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Post-Game Talk: Leafs sweep California

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Gary Nylund said:
I get what you're saying but at the same time, TB scored 4 goals in those 3 games and while sure that doesn't sound like much, it's still twice as many as we managed in 3 games.

SV% doesn't tell the whole story but as single stats go, it's a pretty good one and it tells me that our goaltending the last two playoffs has been pretty good. The other teams goaltending was better? OK that's fair but there's more to a team than goaltending and sometimes the offence needs to do better and that's where the stats don't tell the whole story. The CLB series is particular was full of scoring chances blundered away by our super star forwards.

Even you want to pin the losses on our goalie, what does it really matter? You win and lose as a team and our team in the playoffs just hasn't been good enough. Maybe this spring things will be different, we'll see. But if we do lose again and this time our goalies play great, I'm sure we'll find another scapegoat/excuse, we've gotten quite good at that!
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Just looking at this playoffs, TB scored 4 goals and won all three games.

The last 3 games we scored 6 goals and lost all three games playing better than Tampa, especially in games 5 and 6.


1.000 save% vs. .880 save%.

It's why I'm not as big into signing Campbell right now. Let's see if he can clutch out even a single elimination game in the playoffs before we start handing out any fat contracts.
 
Zybalto said:
Just looking at this playoffs, TB scored 4 goals and won all three games.

The last 3 games we scored 6 goals and lost all three games playing better than Tampa, especially in games 5 and 6.

1.000 save% vs. .880 save%.

It's why I'm not as big into signing Campbell right now. Let's see if he can clutch out even a single elimination game in the playoffs before we start handing out any fat contracts.
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Yeah games 5 and 6 we played pretty good but that doesn't change the fact that when it all comes down to one game, instead of rising to the occasion we inexplicably suck. In my 50+ years of following pro sports I've never seen anything like and I sure hope it doesn't happen again this spring.
 
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There is no room for logic in sports.

Last year 3 game Edmonton series. Where we only allowed 1 goal in three games with three different goalies. You expect to win in Edmonton with the top end skill both teams have, but you expect much higher scoring games. Shutting down McDrai was special last year. Even the way we were hamulated that was still special. We still did good and even some great things. As that feels better then remembering that emotional loss to Montreal. No matter how bad it was and how we all wish it did not happen it did.

The Leafs this season could have folded, I wouldn't have blamed them. Instead we got this wonderful moment we have right now. Where we just made history in a dominant fashion. In a way I never thought this team could do it.

Instead of being in the now and enjoying it. We have half the fan base still emotionally attached to getting destroyed by Montreal and the other half trying to tell them how they can feel and think as fans. Can't we all just agree to cheer for this team however we want to and if you don't like what others say we have an ignore button for a reason. We are responsible for our own happiness in life, whatever form that takes.

Go LEafs Go
 
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Gary Nylund said:
Yeah games 5 and 6 we played pretty good but that doesn't change the fact that when it all comes down to one game, instead of rising to the occasion we inexplicably suck. In my 50+ years of following pro sports I've never seen anything like and I sure hope it doesn't happen again this spring.
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Red Sox before they won it all syndrome
 
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Gary Nylund said:
Yeah games 5 and 6 we played pretty good but that doesn't change the fact that when it all comes down to one game, instead of rising to the occasion we inexplicably suck. In my 50+ years of following pro sports I've never seen anything like and I sure hope it doesn't happen again this spring.
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I've seen it plenty of times, its just magnified when it hits the team you love.

Personally, I'd rather lose a few more times in the first round than lose four straight finals or have a cup in our grasp and have someone Bill Buckner us. (with almost twice the record of futility too) Plenty of more examples out there. The Leafs failures are small potatoes compared to many fanbases.

I'm just super stoked to have a team that is capable of making noise every year, something we havnt had since the early 90's. What we need is a Potvin/Belfour/Cujo to just play a solid elimination game. We have NOT had that at all. Thats the missing ingredient. The team up front has worked plenty hard enough to win.
 
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Varcus said:
The Leafs this season could have folded, I wouldn't have blamed them. Instead we got this wonderful moment we have right now. Where we just made history in a dominant fashion. In a way I never thought this team could do it.

Instead of being in the now and enjoying it. We have half the fan base still emotionally attached to getting destroyed by Montreal and the other half trying to tell them how they can feel and think as fans. Can't we all just agree to cheer for this team however we want to and if you don't like what others say we have an ignore button for a reason. We are responsible for our own happiness in life, whatever form that takes.

Go LEafs Go
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If regular season success makes you that happy, I'm happy for you, I really am but I think I'm not alone when I say that for me personally, NHL "history" made in November is meaningless. I'm very much enjoying how we're playing but not because of some meaningless record, I'm enjoying it because the better they play, the more hope I have that we can end our playoff drought.

By the way, I believe the record we set was most wins in one month for this franchise. Do you know which years team had the record before? I'll bet you don't and you know why? Because it's meaningless, that's why.

Anyhow, you say you want everyone to cheer for this team however we want to, as far as I can tell that's exactly what everyone is doing so that should make you even more happy. And once again, I am happy for you. Go Leafs Go!

