Short Term Pain - - Long Term Gain

[Smif]

Anyone know our PP% going back to March and right thru to yesterday?

 

[Donnie740]

You believe that behind an NHL bench, a head coach is going to openly and repeatedly embarrass his support staff? Refraining from doing so and allowing your special teams coaches to do their job is actually Coaching 101. It's Management 101 to remove said weak link in the off season. And so hopefully, we're done and dusted with the Malholtra experiment.

We're in agreement on Spezza and Marner and Thornton though. I suspect the problem with Marner is what so many have noted, which is, how to do you not lean on (and into) Mitch Marner to produce? Sitting him draws ire. Playing him draws ire. Rock and a hard place.

And I think we should care about the regular season a tad. Especially as it lends to getting the most out of the group we had. Which up until Game 5, looked consistent with the product Keefe helped provide in the regular season.

Two problems may be fixed with one move. And not to pile on Marner -- our regular season leading scorer -- but perhaps, if the piece is a stud number one defenceman coming back, the right affect may ripple through the team so that we can play without constantly compensating for positional weakness.

I don’t “believe” head coaches take over the roles of struggling assistants in mid season - - I KNOW they do.

Happens all the time, in every sport.

You can’t afford to flush a season down the toilet by letting an incompetent assistant screw up a unit just because you’re worried about hurting his feelings.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

And I think we should care about the regular season a tad. Especially as it lends to getting the most out of the group we had. Which up until Game 5, looked consistent with the product Keefe helped provide in the regular season.

That's great. I'm going to be cheering so loudly when they raise the North Division Regular Season Champions banner in the first home game next season.

You believe that behind an NHL bench, a head coach is going to openly and repeatedly embarrass his support staff? Refraining from doing so and allowing your special teams coaches to do their job is actually Coaching 101. It's Management 101 to remove said weak link in the off season. And so hopefully, we're done and dusted with the Malholtra experiment.

Do you think Keefe had no input into the hiring of Malhotra? That's on both him and Dubas. And frankly, I don't care who's most responsible for which decision. Coaches and GMs are expendable, especially for a money-printing franchise like the Leafs. If they can't win, they can all get bent.

 

[ITM]

That's great. I'm going to be cheering so loudly when they raise the North Division Regular Season Champions banner in the first home game next season.

You're distorting the obvious point.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

You're distorting the obvious point.

The obvious point that they were consistent until they weren't is laughable.

 

[Cokenfries]

He's got a 66% win percentage, I would be shocked to see him fired personally before the start of next season. Whether its the right move or not

Edit: I didnt say I agreed with this, merely that I think they will keep him because of this stat.

He can have 100% win percentage in meaningless games, he shit the bed when it mattered

 

[sxvnert]

Anyone know our PP% going back to March and right thru to yesterday?

Something like 12 for 120.

 

[Papa Cherry]

Long term pain*

 

[leafsgirl12]

When you have a superstar who gets manhandled and smiles at the other team
Instead of fighting back you wont win jack shit
Do that to other super stars and they fight back
Mackinnon pasternak stamkos all take a beating but fight back
Marner not built for playoffs

dubas is to blame for this mess

4 players with half the cap hit
Bandages everywhere else

Biggest mistake signing Tavares
Tried to accelerate the rebuild instead of staying the course
He git us in cap hell with those contracts

Yep Matthews is pathetic and won't stick up for himself

 

[ToneDog]

A funny thing happened on the way to the 3rd round for this bunch. It is called playoff hockey which Dubas and Keefe do not seem to comprehend. Not sure why Shanny has not explained it to them.

 

[ITM]

The obvious point that they were consistent until they weren't is laughable.

The end result isn't being disputed. Rolling out the regular season doesn't matter argument misses the forest for the trees. Taking note of regular season inconsistencies gets you so far and then the testing ground begins. That's precisely how Detroit refined their club until once thought of core pieces were traded in favour of pieces that would define them in the playoffs. But it took time.

Jake Muzzin, TJ Brodie, Jack Campbell, Nick Foligno are all those types of (championship) depth adds. They certainly didn't detract from the team. They didn't play less than advertised. We give Foligno a mulligan for injury I'd think, but the rest -- correct me if I'm wrong -- played above expectation. And they're all Dubas adds. And they're all acquisitions with the playoffs in mind.

Game 5 was a fair win. The OT goal should be noted as a two on none, but ok, it was a game they probably should have won in regulation. Game 6 was a job. Non-call on the goaltender interference nets the first goal. A 5 on 3 for the second goal, and a deflection ten feet out in overtime. Game 7 was a fair win. Our club didn't show up. Pieces did. The club didn't.

So it's another year and it's another exit and this time in the worst way conceivable. Against a team we should beat. Happened to be Montreal to pour salt in the wound. We were up 3-1. And on and on...

