HF Habs: Out of Town Thread: 2025 Playoff edition

[LaP]

Anyone suggesting we get Marner or Matthews should turn their fan card in.

We've spent a decade laughing about them being losers, we know what they are.

I wouldn't sign Marner if he paid us.

I'd get Matthews in a support role to another great center any day. But his salary is too high to play that role sadly. Same for Marner. I'd take him in a support role of a big top 6 needing some skills. But like Matthews his salary will be too high for that. Those are guys that will be interesting to acquire later in their career in a support role for lower salary like Duchene.

 

[dinodebino]

How much of this sentiment will resonate and increase the backlash amongst players with “options” vs CDN markets?

This.

Toronto is NOT helping our market by looking like a bunch of losers. Pressure is intense in our markets and what Ketchup says is what a lot of star players think.

 

[LaP]

This.

Toronto is NOT helping our market by looking like a bunch of losers. Pressure is intense in our markets and what Ketchup says is what a lot of star players think.

And you positively DO NOT want those star players who are afraid of pressure. It's a good thing that players afraid of pressure run away from our market we do not want them. We want guys who can handle the pressure.

 

[dinodebino]

Nothing

Yankees market is as crazy and players still sign there. There's nothing special about the Canadian hockey markets if you compare it to big American markets in other sports or big football markets in Europe. The players brought this on themselves by loosing a game seven 6 to 1 and not competing in that game. It was a pathetic display.

Even the Yanks don’t attract the best of the best anymore, unless they uber overpay.

The Dodgers are it now because the market is easy. LA and all other southern markets are easy.

 

[dinodebino]

And you positively DO NOT want those star players who are afraid of pressure. It's a good thing that players afraid of pressure run away from our market we do not want them. We want guys who can handle the pressure.

We missed a lot of UFAs because of this tho.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

Even the Yanks don’t attract the best of the best anymore, unless they uber overpay.

The Dodgers are it now because the market is easy. LA and all other southern markets are easy.

Case and point Soto went to the Mets instead of the Yankees. The only huge Free agent they got recently besides Judge who was already tenured there, was Gerrit Cole.

 

[dinodebino]

Case and point Soto went to the Mets instead of the Yankees. The only huge Free agent they got recently besides Judge who was already tenured there, was Gerrit Cole.

And if given the opportunity, the VAST MAJORITY would go to LA. It’s just that LA can’t take them all. Lol

Same with hockey: FLA, TB, Dallas are teams that offer so much to rich hockey players that don’t want to deal with fan-media pressure. I mean, your team sucked one night in Sunrise. The next day, you go for a one-hour practice at the rink and then hit the golf links. And nobody recognizes you out there. Go ask Vinny Lecavalier, who went pretty much clubbing all of his career in Tampa without nobody giving two shits.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

Oh wow, make the playoffs. What a lofty goal.

I'm aiming way higher than that and Matthews isnt a winner. He would be a 15m drain on your cap and a total no show every time you needed him.

Uhh it is a lofty goal, half of the league doesn't make it each year, teams better than the habs didn't make it this year and soon there will be even more teams in the league. For a habs fan you should be well acquainted with the inability to score goals, god knows this franchise has been totally shit at scoring goals for decades, I guess some lessons have to learned over and over.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Ketchup knows puck he's not gonna drag the team he just beat publicly. Whitney and Yandle reaction is spot on.

This Leafs team would be the same in NYC or Houston.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

And if given the opportunity, the VAST MAJORITY would go to LA. It’s just that LA can’t take them all. Lol

Same with hockey: FLA, TB, Dallas are teams that offer so much to rich hockey players that don’t want to deal with fan-media pressure. I mean, your team sucked one night in Sunrise. The next day, you go for a one-hour practice at the rink and then hit the golf links. And nobody recognizes you out there. Go ask Vinny Lecavalier, who went pretty much clubbing all of his career in Tampa without nobody giving two shits.