Teeder Keon said:
Red Sox before they won it all syndrome
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Good point. Geez I hope we don't have to wait as long as the city of Boston, if we do then it won't happen in my lifetime.
 
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I get why people get upset but really there's two things that matter:

1. Did they win the cup or not?
2. Do they have a good chance to win a cup now?

If the answer to #1 is No, then it really doesn't matter what round they lost in to me. Losing in the 2nd or 3rd round wouldn't be any better.

Unless you think the way they lost means the answer to #2 is also No - which I never believed. We were obviously the better team.
 
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Zybalto said:
I've seen it plenty of times, its just magnified when it hits the team you love.

Personally, I'd rather lose a few more times in the first round than lose four straight finals or have a cup in our grasp and have someone Bill Buckner us. (with almost twice the record of futility too) Plenty of more examples out there. The Leafs failures are small potatoes compared to many fanbases.

I'm just super stoked to have a team that is capable of making noise every year, something we havnt had since the early 90's. What we need is a Potvin/Belfour/Cujo to just play a solid elimination game. We have NOT had that at all. Thats the missing ingredient. The team up front has worked plenty hard enough to win.
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Re. the bolded - I'm not sure about that, I think I've had just about enough of losing in the first round but whatever, there's obviously no right or wrong here. When we were up by 3 against Boston in game 7 and lost, that was quite similar to the Buckner game and that wasn't any fun at all. If that kind of thing happened to us 4 years in a row I think that would much harder to take myself. The Bills lost 4 straight finals but that wasn't so bad, one missed field goal it happens and the other 3 games they were huge dogs so no shame in losing like that so losing 4 finals, how bad that would feel would depend entirely on how it happened IMO. And to me that's the issue with the last 4 years, it's not that we lost, it's how we lost. It's how when the pressure is up to it's highest point, we don't show up, we for whatever reason forget how to compete.

What are the plenty more examples? I'm not just talking about not winning, I'm talking about 4 years in a row, everything is going along in a completely reasonable fashion and then when it all comes down to one game, our level of play just drops. Instead of rising to the occasion, we just play terrible, more than once I'd say we even play our worst game of the playoffs. Yeah that Buckner moment was something else but they didn't do it 4 years in a row.

And as I keep telling you, there's more to those embarrassing losses than the goaltending, 2 goals in 3 elimination games is not on the goalies and when you keep going on and on and on about the goalies, you're just letting the rest of the team off the hook and I'm sorry I just can not agree with that. Plenty of blame to go around and in the end you win and/or lose as a team.
 
kb said:
It's not an if, it's a when.
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Not a sure thing at all. If they lose again this spring (certainly within the realm of possibility), the core might not even be together next season for another shot so that would be the end of it.
 
zeke said:
I get why people get upset but really there's two things that matter:

1. Did they win the cup or not?
2. Do they have a good chance to win a cup now?

If the answer to #1 is No, then it really doesn't matter what round they lost in to me. Losing in the 2nd or 3rd round wouldn't be any better.

Unless you think the way they lost means the answer to #2 is also No - which I never believed. We were obviously the better team.
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The leafs were not the better team over the habs good Lord lol! The leafs lost in 7, and blew a 3-1 series lead... I they were the better team, they would have won. I don't like the habs, but credit where it's due, they were the better team over us last year ANIEC.
 
zeke said:
The better team can lose a series. And they did.
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Disagree. At the end of the day the Habs had more wins than us, so no, the Leafs were not the better team, plain and simple IMO.
 
zeke said:
I get why people get upset but really there's two things that matter:

1. Did they win the cup or not?
2. Do they have a good chance to win a cup now?

If the answer to #1 is No, then it really doesn't matter what round they lost in to me. Losing in the 2nd or 3rd round wouldn't be any better.

Unless you think the way they lost means the answer to #2 is also No - which I never believed. We were obviously the better team.
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I'll agree and disagree. I'll never complain about making the playoffs as all the years of missing out are still fresh in my mind. Losing is absolutely heartbreaking in the end. Losing in a later round will at least be a change of pace though and can be seen as a sign of progress. I will also take a series loss in seven over being swept. *Full disclosure that I've never seen the team advance beyond the conference finals.

The better (best) team for me will always be the one that wins (one, two, three or four rounds). A team has to beat the four teams standing in its way in order to achieve the ultimate in glory...that's really all that matters.
 
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I mean look where the Leafs are now and where the Habs are now.

The better team lost.

If you let that series make you think otherwise, you need to review how you evaluate hockey.
 
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zeke said:
I mean look where the Leafs are now and where the Habs are now.

The better team lost.

If you let that series make you think otherwise, you need to review how you evaluate hockey.
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or where the teams were last season. There were only 3 games where there was a decisive winner who dominated beyond any doubt, and it was the 3 games the Leafs won. The other 4 were coinflips. Shit happens in hockey
 
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zeke said:
I mean look where the Leafs are now and where the Habs are now.

The better team lost.

