[POLL] Is Toronto going to make it out of the first round?

[jbeck5]

McCabe-Tanev had been rock solid all year long

leafs struggling to find a partner t9 rielly all season and played at time with Myers. Since Carlo trade after couple of game to create chemistry and he become easily best partner Rielly never had... They had been pretty solid together since maybe 10 game. Carlo really come and fix a hole in leafs D

and now with Oel on 3rd with Benoit... It's a pretty solid 3rd pair

It's easily the best D leafs ever had in matthews era

That's nice and all...and I believe you. But I was wondering why they're so close in GA if leagues apart in defensive and goaltending abilities.

I can appreciate that Toronto improved at the deadline, and therefore are better than their GA season long stats indicate...but Ottawa also improved at the deadline.

 

[jbeck5]

Sure, that one series was definitely a choke. The Leafs finished higher in the standings the other three times.

Some of the others, I think people don't give the Leafs enough credit. They made it to the Conference finals 3 times in 4 years.

They had more than twice the payroll because they could afford to pay veterans. Ottawa could not and did not.

Like I said earlier, this underdog narrative that has persisted through time is a false one.

Losing to any team four times in a row is embarrassing, but this idea that the Leafs were some plucky underdog going up against the big bad Sens is false.

Just nitpicking but it was 2 of 4 years. 99 and 02. In 00 and 01 they lost in the second round.

 

[NyQuil]

Just nitpicking but it was 2 of 4 years. 99 and 02. In 00 and 01 they lost in the second round.

Ah yes, good catch, you are correct.

 

[torontoblood]

lmao... they would destroy BOS this year. They went 3-0-1 against them in the season.

Conversely, they were 0-3 against OTT.

I would admittedly much rather have them face BOS than OTT.

Realistically, they only lost that series last year because of injuries (Nylander missed three games, Matthews got sick/hurt in the middle and McMann missed the entire series) and since their PP was absolute trash. The way BOS played toward the end, I knew FLA would take them out easily, and after they lost their first game of this season to FLA, I said I could see them missing the playoffs this year.

In the Boston series last year, goaltender Joseph Woll also got injured in the dying seconds of game 6 at home and couldn’t play in game 7 on the road in Boston

 

[Sundinisagod]

As a Leaf fan this match up has me nervous. Everything has been coming together for Ottawa this season. They've really hit their stride, have zero pressure heading into the playoffs, against a team that has all the pressure in the world. An upset could see the Leafs part with half of their core 4. The Sens have been able to frustrate the Leafs in regular season games, they could already be in the Leafs heads. If the Leafs don't win in 5 I think the series will shift in Ottawa's favor, the deeper it goes.

 

[MilkofthePoppy]

I am confident they will win, but the reality is they could lose to anyone lol

 

[MilkofthePoppy]

I'll never understand the franchise keeping Shanahan and allowing this boys club to continue on after years of nothing beyond regular season glory. Regular seasons where they still weren't good enough to win the division, something they may finally achieve this year as their biggest competition rest their best players down the stretch.

Nylander's infamous "stop f***ing crying bro" clip really sums up the Leafs and this core in a perfect way. Everything has been a mess from the start, the Marner relationship was tarnished from the moment he demanded so much money. The time to move on was then. These guys have been pretenders for as long as they've been in the league. They can all find winning success in the NHL but it won't be together.

If the Leafs play the Sens they lose in 6 games and the talking heads get another year of material as upper management spins their tires and collects their cheques.

It is so cute when the noveau rich chime in.

 

[Strangle]

Stolarz has earned it due to his play this year but it might be a mistake.

Woll has been an incredible playoff goalie for the Leafs, would suck having to turn to him too late.

Woll is a great goalie who becomes unbelievable when he needs to step up.

Stolarz is having a better season though

As a Leaf fan, we haven’t had goaltending or a defense like this in 20 years. It’s hard not to be excited

 

[Enniskillen]

This thread is a gleeful trolls paradise and the sole reason this website makes any kind of profit.

 

[ProjectPanthers]

It is so cute when the noveau rich chime in.

I mean it comes from watching a franchise tread water for years myself. The team made a lot of difficult decisions over the years to lead to their success, something the Leafs haven't done. Your fanbase has been coddled as much as your soft team and the results speak for themselves.

