[Matthew Tkachuk] Leafs would be unbelievable if the team wasn't in Toronto

[kerrabria]

Is this like some calculated thing from Florida? It’s pretty lame.

No. This is genuinely how low the outside world thinks of Toronto' sports landscape. We feel bad for the players (Marner as the exception).

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Great!

Nick Suzuki:
Last 2 months: 1.26 PPG +12
Playoffs: .4 PPG -5

Can you point me in the direction of the Nick Suzuki is a weak minded loser thread, or should I get one fired up?

Americans when they struggle to come to terms with reality.

 

[Mpirone12]

With Torontos playoff struggles should the fans receive just as much blame as the players. You see other fans going crazy when their team is down a goal or two but Toronto fans are throwing their jerseys on the ice. The exact opposite of what motivates a player.

I understand the players make millions but they are humans with emotions.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

No. This narrative needs to die. The Leaf fan base is dying for a team to embrace fully. They went out and puked over themselves at home 2 games in a row before anyone started booing.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

No, NHL players aren't little leaguers weeping over drunk parents fighting in the stands. You're free to think that certain kinds of fan behavior is classless, and truth be told I get it for folks that chuck things on the ice, but pro athletes in borderline all sports face enormous fan pressure. Toronto's not special in that regards, positively or negatively, other than the size of the fanbase compared to most other hockey teams.

Don't like fan pressure? Become an accountant.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Yes, they and the media prop up the team year after year as Cup favourites when anyone with even a slight bit of objectivity sees that they’re miles away, stands are full night in night out

They have zero incentive to fix any problems

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Yes, the fans are too supportive.

 

[Leonardo87]

I don’t care how much my team sucks or chokes, will never throw their jersey on the ice or burn it. I get the passion but there has to be a line drawn at some point.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

No the fans shouldn't even be showing up but they still do . How are you gonna blame fans for caring and supporting , only hockey fans think there's something wrong with being a nutjob fan because there's only 4 markets in hockey that have nut job fans.

You'd think we were talking about south american football or something with the narrative around leafs fans lol. It's an easy city to play in what are we even talking about these dudes have been treated like gods for a decade and allowed to run it back with their buddies every time

 

[LeafGrief]

How on earth do soccer players manage with all the pressure on them?

Is there a fanbase in hockey who catches as much flak as Leafs fans? Our team craps their pants yet again and then the opponent's coach steps in front of the media and has the audacity to pin some of the blame on us. Brother if you want to see some drama have a look at what's going on with Manchester United right now.

 

[Nikishin al Gaib]

To blame for making the team choke year after year? No, there are plenty of sports teams in high pressure markets that thrive, including the current Super Bowl and World Series champions.

Are they to blame for making some seriously toxic and scary situations by doxxing homes and making players feel generally unsafe? Yeah, but that's not unique to Toronto, that happens everywhere.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

The fact that Mitch is throwing out there to the media that one of the reasons he is going to leave because some 10 year old came up and asked him why he didn't sign his extension 5 years ago says everything that needs to be said about the guy lol that kid got space rent free in his dome for half a decade.

 

[sampollock]

no fan should be blamed for the teams sucky state
but
they should take blame when ever year they plan the parade and call sweeps and the series is not even over

how about win it all then bark

 

[PB37]

Fan reaction is a product of how the team performs. They wouldn't be losing their shit if the player's weren't losing theirs.

 

[kerrabria]

I'm not trolling or looking to stir the pot with these comments. I thought about it a few days ago, but I didn't post because it would have been unsubstantial and uncalled for for me to just spout off, but I'll happily piggyback on Tkachuk's comments.

The Toronto Maple Leafs media and fanbase (I hold the media accountable for the fanbase's permanent lather) are villains. There is no equivalence is North American sports.

There are similarities with the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Yankees, and New York Knicks, but it's not nearly as bad.

With Montreal, you can say that all the vitriol and energy is focused on the NHL team because there's no other pro sports to direct your ire at. The Leafs have the Raptors and Jays as buffers. Also, Montreal has an element of cultural/national heritage that adds a unique fervor to the fanbase/media, which is regrettable but understandable. Leafs don't have that.
Montreal, the Lakers, and the Yankees also have the main character syndrome and championship entitlement. The fanbases are spoiled and unappreciative, which (again) is bad, but it's an excuse that the Leafs don't have.
Maybe the Knicks would be as scrwered as the Leafs if they didn't have a million other teams absorbing attention, but even still, there's an irony that Knicks fans/media have that I just don't see with Toronto. When New York shits on the Knicks, there's a lot of humor. People laugh their asses off at Stephen A's melodrama. And Knicks fans always point to ownership and management before the players. I can't think of the last Knick starter who was actually run out of town.

The Leafs fans and media really seem to hate their players. Like, they want to root against them. They willingly exaggerate and overreact and then lose their minds over every little thing. And they have no valid excuse.