If you let that series make you think otherwise, you need to review how you evaluate hockey.
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The team that "should have won" and was "in position to win", yes. The Devils and Hurricanes also missed the playoffs in the seasons that immediately followed Cup wins. Each season stands on its own.
 
zeke said:
I mean look where the Leafs are now and where the Habs are now.

The better team lost.

If you let that series make you think otherwise, you need to review how you evaluate hockey.
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You can't use this season to compare to last year's playoffs, if you think that, you really need to re-evaluate things. At the time, when the Leafs lost to the Habs, they were the better team, not us, sorry but it's facts. This year? No doubt that the Leafs are the far better of the two teams.
 
The Leafs were far better than the Habs last year, and even further ahead this year.

If you let that series make you think otherwise, then you were likely one of the ones predicting the Habs would challenge the Leafs for a wildcard spot this year.

That was obviously a mistake, but a mistake that should be learned from.
 
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What more can this team have possibly done this year to make the skeptics happy? If something, it would be nice to hear a clear articulation of what that is so that as leaf fans we may discuss it. If nothing, then kindly take a hike and go pester somebody equally deserving of the scorn many here have of you. You add nothing to the conversation and it is frankly not fun having to deal with people with a desire to spread their own misery day in and day out. I am frankly shocked that a thread meant to celebrate a sweep and a great winning trend is allowed to degenerate by mods who should be thread banning chronic off topic messaging and clear trolling.
 
Gary Nylund said:
Re. the bolded - I'm not sure about that, I think I've had just about enough of losing in the first round but whatever, there's obviously no right or wrong here. When we were up by 3 against Boston in game 7 and lost, that was quite similar to the Buckner game and that wasn't any fun at all. If that kind of thing happened to us 4 years in a row I think that would much harder to take myself. The Bills lost 4 straight finals but that wasn't so bad, one missed field goal it happens and the other 3 games they were huge dogs so no shame in losing like that so losing 4 finals, how bad that would feel would depend entirely on how it happened IMO. And to me that's the issue with the last 4 years, it's not that we lost, it's how we lost. It's how when the pressure is up to it's highest point, we don't show up, we for whatever reason forget how to compete.

What are the plenty more examples? I'm not just talking about not winning, I'm talking about 4 years in a row, everything is going along in a completely reasonable fashion and then when it all comes down to one game, our level of play just drops. Instead of rising to the occasion, we just play terrible, more than once I'd say we even play our worst game of the playoffs. Yeah that Buckner moment was something else but they didn't do it 4 years in a row.

And as I keep telling you, there's more to those embarrassing losses than the goaltending, 2 goals in 3 elimination games is not on the goalies and when you keep going on and on and on about the goalies, you're just letting the rest of the team off the hook and I'm sorry I just can not agree with that. Plenty of blame to go around and in the end you win and/or lose as a team.
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You are again blowing things up because its your team though.

Lets just do a local comparison to the Panthers.

Their team is built around Barkov/Ekblad/Huberdeau right?

How have they done?

2014-2015: Missed the playoffs
2015-2016: 1st in the Atlantic, got squashed in the first round in massive upset (dagger by Tavares)
2016-2017: Missed the playoffs
2017-2018: Missed the playoffs
2018-2019: Missed the playoffs
2019-2020: 10th in East, Lost in the play-ins
2020-2021: Lost in the first round

Why have there not been a million threads on the main boards and their home forum about blowing up the entire pathetic choking team? Theres no bigger choke than failing to even qualify for the playoffs....and I'm not going to call them that. Theres countless more example all over sports just like this, all of which are far worse than the Leafs. Wheres the morons in the Canada threads saying Huberdeau and Ekblad should be nowhere near team Canada?

The Leafs and their core are by any measure far more successful than they have been right?....and yet they are darlings in even the Toronto media as the hometown media spits on its own team. I'm not taking part in the massive market that is so invested in losing here. I'm rooting for my team to win.

Remember that feel good story of the accountant who took the net for the Hawks and beat the Jets? It was great and he made some sick saves too. No one remembered it after a couple of weeks though it seems.

Remember that feel good story of the Zamboni driver who took the net for the Canes and beat the Leafs? Of course you do and its not a feel good story, its shoved down our throats as a negative story. Its a big part of the problem. I just tune it out though now with our embarrassment of a press led by 80 iq losers chasing down hot dog vendors in slanderous hit pieces and never made to pay a price when called out. Just feels like I have to push back against this nonsense.
 
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zeke said:
I mean look where the Leafs are now and where the Habs are now.

The better team lost.

If you let that series make you think otherwise, you need to review how you evaluate hockey.
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It's what you say every year. The better team wins no excuses. You evaluate through stats but not results
 
zeke said:
I mean look where the Leafs are now and where the Habs are now.

The better team lost.

If you let that series make you think otherwise, you need to review how you evaluate hockey.
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Not to mention where they were when the playoffs started they beat a couple of other teams as well before the logical happened. Granted they went on a tear in just the nick of time. A total fluke but that happens. They swept Winnipeg, who swept the oilers by the way. LMAO the playoffs is a hyped tournament where luck and timing play a huge part. Exactly why I view it as an exciting event but it doesn't mean much more. Great to win it though.
 
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