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

[shaner82]

Not irrelevant at all. If they win game 7 and go on to win the cup for example, nobody will ever remember game 7 vs Montreal.

The expectation has been make it to at least the 3rd round and be competitive vs whoever they play. If they end up achieving that, then the stumble vs Montreal won't matter.

Maybe, just maybe Montreal is a team that's built for the grind of the playoffs but just couldn't keep it up throughout the season. Still, we need to beat them and Winnipeg. Anything less is a gigantic failure

 

[Menzinger]

I'm not quite sure I'd agree with the threads premise. I agree guys on this team like Matthews and Marner have well earned criticisms for their subpar play this series.

But if the Leafs blowout game 7 in a decisive win and then have a good series against Winnipeg, the only collective legacy of this first series is that the team won it. Some of the details from it just seem raw because this is as fresh as they will ever be. - but that fades over time.

If they lose game 7 it's a very different story

 

[Menzinger]

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.

You could actually make the case then beacuse of that history the Tampa sweep was a lot worse. Ie it showed an unacceptable regression.

 

[MoreMogilny]

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

No point in drawing parallels from Tampa to Toronto.

They are better and deeper at every single position than we are.

On the wing, Kucherov is in another league than any of our wingers. Hedman on D is miles above any of our D. At C Point is a monster playoff performer and Stamkos is Stamkos (they didn’t even need him when they won the Cup). And obviously Vasi is the best goaltender in the league.

We simply don’t hold a candle to a roster like that. Their depth beyond their star players completely blows us away. They’d never dare ice Thornton or Simmonds. Meanwhile both those guys have to play on our shit PP.

This team has been robbed of its positional strength ever since big contracts started getting handed out. Now a flat cap world kills any chance of overcoming that issue without a massive change to the roster.

 

[Mess]

What makes this even sadder is that Montreal is not even a playoff team in a normal season.

We need to look on the bright side here that there is even a game #7 to be played, because if we were playing our usual Atlantic Div rival Boston or Tampa Bay we would already be out.

Leafs entered the NHL playoffs with great expectations and a Baseball game broke out instead. !!!

Game #5 opportunity to clinch = Strike #1
Game #6 opportunity to clinch = Strike #2
Game #7 opportunity to clinch = TBD or Strike #3 and we're out.

That said prior to game #7 its hard to tell if one didn't know which team were the heavy favourites, and which one entered the series as the long-shot underdogs because the series hasn't played out to strength of team expectations.

 

[NightTrain1]

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

Are you perhaps missing something key in what you just said?

Tampa has been beyond the first round of the playoffs in 5 of the past 7 years, and has made the conference finals 4 times going on to the cup twice and winning it once.

This team started roughly 5-6 years ago (arguably when Reilly , Hyman and Nylander were together) and continued to add talent every single year since, and had lost 5 consecutive first rounds, four of which have the current core. If they lose this game 7 tomorrow this core will have lost 6 consecutive first round series with the one this year being by far the easiest gimmie of all time considering the hoopla of this roster.

 

[Mitch Matthews]

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.

To much of the cap(40m) went to four players. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The glaring mistake dubas made was allocating it entirely to offense. Once he signed Tavares for 11m he screwed himself by setting a precedent. If they didn't sign Tavares, Nylander probably signs for around 5m, Matthews and Marner around 7 each, leaving you with roughly 20m to spend on at least two high end defensemen, either through trade or free agency

Anyone that knows anything about sports knows that come playoffs, defense wins championships

 

[MoreMogilny]

To much of the cap(40m) went to four players. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The glaring mistake dubas made was allocating it entirely to offense. Once he signed Tavares for 11m he screwed himself by setting a precedent. If they didn't sign Tavares, Nylander probably signs for around 5m, Matthews and Marner around 7 each, leaving you with roughly 20m to spend on at least two high end defensemen, either through trade or free agency

Anyone that knows anything about sports knows that come playoffs, defense wins championships

If you’re prepared to spend 40m on 4 players then you better be damn sure they’re going to carry you when it matters. Evidently this group isn’t capable of that.

