Post-Series Talk: The Florida Panthers defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 (mod warning in OP)

[Jean Luc Discard]

Big "Got rispek in the handshake line" vibes

The Leafs need all the support they can get at this moment of despair. It's easy to succumb to the feeling of hopelessness when the fans need unfathomable amount of success in a pressure cooker situation like Toronto is.

 

[Hotsam Batcho]

I like how Matthews called out his team while he dissapeared like his hairline.

What a captain.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

I like how Matthews called out his team while he dissapeared like his hairline.

What a captain.

But it's true tho. The Leafs need better depth players. The TML fans can't possible expect Matthews to single handedly score lights out when the Leafs mgmt hasn't given him the proper supporting cast.

 

[NyQuil]

But it's true tho. The Leafs need better depth players. The TML fans can't possible expect Matthews to single handedly score lights out when the Leafs mgmt hasn't given him the proper supporting cast.

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

The Leafs need all the support they can get at this moment of despair. It's easy to succumb to the feeling of hopelessness when the fans need unfathomable amount of success in a pressure cooker situation like Toronto is.

It doesn't even logically make sense how Leafs fans expect so much success when they haven't experienced a single ounce of it for like 70 years.

 

[647Hockey]

Imagine taking the Stanley cup champs to 7 games WITHOUT a fully healthy lineup and you have people wanting to blow things up .

Here's the ACTUAL facts

Injured Matthews
1 goal 3 assists in 7 games

Marner
1 goal 4 assists in 7 games.

Nylander
3 goals, 3 assists in 7 games.

Barkov
5 points in 7 games but 2 were phantom secondary assists in a blowout game, and his only 2 goals were in Panthers losses.

Reinhart
2 goals, 3 assists in 7 games. But one of those goals were in a game that was already finished.

Tkachuk
4 assists in 7 games.

Looks to me like the Leafs stars outplayed the Panthers stars. Especially since the Panthers had more help from their depth players than the core four did. And ofc, Panthers best goalie vs Leafs second best goalie..

Matthews and Marner are better than any skater on the Panthers.

Nylander played better than any of them this series.

The core 4 leafs stats were front loaded in the first handful of games. The final 4 games of the series, the team went 1-3, and all 4 players (your list excludes JT) combined for 1G and 1A. Domi's last 4 games he did more than all 4 guys combined going 1G, 2A.

As always, the core 4 disappear late in any series when it counts the most to close out a series. If NHL playoffs were only best of 3 like early rounds were in the 70s and early 80s, the team would do great as some reason the team does decent the first 3-4 games. But fade away the back half.

Barkov, Reinhart and Tkachuk were spread out.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

It doesn't even logically make sense how Leafs fans expect so much success when they haven't experienced a single ounce of it for like 70 years.

Getting to the 2nd round of playoffs is more success than the less fortunate teams (75%) get to enjoy. And that's not good enough for the Leaf fans!

 

[Hotsam Batcho]

But it's true tho. The Leafs need better depth players. The TML fans can't possible expect Matthews to single handedly score lights out when the Leafs mgmt hasn't given him the proper supporting cast.

 

[647Hockey]

It doesn't even logically make sense how Leafs fans expect so much success when they haven't experienced a single ounce of it for like 70 years.

It's because despite the team only getting a handful of conf finals the past 50 years, leaf fans expect much better success due to:

- Team has been around since the beginning (tenure legacy)
- Team has won 13 cups (behind Habs), So there should be more success in there (past success)
- Biggest hockey market with tons of fans everywhere (more quantity means they deserve more)
- Highest ticket prices (higher cost means they deserve more)

On the other hand, any sports fan with this mindset would say the exact opposite for lets say Nashville Predators because that team is a 180 vs the pts above. So any small market team with a short history should get nothing.

 

[Mike C]

Stolarz was knocked out in game 1.

Woll got the decision in all 7 games.

I know. I corrected it with a later post

Stolarz gets my official scorer's W in game 1 after Woll let in 3 in third period

Plus it fits my narrative!!

 

[dhfa]

It's because despite the team only getting a handful of conf finals the past 50 years, leaf fans expect much better success due to:

- Team has been around since the beginning (tenure legacy)
- Team has won 13 cups (behind Habs), So there should be more success in there (past success)
- Biggest hockey market with tons of fans everywhere (more quantity means they deserve more)
- Highest ticket prices (higher cost means they deserve more)

On the other hand, any sports fan with this mindset would say the exact opposite for lets say Nashville Predators because that team is a 180 vs the pts above. So any small market team with a short history should get nothing.

leafs only won cups when it was easy to win cups. More teams make the playoffs today than existed in the league back when the leafs were winning.

