Shanahan Post Season Presser

[centipede2233]

Boston has screwed up royalty with trades and there 3 1sts in a row, and yet they are a top team every year. It’s amazing!

 

[HoweHullOrr]

This is year 7 of the Shanaplan.

Sure would have been nice to acknowledge this as a set back but that they are hungry for the Cup and will objectively review EVERYTHING related to the team.

But... um, no.

Ya, we're are past the point now where we can say its too early to have (even) decent results. I've always wondered what credentials he has for his position especially after hearing some reports from players saying he was a "political" person.

 

[RoadWarrior]

I really hope that is not the case.

Keefe benched Nylander during the regular season, which seemed to actually produce results come playoff time but I get the impression that Matthews and Marner are basically untouchable within this management team. They might as well walk on water and can do no wrong. Austin of Nazareth and Mitch the Baptist.

Honestly at this stage it's just weird.

The even scarier part is that the management team isn't using the playoffs as the key metric to gauge success.

 

[sxvnert]

Boston has screwed up royalty with trades and there 3 1sts in a row, and yet they are a top team every year. It’s amazing!

Happens when your top three stars make pennies on the dollar.

 

[Mess]

The other thing to consider here is that Bell Rogers run TSN and Sportsnet and their coverage of the Leafs management response has not been positive. So within that big crazy circus tent I’m sure the board has a good grasp of the running narrative and pulse of the fanbase.

I think the idea of a redemption tour on top of the redemption tour could be supported by the board at least for next season. But don’t think the doomsday clock hasn’t started on the Shanaplan. I think Shanny’s big slip up here was aligning himself to Dubas and the specific players as opposed to playing the role of the cut throat man upstairs who will leave no stone unturned no decision too big to get better. His unwavering support, while offering stability, has locked him into whatever happens next year.

If this core 4 and this management team GM and Coach struggled against underdog Columbus and Montreal, then just wait until next year when its Boston and Tampa Bay in rounds #1 and #2 when the Leafs return to the Atlantic.

Not only will they need to prove it on their redemption tour, but the competition level is going from non playoff to serious and defending Cup champs.

Hope the Shanaplan is taking this into account, when they start swapping a few random deck chair depth pieces around making near league minimum and avoid those icebergs on their Titanic undertaking tour through the Atlantic.

 

[mydnyte]

If this core 4 and this management team GM and Coach struggled against underdog Columbus and Montreal, then just wait until next year when its Boston and Tampa Bay in rounds #1 and #2 when the Leafs return to the Atlantic.

Not only will they need to prove it on their redemption tour, but the competition level is going from non playoff to serious and defending Cup champs.

Hope the Shanaplan is taking this into account, when they start swapping a few random deck chair depth pieces around making near league minimum and avoid those icebergs on their Titanic undertaking tour through the Atlantic.

why does anyone call Columbus (who had the exact same record as us) an underdog? they got beat by a hot goalie after outplaying Columbus in pretty much every game.
Montreal was just a disgusting showing in the last 3 games.

 

[Garthinater]

why does anyone call Columbus (who had the exact same record as us) an underdog? they got beat by a hot goalie after outplaying Columbus in pretty much every game.
Montreal was just a disgusting showing in the last 3 games.

The jackets lost their #1 goalie, #1 player and a top 6 center.

The fact we lost to elvis merzlikins and korpisalo is a disgrace.

 

[mydnyte]

The jackets lost their #1 goalie, #1 player and a top 6 center.

The fact we lost to elvis merzlikins and korpisalo is a disgrace.

they didnt lose those players mid season did they, they werent injured?

They still had the same record we did with the lineup they had. So, no, they were not underdogs to anyone except those that thought the Leafs were a better team.

Our team was all about offense and finesse and theirs all about Defense and toughness, the worst possible matchup for us, if anything WE were the underdogs because of their playstyle vs ours.

 

[Superstar]

Happens when your top three stars make pennies on the dollar.

Yeah, but their top 3 stars also perform when things matter.

 

[rumman]

why does anyone call Columbus (who had the exact same record as us) an underdog? they got beat by a hot goalie after outplaying Columbus in pretty much every game.
Montreal was just a disgusting showing in the last 3 games.

or..............once again, the offensively gifted Leafs came.....up.....short..........

 

[forecheck]

Preach.

I was never a Babcock fan but at least there was a method to most of his madness. With Keefe I’m at a loss for words. It’s great that Matthews and Marner get more minutes and more points, but what are they playing for, really?

At least Babcock ran the bench and not the players .

 

[sxvnert]

At least Babcock ran the bench and not the players .

- And yet marleau kept his streak going and playing in the top six.
- Flew out to arizona to kiss mattys behind about his ice time. End result: hyman got demoted to line 2

Both coaches are p***yes.

 

[Stonehands1990]

I'm afraid that Shanahan and Dubas have basically hitched their wagon to Marner and Matthews and will die on that hill.

Now it's up to Larry Tannenbaum to make a move.... god help us.

It's truly a sad state of affairs that in order to move out 12% of the cap they might have to fire the entire management team. Unbelievable.

Well it’s pretty stupid to give up on 23 year old top 5 scorers. Especially considering if Keefe has separated them like Babcock did in both Boston series one of them would have eaten Montreal. Then there’s the issue of Keefe running both players into the ground so they can’t physically compete

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Montreal was just a disgusting showing in the last 3 games.

The players don't really care.

Incoming players play their poorest hockey, seemingly overnight.

We got great goaltending and lost to Montreal - a clearly inferior rebuilding team.

