Once again, skidding into the playoffs...

Bozo the Keefe is a terrible NHL coach - - he’s proven that over the past half decade of constantly being outcoached in the playoffs.

Last week a New Jersey player flat out said the team needs to play with more intensity - - exactly the same issue that Toronto had - - and Bozo the Keefe threw a tantrum and blamed the player instead of acknowledging that he’s a soft coach.

Look at the debacle unfolding in Pittsburgh, terrible contracts and hopelessly inept goaltending. Exact same problem that happened in Toronto. The only difference is that Pittsburgh doesn’t have young talent like Matthews, Marner and Nylander to overcome the incompetent GM.
I never defended Pittsburgh, and I don't like Dubas at all. I was a critic of his pretty much his entire tenure here.

NJ is significantly better than last year, and hanging your assessment on a player saying "we need to be more intense" is a pretty weak argument.

For the record Keefe is 8th in Win % among active NHL coaches, Berube is 6th. Not much daylight between them really.
 
I never defended Pittsburgh, and I don't like Dubas at all. I was a critic of his pretty much his entire tenure here.

NJ is significantly better than last year, and hanging your assessment on a player saying "we need to be more intense" is a pretty weak argument.

For the record Keefe is 8th in Win % among active NHL coaches, Berube is 6th. Not much daylight between them really.
Yeah I don't think any NJ fans are looking at the team right now and wanting Keefe's head - if anything there's praise for him.

To me Keefe became irrelevant as soon as he left the Leafs - ain't gonna hate on him if he's doing well. Good on him.
 
But 14 points in 13 games is not sub .500 hockey.

I think the last time he missed more games was the 17-18 season, and it's pretty obvious that his current injury is affecting him more than others, and it has been affecting him all season.
I wasn't basing it on pts %, just W/L record. Based on Pts % the Leafs are in 2nd right now in our division, is that how you want to proceed?

He missed 20 games in 17-18, 14 games in 18-19, and 12 in 19-20. One could argue he was more affected by his injuries in 18-19 than he is now, depending on what metrics you take into account. I agree though, he is a ghost of his past self this year which is why I'm tempering my expectations heading into the playoffs.
 
Not unless it’s something that happened in preseason or to start the year it makes sense that way or he would have got surgery if it was the off season
And it can’t be too serious either, my guess is it’s in his hip. If it does require surgery hopefully he gets it done as early in May as possible and be ready to start next season.
 
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I never defended Pittsburgh, and I don't like Dubas at all. I was a critic of his pretty much his entire tenure here.

NJ is significantly better than last year, and hanging your assessment on a player saying "we need to be more intense" is a pretty weak argument.

For the record Keefe is 8th in Win % among active NHL coaches, Berube is 6th. Not much daylight between them really.
NJ was going to be better this year regardless of who is coaching, but he’s definitely done a good job
 
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I never defended Pittsburgh, and I don't like Dubas at all. I was a critic of his pretty much his entire tenure here.

NJ is significantly better than last year, and hanging your assessment on a player saying "we need to be more intense" is a pretty weak argument.

For the record Keefe is 8th in Win % among active NHL coaches, Berube is 6th. Not much daylight between them really.

New Jersey started the year hot and were first overall in the conference at the end of November. But they’ve been badly exposed since the. And now they’re just trying to hang onto a playoff spot.
 
Are the ones that do leave actually bandwagon jumpers? If someone commits decades to supporting a team and that team never delivers why shouldn’t they weigh their options?

If people want to portray themselves as “true” fans based simply on the fact they’re tolerant of mediocrity, knock yourselves out. That doesn’t entitle them to criticize people who eventually decide their preferences and the teams don’t align. When they reach that point what possible reason do they have to continue the support? Anyone is welcome to answer that question btw.
I agree with this 100%
 
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New Jersey is in 3rd place in their division and is already 2 points over their last season total. It's not looking like Keefe has been "catastrophic" for them at all. I wasn't a Keefe fan at all during his tenure with the Leafs but he's certainly not the problem in NJ, atleast from my limited viewings.
Losing Hughes and Hamilton has been their problem.
 
Are the ones that do leave actually bandwagon jumpers? If someone commits decades to supporting a team and that team never delivers why shouldn’t they weigh their options?

