Post-Game Talk: Leafs sweep California

[meefer]

The game against Colorado will be a good measuring stick. Win/lose, we get to see the team up against some stern competition. Regardless of the outcome, it will be the response to the challenge that helps me better know the team.

 

[DarkKnight]

Almost. I'm watching with interest but call me when the playoffs start.

For sure, I feel like I want a permanent asterisk on all commentary now.

 

[kb]

For sure, I feel like I want a permanent asterisk on all commentary now.

I laugh at those that say "the regular season is meaningless, call me when the playoffs start"......yet post 50 times a day on here every day during the regular season.

Comedy.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I laugh at those that say "the regular season is meaningless, call me when the playoffs start"......yet post 50 times a day on here every day during the regular season.

Comedy.

And I laugh at those that keep yapping about how good we are based on relatively meaningless regular season games. I'm amazed that after so many years, some people still haven't learned that success in November doesn't mean anything when the playoffs start.

I'd say that every game is meaningful if you're a fan, even those many seasons when we had no shot at the playoffs I still watched most of the games. Having said that, playoff games are 100 times more important than regular season games (just to pull a number out of the air) and with each consecutive playoff failure with this core, regular season games become less meaningful and yapping about how good we are based on regular season games becomes slightly more annoying.

Cliff notes: the regular season isn't meaningless, but compared to the playoffs it's relatively meaningless.

 

[Acesup]

The game against Colorado will be a good measuring stick. Win/lose, we get to see the team up against some stern competition. Regardless of the outcome, it will be the response to the challenge that helps me better know the team.

Those first games back after a west coast trip are always brutal. The boys are due for a little bit of a letdown. Good test regardless.

 

[Acesup]

And I laugh at those that keep yapping about how good we are based on relatively meaningless regular season games. I'm amazed that after so many years, some people still haven't learned that success in November doesn't mean anything when the playoffs start.

I'd say that every game is meaningful if you're a fan, even those many seasons when we had no shot at the playoffs I still watched most of the games. Having said that, playoff games are 100 times more important than regular season games (just to pull a number out of the air) and with each consecutive playoff failure with this core, regular season games become less meaningful and yapping about how good we are based on regular season games becomes slightly more annoying.

Cliff notes: the regular season isn't meaningless, but compared to the playoffs it's relatively meaningless.

This is such asinine logic.

I'm at a teacher. I don't tell my students hey don't worry about showing up to class, or doing your homework, or participate in classwork. All that really matters is your test/exam scores. Everything else is irrelevant.

You build habits doing the little things that carry over to the big moments. You build bad habits and those are the habits that show up come playoff time. Good teams/good students are always good. Thats what separates them. They bring it always. Now what the leafs should do in the regular season is keep Campbells work load down so they don't wear him out, give some of your key veterans a few games off. If you roll 7 D let Dermott/Lily/Holl spell Muzzin, Brodie, Rielly every now and then. Manage minutes and don't overwork. Rely on depth. Besides with how competitive things are unless you bring your best you wont make the playoffs to begin with and your whole point is moot.

 

[ShaneFalco]

This is such asinine logic.

I'm at a teacher. I don't tell my students hey don't worry about showing up to class, or doing your homework, or participate in classwork. All that really matters is your test/exam scores. Everything else is irrelevant.

You build habits doing the little things that carry over to the big moments. You build bad habits and those are the habits that show up come playoff time. Good teams/good students are always good. Thats what separates them. They bring it always. Now what the leafs should do in the regular season is keep Campbells work load down so they don't wear him out, give some of your key veterans a few games off. If you roll 7 D let Dermott/Lily/Holl spell Muzzin, Brodie, Rielly every now and then. Manage minutes and don't overwork. Rely on depth. Besides with how competitive things are unless you bring your best you wont make the playoffs to begin with and your whole point is moot.

You're fairly new here. It's the same posters who tell everyone how elite the Leafs are, 16 is the best player in the world, Dubas can do no wrong, even in losses we won the expected goal contest. Lose in the first round in embarrassing fashion, those posters disappear, and then start the whole thing over again. Maybe wait until regular season success translates into the playoffs before going on about how elite this team is.

You're comparing teaching kids to a hockey team that hasn't won a thing in decades? And the Leafs "bring it" always?! And you say the the post you're quoting is asinine logic?! Pass out those participation badges!

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Great team effort against weaker teams but still a great team effort and 3 in row out west is no small feat .. well done

 

[CapspaceKiller]

"Don't expect Michael Bunting to replace Zack Hyman"....You sure about that?