 

[Macheteops]

They should of let Marc Savard celebrate like he wanted because that was pretty much it

 

[Fatass]

Tortorella exists.

For all his issues, Babcock identified what the problem was for the Leafs and was trying to address it. But got fired for not winning enough regular season games. And then, you know the rest...

Babcock is a dinosaur. His philosophy of coaching comes from a mindset that doesn’t connect with the new generation of these young players.

 

[BB79]

All his moves were masterclass now he even got a 1st round for pick for marchy. The Coyle trade was a fleecing. Donny won the deadline.

Don't forget Monte Carlo. A potato sack of hockey pucks for Carlo would have been a fleecing.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Babcock is a dinosaur. His philosophy of coaching comes from a mindset that doesn’t connect with the new generation of these young players.

Oh to be clear, as I said in an earlier post, I in no way think the Leafs should hire Babcock.

It's just funny that he identified the problem and was keying in on it that long ago and it still hasn't been properly fixed.

Even a coach like Berube could only drag the team so far to play harder on the puck.

 

[Fatass]

Oh to be clear, as I said in an earlier post, I in no way think the Leafs should hire Babcock.

It's just funny that he identified the problem and was keying in on it that long ago and it still hasn't been properly fixed.

Even a coach like Berube could only drag the team so far to play harder on the puck.

Thanks for the explanation. Scotty Bowman couldn’t get Matthews, Marner, and Nylander to play the right way.
Those guys teammates, that do play the right way (Tanev and OEL for example) must just shake their heads at how those three play.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Really Berube said it all:

"The moment's not too big. It's all between the ears, it's a mindset. These guys are capable of doing it, you just gotta execute. And we didn't execute. We didn't execute in Game 5 we didn't execute in Game 7."

 

[shortfuze]

Never mind

If you read between the lines of what he said Dubas was absolutely gonna try to get a deal done for Marner

That doesn’t mean he was gonna blow up the core.

 

[Fatass]

Really Berube said it all:

"The moment's not too big. It's all between the ears, it's a mindset. These guys are capable of doing it, you just gotta execute. And we didn't execute. We didn't execute in Game 5 we didn't execute in Game 7."

Berube knows. Babcock knew. Their teammates know. Is “between the ears” a euphemism for not wired to play tough hockey?

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Thanks for the explanation. Scotty Bowman couldn’t get Matthews, Marner, and Nylander to play the right way.
Those guys teammates, that do play the right way (Tanev and OEL for example) must just shake their heads at how those three play.

I don't follow the Leafs super closely but from the outside Nylander doesn't seem as bad a Matthews and Marner.

Hell if Bowman were coach he probably would've fought to ship at least one of the three out during his first season trying to get them to play the right way.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

But it's true tho. The Leafs need better depth players. The TML fans can't possible expect Matthews to single handedly score lights out when the Leafs mgmt hasn't given him the proper supporting cast.

Leafs depth is fine, their top scorers need to be their top scorers.

 

[shortfuze]

It doesn't even logically make sense how Leafs fans expect so much success when they haven't experienced a single ounce of it for like 70 years.

What you’re saying doesn’t make sense.

 

[Coffee]

Kelly Hrudey choking back tears? Or just sauced.

Sauced i think

 

[shortfuze]

It's because despite the team only getting a handful of conf finals the past 50 years, leaf fans expect much better success due to:

- Team has been around since the beginning (tenure legacy)
- Team has won 13 cups (behind Habs), So there should be more success in there (past success)
- Biggest hockey market with tons of fans everywhere (more quantity means they deserve more)
- Highest ticket prices (higher cost means they deserve more)

On the other hand, any sports fan with this mindset would say the exact opposite for lets say Nashville Predators because that team is a 180 vs the pts above. So any small market team with a short history should get nothing.

To be honest none of that even matters. It doesn’t matter which team it is. When you get to the playoffs every team and fan wants success.

 

[namttebih]

But it's true tho. The Leafs need better depth players. The TML fans can't possible expect Matthews to single handedly score lights out when the Leafs mgmt hasn't given him the proper supporting cast.

The irony. How can they fill the roster with a proper supporting cast when Matthews and Marner refused to budge on their salaries?