Dubas failed to manage the cap and now it manages him.

 

[3blizzard4]

Boston has screwed up royalty with trades and there 3 1sts in a row, and yet they are a top team every year. It’s amazing!

Winning culture probably. Nothing else explains that team's success.
Kessel, Seguin, Hamilton, Chara, Lucic, Krug, Rieley Smith all gone.....Rask being injured and Halak stepping in.......I HATE THEM yet I admire the hell out of them.
They of course have a killer first line that has mind reading abilities from all three players.

 

[centipede2233]

They even lost Blake wheeler and a prime marc savard

 

[RoadWarrior]

Well it’s pretty stupid to give up on 23 year old top 5 scorers. Especially considering if Keefe has separated them like Babcock did in both Boston series one of them would have eaten Montreal. Then there’s the issue of Keefe running both players into the ground so they can’t physically compete

Keefe is a junk coach who clearly failed to adapt. I'm not defending his decisions by any means.

You seem to be forgetting that Matthews is a UFA in 3 years. Time is running out now for the core.

However Philip Danault and his line that's earning 30% AAV of the Matthews line dominated them in the final 3 games of that series. That's just horrible value for your investment.

In my mind dumping part of the core for a solid top pairing D man who eats 25 minutes a game would be an improvement.

Rielly is a 1B guy. The leafs need a top 10 D man in the league.

 

[Gabriel426]

they didnt lose those players mid season did they, they werent injured?

They still had the same record we did with the lineup they had. So, no, they were not underdogs to anyone except those that thought the Leafs were a better team.

Our team was all about offense and finesse and theirs all about Defense and toughness, the worst possible matchup for us, if anything WE were the underdogs because of their playstyle vs ours.

They still lost and none of our Big Four produced at their regular season level.

 

[Gabriel426]

Well it’s pretty stupid to give up on 23 year old top 5 scorers. Especially considering if Keefe has separated them like Babcock did in both Boston series one of them would have eaten Montreal. Then there’s the issue of Keefe running both players into the ground so they can’t physically compete

Trading a player does not mean giving up on them.
If Marner or AM or Willie is being traded, it is not a salary dump, it will be a hockey trade. Teams trade their core to improve as a team to become contenders. This so called core will always change till the team is actually a contender. As of now, Leafs is far from being a contender.

 

[myleafs]

B-b-but they were going to force the game to change!

Remember how the pp was going to be the equalizer to those pesky teams that hit and stuff?....good times.

 

[egd27]

why does anyone call Columbus (who had the exact same record as us) an underdog? they got beat by a hot goalie after outplaying Columbus in pretty much every game.
Montreal was just a disgusting showing in the last 3 games.

Well, according to the Dubites, the only reason our record was so poor was because Kid Kyle couldn't fire the Evil Emperor at the end of 2019.
We were told once the Master of the Stacked Line took over, the Leafs had an elite record and were on their way to greatness.
CBJ was just supposed to be a tune up for real Playoffs, where things would be different now that the Evil One was on longer holding the superstars back.
That's why.

 

[Gabriel426]

Remember how the pp was going to be the equalizer to those pesky teams that hit and stuff?....good times.

Our PP was st least okay back then.

 

[myleafs]

Good summation of the important low lights over the past 6 years. In the end like with other modern pro sports the key role of the GM is cap management and they took a huge gamble the cap would increase but it didn't. Other teams like Boston, Carolina didn't take that gamble and now their payroll structure is paying off for them by allowing them to add more depth behind the stars.

The Keefe hiring was pure cronyism. Hiring an inexperienced coach for a supposedly contending team is just asinine.

Shanahan and Dubas are basically like conjoined twins, joined at the hip and going down with the ship.

Pat Quinn hired rookie coach Tom Renney to coach the all star team that was the Canucks at the time with Bure Molginy, tikanen, Messier, Linden etc with disasterous results. First couple weeks in, there was a blowout with Renney and Esa Tikanen as Renney told the veteran winger he wasnt allowed to have a beer on the plane home from a roadtrip which made the news and it went downhill from there. He had no idea how to handle star players and treated them like rookies. I mean Keenan replace Renney after 100 games and pretty much tore that team apart. Why Quinn didn't coach that team is beyond me, he was the guy they needed.

Jury is still out on Keefe ,though I do believe he has been outcoached the last couple playoffs. If I were going to replace him I think it would be Gallant...players coach who is also tough and seems to succeed however he then gets fired wherever he goes. Vegas goes to the finals and has great success and they let him go, Panthers had success then gets let go. I think there is a shelf life for most coaches. Its recognizing what that is.
Luo fires Robbie Ftorek when the Devils had secured a playoff spot and just 7 games to go in the season and coaches the team himself. Talk about balsy.

 

[myleafs]

Boston has screwed up royalty with trades and there 3 1sts in a row, and yet they are a top team every year. It’s amazing!

The bruins have an identity and have had one forever and they stick with it and you don't fit the mold you are out no matter who you are...period. I'm still not sure what our identity is or is supposed to be. Soft, sloppy and perimeter driven?

 

[leafsfan5]

Boston has screwed up royalty with trades and there 3 1sts in a row, and yet they are a top team every year. It’s amazing!

They have an amazing culture that every player buys into from the stars to the depth guys. Players like Pastrnak and Marchand are always in the corners taking hits and getting dirty to make plays. The depth guys buy in when they see their stars risking everything and it results in you having a great program that can take some blows like they have.

We don't have that, not close.