The result of game 7 is almost irrelevant at this point.

[Smif]

If they show up and dominate 4-0 which is easily within reach and move on, nearly all of this will be forgotten. That being said I don’t plan on watching Monday.

Agreed. Win game 7 and all this mess is forgotten.

 

[TOGuy14]

So if they win this game then go on to win the cup that doesn’t matter cause they didn’t finish games 5/6 in the first round?

ask Vegas fans how they feel right now

Can't even compare the two situations.

Vegas managed to go all the way to the Cup finals in their first year with largely spare parts.

They also went four rounds deep last year.

Leafs haven't made it out of the 1st round in almost 20 years now, and just flat miss the playoffs half the time

 

[Mitch Matthews]

I thought Rielly was far and away the Leafs best player thru the first 2 periods while the rest of the team waited for the last 10 minutes before deciding to show up.

Rielly showed up last night. You could see the urgency he played with

 

[BertCorbeau]

While 2013 is irrelevant at this point, the series in recent years are quite telling.

That first year against Washington with this group made sense. They weren’t even expected to make the dance. Every year beyond that became more telling.

Columbus last year was especially concerning.

All we hear from these players is empty nonsense about how they should have got it done and promises that they’ll start on time. It simply never happens.

If the Leafs pull it off on Monday, there’s no chance they even make it to 6 games against Winnipeg. When your stars are irrelevant to the outcome of each game, you’re not going far. Jason Spezza should be wearing the A right now because at least he leaves it all out there each night.

In fairness they never had a chance to clinch in that series.

But yeah as time has gone on, it's evidently concerning that going 0-6 with this core to try and clinch a series is deeply concerning.

The Leafs are turning into a lighter version of those San Jose teams that consistently couldn't get it done in the playoffs, though they at least had some runs and won some series. Fittingly enough Marleau and now Thornton are on the Leafs' roster for this.

 

[Mitch Matthews]

Win or lose tomorrow, worst move would be to blow it up

 

[AllDay28]

Can't even compare the two situations.

Vegas managed to go all the way to the Cup finals in their first year with largely spare parts.

They also went four rounds deep last year.

Leafs haven't made it out of the 1st round in almost 20 years now, and just flat miss the playoffs half the time

damn so they did all that stuff, and still blew a 3-1 lead to Minnesota? Only to win in game 7?

i don’t get how that helps your argument but sure

 

[MSZ]

In fairness they never had a chance to clinch in that series.

But yeah as time has gone on, it's evidently concerning that going 0-6 with this core to try and clinch a series is deeply concerning.

The Leafs are turning into a lighter version of those San Jose teams that consistently couldn't get it done in the playoffs, though they at least had some runs and won some series. Fittingly enough Marleau and now Thornton are on the Leafs' roster for this.

I wish they are anywhere close to SJ's success. I want to see the Leafs in a cup final.

 

[MoreMogilny]

In fairness they never had a chance to clinch in that series.

But yeah as time has gone on, it's evidently concerning that going 0-6 with this core to try and clinch a series is deeply concerning.

The Leafs are turning into a lighter version of those San Jose teams that consistently couldn't get it done in the playoffs, though they at least had some runs and won some series. Fittingly enough Marleau and now Thornton are on the Leafs' roster for this.

I honestly think the management group tried to rush past a proper rebuild. Now Dubas was forced to fill out the roster with question marks and veterans that only add an illusion of maturity.

We should have a stable of young talent filling important roles but now we have no cap space to do anything. If this current core can’t get it done, where do you even go from here. Dubas has no options. You either make a blockbuster move to shed salary or you try the exact same thing next season - fill out the roster with more league minimum players and hope something massive changes.

 

[Mitch Matthews]

Tampa got swept by CBJ in the first round then came back the following season and won the cup with basically the same roster. Good thing they didn't panic and blow up the team

 

[BertCorbeau]

I honestly think the management group tried to rush past a proper rebuild. Now Dubas was forced to fill out the roster with question marks and veterans that only add an illusion of maturity.

We should have a stable of young talent filling important roles but now we have no cap space to do anything. If this current core can’t get it done, where do you even go from here. Dubas has no options. You either make a blockbuster move to shed salary or you try the exact same thing next season - fill out the roster with more league minimum players and hope something massive changes.

A loss tomorrow means that nobody is untouchable on this roster, or it least it should be. Dubas' has done just about everything else to re-tool this roster outside of the core.

 

[MoreMogilny]

A loss tomorrow means that nobody is untouchable on this roster, or it least it should be. Dubas' has done just about everything else to re-tool this roster outside of the core.

I agree.

I don’t have any attachment to anyone on this roster anymore if we bow out tomorrow.

Matthews would be the hardest to lose, but what’s the sense in hanging on to your best players if they really aren’t your best when it matters the most anyways.

It’s already been 54 years anyways. What’s another 5 year rebuild.

 

[PhiladelphiaKessel]

Not a chance in hell. If we lose tomorrow this management team will have heads rolling. Nobody will survive.
It was 3-1.
It was the Habs.
We were heavily favoured.
Do it for JT
If you thought the vitriol for Kessel, Bozak, Phaneuf, etc was bad, just wait.
Hell we haven't even lost yet and this city is imploding.

I have little faith in any changes. Management has their excuses ready to go
- Jt was injured
- Foligno injured
- Muzzin injured for game 7
- ran into a hot goalie
Rinse and repeat every year

 

[Ciao]

Agreed. Win game 7 and all this mess is forgotten.

Exactly.

But, lose Game 7 and it will never be forgotten.

 

[MoreMogilny]

I have little faith in any changes. Management has their excuses ready to go
- Jt was injured
- Foligno injured
- Muzzin injured for game 7
- ran into a hot goalie
Rinse and repeat every year

Its the no accountability issue that allows them to do what they do.