 

[therealkoho]

You've made a lot of posts like this lately - every time somebody isn't as giddy as you over the Leafs you tell them to log off, disappear or whatever else. Why be such a snowflake dude? They're playing great but it's November, we've seen them play great in the regular season and then lose in the 1st round so many times, it shouldn't be so hard to understand that some people want to see some playoff success before jumping on the bandwagon.

It's November. No team has ever won a cup in November. No team has ever won a playoff round in November. If people that aren't quite ready to plan the parade yet bother you so much, perhaps you should start another forum where you can ban people that don't agree with you because like or not, in this place people are allowed to think rationally.

I think it's more or less, that he like others including myself have had enough of LeaFlanders whining crying bitching and moaning about stuff that happened in the past that can't and won't ever be changed no matter how much groaning someone does. Nobody is planning any parades anywhere, that's a BS narrative that's been around for decades and has no basis in fact. Every fan base of every team in any sport on any continent rejoices when their teams are winning, but it seems only Leafs fans aren't supposed to, which isn't rational

Speaking of rational what happened in the past is not a predicate of the future and that's as rational as it gets. As for winning a cup in November, you're right on the money 100%, but at the same time a cup has never been lost in November either!

 

[Gary Nylund]

This is such asinine logic.

If you want to win the cup, it doesn't matter how well you play in the regular season if you can't win big games in the playoffs. That's not logic, it's a simple fact.

I'm at a teacher. I don't tell my students hey don't worry about showing up to class, or doing your homework, or participate in classwork. All that really matters is your test/exam scores. Everything else is irrelevant.

Your analogy is a strange one, I would think that if students ace the tests/exams, they probably put in a fair bit of work to achieve those results. Nobody's saying the Leafs shouldn't "do their homework".

You build habits doing the little things that carry over to the big moments. You build bad habits and those are the habits that show up come playoff time. Good teams/good students are always good. Thats what separates them. They bring it always. Now what the leafs should do in the regular season is keep Campbells work load down so they don't wear him out, give some of your key veterans a few games off. If you roll 7 D let Dermott/Lily/Holl spell Muzzin, Brodie, Rielly every now and then. Manage minutes and don't overwork. Rely on depth. Besides with how competitive things are unless you bring your best you wont make the playoffs to begin with and your whole point is moot.

That all sounds so nice. Now please explain how despite being an excellent regular season team with this core for many years now, when it all comes down to one game to decide a playoff series, we don't even show up to play. We've been outscored 18-6 in the last four such games, 11-2 in the last three. This directly contradicts what you say about good teams always being good and I look forward to your explanation because I sure hell can't figure it out.

 

[Anthrax442]

Those first games back after a west coast trip are always brutal. The boys are due for a little bit of a letdown. Good test regardless.

Good thing they got till wednesday to recover

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

You've made a lot of posts like this lately - every time somebody isn't as giddy as you over the Leafs you tell them to log off, disappear or whatever else. Why be such a snowflake dude? They're playing great but it's November, we've seen them play great in the regular season and then lose in the 1st round so many times, it shouldn't be so hard to understand that some people want to see some playoff success before jumping on the bandwagon.

It's November. No team has ever won a cup in November. No team has ever won a playoff round in November. If people that aren't quite ready to plan the parade yet bother you so much, perhaps you should start another forum where you can ban people that don't agree with you because like or not, in this place people are allowed to think rationally.

showing up after every win to tell other people that they shouldn't celebrate because it's not the playoffs yet is getting pretty tiresome. If your stance is that none of these games have any meaning, people are completely in the right to wonder why you feel the need to participate

 

[Gary Nylund]

I think it's more or less, that he like others including myself have had enough of LeaFlanders whining crying bitching and moaning about stuff that happened in the past that can't and won't ever be changed no matter how much groaning someone does. Nobody is planning any parades anywhere, that's a BS narrative that's been around for decades and has no basis in fact. Every fan base of every team in any sport on any continent rejoices when their teams are winning, but it seems only Leafs fans aren't supposed to, which isn't rational

I'm always happy when we win, rejoice is a bit much though, at least it is for me. I'll save the rejoicing for when we can finally celebrate winning a playoff series.

Speaking of rational what happened in the past is not a predicate of the future and that's as rational as it gets. As for winning a cup in November, you're right on the money 100%, but at the same time a cup has never been lost in November either!

If we're trying to predict the future, the past is all we have to go on. For me anyway, I'm thinking this is a team that can go all the way and I'm basing that 100% on what they've done up to this point (except playoffs of course) and everything that they've done up to this point is ... in the past.