Yeah that's kind of why I don't really see the habs signing big FAs. The kids on the habs who are either drafted or start their careers with the habs are different. I'm guessing HuGo understand this trend of players wanting to play in the sunbelt and are trying to adapt accordingly through how they choose to rebuild. And by that I mean the type of players they choose to surround the team with. Case and point: Hutson. Dude is actually a ho key addict to the point where it's become a meme in Montreal and amongst the team. Even if he played in Florida, he'd probably still prefer to be on the ice after practice than play 18 and go clubbing

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Nothing

Yankees market is as crazy and players still sign there. There's nothing special about the Canadian hockey markets if you compare it to big American markets in other sports or big football markets in Europe. The players brought this on themselves by loosing a game seven 6 to 1 and not competing in that game. It was a pathetic display.

Yeah... it's the fan's fault.

Totally agree with you. This is just total nonsense. If you can't take the heat then don't become a pro athlete. Carey Price did far more with far less and insane scrutiny here. There's no reason they can't play better in Toronto.

 

[dinodebino]

Yeah that's kind of why I don't really see the habs signing big FAs. The kids on the habs who are either drafted or start their careers with the habs are different. I'm guessing HuGo understand this trend of players wanting to play in the sunbelt and are trying to adapt accordingly through how they choose to rebuild. And by that I mean the type of players they choose to surround the team with. Case and point: Hutson. Dude is actually a ho key addict to the point where it's become a meme in Montreal and amongst the team. Even if he played in Florida, he'd probably still prefer to be on the ice after practice than play 18 and go clubbing

We like to think like that, but guys like Cole are already getting tired of the media attention. His media scrums are now a pain for both himself and the beat reporters.

His type of players won’t stick around for 10 years. I sense that the window of opportunity for big market Canadian is that much smaller because of this. When they get here, it’s all cute and great and they love the attention.

Until they try to have fun out on the town and then they get spotted at some club and they get tagged on social media, and lambasted publicly. That is what happened to Cole last year. Since then, he’s been very defiant and very weary of any media attention.

Whereas if they go to Florida, Vegas or LA, nobody gives a shit about them. They can get wasted one night and nobody will get on it’s high horses.

Plus the weather, plus the money.

Healthy and strong Canadian markets is good for us. Toronto is making it harder for us to look good. That is the truth.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I'd get Matthews in a support role to another great center any day. But his salary is too high to play that role sadly. Same for Marner. I'd take him in a support role of a big top 6 needing some skills. But like Matthews his salary will be too high for that. Those are guys that will be interesting to acquire later in their career in a support role for lower salary like Duchene.

I wouldn't want Marner near my team. He's just poison. Horrible attitude, doesn't show up when it matters and screams at other players while sucking ass.

It's one thing to yell with a purpose. It's a whole other thing to fail and yell at teammates out of frustration. There's all kinds of baggage with him and he's not going to lead anyone anywhere. Maybe he can fit in as a support player somewhere... but I wouldn't want to add him personally. I just have a really low opinion of him and his character.

 

[le_sean]

Nothing

Yankees market is as crazy and players still sign there. There's nothing special about the Canadian hockey markets if you compare it to big American markets in other sports or big football markets in Europe. The players brought this on themselves by loosing a game seven 6 to 1 and not competing in that game. It was a pathetic display.

Just win and there wouldn’t be pressure. Heck just show up and there wouldn’t be pressure. Guys like Wendel Clark, Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin never received nearly this much scrutiny because despite their inability to win, they actually showed up when it mattered and worked hard.

It’s the same thing in Montreal. People say the media and fans are harsh. No, you are admired if you work your ass off. Gallagher hasn’t won a damn thing and he’s beloved.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

And you positively DO NOT want those star players who are afraid of pressure. It's a good thing that players afraid of pressure run away from our market we do not want them. We want guys who can handle the pressure.

Carey Price, PK Subban were good examples. Suzuki, CC and Slaf have already shown signs of being able to do it. I just don't want the well poisoned with entitled players who aren't accountable for their own bad play.

