[123offtheglass]

View attachment 660758

Boys had a little too much Ravioli at Springsteen

 

[justashadowof]

If Matthews is hurt then he's hurt with something requiring surgery and a long recovery because otherwise they would just be giving him some recovery time to prepare for the playoffs.

 

[Apex Predator]

Why is it Matthews has to be hurt? Why can’t it be he’s just not playing as good this year. Matthews is a great player there isn’t a need to make excuses for him. It happens sometimes and players have a bad year. For him it’s more of an okay year since he set the bar high but regardless it happens.

 

[ACC1224]

Perhaps Matthews got hurt filming that RBC commercial. I know it was painful to watch.

 

[93gilmour93]

View attachment 661028
Boys had a little too much Ravioli at Springsteen

 

[Hellcat]

IF he's hurt, then he's been hurt all year, because he's been total garbage since day one of the season. And if that's the case, why has he been playing all year? Not a great year to go "all-in" if you know your most important player is going to be 50% all year.

Scoring at a 1.13 pts/g pace, while playing injured, is total garbage? Good to know.

If 1.13 pts/g is 50% does that mean 100% is 2.26 GP? A 185 point season is 100%? Good to know.

BTW Ovie has only scored at a pace of 1.13 pts/g or higher SIX times in his EIGHTEEN YEAR career. So if Matthews is at 50% this year or playing like shit like some of you claim , what does that say about the soon to be HOF Ovie?

People c'mon these crazy takes on Matty need to stop. The guy is elite, he's just a little snake bitten and playing injured, he looks like a guy who lost his confidence, he's only a couple of good games away from going on one of his crazy scoring streaks.

 

[Notsince67]

Not sure how you line match when McDavid had different linemates all game. you wont get any argument from me that Keefe is a shit coach , with shit for brains and shit for execution but last night when you got last line change and McDavid is being sprinkled through the lineup to avoid line matching, kinda hard for Keefe to line match.

Not a fan of Babcock but he was successful at shutting down McDavid. Looking at the shift report, McDavid was on for some long shifts.
You match to him period

 

[Gary Nylund]

If Matthews is hurt then he's hurt with something requiring surgery and a long recovery because otherwise they would just be giving him some recovery time to prepare for the playoffs.

It he needs surgery, they could have done that in October no?

Scoring at a 1.13 pts/g pace, while playing injured, is total garbage? Good to know.

If 1.13 pts/g is 50% does that mean 100% is 2.26 GP? A 185 point season is 100%? Good to know.

BTW Ovie has only scored at a pace of 1.13 pts/g or higher SIX times in his EIGHTEEN YEAR career. So if Matthews is at 50% this year or playing like shit like some of you claim , what does that say about the soon to be HOF Ovie?

People c'mon these crazy takes on Matty need to stop. The guy is elite, he's just a little snake bitten and playing injured, he looks like a guy who lost his confidence, he's only a couple of good games away from going on one of his crazy scoring streaks.

What it says about Ovie is that he's overrated. Hope you're right about Matthews, I miss him and it's hard to see us getting past TB and BOS without him playing much better then he has been.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

HES HURT. Why is this such a hard concept for fans to understand ? Just look at his skating stride, it’s not even close to what it was last year.

So then why is he playing right now and not resting? And if your answer is it's a nagging injury that will require offseason surgery, then why did management decide that this is a "all in" year? We have been unable to win a round with Matthews at 100%. But now we're going to do it with him at 60%?

Edit: I see tonsofpuppies wrote pretty much the exact same thing a few posts up. Oh well.

 

[leafan11]

So then why is he playing right now and not resting? And if your answer is it's a nagging injury that will require offseason surgery, then why did management decide that this is a "all in" year? We have been unable to win a round with Matthews at 100%. But now we're going to do it with him at 60%?

Edit: I see tonsofpuppies wrote pretty much the exact same thing a few posts up. Oh well.

You bring up some very good points which I don’t have the answer to. I’d like to think he’s hurt and he’s saving himself for playoffs.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Why is it Matthews has to be hurt? Why can’t it be he’s just not playing as good this year. Matthews is a great player there isn’t a need to make excuses for him. It happens sometimes and players have a bad year. For him it’s more of an okay year since he set the bar high but regardless it happens.

When star players have a significantly worse year than average, there is always a reason. We often just never hear it. They don't just "forget" how to play hockey for a 7-month stretch.