 

[Acesup]

You're fairly new here. It's the same posters who tell everyone how elite the Leafs are, 16 is the best player in the world, Dubas can do no wrong, even in losses we won the expected goal contest. Lose in the first round in embarrassing fashion, those posters disappear, and then start the whole thing over again. Maybe wait until regular season success translates into the playoffs before going on about how elite this team is.

You're comparing teaching kids to a hockey team that hasn't won a thing in decades? And the Leafs "bring it" always?! And you say the the post you're quoting is asinine logic?! Pass out those participation badges!

When the hell did I say the leafs are a good team or that they bring it always? I said good teams don't just magically show up in the playoffs they bring it during the regular season as well. The leafs are not an elite team and have not at any point proven to be that. If they want to be then they need to demonstrate it consistently; STARTING WITH THE REGULAR SEASON. Not dismissing it as un-important.

 

[Twine Tickler]

The boys are playing great hockey. They are winning the right way. Full commitment to the defensive side of the game. It's the only way to consistently win in the NHL

It is very easy to buy in when you get results. I think when you have a stretch where you win 14 of 16, and winning games in the fashion that they are (low scoring, low event) it just hardcodes that style into the players brains as being the right way to play. This core group has never been able to rattle off this many wins over this length of time. They've never protected leads like this. It has been an entire month+ of dominance. A stretch where they have been extremely busy. If they were hesitant to buy in before, I don't think there will be 1 person in that room now that doesn't have complete comprehension on how they need to play. Both individually and as a team.

We inevitably will go on a losing streak in the coming days/weeks/months. But having this 16 game stretch as a reference point for the rest of the season will help the boys dig themselves out of those eventual ruts.

We've seen it over and over with this group in the past. They'll lose back to back games that they shouldn't have. Often they'll lose these games even though they were the better team. Puck just doesn't want to go in. Then they'll play that 3rd game thinking they need to change what they were doing from the prior 2 games. They try too much, cheat a little too much, and lose again because they get away from playing the right way. Then begins a losing streak.

We've already seen this happen this year:

Oct 18, NYR: got goalied by Shesty, clearly better team
Oct 22, SJS: Hutch cost us the game, didn't play great but was forced to cheat because of Hutch's inability to make a save
Oct 23, PIT: We try to salvage the "losing streak" by playing run and gun, and we get burnt bad
Oct 25, CAR: play a better game, but unfortunately our opponent is a top 5 team in the league. Still too sloppy

But credit to them, they've also had 2 losses in this stretch of 16 where it could have easily sparked another losing streak, and they bounced back with a dominating performances

When we lost to Pitt a week back I honestly thought this was where they'd default back to their typical ways. They had NYI on the 2nd half of that B2B, and it could have easily been the start of another losing skid. Traditionally this game would have been an auto-loss. Well, they ended up playing one of their more dominant games all year. Completely suffocated NYI, and just put on an absolute clinic. They then followed that big win up with 3 more wins in dominating fashion.

A spot in the schedule where traditionally this would have been a slump, they turned it into the best stretch of hockey they've maybe ever played as a group.

I really hope they learn from this stretch of hockey. Losing is going to happen. Even when you play the right way. But if you stick to playing that way, and play as a 5 man unit, losing streaks are usually capped at 3 games max. It's a brand of hockey that is successful in the post season, and its massive for the confidence of this group.

I absolutely love watching this team right now. Just textbook hockey really.

 

[Gary Nylund]

showing up after every win to tell other people that they shouldn't celebrate because it's not the playoffs yet is getting pretty tiresome. If your stance is that none of these games have any meaning, people are completely in the right to wonder why you feel the need to participate

I'm not telling anyone not to celebrate, everyone can do what they like. Unfortunately there are some people who are berating people for saying anything negative, telling them to log off and so on. To me that is what's tiresome, I guess that's OK with you though and if so, you're certainly entitled to your opinion.

I have repeatedly said that every game has meaning. Maybe you misunderstood what I said, not sure how that's possible as I generally express myself relatively clearly but hopefully you feel better now that I've corrected you.

 

[AvroArrow]

The game against Colorado will be a good measuring stick. Win/lose, we get to see the team up against some stern competition. Regardless of the outcome, it will be the response to the challenge that helps me better know the team.

I'll be at that game for my bday, hoping for a competitive game and obviously a W ! But yes that is going to be a good test. We have faced some good teams already but Colorado is a tier above anyone else we played this month.

 

[Acesup]

If you want to win the cup, it doesn't matter how well you play in the regular season if you can't win big games in the playoffs. That's not logic, it's a simple fact.



Your analogy is a strange one, I would think that if students ace the tests/exams, they probably put in a fair bit of work to achieve those results. Nobody's saying the Leafs shouldn't "do their homework".