 

[CaptainBenn]

man these are player paids MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to win. fans have every right to be pissed for garbage performance when they pay their tickets FOR games multiple hundreds of dollars.

this narrative that the fans have something to do with it needs to die.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

Yes, they and the media prop up the team year after year as Cup favourites when anyone with even a slight bit of objectivity sees that they’re miles away, stands are full night in night out

They have zero incentive to fix any problems

This is it tbh. We allow this shit to continue.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I can't believe how easy Leafs fans and the media are to manipulate with these backhanded compliments.

This is just "I felt a lot of respect in that handshake line" but for some reason a lot of them are acting like this is a good thing "see? This team that knows how to win and not choke says we are pretty good! We don't suck!"

No, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a joke and will remain a joke for the short-to-mid term.

It isn't the media's fault, it isn't the fans fault, it is the players and management. You don't suck because you play in Toronto, you suck because management decided to get rid of the people who successfully rebuilt the franchise in favour of Dubas.

Dubas completely screwed everything up from the management side while players like Matthews and Marner are just huge playoff chokers.

The Senators made you look very beatable after going up 3-0, we aren't very good and this was first time in the playoffs for most of the team. The team is filled with losers, end of story, that is why they suck.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

No the fans shouldn't even be showing up but they still do . How are you gonna blame fans for caring and supporting , only hockey fans think there's something wrong with being a nutjob fan because there's only 4 markets in hockey that have nut job fans.

You'd think we were talking about south american football or something with the narrative around leafs fans lol. It's an easy city to play in what are we even talking about these dudes have been treated like gods for a decade and allowed to run it back with their buddies every time

For real...Toronto is a wildly easy city to be loved in. You just have to care. Like some people are walking around in Tim Bent jerseys because he had an amazing PK 15 years ago. Reality is Mitch lost the city with his last contract and never got them back when he couldn't back it up. If he didn't want the pressure that came with that contract demand...that is a him problem.

 

[LeafGrief]

I don’t care how much my team sucks or chokes, will never throw their jersey on the ice or burn it. I get the passion but there has to be a line drawn at some point.

That's it? Lighting a jersey on fire is the limit of respectability? I mean, good for you and I'm not lighting my Leafs memorabilia on fire either, but this is quite literally an entertainment product and you're judging people for getting dramatic in their own backyard or during an offside stoppage?

only hockey fans think there's something wrong with being a nutjob fan because there's only 4 markets in hockey that have nut job fans.

For real. Oh no, someone threw a jersey on the ice! Soccer players take corner kicks with shit getting thrown at them all the time, and yet hockey fans think those guys are just soooooooo soft they're going to shrivel up and die.

This Leafs team has crapped their pants repeatedly for 9 years. Losses versus rivals, losses where they were heavily favoured, loss after loss after loss. Not to mention losing to a zamboni driver. And yet Leafs fans still turn up. We are unbelievably dedicated, and if hockey players can't handle having fans who care, they're not as tough as they think they are.

 

[Fatass]

The Yankee's didn't have a problem with it. The Patriots didn't have a problem with it. The Lakers didn't have a problem with it.

Three examples of very high pressure sports environments.

Philly is a tough market too, and that didn’t stop the Eagles from winning.
The Leafs core continuing to lose isn’t because of the pressures of the market; it’s because of the pressure of the playoffs.

 

[kerrabria]

Pretending this doesn’t happen in. Every other sport is insane. Watch football twitter it’s the exact same shit

By football do you mean soccer? Because yes, soccer culture is insane (and really bad), but luckily, North American sports don't go that far.

There is no equivalence to Toronto's treatment of the Leafs.

 

[Kennerback]

It absolutely does,no one talks about it, Vancouver, Boston, New York, Montreal, Philly all have bad stuff like this over the years. Stop pretending it’s unique to Toronto

I’m a Montreal fan that has lived in Toronto. The coverage is as intense in Montreal, perhaps more so but it’s different.

1. The Media landscape is in two languages. The French is dominant but most players don’t speak French so they’re less interviewed and they don’t hear the crap. Obviously for French speaking players it’s another story. The pressure on them is tremendous.

2. English and French beat media are sometimes suspicious of each other and sometimes have different takes so it blunts some of the pressure.

3. It’s a much more reactive fan base than Toronto and it can spin on a dime. The fans can go from absolutely loving a player, to hating a player for months, to loving again. Players know it and if they like that kind of feedback it really works. Examples are Gallagher, Anderson and Dvorak. The whole city hated them, now they own it.

 

[x Tame Impala]

It’s a privilege to play in front of that many die hards. That Tkachuk comment was ridiculous. If the Leafs core players had a better attitude and their ownership/front office set them up for success they’d have the keys to the city

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

With Torontos playoff struggles should the fans receive just as much blame as the players. You see other fans going crazy when their team is down a goal or two but Toronto fans are throwing their jerseys on the ice. The exact opposite of what motivates a player.

I understand the players make millions but they are humans with emotions.

sure I mean that's why the Coyotes won all those Cups right? no fans or pressure...oh wait