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

[Do Make Say Think]

It's not the job for 31 other franchises (maybe 30.5 given Montreal).
I'm sure that (other than Tavares) they'll walk away from Toronto and all the benefits.
It's not even about the pressure, it's about the unfair criticism and intrusion in day-to-day life.
It's also not Florida taking the piss. I believe they're being genuine. This is how low Tkachuk, Marchand, Jones, etc. think of Toronto's media and fanbase. They feel bad for their fellow players.

They don't feel bad, they just humiliated the Leafs who were complete no shows once the going got tough. They went to the media to tell people "this wasn't a big game" "the Leafs would be better with different fans" etc. and you are all nodding and smiling "thank you for validating our feelings of insecurity and making it clear that the team didn't blow it, we did!"

I really should become an influencer, people are so easy to manipulate. Unbelievable.

 

[Ducer]

Ticket prices are not $20 and a free bottle of sun tan lotion in Toronto.

 

[LeafGrief]

Most physical ailments, personal tragedies, etc. are random and unintentional. If you break your sternum, there's nothing to be mad at. A bad thing happened once, it hurts, it sucks, but it's nobody's fault, and it will pass.

On the other hand, it's very difficult to be Stoic and unbothered by other people's willing, repeated behaviors.

I think you missed the point, brother. Playing hockey with a broken sternum sounds extraordinarily painful and difficult. To do so, is a rather astonishing feat of willpower and physical toughness.

I am perplexed that a man who is capable of such physical toughness, is intimating that pressure from fans is a detriment to a professional team. Seriously, this guy is a cup champion, who therefore has the requisite mental toughness to win as well, but is saying that it's pressure from fans that make the difference to this team? That's just outrageously soft, and is quite a contradiction based on the other things we know about this man.

There's nothing wrong with being bothered or angry about fans. Crazy fans doing crazy things is a fact that professional athletes, in hockey or otherwise, have to deal with. Athletes are humans too. But stoicism in the face of that pressure is quite literally what they get paid for. If they cannot deliver under that pressure, that is a critical flaw in their abilities as a hockey player.

I suppose it makes sense if he's trolling the team, saying that they're the ones who can't hack the pressure. But Maurice explicitly spoke about how the team was not going to deserve the criticism they get, so I'm not inclined to be charitable to Panthers players/staff in my interpretation of their words.

 

[Kennerback]

They don't feel bad, they just humiliated the Leafs who were complete no shows once the going got tough.

I really should become an influencer, people are so easy to manipulate. Unbelievable.

I don’t know Tkachuk enough but I know Marchand very well and he totally knew what he was doing. It was an F.U. to Toronto and the Leafs. He doesn’t give two shits about Leaf players. He knows which buttons to push. He’s a rat, that’s just what he does.

 

[Korpse]

Thoughts on Toronto's intense media and fan environment obstructing team success and player performance?

Maybe it's an issue for this set of players and management group (past and present), there's plenty of situations around the world and through out history of professional athletes playing in just as intense environments (if not more) and finding success. Maybe Matthew Tkachuk likes parading the stanley cup around a city where nobody knows who the f*** they are.

 

[robertmac43]

Nope - its on the players. It's been said 100 times across here and Twitter but there are intense environments across all other sports.

This clip out of Lyon always comes to mind. Ultras group with a microphone yelling at the entire team, ripping into them, letting their thoughts be known.

It's not that hard here in Toronto when you compare things to Europe.

 

[daver]

Not sure what is meant by the OP, the Leafs are unbelievable in Toronto!

 

[kerrabria]

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.

Yes. The fans directly influence the direction that the team takes and how motivated the players are.

The Leaf fan base is dying for a team to embrace fully.

In the past ten years, you guys ran Kessel, Lupul, Phaneuf, Kadri, Zaitsev, Holl, Marner, and potentially Tavares out of town. If Matthews and Reilly were moveable, they'd be on the rail too.

To emphasize, that's not just the guys who the team and fanbase felt it was time to move on from (e.g., Gardiner, Barrie, Marleau). That's nine guys of diverse background, personality, playstyle, and performance who were rejected.

 

[Galactico]

Real Madrid plays in a league with 20 teams. Their payroll is 10X half of those teams. Their payroll is almost 5X the 4th highest paid team.

