Post-Game Talk: Leafs Lose 5-2

[Racer88]

How is that not objectively true? If you taker all 4 away the team is worse.

You MIGHT be able to replace Tavares and be better long term just because of age but even he's over a ppg.

The other 3 are impossible to replace and be better

I guess I worded that wrong. What I ment was that narrative that if you take away any of the 4 and you don’t have all of them the team will be automatically worse. I think that is a false narrative.
I think properly done you could replace any one or 2 of them and have more success.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

I guess I worded that wrong. What I ment was that narrative that if you take away any of the 4 and you don’t have all of them the team will be automatically worse. I think that is a false narrative.
I think properly done you could replace any one or 2 of them and have more success.

Da issue is you need enough points during pre XMAs and then end of season hockey to make da playoffs .. playoffs are a completely different game then regular season .. you need different type of players to succeed in playoff hockey .. it is da CORE reason why pro hokey teams struggle with finding/recruiting a right players .. it is VERY difficult to put together a roster which gets you to da playoffs and then can succeed once playoff hockey starts .. everyone can see it with our Leaf team .. skill/offence gets you into playoffs and speed/toughness/defense gets you playoff success .. it is a very difficult balance .. we have not found it yet .. maybe this year as our D is much better and our tending is much better too

 

[Da Mash]

It would be so much easier if the NHL called the same game all year like every other professional sport leagues.

Let’s call penalties during the regular season but turn a blind eye to same infractions in playoffs.

It’s like if the NFL turned a blind eye to PI or holding…hits on the QB during the playoffs. Changes the game and how players play.

So this yr we decided to get “more grit” bigger slower D that can protect the net but have almost no offensive ability. They may be more productive in playoffs because the “rules “ now benefit them more but the issue of lack of scoring will still exists.

But only time will tell. One thing for certain. Tre and Berube won’t be blamed. The core 4 will and Rielly gets another pass

JMHO

 

[keonsbitterness]

Yup and lots of excuses and according to some here we could never do without all 4 of our guys. We would automatically be worse without all 4 of them

Counter-argument: without three of them as full-time players, the Leafs were a last place team.

 

[Racer88]

Counter-argument: without three of them as full-time players, the Leafs were a last place team.

Counter, counter point with three of them replaced by different talented more committed players they might be a first place team.
Furthermore the Leafs were a last place team by design, to tank for Matthews.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

It would be so much easier if the NHL called the same game all year like every other professional sport leagues.

Let’s call penalties during the regular season but turn a blind eye to same infractions in playoffs.

It’s like if the NFL turned a blind eye to PI or holding…hits on the QB during the playoffs. Changes the game and how players play.

So this yr we decided to get “more grit” bigger slower D that can protect the net but have almost no offensive ability. They may be more productive in playoffs because the “rules “ now benefit them more but the issue of lack of scoring will still exists.

But only time will tell. One thing for certain. Tre and Berube won’t be blamed. The core 4 will and Rielly gets another pass

JMHO

It hasn't changed much in 100 years .. D and G win in da playoffs when games speed/tighten up and there is much less time and space with puck for offensive players .. add to it da refs put da whistles away and you get playoff hockey .. da size of rink does not change so when speed goes up 10% there will be less time and space on da puck .. this causes games/series to be decided by teams which play strong defensive hockey supported by a money tender who makes all da regular saves and a couple 10 bellers late in games when needed .. our core guys have not fully bought into playoff hockey which is why we have failed every year .. this year Berube is telling them we need them to learn to play on right side of puck all year long so it is not such a massive adjustment come playoffs .. our goals against have dropped ad so have our goals for .. this is completely expected .. i still think we need another strong defensive Dmen to withstand a long playoff run .. bottom line we can't run da 4 guys we got for 4 rounds (OEL, McCabe, Tanev and Benoit) .. Rielly Timmins can't be relied on defensively and they don't produce enough offense to mitigate defensive mistakes

 

[keonsbitterness]

Counter, counter point with three of them replaced by different talented more committed players they might be a first place team.
Furthermore the Leafs were a last place team by design, to tank for Matthews.

Not to say that couldn't work, but you're giving me a conditional scenario. I said what actually happened. And since the core with their NMCs is close to untradeable at this point, your "different talented more committed players" to replace Marner (and maybe JT) would have to be UFAs, who are mostly guys over 30 that are no longer wanted or affordable by their previous teams, and the best of them usually require a premium to be signed.

A last place team by design? It's not like they were 20 points out of last. They clinched it right at the end and still needed to win the lottery. 2nd-last place Edmonton got bumped down to 4th and 3rd-last Vancouver down to 5th, while 6th-last Winnipeg moved up to 2nd. Leafs were fortunate everything fell into place to get Matthews.