That all sounds so nice. Now please explain how despite being an excellent regular season team with this core for many years now, when it all comes down to one game to decide a playoff series, we don't even show up to play. We've been outscored 18-6 in the last four such games, 11-2 in the last three. This directly contradicts what you say about good teams always being good and I look forward to your explanation because I sure hell can't figure it out.

So your logic is don't take the regular season seriously? That's gonna fix their post season failures really? The leafs have been horribly inconsistent in the regular season. At times looking elite, at times being mediocre. So becoming a team that can get through mental hurdles and performing better in those do or die games starts with resiliency in the regular season. The point is they haven't proven themselves to be an elite team in years past. Inconsistent goaltending, inconsistent defensive schemes, forwards not buying in defensively. Those are flaws that have showed up at the worst time in the postseason. They need to demonstrate they can fix this shit and that starts in the regular season, not just magically in the post season.

 

[francis246]

This is such asinine logic.

I'm at a teacher. I don't tell my students hey don't worry about showing up to class, or doing your homework, or participate in classwork. All that really matters is your test/exam scores. Everything else is irrelevant.

You build habits doing the little things that carry over to the big moments. You build bad habits and those are the habits that show up come playoff time. Good teams/good students are always good. Thats what separates them. They bring it always. Now what the leafs should do in the regular season is keep Campbells work load down so they don't wear him out, give some of your key veterans a few games off. If you roll 7 D let Dermott/Lily/Holl spell Muzzin, Brodie, Rielly every now and then. Manage minutes and don't overwork. Rely on depth. Besides with how competitive things are unless you bring your best you wont make the playoffs to begin with and your whole point is moot.

exactly! I don’t tell my students that either. Good to see other teachers on here!!

 

[DarkKnight]

I laugh at those that say "the regular season is meaningless, call me when the playoffs start"......yet post 50 times a day on here every day during the regular season.

Comedy.

Well, when you done chastising everyone perhaps some serious commentary might understand we haven’t won anything, nor will you remember the big victory Nov 28th come May 15th. It’s pure comedy to not compute this team is judged on playoff success, period. Does that mean we don’t watch? Come on. Does that mean we can’t comment on what we see now? Please. Frankly only an idiot is all in on the group at the moment. I’m asterisk encouraged, and that’s fine.

 

[nsleaf]

I'm not telling anyone not to celebrate, everyone can do what they like. Unfortunately there are some people who are berating people for saying anything negative, telling them to log off and so on. To me that is what's tiresome, I guess that's OK with you though and if so, you're certainly entitled to your opinion.

I have repeatedly said that every game has meaning. Maybe you misunderstood what I said, not sure how that's possible as I generally express myself relatively clearly but hopefully you feel better now that I've corrected you.

So the season doesn't matter, but the games do?

 

[James Blackley]

The game against Colorado will be a good measuring stick. Win/lose, we get to see the team up against some stern competition. Regardless of the outcome, it will be the response to the challenge that helps me better know the team.

I don't see Colordo as a measuring stick, and besides, most teams coming off a lengthy road trip tend to lay an egg on home ice. I'm not worried about this game, they could win 3-0 or get shelled 7-1, and in the Grand scheme of things, means f*** all when it comes to measuring this team going forward.

Right now this is a decent team (no shocker, the leafs tend to do well in the reg season), the real test comes in the post season, do they fold like a cheap tent again or do they finally grow up and go on a run? No doubt the skill is there, jury is still out on the emotional maturity level of this squad when it matters most.

 

[Gabriel426]

It's nice to understand that their success is sustainable, and why it's sustainable. That is the real value of these stats.

I think they are scoring goals from everyone and every where, collectively they are playing hard and doing all the little things which lead to very few odd man rushes for the opposing teams, goalies making timely saves.
The team is playing honest hockey where they are not trying to out score their troubles or only show up for 10mins per game and win it with talents.
Lastly, if what I have been reading is true, ie: the team opted to practice instead of having day offs, thats a great sign that the team wants to win and understand that they need to put in the work for Wins.

 

[LeafSteel]

Som folks here may want to ask Tampa fans how much they enjoyed their Presidents Trophy after getting knocked out in the 1st round after Columbus.

I will wait…..

I don’t know why we can’t enjoy what the Leafs are doing now without having reservations on who shows up for the playoffs. Don’t tell me how to follow my team. Don’t like it? Put me on Ignore but get off your self righteous soap box. I promise to do the same, without a 2nd thought.

November success will mean nothing if we get bounced again and anyone with the nerve to tell me how to be a fan can grab a straw and suck $/it right out of my you know what….