The Leafs killed it when there were only 5 other teams they were competing with, too

Real play in the Champions League as well against the best teams in Europe (Barca, City, PSG, Bayern etc.) which some of them have basically unlimited budget.

What about the Lakers, Celtics ?

 

[sampollock]

some fig fans ego is too big
won zip yet ever year they bark and bark and then get booted out

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I don’t know Tkachuk enough but I know Marchand very well and he totally knew what he was doing. It was an F.U. to Toronto and the Leafs. He doesn’t give two shits about Leaf players. He knows which buttons to push. He’s a rat, that’s just what he does.

And the reason he does it is because it is so easy and so very effective.

Look at this thread! A whole bunch of people think this is praise haha.

The Panthers humiliated the Leafs in Games 5 and 7 and they instantly started talking about bad the Leafs fans and media are after both wins.

It feels clever because the payoff is immediate and strong, so I want to think it is genius, but seeing the response in here, I'm not so sure it is genius.

These fans want to be told they suck, might as well give it to them!

 

[Jumptheshark]

So it is our fault they lose? when any team loses it is the fans fault?
Is it the media fault?

It starts and ends with the guys on the ice on all teams

 

[My3Sons]

Plenty of teams in other sports in major markets with high media scrunity and with a passionate fanbase win and don’t always crumble under pressure (Real Madrid, Barcelona, LA Lakers, Celtics, Red Sox, etc.).

Poor excuse for underperforming.

That's an excellent point. The only thing I'd add is that some players are just not cut out for the big markets. The Yankees have dealt with this over the years. Sometimes good players go to the Bronx and just fall apart. Then you have Aaron Judge. I'm guessing a few of the guys who have to shoulder the load for the Leafs can't hack it under a spotlight for whatever reason. I think Nylander looks pretty good in the playoffs but obviously Matthews and Marner disappointed. If a number of your core guys can't handle the bright lights it won't end well since the depth guys follow the core guys.

 

[T REX]

What a ridiculous take...from Matty T and anyone else that buys into this INSANE narrative.

Players choke...fans get mad...blame rabid fans...what circular backwards logic is this?

I'm not sure which has more weak sauce...the choking players or the people blaming the choke on the fans.

Wow. Just freaking wow. This is a new low in sports for me.

Someone bust out the "leave them alone" meme

How mentally weak is this?

 

[Bgav]

Blaming fans for caring and being die hard is so dumb

 

[Lieutenant Bookman]

This is such a wild narrative. Every large fanbase that has a historically successful team in North America is like this with the media/fan pressure. The only exception is possibly Green Bay with the Packers, but that’s just because the small town/community dynamic gives them the kids glove treatment. For everyone else this is pretty standard to get boo’d loudly when you don’t perform. I don’t understand why people insist on letting the players off the hook with this kinda stuff.

 

[LeafGrief]

Yes. The fans directly influence the direction that the team takes and how motivated the players are.

In the past ten years, you guys ran Kessel, Lupul, Phaneuf, Kadri, Zaitsev, Holl, Marner, and potentially Tavares out of town. If Matthews and Reilly were moveable, they'd be on the rail too.

To emphasize, that's not just the guys who the team and fanbase felt it was time to move on from (e.g., Gardiner, Barrie, Marleau). That's nine guys of diverse background, personality, playstyle, and performance who were rejected.

Utter nonsense. Fanbase was very divided on Kessel and the team decided to go in a different direction. Kessel is now a cult hero in Toronto. Lupul played well and was the second member of Robidas Island when his body broke down. Phaneuf was run out of town, but it was in the house cleaning at the end of the Burke era. Kadri was BELOVED by the fans, but was fired by management. Less than half of the fans or media wanted him gone. Zaitsev got run out of town? Mate, did you see his contract? Holl, have you seen him play?

Yeah, we're going to run Marner and Tavares out of town. How many years, in your expert opinion, should we give these guys?

Marleau could barely f***ing skate and had a 6m contract when we paid a 1st to dump him. Being a Leafs fan is crazy sometimes, because every goof with two firing neurons and a keyboard posts their takes on the Leafs while knowing nothing other than a handful of stuff they read on some mainboards or twitter.

This the kind of post where we don't give an ELC to our 6th round pick and someone writes about how we ran them out of town and just don't respect the game of 5'9 college wingers with .4ppg and a cheeky smile.

 

[Oilslick941611]

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.

absoulutely not.

