Tampa defeats Toronto 4 games to 3

[Dough72]

Dubas might have been an acceptable hiring for a rebuilding team where he could learn on the job alongside the young team but hiring him to run the Leafs at such a crucial point in time was utter lunacy and Shanahan should have been fired for it already

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

I would agree except he didn’t hit cirelli. He completely stops.

Tampa runs into him. If Holl glided into him. Then that’s different. He completely stopped. I don’t see how that’s interference. Otherwise all you have to do is run into a stationary player and it’s inference

Didn't move into that position soon enough thus it was a moving pick and interference.

 

[PromisedLand]

All jokes aside In all seriousness, Leafs fans need a bit of patience. Don't blow up your core just yet. It took the Caps how long with the same core to get over the hump? Same for us? It is not an easy road.

Caps had more than 1st round exits to their name with Ovi. Also, if the name of the game is patience then I'd prefer doing it with experienced people at the helm in GM and coaching positions who have seen the ups and downs of NHL and can keep the team even keel. Not get too high when things are gong well and not get too low when things are bad.

The leafs team and management drink their own koolaid more often than not and top top it all off they have rookies running the organization in dubas and keefe.

Tampa's drafting has been A+ as they found gems like Kucherov, Point etc... later on in the draft; dubas' drafting is also a freakin JOKE. He has thrown way picks to boot with no cheap high quality help available that was drafted by the Leafs.

Leafs need a new vision at the helm in GM and coaching position. Absolutely no reason for the leafs fans to exercise patience with the same management and their BS vision

 

[meatwad4343]

Toronto only have Auston Matthews for 2 more years now. Of course he could re-sign, but will he after all this choking ?

Or will he want to after listening to Toronto fans booing the American national anthem when dude is from California

 

[JoelWarlord]

It's a hilarious thing when you're trying to chirp a team was top 5 all year and just lost to Tampa in 7

When will you guys get tired of the uwu moral victories? FWIW I wasn't even really chirping the Leafs they played well in this series. I was just responding to you for bringing up a last-place finish during a rebuilding phase after your team finished last place during a rebuild. Extremely funny stuff especially given what immediately preceded that rebuild phase.

still half a decade if not longer away from making a playoff appearance.

Lmao whatever makes you feel better

 

[Apotheosis]

There is such a thing as "a culture of winning". It's an intangible but essential ingredient to assembling a winning team. With all of the hockey advantages that Toronto supposedly has ( rabid & faithful fan base, owners willing to spend, budget available to hire the best management/coaching staff ) can anyone explain just how the Leafs have never managed to even stumble onto the formula ???

I thought about this last night and honestly, it was the timing of the rebuild that screwed over the Leafs. The early success in 2017 "pushed" the timeline forward too fast instead of being near the basement in 2017 to get a guy like Makar or Heiskanen who would have rounded out this team better. Instead, we get "early success" and our GM thought spending 11 million on a second line centre was a good idea instead of realizing we needed to build the rest of the team from the net out after drafting the core 3. He also assumed the cap wouldn't stay stagnant and it did on top of his joke negotiations that gave us three 11 million dollar players which no team is winning with. In hindsight, 2017 was the year that sort of screwed over this current iteration of the Leafs. I am confident this core will never have any success for any number of reasons and I don't think a coaching change or management change will well... change that.

 

[Legion34]

Didn't move into that position soon enough thus it was a moving pick and interference.

There is no “soon enough”. He stops. The stationary player gets hit by the moving player. That’s not interference.

The guy who gets there first owns the ice. He has every right to be there. The other guy who skated into him is at fault

Edit. That being said there is no way to know how the game would have went. Leafs lost.

It was a close game. Tampa moves on. But that’s not interference.

The hold on the Paul goal was tho

Such is life.

 

[PromisedLand]

Or will he want to after listening to Toronto fans booing the American national anthem when dude is from California

*Arizona. At least get your chirps right

 

[MikeyMike01]

I would agree except he didn’t hit cirelli. He completely stops.

Tampa runs into him. If Holl glided into him. Then that’s different. He completely stopped. I don’t see how that’s interference. Otherwise all you have to do is run into a stationary player and it’s inference

Pick plays are specifically mentioned in the NHL rule book as interference under rule 56:

A “pick” is the action of a player who checks an opponent who is not in possession of the puck and is unaware of the impending check/hit. A player who is aware of an impending hit, not deemed to be a legal “battle for the puck,” may not be interfered with by a player or goalkeeper delivering a “pick.” A player delivering a “pick” is one who moves into an opponent’s path without initially having body position, thereby taking him out of the play. When this is done, an interference penalty shall be assessed.