Just as an aside, I've seen flashes of that in the past with Hellebuck. He's thrown teammates under the bus after losing in the playoffs too... it's not a good look and it doesn't help the team.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

The injury excuse seems to pop up for Matthews every spring when he underperforms. The media PR game is strong around him, which kind of reminds me of the con job the French media did when protecting a useless Bergevin.

Matthews has been a disappointment every year and needs to go along with Marner, both are equally poisoning for that roster.

I made a correction (bolded).

 

[ahmedou]

pLaN the pArAdE

 

[dinodebino]

Yeah... it's the fan's fault.

Totally agree with you. This is just total nonsense. If you can't take the heat then don't become a pro athlete. Carey Price did far more with far less and insane scrutiny here. There's no reason they can't play better in Toronto.

Carey loved the market because he had some awesome mid-to late career years. Go ask Carey circa 2010-2013 what he thought of the market. He literally was crying in the locker room after each game. He couldn’t even go the dépanneur without being stopped by a bystander. He said so himself. Remember the end-of-season press conference where he had his cap so low that he wanted to hide underneath the table?

 

[le_sean]

Carey loved the market because he had some awesome mid-to late career years. Go ask Carey circa 2010-2013 what he thought of the market. He literally was crying in the locker room after each game. He couldn’t even go the dépanneur without being stopped by a bystander. He said so himself. Remember the end-of-season press conference where he had his cap so low that he wanted to hide underneath the table?

I can’t speak for Carey but I would think his displeasure in the era you mentioned was directed to himself. He was young and blamed himself for the team’s shortcomings. He was quite the competitor despite his demeanour. After maturing he likely realized that all he could do was play his game to his best and if the team failed, it wasn’t all on him.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Carey loved the market because he had some awesome mid-to late career years. Go ask Carey circa 2010-2013 what he thought of the market. He literally was crying in the locker room after each game. He couldn’t even go the dépanneur without being stopped by a bystander. He said so himself. Remember the end-of-season press conference where he had his cap so low that he wanted to hide underneath the table?

Yes. I remember him telling the crowd to 'chill out.' That was in spring training 2010 and then he became a superstar.

Guys cry after losses. It happens all the time. They do it because they care. It happens in every city. And there's no doubt Montreal is a brutal market to play in but players have been successful here forever. It was a brutal market in the 50s through to today. And we need guys who can handle that. Not every player can.

But I think the problem runs much deeper than that in Toronto. It's certainly not the fan's fault that Mitch Marner doesn't like to get hit. It's no the fan's fault that he sticks to the perimeter.... that's on him.

 

[ahmedou]

pLaN tHe pArAdE

fUtUrE wAtCh

The Hockey News a trash media

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

You do need to be strong mentally to play here, especially if you're a local guy. We've seen quite a few crack under the pressure over the years. It's definitely something I would scout for, before signing or drafting a player, the ability to block all the noise is a big factor in whether a player does well or not in Montreal.

 

[Ozmodiar]

The problem with the core-4 is that there are 4 of them.

Individually, good players. As a group, they’re lacking a little toughness to get over the hump. Like Florida - with Barkov, Bennett, Ekblad, Reinhart - was lacking when they traded Huberdeau for Tkachuk.

The difference between the two is Florida proactively fixed their team by trading away a 115 point player. Toronto did nothing and will lose their 100 point player for nothing.

 

[AHShadow]

Honestly not sure what the Leafs can do to get themselves back on track. IMO they need to do some retooling for 1-2 years before they try and contend again. Sucks that they don't have their own first round picks, but I'd probably keep Matthews, Nylander and Knies and then retool from there.

Somehow they need to hope that Cowan can slot in the top 6 and trade their way into a top pairing defensemen (or have an insane draft like Dallas did when they got Heiskanen, Robertson and Oettinger).

 

[holy]

Another Game 7, after like nine years of futility, heartbreak, and pressure... I don’t think anyone is thinking about anything other than existential dread.

Being seen yelling at teammates is a non-factor — hockey fans love their grandstanding and soapboxes.

I'm just saying if I'm Scott Laughton I'm slapping old boy in the locker room right after the game.