NHL: Around the League 49

[CourtneyDagger50]

So much Leafs hate!

At least I'll have a fun team to watch while my main is making me miserable.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

It's not Leafs hate.... not entirely Leafs hate, it's just not putting up with excuses for a team that has had these kind of playoff losses become an established norm.

Let the Leafs get a deep playoff run or two under their belt, and then I can see excuses about the playoff format screwing them over as holding water (a comparable being the 2016 series versus the Blues for us to me). Until then, it's just baby crying over the bathwater temperature not being perfect to me.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

This year was actually different from the previous ones though. The big guys actually showed up.
They just hit TBL and some really poor officiating - which I hate to bring up because I usually hate that excuse and think it's lazy. But it definitely played a factor in that series. And not just the Holl interference. It's not THE reason they lost. But It factored in more than it should have.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Refs always play a role though, and unfavorable matchups always rear their heads in the playoffs. If this was the first series where the Leafs blew it and lost in seven, or if the Leafs had any kind of track record to expect more, then I can get some complaints.

But to me the Leafs did what the Leafs were expected to do, nothing more and nothing less.

 

[Callidusblackhawk]

Leafs fans: "This year the Leafs are actually really good, this year its different!

Everyone else: "Lets see them make it past the first round."

The Leafs lose in the first round.

Leafs fans: "This time was different tho!"

 

[BobbyJet]

This year was actually different from the previous ones though. The big guys actually showed up.
They just hit TBL and some really poor officiating - which I hate to bring up because I usually hate that excuse and think it's lazy. But it definitely played a factor in that series. And not just the Holl interference. It's not THE reason they lost. But It factored in more than it should have.

Forget it, Courtney. They know the Leafs are a solid team but love to hate and just can't help but rejoice in another team's demise. And considering how much worse the Blackhawks team is ..... Hmmm, Freud would have a field day on that.

 

[ClydeLee]

Forget it, Courtney. They know the Leafs are a solid team but love to hate and just can't help but rejoice in another team's demise. And considering how much worse the Blackhawks team is ..... Hmmm, Freud would have a field day on that.

Seeing the blackhawks it's clear as day, this team floundered when they had no depth and had to play the garbage 4th line.

Their team is constructed to fail until they get some elc depth to shine

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Forget it, Courtney. They know the Leafs are a solid team but love to hate and just can't help but rejoice in another team's demise. And considering how much worse the Blackhawks team is ..... Hmmm, Freud would have a field day on that.

Why do you always have to bring it back to the Hawks?

Most of us are simply objective fans of the game. None of this discussion has anything to do with our own team.

 

[madgoat33]

Were all super jealous of the leafs. They play like 5-7 more games than the hawks!

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

When we're not busy being envious of Oilers fans that is.

 

[Callidusblackhawk]

Forget it, Courtney. They know the Leafs are a solid team but love to hate and just can't help but rejoice in another team's demise. And considering how much worse the Blackhawks team is ..... Hmmm, Freud would have a field day on that.

Or Blackhawks fans know what an actual cup contender looks like....

 

[BHawk21]

I would love for the hawks to be as good as the leafs sometime in the next 4-6 years.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

You can laugh at a lauded and supposedly elite team never getting over the three win hump and still recognize that they're at least a good team.

But I'll absolutely hold to the idea that they're not an elite Cup contender, though.

 

[x Tame Impala]

You guys should read the Leafs board once and a while. Lots of those fans are level headed and just want their team to win. Not all of them are the main board nonsense spouting fans we think.

 

[Giovi]

I would love for the hawks to be as good as the leafs sometime in the next 4-6 years.

If the result of the Hawks rebuild is 6 consecutive first round losses, I will absolutely call the rebuild a failure.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

As always, the Leafs should've been more specific on which version of the Hawks they were trying to emulate. Whoops, they're the 2011-12/16-17 playoff versions of the Hawks.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

You guys should read the Leafs board once and a while. Lots of those fans are level headed and just want their team to win. Not all of them are the main board nonsense spouting fans we think.