Good teams overcome adversity. We just have excuses every year as to why we still suck ass when it matters the most.

That 2016 season had me really believing in the future of this team. How foolish was that.

 

[LeafsFan89]

Tampa got swept by CBJ in the first round then came back the following season and won the cup with basically the same roster. Good thing they didn't panic and blow up the team

They had a recent history of making it to Stanley Cup Finals or Conference Finals regularly... Of course you don't blow up the team with that kind of performance.

Comparatively, we know the Leaf's history.

 

[AllDay28]

I wish they are anywhere close to SJ's success. I want to see the Leafs in a cup final.

San Jose has 0 cups. What success? Losing in a later round is still a loser.

 

[Stephen]

Don't kid yourselves, if we win you will all be drinking the Kool aid and back to being the bandwagon fans. You are just disappointed we haven't won as you expected this far.

For me, this is pretty different.

The 2019-20 season was a big disappointment. Matthews and Marner started their big contracts, the Mike Babcock era flamed out and we had a number of high highs and low lows like the Carolina Christmas game and the EBUG David Ayres embarrassment which all culminated that horrible loss to Columbus in the Game 5 no show game.

The offseason was all about trying to fix the maturity of the team by bringing in veterans, babysitters and what have you and the climb to championship status via building good habits and becoming the "Gud Pros" that Babcock had outlined but became a tiresome cliche.

This regular season was a success all in all for both the team, which finished in first place, as well as Matthews and Marner finishing high in the scoring race and the emergence of Jack Campbell as a credible alternative to Andersen.

But you could see a lot of worrisome issues persist. Long winning streaks and impressive performances book ended by somewhat long losing streaks and no shows against teams lower in the standings. Blowing massive leads against Ottawa. Trouble with teams with particular heavy forechecking styles, and propensity for the team to take random nights off when it "didn't matter." I didn't like the lack of a killer instinct or that championship throttle where the Leafs just run teams out of the building like we're seeing with Colorado. They just never seemed like the team that took enjoyment in being dominant. Then the PP completely fell apart for no reason and nobody cared to fix it. Coaching staff kept up the same bad breakouts and formations, same questionable player usage. Players didn't take ownership.

If we win Game 7, I don't see any virtue in being the heroes in a mess of your own making and I don't know how much farther the redemption tour can go with some many of these problems. If we don't win Game 7, it's going to be a disappointment for us fans but what this group deserves. I fully expect a sluggish, timid start and we'll just take it from there.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

I don’t think it’s irrelevant, but it doesn’t change the perception of this team if they win.

Either the Leafs win and we all breathe a sigh of relief but still know they’re in tough against Winnipeg and nothing but a long series there is excusable.

Or they lose and (besides me not giving a shit about them anymore) heads begin to roll in the organization.

 

[The Iceman]

Other than losing the game I thought the Leafs played well and deserved to win.
Usually if you outshoot a team 13-2 in OT you win.

Game 7 will be fun.

Strap it on tight and bring home the W

 

[MSZ]

San Jose has 0 cups. What success? Losing in a later round is still a loser.

Cool. Enjoy another first round exit tomorrow!

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

I kinda agree here. Even if they win this and beat Wpg, there's no way in hell they can beat the leftover American teams (maybe NYI). Those teams are faster, stronger, and just play harder playoff hockey.

The makeup of the team is all wrong. It's easy to blame star players of course and I agree that Marner's game is not built for the playoffs, you can have playmakers but you can't have pure playmakers to rely on for offense and then pay them $11 M. I think it would require the roster to get overhauled to the point of needing a re-tool. Obviously the coach would have to go too, he can also blame roster buildup and he wouldn't be wrong but when you come into two separate series as the favourite and lose both in rd 1 then you gotta go.

Dubas is not going anywhere...and he won't fire Keefe until he loses a couple more times in the 1st round...so expecting anything but more of this crap if they lose game 7 is wishful thinking. Shanny has Dubas's back and he also has the excuse of JT going down. Even though we won 3 straight without him playing...he will still be the " Well ya but if we had JT" excuse trotted out. Unlucky..etc.

We traded away Mason Marchment for Dennis Malgin....let that sink in. You don't think Marchment wouldn't be an upgrade on Simmonds? Simmonds can hardly skate...hardly take a pass and everything is dying on his stick. I am just shocked he was not put on the 1st PP unit just for the extra kick in the nuts to go along with Jumbo up there.

Here is where you will know if they plan on fixing anything ....if Malholtra doesn't get fired 1min after this season is over...then I have ZERO faith...and I mean ZERO...that Dubas will fix this shit.

 

[3blizzard4]

Tampa got swept by CBJ in the first round then came back the following season and won the cup with basically the same roster. Good thing they didn't panic and blow up the team

the year before they went to conference finals.
Two years before they were in the Stanley cup finals.
That team has been dominating for many years now. Very competitive.

The leafs meanwhile haven’t had a first round win for how many years now?

 

[AllDay28]

Cool. Enjoy another first round exit tomorrow!

Thanks!

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Tampa got swept by CBJ in the first round then came back the following season and won the cup with basically the same roster. Good thing they didn't panic and blow up the team

That's what everyone here said after last playoffs when we lost to Columbus.

So my question is... what if Tampa lost in the first round again the next year to a significantly inferior team? They would definitely be considering blowing it up at that point.

 

[Trapper]

Tampa got swept by CBJ in the first round then came back the following season and won the cup with basically the same roster. Good thing they didn't panic and blow up the team

You’re talking about a single playoff round not 5 times in a row trying to win a single playoff round. You get the difference right?

And blowing up means trading everyone where changing the core might mean moving just 1.