If people want to portray themselves as “true” fans based simply on the fact they’re tolerant of mediocrity, knock yourselves out. That doesn’t entitle them to criticize people who eventually decide their preferences and the teams don’t align. When they reach that point what possible reason do they have to continue the support? Anyone is welcome to answer that question btw.
I have always considered bandwagoners those that don't really follow a team until they are on the verge of winning. Then slip out again as soon as the team is back to middle of the pack.

Like me with the Raptors
 
I wasn't basing it on pts %, just W/L record. Based on Pts % the Leafs are in 2nd right now in our division, is that how you want to proceed?

He missed 20 games in 17-18, 14 games in 18-19, and 12 in 19-20. One could argue he was more affected by his injuries in 18-19 than he is now, depending on what metrics you take into account. I agree though, he is a ghost of his past self this year which is why I'm tempering my expectations heading into the playoffs.
So you think ignoring the 'loser points' is the proper way to look at it when nobody else does?

He has missed 15 games so far this year, and according to my calculator 15 is more than 14 or 12.

And I still don't see how you can consider "2nd right now in our division" (by one whole point) as "skidding into the playoffs".
 
If we're skidding into the playoffs what do we call what's happened to Florida? They had a 6 point lead on us not too long ago.

Last 10 games
Florida 6-4-0 = 12Pts
Toronto 5-4-1 = 11Pts
Tampa 5-4-1 = 11Pts

Last 20 games
Florida 14-6-0 = 28Pts
Toronto 11-6-3 = 25Pts
Tampa 14-5-1 = 29Pts

I don’t think people pay much attention to other teams. Even through their worst stretch Toronto has largely kept pace with both Tampa and Florida.

Now the key is to be better in their remaining games, but these teams have really been playing to a similar caliber all season long.
 
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Last 10 games
Florida 6-4-0 = 12Pts
Toronto 5-4-1 = 11Pts
Tampa 5-4-1 = 11Pts

Last 20 games
Florida 14-6-0 = 28Pts
Toronto 11-6-3 = 25Pts
Tampa 14-5-1 = 29Pts

I don’t think people pay much attention to other teams. Even through their worth stretch Toronto has largely kept pace with both Tampa and Florida.

Now the key is to be better in their remaining games, but these teams have really been playing to a similar caliber all season long.
Well that's interesting. Maybe it was the two games in hand that allowed us to catch up. I could've sworn they had a decent lead on us recently.
 
So you think ignoring the 'loser points' is the proper way to look at it when nobody else does?

He has missed 15 games so far this year, and according to my calculator 15 is more than 14 or 12.

And I still don't see how you can consider "2nd right now in our division" (by one whole point) as "skidding into the playoffs".
Sorry for some reason I thought it was 13 games missed, my fault. No need for the condescending tone.

Re-read my first post, as I’m not going to continually repeat myself in this thread.

Agree to disagree. March has been a 180 from Feb, and to me they are commencing a skid. Hence playing below their average P% for an entire month close to the playoffs. It’s a skid, not a crash. Maybe I should have used a different descriptor.
 
Well that's interesting. Maybe it was the two games in hand that allowed us to catch up. I could've sworn they had a decent lead on us recently.
The biggest difference between the Leafs and Panthers is the Panthers’ core are built for the playoffs and Leafs’ core hasn’t shown they have the ability and talent to play playoff hockey. It’s crucial for the Leafs to prove to themselves that they’re willing to sacrifice, something they’ve never consistently done, to win the division.
 
We are being helped out by the mediocre play of our competition.
This has always been my point. Most people are overestimating the quality of the other teams in the division and conference. There are no world beaters anymore, and I'm not sure anyone would put money on the one team that has pulled away from the rest of the field (Washington).
 
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Sorry for some reason I thought it was 13 games missed, my fault. No need for the condescending tone.

Re-read my first post, as I’m not going to continually repeat myself in this thread.

Agree to disagree. March has been a 180 from Feb, and to me they are commencing a skid. Hence playing below their average P% for an entire month close to the playoffs. It’s a skid, not a crash. Maybe I should have used a different descriptor.
Sorry you're offended that I had to correct you for the same error twice.

March has not been great, but 'skid' is extreme, and 'crash' is just laughable.

I actually don't need to re-read your first post, as you have repeated it several times since.

Let's agree to disagree and let this thread die.
 
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16 playoffs teams.

Leafs are in bottom 6 for last 10 games for playoffs teams.

Suffice to say they aren't alone in their mediocre accomplishments.

Leafs compete against more than Lightning and Panthers for the Cup.

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