 

[Blanka]

If Toronto has the better goaltending, forwards and defence, how have they given up more goals this year than Ottawa?

I keep hearing about this new and improved defensively-focused Leaf team and they are 12th in GA among the 16 current playoff teams.

Defence has never been our problem in the playoffs. Lack of offense - especially from our big guns - has.

 

[MilkofthePoppy]

I mean it comes from watching a franchise tread water for years myself. The team made a lot of difficult decisions over the years to lead to their success, something the Leafs haven't done. Your fanbase has been coddled as much as your soft team and the results speak for themselves.

The Leaf fanbase coddled? LOL.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

There is a very real sense of "jinx" going on.

Sens in 4?

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

It's not trolling, it's prognosticating.

1. to foretell from signs or symptoms : predict 2. to give an indication of in advance : foreshadow



And yet, you are not wrong (until you are, but you're probably right)

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

If you ever wonder why the team has been spinning their wheels for a decade now, just look at the Leaf yuppies in this thread.

The last sacred cow we have left as fans is the Battle of Ontario, so there's only one thing we can expect from this organization.

 

[Crow]

Yes. I’m going to bet my money on it.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

This made me laugh because it's true, but it also makes us hypocrites because we literally loved Roberts, Tucker, Domi and Corson lol

View attachment 1013530

Lmao this is bringing up too many memories from that Habs series in 2013. Major Canadian market’s media trying to create some moral panic.

Please don’t make this series about “class” and “respect” if it gets chippy.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Leafs are better at all positions. Anything less than a sweep would be humiliating.

Noy sure. I think Ottawa has the better top-4 D and bottom-six forwards.

Top six and goaltending goes to Toronto objectively and could be more than enough for them. They also have the experience factor with the core. Only Ottawa’s supporting players have played in the playoffs (Giroux, Perron, Amadio, Cousins, Jensen).

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Noy sure. I think Ottawa has the better top-4 D and bottom-six forwards.

Top six and goaltending goes to Toronto objectively and could be more than enough for them. They also have the experience factor with the core. Only Ottawa’s supporting players have played in the playoffs (Giroux, Perron, Amadio, Cousins, Jensen).

Poster you responded to is a Sens fan, that thinks talking up the Leafs to be unstoppable and the Sens as the biggest underdogs in the playoffs will make some kind of difference in what happens on the ice.

 

[nORRis8]

I voted nope...just to be safe
Hockey is a rough sport. You have 4 guys who do not play overly well in playoff hockey as it's rougher and faster.
Marner and especially Matthews are terrified of being hit and eventually disappear the rougher it gets
Plus unproven playoff goaltending.

Fun stat: The all-time playoff points leader for the leafs is none other than Doug Gilmour.
52 GP 77 points
Killer!!!
To put that into perspective:
Marner: 57 GP 50 pts
Matthews 55 GP 48 pts

 

[The Podium]

That's nice and all...and I believe you. But I was wondering why they're so close in GA if leagues apart in defensive and goaltending abilities.

I can appreciate that Toronto improved at the deadline, and therefore are better than their GA season long stats indicate...but Ottawa also improved at the deadline.

In the 8 games that Murray and Hildeby played they let in 26 goals.

Combined Woll and Stolarz have a 2.41 GAA which would’ve been 19 goals in those 8 games.

They also lack depth beyond their top 5 D so any injury to those guys and they become quite a bit weaker defensively.

Games missed McCabe 14, Tanev 7, OEL 3 some of which overlapped. And Carlo wasn’t added until the deadline.

 

[Plural]

I think so. They're one of my cup favorites. Year older and more mature.

 

[Tuna99]

As a Sens fan I’m nervous - it’ll be a fascinating series because Berune and Green both coach the dame style of hockey and it’ll basically come down to what teams plays hard hockey better and as a Sens fan - it’ll be the Sens in the end. We have more heart

 

[Blowfish]

perhaps some Bruin injection will help get them past round

Goaltending will be their downfall AGAIN.

 

[Dirty Mind]

This thread is a gleeful trolls paradise and the sole reason this website makes any kind of profit.

For me it just seemed to be the defacto-Leafs/Sens playoff series thread. Nothing to do with wanting to troll the Leafs just wanna talk about a potentially explosive series.