 

[AvroArrow]

Pick plays are specifically mentioned in the NHL rule book as interference under rule 56.

You mean like the pick Tampa set in game 6 before McDonagh scored the game tying goal ?



EDIT: Wasn't even a pick, lmfao full on interference to score the game tying goal, gotta love it "ReFs DiDnT DeTeRmInE tHe OuTcoMe"

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

There is no “soon enough”. He stops. The stationary player gets hit by the moving player. That’s not interference.

The guy who gets there first owns the ice. He has every right to be there. The other guy who skated into him is at fault

Edit. That being said there is no way to know how the game would have went. Leafs lost.

It was a close game. Tampa moves on. But that’s not interference.

The hold on the Paul goal was tho

Such is life.

Wasnt there in time to not be called interference.

 

[zeke]

Disagree. Leafs benefited from the refs in G7 as an example. The phantom Palat call was huge. The pick play was obvious, it’s not even a debate

We both know you don't actually disagree. It's ok tho I get it.

You're just jealous. Like seriously, winning a round for the leafs would literally be a life-time achievement for an 18 year old adult.

You would be celebrating like you've won the stanley cup if the leafs won last game.

I've seen the Leafs fail in conference finals before. It's not any better. And Leafs Nation was just as angry and wanted to blow it up just as much.

 

[JimmyApples]

Matthews must be thinking about getting out from Toronto very, very soon.

Why? He’s one of the main parts of the problem.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I would agree except he didn’t hit cirelli. He completely stops.

Tampa runs into him. If Holl glided into him. Then that’s different. He completely stopped. I don’t see how that’s interference. Otherwise all you have to do is run into a stationary player and it’s inference

I won't get into arguing the semantics of "completely stops and who ran into who" but even if he did, he makes a clear move with his upper body to initiate and interfere with a player without the puck. He wasn't holding his space. He skated right into the path of Cirelli. It was blatantly obvious, a major factor in Tavares scoring and not surprising they called a penalty.

Honestly had he not turned and hockey stopped right in front of Cirelli it might have been less obvious that his sole purpose was to interfere.

 

[Yackiberg8]

Caps had more than 1st round exits to their name with Ovi. Also, if the name of the game is patience then I'd prefer doing it with experienced people at the helm in GM and coaching positions who have seen the ups and downs of NHL and can keep the team even keel. Not get too high when things are gong well and not get too low when things are bad.

The leafs team and management drink their own koolaid more often than not and top top it all off they have rookies running the organization in dubas and keefe.

Tampa's drafting has been A+ as they found gems like Kucherov, Point etc... later on in the draft; dubas' drafting is also a freakin JOKE. He has thrown way picks to boot with no cheap high quality help available that was drafted by the Leafs.

Leafs need a new vision at the helm in GM and coaching position. Absolutely no reason for the leafs fans to exercise patience with the same management and their BS vision

Dubas drafting has been amongst the very best in the league.

 

[PromisedLand]

Dubas drafting has been amongst the very best in the league.

I will happily eat crow when these so called "draft picks" have impact on the NHL games. Until then it is crystal ball hearsay and nothing else.

 

[OilersFanatics505]

Congrats Matthews, you scored 60 goals when it didn’t count.

 

[McGees]

Sorry.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Paul Vasilevskiy what a player!!

 

[JimmyApples]

Sorry.


View attachment 547403

This meme is all over my Twitter. Love it!!

 

[Oxbow Lakes]

Not gonna lie, I feel for the Leafs fans. This wasn’t a choke, simply a hard fought series that put Tampa on a test (last year only Islanders did that really.) The fact that it was first round is just bad luck, Atlantic is just stacked this year. No shame in losing this one.

Oh well, the series against Panthers is gonna be fire!

 

[bert]

Nick Paul looked good to me. Certainly better than leafs 3rd and 4th liners

Nick Paul was everywhere all series long. If he had a better scoring touch he would be a star two way player. Now that he is out of Ottawa he gets some exposure. Clutch player and a really good guy.

 

[DistantThunderRep]

This is the big takeaway and focus that Toronto has to takeaway from this series.

14.7% PP, 78.8% PK.

You can't win any series with sub-par PP% and an abysmal PK. If anything Toronto needs to a change in special teams coaching, whomever is in charge of those two, they need to go.

 

[Langdon Alger]

Paul Vasilevskiy what a player!!

Never heard of him.

 

[Confucius]

It was a very close series, we outscored the Bolts 24 to 23 but they did win 4 games, one overtime game in there as well. Leafs are a good team. They weren't the best team during the regular season but 4th overall is pretty good. History will show another 7 game first round exit. Oh well someday the scale will tip our way and hopefully for awhile.