I would say that the Leafs are like every other fanbase. Most are rational and sane and meaningfully realistic. But given the shear size of the fanbase, it means that the irrationally homer portions of the fanbase appear louder, more pronounced, and are more annoying as a result. Couple that with Canadian media pumping their tires every preseason and regular season as they're by far the largest market, and you have a recipe for a situation where the end result is just a flabberghastingly annoying situation when they're good and an absolutely hilarious situation when they fail.

They're the Dallas Cowboys on the NHL. They're too damn fun and easy to mock.

 

[BHawk21]

If the result of the Hawks rebuild is 6 consecutive first round losses, I will absolutely call the rebuild a failure.

Absolutely not what I said. I said I would like to be as good not get the same results. Couple bounces here and there is a completely different story. The goal is to be competitive for years and hope you catch the breaks. The hate for the leafs is blinding some people.

The Leafs timeline is not up Austin Matthews is 24 years old. Mitch Marner is 25 years old.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Absolutely not what I said. I said I would like to be as good not get the same results. Couple bounces here and there is a completely different story. The goal is to be competitive for years and hope you catch the breaks. The hate for the leafs is blinding some people.

The Leafs timeline is not up Austin Matthews is 24 years old. Mitch Marner is 25 years old.

The window is closing though

Matthews is UFA in 2 years
Nylander is UFA in 2 years
Marner is UFA in 3 years

They have no #1 G, are tight on cap once again, still have questions about D and likely will lose more depth up front this offseason because they have far too much money locked up in few players (That Tavares deal really poorly thought out)

 

[ChiHawks10]

Absolutely not what I said. I said I would like to be as good not get the same results. Couple bounces here and there is a completely different story. The goal is to be competitive for years and hope you catch the breaks. The hate for the leafs is blinding some people.

The Leafs timeline is not up Austin Matthews is 24 years old. Mitch Marner is 25 years old.

I don't think many people "hate" the Leafs. I think it's more the arrogance of many of their fans, despite the absolute lack of any kind of reason to be so arrogant when the team can't get out of the first round. Most of us think it's comical that their fans behave this way more than anything else, at least from my perspective.

And their window is starting to close up. BWC addressed the whys just above my post. The Leafs strike me as a Nashville type of team during the Hawks run. Good team, just consistently running into one or two of the teams that just so happen to be better than them. Just like the Preds consistently ran into the Hawks in the playoffs for our run. If the Hawks weren't the Hawks from 2009-2016, Nashville probably has a Cup.

 

[Giovi]

Absolutely not what I said. I said I would like to be as good not get the same results. Couple bounces here and there is a completely different story. The goal is to be competitive for years and hope you catch the breaks. The hate for the leafs is blinding some people.

The Leafs timeline is not up Austin Matthews is 24 years old. Mitch Marner is 25 years old.

You cannot pin 6 consecutive first round exits on a "couple of bounces here and there".

They're playoff fodder because they've been constructed wrong, a problem they don't seem to know how to rectify.

 

[Giovi]

I don't think many people "hate" the Leafs. I think it's more the arrogance of many of their fans, despite the absolute lack of any kind of reason to be so arrogant when the team can't get out of the first round. Most of us think it's comical that their fans behave this way more than anything else, at least from my perspective.

And their window is starting to close up. BWC addressed the whys just above my post. The Leafs strike me as a Nashville type of team during the Hawks run. Good team, just consistently running into one or two of the teams that just so happen to be better than them. Just like the Preds consistently ran into the Hawks in the playoffs for our run. If the Hawks weren't the Hawks from 2009-2016, Nashville probably has a Cup.

Leaf fans always seem to be able to convince themselves everything is ok. They've got all the time in the world, the team is better than the results show, they've just had a little bad luck, next season will be the one......it's always sunny in LaffVille.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Leafs are a very good regular season team. The end, that’s all.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I don't hate the Leafs either. I just like laughing at them.

 

[BHawk21]

The window is closing though

Matthews is UFA in 2 years
Nylander is UFA in 2 years
Marner is UFA in 3 years

They have no #1 G, are tight on cap once again, still have questions about D and likely will lose more depth up front this offseason because they have far too much money locked up in few players (That Tavares deal really poorly thought out)

Ok thats 2 years for sure of having a top 10 team in the NHL with the ability to draw it out longer based on making correct moves. They are in a better position then 80% of the nhl right now. Hopefully the hawks can get to a point anytime soon where they have legitimate championship hopes.