In this thread, we're discussing possible "reasons" for Matthews horrible season. Most of us don't buy your theory of "He just forgets how to play hockey this season".

 

[justashadowof]

It he needs surgery, they could have done that in October no?

Who says he was injured in October?

 

[ToneDog]

When star players have a significantly worse year than average, there is always a reason. We often just never hear it. They don't just "forget" how to play hockey for a 7-month stretch.

In this thread, we're discussing possible "reasons" for Matthews horrible season. Most of us don't buy your theory of "He just forgets how to play hockey this season".

It would be really dumb to do what Dubas has done this TDL if your difference maker has issues and the path out of the Atlantic goes through Boston.

 

[Al14]

I did wonder what might happen when so many players come and go.

It might take at least a week to get things in order.

The big 5 better bring it though

I'm almost to the point in believing that our Leafs could have a complete roster of Gretzky, Lidstrom, and Hasek clones, and they would still find a way to lose games like last night.

It sure doesn't help that the opposing players play OVER their pay grades when playing our Leafs. Each team has too many Toronto area men that want to put on a show when playing our Leafs.

The new additions to the team will play down to their overpaid teammates when they realize they take too many games off too. Nylander could have won races to the puck several times and chose not too.

The Oilers and Sens got real good defencemen, our Leafs got McCabe and Schenn. This is all thanks to our overpaid core!!!

 

[Gary Nylund]

Who says he was injured in October?

I have no idea if he was injured or when he was injured if that's what it is. I just think he's looked off all season so if he is injured, it's quite possible IMO that he's been injured from the start.

 

[Al14]

This wasn't a big game really.

And if our Leafs have this attitude, then it is no wonder they're not hanging with the Bruins in the standings.

 

[3blizzard4]

HES HURT. Why is this such a hard concept for fans to understand ? Just look at his skating stride, it’s not even close to what it was last year.

If he is hurt, do you think the Leafs would let the face of the franchise continue playing hurt and risk more injury with the playoffs around the corner? Not buying this.

When he is hurt, he has sat out.

 

[Gary Nylund]

And if our Leafs have this attitude, then it is no wonder they're not hanging with the Bruins in the standings.

The Bruins are insane, almost a freak occurence. If you're going to trash the Leafs for "not hanging with them" then trash every other team in the league while you're at it.

Over all it's been a very good season, don't forget the character we showed when we had a ton of injuries. Just a reminder, the season isn't over yet, and the playoffs haven't even started.

 

[Ziggdiezan]

Scoring at a 1.13 pts/g pace, while playing injured, is total garbage? Good to know.

If 1.13 pts/g is 50% does that mean 100% is 2.26 GP? A 185 point season is 100%? Good to know.

BTW Ovie has only scored at a pace of 1.13 pts/g or higher SIX times in his EIGHTEEN YEAR career. So if Matthews is at 50% this year or playing like shit like some of you claim , what does that say about the soon to be HOF Ovie?

People c'mon these crazy takes on Matty need to stop. The guy is elite, he's just a little snake bitten and playing injured, he looks like a guy who lost his confidence, he's only a couple of good games away from going on one of his crazy scoring streaks.

Points per game are so inflated the last few years that PPG doesn't mean what it used to.

Matthews is outside thr top 30 for points. Completely unacceptable given his contract. I have hopes he is saving it up for the playoffs but that is probably a glass half full approach. Probably carrying an injury like he seems to every season at some point

 

[JT AM da real deal]

You guys making way too many excuses for him .. he likely had some kind of injury over summer and came to camp way way way out of shape .. it took him awhile tog et back to game shape which he did successfully .. he recently got himself a small injury and had to take some time off to recover .. unfortunately Matty is a big big man and when he tales time off he needs time to get back to game shape .. this is not Mitch here who is skinny as a rake and can recover between shifts .. he will be fine soon .. but he was downright awful last night but he needs to play back to game shape

 

[Apex Predator]

When star players have a significantly worse year than average, there is always a reason. We often just never hear it. They don't just "forget" how to play hockey for a 7-month stretch.

In this thread, we're discussing possible "reasons" for Matthews horrible season. Most of us don't buy your theory of "He just forgets how to play hockey this season".

I never said he forgot to play hockey. He’s having an okay year. He’s got 28 goals and been great defensively so I don’t know where this he forgot to play hockey comes from.