The Iceman
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- Sep 22, 2007
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And random they have lost 9 straight deciding games.
Good enough to get to the deciding game and not winning the deciding game is pretty random.
Softest Leaf Forward Group Since 2000?
- Thread starter Knies iT
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Good enough to get to the deciding game and not winning the deciding game is pretty random.
Knies helps then we need to add a guy you can put top 6 on a mix. You need 3 lines firing. We lost Muzzin, he won't be easy to replace. We can cheat and trade for a tough top 9 but replacing Muzzin is a tough order.
They are so soft they've lost one game in regulation over the past 18 games or so.
TheGroceryStick
Registered User
the squared circle
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Leaf Fans
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- Sep 29, 2017
- 21,565
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It's easy if you try.
Could you imagine Colorado in that game?
There's a difference between playing physical hockey and fighting. We used to get to watch Orr, McLaren and Fraser fight all the time, but they weren't a top team. Same goes for teams like Ottawa and Florida. Middle of the road teams that get taken off their game easily.
What we need is for Toronto to stick to their game once they get up on Tampa. Not allow their 4th line to goad them into a bunch of fights and dumb penalties like they've done in the past.
Avalanche Fights: Mackinnon has 8 career nhl fights, Landeskog 11, Kadri 14, Nichushkin 2,
Year they won cup, PIM - Mackinnon 56 pim, Kadri 71, Landeskog 78, Rantanen 56
Leafs Fights- Matthews 0, Marner 0, Tavares 1, Nylander 0, Bunting 0,
So 4 of Colorados top 6 players last year had 32/fights, while the leafs 4 have 1 career fight.
Matthews 18 PIM, nylander 16 pim, marner 16 pim, Tavares 32 pm
I think fights and PIM show passion, heart, determination, grit. When players aren't goons of course.
WillyC
Registered User
- Sep 7, 2018
- 1,132
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These threads… do some of you ever get tired of constantly whining and complaining about our Maple Leafs?
I imagine you all at the bar, gathered around one table drinking skunky beer and crying to each other about the game before it even starts… while the rest of the bar is excited to cheer on the team.
I imagine you all at the bar, gathered around one table drinking skunky beer and crying to each other about the game before it even starts… while the rest of the bar is excited to cheer on the team.
Fighting =/= passion, heart, determination, grit
PIMs =/= passion, heart, determination, grit
The reason you probably think this is because the players at the bottom of the lineup who have tons of PIMs/fights need to do so to stay in the league, those guys need to show passion, heart, determination, and grit.
Holl has 5 fights just so you know, his passion, heart, determination, and grit are much greater than Nichushkin's.
ROR has 0.
I like the Wendel Clark's of the world as much as anyone, but the game has changed. It's much more finesse now and far less physical. We're never going to see a 2002 Leafs vs Isles series again. Those days are over, and as a result, we don't need a team that plays like that either.
The Leafs are physical enough in that they can take hits and deliver hits. There's enough grit in the lineup that it's not a problem. What has been a problem has been secondary scoring, as well as nobody showing up in elimination games.
You can talk about heart, although that's hard to measure, but the Leafs have enough grit to get by. They may not fight and they may not be the roughest team out there, but they're not soft, at least not as a whole.
The Leafs are physical enough in that they can take hits and deliver hits. There's enough grit in the lineup that it's not a problem. What has been a problem has been secondary scoring, as well as nobody showing up in elimination games.
You can talk about heart, although that's hard to measure, but the Leafs have enough grit to get by. They may not fight and they may not be the roughest team out there, but they're not soft, at least not as a whole.
Rob Brown
Way She Goes
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Off topic but watching playoff games at the bar is overrated. I agree, though.
Notsince67
Papi and the Lamplighters
- Apr 27, 2018
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Mess
Global Moderator
This is 100% the toughest Leafs line-up we have seen assembled under Dubas.
This isn't like his skilled figure skating teams of the past that was the equivalent of bringing a knife to a gun fight in the playoffs.
I for one am grateful that he finally saw the light and we do have a team capable of competing on the same physical level as the opposition.
This isn't like his skilled figure skating teams of the past that was the equivalent of bringing a knife to a gun fight in the playoffs.
I for one am grateful that he finally saw the light and we do have a team capable of competing on the same physical level as the opposition.
ACC1224
Super Elite, Passing ALL Tests since 2002
- Aug 19, 2002
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I don’t consider them a soft team any more.
They’ll be fine in that regard.
They’ll be fine in that regard.
Mess
Global Moderator
Leafs greatest weakness in any series is they will always have the 2nd best goalie and the 2nd best coach and that is where they will be most vulnerable.
Physically with the additions at that TD of ROR, Schenn, McCabe, Lafferty and Acciari there is enough push back ability if required.
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Neither of those are true. We'd have a better coach and goalie than many teams in the league.
Enniskillen
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- Jan 16, 2021
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Why did they lose 6 playoff series in a row? Cause they are some much better than the rest?
ACC1224
Super Elite, Passing ALL Tests since 2002
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The top players need to overcome the coaching and goaltending.
For reasons other than a coach we didn't even have in half of those losses, and a goalie we didn't even have in any of them.
What basis is there to claim that 31 other teams have a better coach and a better goalie than Samsonov?
Enniskillen
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The bottomline here is that they lost playoff series to various types of teams, which leaves one common denominator which is the Leafs were always worse than opponents in the crucial games. The rest is semantics.
ACC1224
Super Elite, Passing ALL Tests since 2002
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The Leafs weren't always worse than their opponents in crucial games, but that's kind of besides the point. Whatever thing you choose to blame, you can't blame things that weren't even there during them, and whatever you may think of Keefe/Samsonov, there is no factual basis for claiming that there are 31 teams with better coaches than Keefe and goalies than Samsonov. The statement I responded to was false.
I don't disagree with your point that fights will come along once in a while when a player plays a grittier style of play. We saw that with Lafferty vs Boston the other night.
What I disagree with is the point that we need our core players to fight and take PIMs. ROR was captain of the Blues + Conn Smythe winner when they won the Cup and he's never had a career fight.
I think that it's more the case of your players sticking to their style of play and not being goaded into playing the other team's style. Discipline to your game is the important factor to being a successful playoff team, IMO.
The Leafs need to play a fast, hard checking game and stay responsible defensively. They do that and Tampa is in for a rough time. If Tampa can pull the Leafs into brawls, that's when they beat us. That's what they've don't to every team in the playoffs over the years when they start losing. Then they win.