Also when you do that you need a solid stable of prospects ready to jump into the lineup and contribute on ELCs. This is also hard to do when you begin trading draft picks away because you think you’re on the cusp.

If you don’t learn from history you’re doomed to repeat it. Perhaps a little more patience would have benefited the young core better.

 

[TheDoldrums]

I don't understand people whining about the cap. Our depth players have mostly been great. The argument that the big salaries would prevent a good team around them doesn't make any sense right now. One of the big salaries is hurt and the other two are sucking. That is the issue. You can call them overpaid but I don't know why the roster suddenly looks shallow to people. It's not. It's a good team that is being let down by their best players right now. If they were playing to their standards we would cruise to the Final 4 with this team.

 

[harvestglen]

I bet some money on the Habs when they were down 3-1 in the series. At this point I might almost prefer the nice payout coming my way should they complete it!

 

[Makaveli]

Since 2013 the Leafs are 0-7 in series clinching games, when presented with that opportunity and the end result of course was losing all those previous series.

I just yacked

 

[Mitch Matthews]

Are you perhaps missing something key in what you just said?

Tampa has been beyond the first round of the playoffs in 5 of the past 7 years, and has made the conference finals 4 times going on to the cup twice and winning it once.

This team started roughly 5-6 years ago (arguably when Reilly , Hyman and Nylander were together) and continued to add talent every single year since, and had lost 5 consecutive first rounds, four of which have the current core. If they lose this game 7 tomorrow this core will have lost 6 consecutive first round series with the one this year being by far the easiest gimmie of all time considering the hoopla of this roster.

Those first round losses were all to better teams plain and simple. This is the first series where they are the favorites

 

[Riellyfan04]

How nobody talking about petry hit on galy in ot. That was dirty asf...

 

[ToneDog]

Those first round losses were all to better teams plain and simple. This is the first series where they are the favorites

They were favoured over the Jackets last year and coughed up a furball.

 

[GrizzLeaf]

They have had two games to close the series. Yes, Keefe has said that the games required to close out a series are often the most difficult, so game 5 was understandable. But following up game 5 with the effort in game 6 is just pathetic. No shows from our best, most talented players have ultimately led to us losing one of our best players in Jake Muzzin, Foligno feeling he has to come back before he's ready, and no opportunity to rest and get healthy before the second round if we get there.

Relying on old depth players like Jason Spezza to lead us while our stars like Matthews and Marner take the backseat is just super pathetic. These last two games have told us a lot about what we have.

I disagree with the results being almost meaningless.

If they lose then they learned it takes alot more than skill to win a playoff series... which they should already know.

If they win, they get that huge monkey off their back. Then they (hopefully) step up next series and show much more intensity and urgency.

No matter the outcome, they will learn something that can be applied to next season.

Spezza has learned this and sees the end of his carreer is near. This is why his game is so elevated. He learned the hard way just like our young guys are going to have to.

I want this core to move foward by winning at least one round in the playoffs. But another first round exit would teach them more. The hurt would carry over into next season and perhaps make them hungrier, game to game, shift to shift.

 

[ToneDog]

I bet some money on the Habs when they were down 3-1 in the series. At this point I might almost prefer the nice payout coming my way should they complete it!

Win-Win bet. Take the cash, this team will be in tough to make a deep run if JT/Muzz/Foligno are not 100% soon.

 

[3blizzard4]

I disagree with the results being almost meaningless.

If they lose then they learned it takes alot more than skill to win a playoff series... which they should already know.

If they win, they get that huge monkey off their back. Then they (hopefully) step up next series and show much more intensity and urgency.

No matter the outcome, they will learn something that can be applied to next season.

Spezza has learned this and sees the end of his carreer is near. This is why his game is so elevated. He learned the hard way just like our young guys are going to have to.

I want this core to move foward by winning at least one round in the playoffs. But another first round exit would teach them more. The hurt would carry over into next season and perhaps make them hungrier, game to game, shift to shift.

Dude how many first round exist hurts does a team need?

 

[koyvoo]

Dude how many first round exist hurts does a team need?