Its 100% on the players.

without the fans they arent making millions.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

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

Show me when those fans threw beer at their own players or threw trash on their lawn.

 

[kerrabria]

They don't feel bad, they just humiliated the Leafs who were complete no shows once the going got tough. They went to the media to tell people "this wasn't a big game" "the Leafs would be better with different fans" etc. and you are all nodding and smiling "thank you for validating our feelings of insecurity and making it clear that the team didn't blow it, we did!"

I really should become an influencer, people are so easy to manipulate. Unbelievable.

Idk what to tell you. They're not trolling the players. Why would they do that? And if they wanted to, why would they do it this way?
There's no deeper meaning here. Other players recognize how much it must suck to play in Toronto, and they're expressing solidarity with their NHLPA colleagues.

I think you missed the point, brother. Playing hockey with a broken sternum sounds extraordinarily painful and difficult. To do so, is a rather astonishing feat of willpower and physical toughness.

I am perplexed that a man who is capable of such physical toughness, is intimating that pressure from fans is a detriment to a professional team. Seriously, this guy is a cup champion, who therefore has the requisite mental toughness to win as well, but is saying that it's pressure from fans that make the difference to this team? That's just outrageously soft, and is quite a contradiction based on the other things we know about this man.

There's nothing wrong with being bothered or angry about fans. Crazy fans doing crazy things is a fact that professional athletes, in hockey or otherwise, have to deal with. Athletes are humans too. But stoicism in the face of that pressure is quite literally what they get paid for. If they cannot deliver under that pressure, that is a critical flaw in their abilities as a hockey player.

I suppose it makes sense if he's trolling the team, saying that they're the ones who can't hack the pressure. But Maurice explicitly spoke about how the team was not going to deserve the criticism they get, so I'm not inclined to be charitable to Panthers players/staff in my interpretation of their words.

It's not the pressure. It has nothing to do with toughness.
You can have the most challenging, intense job in the world, but if you believe in the mission and have a great team, you want to pull through.

If your boss sucks, and your clients are ungrateful pains in the ass, it's very demotivating.

 

[Jee]

He might feel lucky playing in Florida environment, but it doesn't explain the game 7 failure rate in Toronto.

The Habs are 6-1 in game 7s since 2000. Should they not be 0-7 too?

No we should be 7-0 because we have the best fans.

Next question please.

 

[RogerRoger]

I think Leafs fans, by and large, are great. The NHL would benefit from having more than one big (English speaking) hockey-crazy market like Toronto.

And I disagree that the Leafs would have a Cup if it wasn't for the pressure. The Panthers used to be a soft & skilled team and they didn't have the pressure. They were not going to win a Cup. They weren't mentally ready for the playoffs. They were not playing playoff hockey. They were not built for the playoffs. And so are the Leafs.

I think Marner will have playoff success where ever he'll go and people will say "see it's because the fans were toxic", but he'll have success because he'll be on a team with some guys that have "that dawg in them".

 

[Kennerback]

And the reason he does it is because it is so easy and so very effective.

Look at this thread! A whole bunch of people think this is praise haha.

The Panthers humiliated the Leafs in Games 5 and 7 and they instantly started talking about bad the Leafs fans and media are after both wins.

It feels clever because the payoff is immediate and strong, so I want to think it is genius, but seeing the response in here, I'm not so sure it is genius.

These fans want to be told they suck, might as well give it to them!

Let’s call things what they are. Marchand’s a professional troublemaker. Beating Toronto on the ice is not enough and he just crushed them completely in their heart and soul with a completely disingenuous backhanded compliment.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

i'd say it's more than fans, it's media pressure and them being constantly in your face, people txting you shit all the time, seeing twitter etc

Oh, no, angry comments on Twitter, what are we gonna do?

I get friggan annoyed when someone from work txts in the group chat (why i don't allow myself to be in them any more) after work hours, and that's nothing compared to what theyll face on a constant basis

You also get paid nothing compared to them. Grow up.

 

[Mr Nogatco]

The one example they are willing to give of this extreme behavior is getting yelled at once while walking his dog, and people questioning his dad’s involvement? That sounds pretty f***ing tame to me not going to lie. Do you really believe that only happens in Toronto?

No kidding… I remember people dumping trash on Tommy Maddox’s lawn when he threw too many interceptions for the Steelers…