But, but...It wasn't championship level Boston. It wasn't championship level Washington. And although our result is the same, our opponent and our road there wasn't.

There's a common denominator of two major pieces not showing up and redefining the series. It's not down to Nylander, who seems the more consistent playoffs player of "the big three". Tavares was injured. If Matthews and Marner can't take hold of this series, something they and they alone are expected to do, because their compensation screams it, and specifically in a series like this, then the hard decision, like Detroit had to make, comes down to moving one of them. It's not going to be a Rocket winner and a 6'3 number one center at that. At least not this round. But it sure looks like it might be Marner who under Babcock or Keefe doesn't seem to be able to engage the playoffs like the regular season at this point in his young career.

More importantly -- and Doughty was right when he was asked about the Tavares acquisition -- management didn't address this club's most glaring positional need and one EVERY championship team has: A true, stud, number one defenceman that will lead from the back.

It's entirely reasonable to ask the question, what does the club do with a healthy Tavares let alone a club with a healthy Tavares and a number one defenceman. Because we're simply not in a position to tear what's been imprecisely built down. Too many good young pieces and too much investment in pieces like Nylander and Tavares.

So you make the move, watch the development in the regular season and tinker for the playoffs with the same types of moves Dubas has made and hope for a healthy return.

I mean it all matters when building a championship team. I get the frustration. I'm a Leafs fan first, but I've always closely followed Detroit and I've had to witness what responsible team building looks like and what mismanagement looks like just as much as the next Leafs fan. But if you don't think the regular season matters and that there's some maxim hockey people have to trot out in order to champion one and not the other because there's only two choices then we disagree. Because it all matters.

 

[Iapyi]

DOOM GLOOM CRY Stay the course. Trading Marner would be the most idiotic decision in the history of the team.

 

[Donnie740]

A funny thing happened on the way to the 3rd round for this bunch. It is called playoff hockey which Dubas and Keefe do not seem to comprehend. Not sure why Shanny has not explained it to them.

Agree 100%.

Comparing regular season hockey to playoff hockey is like comparing the AHL to the NHL.

 

[ottomaddox]

Short term, medium term, and long term.

We do it all as leaf fans.

 

[yubbers]

You believe that behind an NHL bench, a head coach is going to openly and repeatedly embarrass his support staff? Refraining from doing so and allowing your special teams coaches to do their job is actually Coaching 101. It's Management 101 to remove said weak link in the off season. And so hopefully, we're done and dusted with the Malholtra experiment.

So we should just let someone keep failing at their job so we don't embarrass them? That's complete and total nonsense. No wonder we fail if we're more interested in not hurting people's feelings for failing than solving the problem. Participation trophy logic at its finest.

If my Assistant is f***ing up all my appointments.... making me look stupid and costing me money...I FIRE THEM INSTANTLY. Why would I wait to address a problem?

 

[OptimusReim]

How anyone can be content and believe organic growth is the answer after all theses disasters is unbelievable.

MLSE and co. must love those fans

 

[17 Clark]

Long term pain*

And no gain at all

 

[EXPECT THE LEAFS]

it's 1 step forward 2 steps back with the leafs.

 

[Iapyi]

The shortsightedness of people can be funny at times. Let the vultures get their shots in now.

 

[OptimusReim]

The shortsightedness of people can be funny at times. Let the vultures get their shots in now.

1967

 

[Gallagbi]

1967

I get we're hating on the core and Dubas/Keefe/Shanny, but it's a little tough to criticize them for events before they were born.

 

[NightTrain1]

SOOooooooooo.... did the Leafs make the playoffs last year or not? Because I havent really been paying attention to what ive been saying lately. Indicating 5 straight first round exits but that isnt true is it? I know the entire situation was all over the place with the round robin and qualifiers, but a qualifier does not equal playoffs, this is right?

 

[Gabriel426]

So we should just let someone keep failing at their job so we don't embarrass them? That's complete and total nonsense. No wonder we fail if we're more interested in not hurting people's feelings for failing than solving the problem. Participation trophy logic at its finest.

If my Assistant is f***ing up all my appointments.... making me look stupid and costing me money...I FIRE THEM INSTANTLY. Why would I wait to address a problem?

Exactly.

 

[Gabriel426]

SOOooooooooo.... did the Leafs make the playoffs last year or not? Because I havent really been paying attention to what ive been saying lately. Indicating 5 straight first round exits but that isnt true is it? I know the entire situation was all over the place with the round robin and qualifiers, but a qualifier does not equal playoffs, this is right?

Let’s not get into that again.

 

[Gabriel426]

I get we're hating on the core and Dubas/Keefe/Shanny, but it's a little tough to criticize them for events before they were born.

Some other poster in another thread was kept going on about Leafsnation putting too much pressure on the players bc of 50yrs of frustration. I just told the poster, I am not even 50.