This.

I really don’t think people are taking into account that what happened last year, happened vs a team that technically didn’t even make the playoffs. This year it’s happening vs a team that wouldn’t get near the playoffs on mon covid divisions. But our guys are gonna get it done vs Tampa, Colorado, Vegas etc.

 

[GrizzLeaf]

Dude how many first round exist hurts does a team need?

As many as it takes I guess. They will eventually learn.

A wise coach once told me that young skilled players/teams play at lower intensity even in huge games because they have a lifetime of outscoring their problems.

This applies to our younger, core players. Notice how much more urgency and intensity is in their game when losing?

Had they shown even some of that from the opening face-off, they would have scored early and been in the driver's seat.

 

[NightTrain1]

They have had two games to close the series. Yes, Keefe has said that the games required to close out a series are often the most difficult, so game 5 was understandable. But following up game 5 with the effort in game 6 is just pathetic. No shows from our best, most talented players have ultimately led to us losing one of our best players in Jake Muzzin, Foligno feeling he has to come back before he's ready, and no opportunity to rest and get healthy before the second round if we get there.

Relying on old depth players like Jason Spezza to lead us while our stars like Matthews and Marner take the backseat is just super pathetic. These last two games have told us a lot about what we have.

%100 the truth in this statement. After 38 years of cheering for the Leafs, most of it fanatically, both my age and my wisdom are about done with this entirely. When hockey at every level became more about the business than the game itself my interest took a massive hit. Watching the Leafs flounder year after year in very similar and frustrating ways has all but drained my enthusiasm.

This year I have not even watched more than 10minutes of any Leaf playoff game because for me the playoffs really shouldnt have started until round 2. Montreal should have been a sweep or 4-1 at most and the story this team tells year after year is so predictable at this point it has become a huge waste of time and emotion to invest in it. Why would I invest such emotion and precious time when the players who are making an absolute fortune don't appear to give a crap. 5 years of first round exits and there is a 50/50 chance they make it 6 which is just absolutely pathetic in my opinion with the team they crafted on paper.

If they win tomorrow and I hope that happens for their sake, it will not change my opinion of this team with anything less than at least 5 game series in the Cup finals plain and simple. There are huge areas of great concern with this squad that cannot be argued with and even though I was once a young blind hopeful follower I realize there are still many younger in that position that will still argue anyway.

This team is great at coming out after a devastating performance touting how they have to be better and have to work harder...blah blah blah. Never have they been able to actually follow through. Matthews and Marner need to lead this team through game 7 and then on to a cup appearance otherwise it is time to make some drastic changes. That doesnt mean blow everything up of course but I think we all know who should be staying and going.

 

[AllDay28]

To much of the cap(40m) went to four players. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The glaring mistake dubas made was allocating it entirely to offense. Once he signed Tavares for 11m he screwed himself by setting a precedent. If they didn't sign Tavares, Nylander probably signs for around 5m, Matthews and Marner around 7 each, leaving you with roughly 20m to spend on at least two high end defensemen, either through trade or free agency

Anyone that knows anything about sports knows that come playoffs, defense wins championships

Matthews was getting 7?

 

[harvestglen]

Win-Win bet. Take the cash, this team will be in tough to make a deep run if JT/Muzz/Foligno are not 100% soon.

Indeed, kind of wish I had dropped more down considering it was paying ~15-to-1.

 

[AllDay28]

Holy shit this fan base thought players were taking 5-7m. And these same people think they are NHL GMs. Good times.

 

[IPS]

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

I have this eerie feeling you're going to be right.

I swear to god if I have to listen to another Dubas end of season press conference without him being fired..

 

[Twine Tickler]

Disappointment is part of being a Leaf fan unfortunately. Of course we’d have rather the boys finished this off game 5 or 6, but they still have an opportunity to shake the demons. I will wait to cast judgments on these players if/when they actually come up short. Full marks to the habs last night, they were the better team. And props to the 2500 in attendance. Much louder than I expected 15% attendance to sound. Just have to win on monday. Rewrite the narrative fellas